Katie Bain

The Best Concerts to See in Los Angeles This Weekend

Don't forget to check our constantly-updated Los Angeles Concert Calendar Friday, May 17 The International Swingers VIPER ROOM With New York's Met Gala "punk" event and exhibit dominating the media last week, it's sadly ironic that the innovators and music makers responsible for this in-your-face ... More >>

Why Are Old School Electronic Artists Annoyed With EDM?

Broadly speaking, if you're an electronic music fan over 40, you probably dig Danny Tenaglia more than Skrillex. And chances are, if you're a Skrillex fan under the age of 30, you're like, "Who the hell is Danny Tenaglia?" Coachella 2013 exemplified the generation gap in the world of dance music. ... More >>

FYF Fest 2013 Lineup Announced

The lineup for FYF Fest 2013 was announced this morning and features Saturday headliners My Bloody Valentine and Sunday headliners the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Artists including TV on the Radio, Flag, Deerhunter, MGMT, Beach House, Yo La Tengo, The Breeders, Devendra Banhart, Solange and Shlohmo will also p ... More >>

West Hollywood Lesbian Bar The Palms to Shut Down

West Hollywood's The Palms Bar, a hangout for the local lesbian community since the '60s, will close on June 9. Located on Santa Monica Blvd. at La Cienega, the historic building that houses The Palms will be demolished to make space for a new mixed use development. In late April, the landlord told ... More >>

Prince - City National Grove of Anaheim - 5/7/13

By Katie Bain and Ben Westhoff Prince City National Grove of Anaheim 5/7/13 "Do you love rock and roll?" Prince asked last night. "Do you like your rock and roll funky, though?" A Prince show is always a big deal; his passion and showmanship is Springsteen-like. Even better, his need to constantl ... More >>

The Best Concerts to See in L.A. This Weekend

Friday, April 26 Medeski Martin & Wood ROYCE HALL More than 20 years ago, keyboardist John Medeski, bassist Chris Wood and drummer Billy Martin formed a trio that quickly became one of the most successful in contemporary jazz. A 1995 performance with Phish established them as a jam band, and subseq ... More >>

Best of Coachella 2013: Weekend Two

The Visual Stimulations for People Who Were High Coachella's art installations -- the ones designed to impress you while you're high, aka all of them -- were particularly impressive this year. There was the tesla coil, the crane that was formerly a flower but now a praying mantis, the giant floresce ... More >>

The Sahara Tent Kicked Ass This Year

The EDM-focused Sahara tent is twice as tall this year, and much wider and longer too. It's now roughly the size of an airplane hangar. The arched mega-tent is not just a dubstep paradise, but a behemoth of truss and LED panels. The visuals are otherworldly, with kaleidoscopic light and graphic disp ... More >>

Here's How People Are Trying to Sneak Drugs Into Coachella

If you're at Coachella, chances are you experienced full throttle security measures attempting to snatch any drugs you might have. As usual, these include three tiers of security checkpoints, at which eventgoers are frisked and searched. It can all feel a bit personal, particularly considering that ... More >>

Coachella Parties: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The lineup of events thrown in conjunction with Coachella is almost as extensive as event itself. Many folks come just to attend the pool parties, the dance parties and the swag giveaways thrown at local hotels and mansions by various brands and media outlets. See also: *A road map to the best f ... More >>

L.A. Electronic and R&B Music Is Suddenly Sexy

Most single Angelenos will tell you ours is a challenging city for romantic relationships. The sprawl and bad traffic make it difficult to even have a date. Also, there are so many incredibly attractive people here, it's hard to keep someone's interest (or maintain your own). And then, of course, a ... More >>

Tokimonsta on Asshole DJs and Her Twitter Game

Tokimonsta is the subject of our music feature this week; for the story, we hung out with the beat scene DJ/producer at the dinner party event celeb chef Roy Choi whipped up for her at his restaurant A-Frame. A few days later we sat down with her over green tea to talk about her recently released so ... More >>

Lightning in a Bottle 2013 Lineup Announced

The lineup for Lightning in a Bottle 2013 is out! This year's electronic-heavy festival will feature headliners Nicholas Jaar, Rusko, Tycho, Emancipator, Griz and Paper Diamond. Ten GIFs of Ultra Ravers Shaking Their Shit As exclusively reported by West Coast Sound in January, the fest is going ... More >>

Rhye - Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever - 4/1/13

Rhye The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery 4/1/13 Better than: Most first dates. And also, most second and third dates. If the glut of modern indie music is the sonic equivalent of a Facebook poke, Rhye is the object of your affection showing up at your doorstep in the rain to tell you ... More >>

Inc. - The Bootleg - 3/27/13

Inc. The Bootleg 3/27/13 Better than: Rat tails? As not great as breathy slow jam duo inc. sounded last night, it really didn't seem to be their fault. Blame it on the sound board, or the acoustical properties of the brick warehouse in which they played, but there was the sense that the buzz-ey d ... More >>

Worst Idea Ever: Travel Dating Site Calls Coachella a Great First Date

Ladies travel site Misstravel.com recently named named Coachella the number one music festival at which to go on a first date. For so many reasons, this is a terrible idea. Issue number one is that unless you have some day pass scenario worked out, a first date at Coachella means that you're autom ... More >>

STS9 - Hollywood Palladium - 3/2/13

STS9 Hollywood Palladium 3/2/13 Any doubt that jam band culture is alive and healthy in Los Angeles was extinguished at Hollywood Palladium on Saturday night. Here, the heads of the greater L.A. area assembled for the experience of collective sonic ecstasy that is a Sound Tribe Sector 9 show. See ... More >>

Here's the Secret to Making Money Licensing Your Songs

Most anyone who gets tons of music submissions and press releases -- journalists, managers, music supervisors, ec. -- will tell you that not much of it seeps through. We know you're all working hard out there. We're sorry. But Century City-based singer/songwriter Cathy Heller has figured out a way ... More >>

An Online Rave?! We Party All Day, At Home, By Ourselves.

What did you do yesterday? Did you receive cards and flowers and chocolates and go out with someone you enjoy smooching? That's nice! But that's not quite what we did -- for Valentine's Day we went to rave. If you didn't hear about it, don't worry, because it was only online. The three day ele ... More >>

The Love Mob Is Saving the World With Group Singalongs

Albert Einstein said, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." The Beatles said, "All you need is love." The Love Mob, in essence, combines these two concepts. The Los Angeles-based group performs a capella covers of classics. Their goal? Nothing s ... More >>

Deadmau5, Kylie Minogue, and Timbaland - House of Blues - 2/10/13

Nero, Deadmau5, Kylie Minogue, and Timbaland House of Blues 2/10/13 A crew of electronic artists and pop stars performed last night as part of a Grammy afterparty that was also a benefit for Children's Hospital of Los Angeles Orthopedic Center. (Tickets started at $250.) But the cost didn't deter ... More >>

Avicii - Vanguard - 2/7/13

Avicii Vanguard 2/7/13 Avicii played at the grand reopening of Vanguard in Hollywood last night. But Vanguard isn't a regular club. It's a MEGA CLUB. And Avicii isn't a regular DJ. He's a MEGA DJ. So it wasn't a regular night out. It was a MEGA NIGHT OUT. There were glowing bottles of vodka! And fi ... More >>

We Attended the KCRW Pledge Drive - And Lived to Tell the Tale!

It's pledge drive time again at KCRW. twice a year, the station -- one of the pre-eminent public radio stations in the country -- interrupts regular programming to ask for money. But this isn't your typical "send us five bucks and we'll mail you a bumper sticker" pledge event. No no, this one has Co ... More >>

In Defense of Jam Bands

[Editor's Note: Fuck Guilty Pleasures celebrates the over-produced, commercial, artless, lowbrow music that we believe is genuinely worthwhile. Like, among the best music ever.] On a warm August night in 2011, roughly 18,000 Angelenos converged on the Hollywood Bowl, to partake in the swirl of cosm ... More >>

LuvAmp Wants to Open Up Your Heart (Don't Be Scared)

The notion of opening your heart through music definitely sounds like cloying new age stuff. Tony Moss is aware of that. But he also knows that music can actually open the heart up, as proven by quantifiable data (having to do with electromagnetic fields and planetary energetics). It's called heart ... More >>

Six Ridonkulous Holy Ship!! Dance Move GIFs

The EDM cruise Holy Ship!! journeyed from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas this past weekend, and we're still recovering. Here's our complete coverage. A highlight was an afternoon spent on a pristine private island in the Bahamas for an afternoon of sun, surf, cocktails and the kind of dancing not ... More >>

Holy Ship!! Wrap-Up: It Was the Best of Times....

There were a lot of grim faces on Monday morning as the electro-loving masses emerged off the MSC Poesia -- aka the EDM party boat Holy Ship!! -- and did a slow zombie shuffle through U.S. customs and back into the real world (aka Fort Lauderdale). Here in the industrial port the sky was overcast, a ... More >>

A Dude's Dream Comes True Aboard the Holy Ship!!

Aboard the Holy Ship!! one gets to mix and mingle with the slew of name DJs. "Hey there's Zedd in line for pasta salad. Oh wow, there's Dillon Francis in the elevator. Oh damn, Diplo is out on the beach swimming with all the fans. "Jackbeats just bought all those people shots!" See also: Holy Ship ... More >>

Holy Ship!! Day One: A Suprise Guest Whose Name Rhymes With Drillex

On Friday afternoon, nearly 3,000 raver chicks, dude guys, scenesters, club kids and DJs assembled at a port in Fort Lauderdale and boarded the MSC Poesia, aka Holy Ship!! There are two exclamation points because this is the second edition of the EDM party cruise put on by L.A.'s Hard Events. The li ... More >>

Swedish House Mafia's Steve Angello Is Looking Forward to Being Finished With Swedish House Mafia

There was a moment a few years back when Steve Angello was leaving a hotel in his native Sweden and found a few reporters waiting outside. They asked him what his plans were for the day. He told them nothing much. The response made the front page of the next day's newspaper. "That was the moment," ... More >>

The Ten Best EDM Singles of 2012

The term "electronic dance music" means so many things to so many people, and this year things only got more complicated. Dubstep continued its dance floor takeover, mainstream pop-oriented EDM ruled the radio, and the beat scene pushed on. Although divergent in style and ethos, here are the ten dan ... More >>

Thank God: There Is Now a Parody of "Free to Be You and Me"

If you're over the age of 30, you probably have at least a few songs from Free to Be You and Me engraved in your memory. Conceived by '60s-era TV actress Marlo Thomas and produced as a project of the Ms. Foundation for Women, the 1972 album jumped on the progressive feminism wave via catchy tunes fo ... More >>

Alt-J - Fonda Theatre - 12/12/12

Alt-J Fonda Theatre 12/12/12 Better Than: open apple anything The primary challenges Alt-J faced during their show at the Fonda last night were improper sound mixing (not their fault), and simply not having enough material to pull from to satisfy their audience (also not really their fault). De ... More >>

Listening to These Beats Supposedly Gets You High. We Try Them

Acquiring drugs takes a lot of effort. You've got to source your connect, arrange an exchange, drive somewhere inconvenient or sketchy, and then have a vaguely uncomfortable interaction with a dealer before handing them your money. And the stuff you get might be bunk. It's a crapshoot out there. Se ... More >>

The 20 Greatest EDM DJs: The Complete List

Electronic dance music's recent resurgence has made the genre more popular than ever before, but it's still often not taken seriously as an art form. World's Douchiest DJs: The Top Five The 20 Worst Hipster Bands Top 20 Musicians of All Time, in Any Genre And yeah, many goofily-dressed ravers are ... More >>

Red Bull Music Academy DJ Crew Battle - Exchange L.A. - 12/5/12

Red Bull Music Academy Culture Clash Feat. Friends of Friends, Smog, Dim Mak, Jeffree's Exchange L.A. 12/5/12 It was beatmakers vs. beatmakers as a bunch of dudes in flat brimmed hats competed for bragging rights at last night's Red Bull Music Academy Culture Clash. The L.A. incarnation of the int ... More >>

The 20 Greatest EDM DJs: 10-1

See also: The 20 Greatest EDM DJs: 20-11 Electronic dance music's recent resurgence has made the genre more popular than ever before, but it's still often not taken seriously as an art form. And yeah, many goofily-dressed ravers are so high they'll literally dance to anything. But below we've highl ... More >>

The 20 Greatest EDM DJs: 20-11

Electronic dance music's recent resurgence has made the genre more popular than ever before, but it's still often not taken seriously as an art form. And yeah, many goofily-dressed ravers are so high they'll literally dance to anything. But below we've highlighted 20 top-notch spinners who put real ... More >>

Miike Snow - The Palladium - 10/30/12

Miike Snow The Palladium 10/30/12 Better Than: Actual snow Miike Snow finished their fall tour last night with an All Hallow's Eve eve show at The Palladium in Hollywood. The Swedish act sounded tight and right as they tore through hits and deeper cuts from their albums Miike Snow and Happy to You ... More >>

Don't Think He's Weird, But Eskmo Believes Music Has the Power to Heal People

Five months ago, Brendan Angelides spent ten days in silence. There was no talking, no Internet and no music, which was a decided change of pace for the DJ-producer, who records under the name Eskmo. "It's all about equilibrium," Angelides says of this Vipassana meditation retreat in Joshua Tree. ... More >>

KCRW Masquerade Ball Featuring Z-Trip and Others - 10/27/12

KCRW Masquerade Ball The Legendary Park Plaza 10/27/12 Better Than: Left, Right & Center For a party thrown by a public radio station, things got impressively rowdy at KCRW's fourth annual Masquerade Ball on Saturday night. Thrown at art-deco castle The Legendary Park Plaza, the Ball was a multi ... More >>

Larchmont Development Wars and Women in EDM Have Readers Talking

Cate Le Bon - Bootleg Theater - 10/2/12

Cate Le Bon Bootleg Theater 10-2-12 Better than: Staying home to do laundry. There were a strong trifecta of performances at everyone's favorite deep Beverly venue the Bootleg Theater last night. L.A.'s The Moor opened the show with a mellow set of piano/guitar/singing, which found every single p ... More >>

Ready For Carmageddon II? Here's Some Soothing Music For Your Drive

Venice-based, classically-trained pianist Ken Elkinson has often become outraged on the road, such as while witnessing other drivers reading, changing clothes, or putting on makeup while behind the wheel. He even once saw a man smash the window of another man's sedan with a baseball bat. See also: ... More >>

Where Are the Women in EDM?

In the past three years, one woman has ranked in DJ Magazine's yearly Top 100 DJs poll. (Lisa Lashes, #75, 2009). The international EDM circuit is dominated by men like Justice, Diplo, Skrillex, Swedish House Mafia, Tiësto, David Guetta and Avicii, and the underground scene is as much of a boys clu ... More >>

Burning Man: Guess How Many Times Some Rando Creeper Told Me He 'Loved My Energy' While Rubbing My Hand?

See also: *15 Burning Man GIFs That'll Make You Wanna Go Next Year *Genital Portrait Studio: The Five Silliest Burning Man Camp Names Most local RV rental spots have a "Burning Man clause" in their contracts, which is how I found myself, along with a bag of bike tubes, coconut water and some of the ... More >>

Hot Chip, Passion Pit - Hollywood Bowl - September 9, 2012

Hot Chip, Passion Pit, Omar Souleyman Hollywood Bowl 9-9-12 Better Than: passionless pits, cold chips, obvious puns. When it comes to intricately grand disco-infused future rock for dance-loving adults, despite our continued sadness and confusion over LCD Soundsystem's breakup, we can take comfort ... More >>

We're All Going to Die: How to Pack For the Most Intense Burning Man Yet

Illustrations by Jena Ardell See also: *Why I'll Never Go To Burning Man *Genital Portrait Studio: The Five Silliest Burning Man Camp Names Unlike some festivals, you can't just casually roll up to Burning Man with only a bottle of Jack and a spirit hoodie. Prepping for a week in the desert is onl ... More >>

Genital Portrait Studio: The Five Silliest Burning Man Camp Names

See also: Why I'll Never Go To Burning Man Burning Man 2012 kicks off on Monday, and unlike our intrepid colleague Nicholas, we are headed to the Playa and looking forward to it. In fact Jack Rabbit, the festival's official newsletter, has been hitting our inbox since February, informing the nearly ... More >>

Audrey Napoleon Performs Like She Has Sex

Audrey Napoleon is a lot to look at: all ink black precision-cut hair, pale skin, black cat eyeliner, four inch gold heels and perfectly applied red lipstick. Sitting in front of a wall of windows a dozen floors above Hollywood on an overcast Friday morning, she's a perfectly assembled goth dream gi ... More >>