London (England)

When a 14-Year-Old in South Central Wants to Learn the Cello

When her son Jacob was barely a year old, Teresa Esquivel noticed that music powerfully affected his demeanor. Certain tunes would even make him cry. In particular, if Pokémon was on, Jigglypuff's leitmotif would reduce him to wails, even if Jacob hadn't been previously focused on the TV. Jac ... More >>

Fallen Angels

Lance Armstrong Graffiti Pops Up On Melrose; Is It Banksy's Work?

Updated at the bottom: We figured out who the artist is. First posted at 6:09 a.m. Leave it to Los Angeles, the street-art capital of the nation if not the world, to come up with graffiti satire in the wake of cyclist Lance Armstrong's doping admission. This Banksy-esque take on the controversy, a ... More >>

Mumford & Sons - Hollywood Bowl - November 12, 2012

Mumford & Sons Hollywood Bowl 11/12/12 It's been four years since Mumford & Sons played their first show in Los Angeles, and in that time the London-based quartet's career has skyrocketed. Since then the folk rockers have released two chart topping albums, been nominated for a slew of Grammys, and ... More >>

The Five Best Concerts in L.A. This Weekend

Friday, August 31 Mark de Clive-Lowe BLUE WHALE As one might expect from a hapa Japanese-New Zealander who arrived in L.A. via Boston, New York and London, this keyboardist/DJ/music producer is a complex synthesis of musical styles and cultures. Mark de Clive-Lowe honed his craft in the United King ... More >>

Food News Roundup: Olympic Specials At L.A. Restaurants, Verve Coffee Roaster's Opening, Cantaloupe Pasta Salad

Zester Daily: A look into Electrolux Cube, one of London's most exclusive restaurants celebrating the Olympics. In Erika's Kitchen: The mushroom-y menu for Erika Kerekes' Trufflepalooza 2012. Food 52: The writers' group column on their favorite summer vegetables and why. L.A. Eater: An announce ... More >>

5 Archaic Alcohol Words That Should Be Revived

Because we began this week with Tales of the Cocktail, and because we all know how much serious bartenders love archaic things, and because old words are fun, I thought I'd compile a list of fun booze words that have fallen out of favor but should totally be brought back. Here are five words I hope ... More >>

Henry Rollins: The Column! In a Rut

[Look for your weekly fix from the one and only Henry Rollins right here on West Coast Sound every Thursday, and come back tomorrow for the awesomely annotated playlist for his Saturday KCRW broadcast.] A few Saturdays ago, I paid tribute on my radio show to a band called The Ruts. The band's voc ... More >>

Cloud 9

ESPN X Games Los Angeles 2012: Confronting Fear, Pain and Mortality

The world of sports may be focused on London, but during the past week athleticism of a decidedly ballsier kind was on display in Los Angeles as wide-eyed kids, patient parents and industry hangers-on oohed, ahhed, gasped, and clapped at the feats of physical imagination and occasional crashes that ... More >>

Top 5 Weekend Food Events: Mixology101 Classes, Restaurant Opportunities Center Happy Hour, KCRW Dinner Date, Tam O'Shanter's 90th Birthday Federal Bar Beer Dinner

Mixology101 Cocktail Classes Bartenders Joseph Brooke of Mixology101 and Salvatore Calabrese from London teach about cocktail culture and mixing techniques. "Journey Through the Classics" on June 25 features classic cocktails such as the martini and old-fashioned, while "Sizzling Summer Entertaining ... More >>

West Coast Artist's (WCA) Crew Opens First Ever Major Group Show in Chinatown

California and more specifically Los Angeles is one of the most influential hubs for graffiti art in the world. And long before wealthy collectors and mainstream recognition gave "street art" respect and accessibility in the art world (both a good and bad thing depending on who you talk to and what ... More >>

The Original Original Gangsta

Ice-T talks about his star-studded directorial debut, his famous affiliates and his life with Coco in New York

Ashley Huizenga on Sex, Starvation, and Art

Our music feature this week focuses on Ashley Huizenga, an L.A. musician and performance artist known for her academic-minded -- and also quite flithy -- shows under the guise of her alter ego Actually Huizenga. Trained as a classical pianist, she creates epic '80s inspired dance scores that featur ... More >>

Barrel Aged Cocktails: What They Are 3 Places to Drink Them

Despite the Angeleno phobia of anything showing signs of age, some things do, in fact, improve over time. Cocktails can be one of those instances, given the proper circumstances. It's said that Tony Conigliaro of London's 69 Colebrook Row was the first to age cocktails, though he did his in glass ... More >>

The Spidey Project -- a low-rent musical parody of Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, and more new reviews

​Celebration Theatre's intimate-theater rendition of the musical, The Color Purple, based on Alice Walker's novel, ​ is this week's Pick of the Week. Warm reactions also for a revival of Patrick Marber's Closer, presented by Ghost Players at the Avery Shreiber Theatre; for Malibu Stage's renditi ... More >>

The Best Cookbooks of 2011 (And Sure, They Double As Great Last Minute Gifts)

jgarbeeStill Life With (Good) 2011 Cookbooks​Because if you still haven't gotten a gift for someone of genuine or obligatory importance on your list (your closest friend; your boss/mother in law), check those Amazon availability lists right now. Or better yet, stop by your local bookstore. W ... More >>

Jamie Oliver Restaurant Victim of Rioting

JamieOliver.comChef Jamie Oliver posing for his TV show, "Food Revolution," which did not feature sous chefs manning the barricades.​Dewey-cheeked British chef and would-be L.A. school lunch reformer Jamie Oliver had his restaurant attacked amid the rioting that has erupted in the U.K. followi ... More >>

Kate and Wills Do Los Angeles: The Royal Itinerary

As if the July 4 forecast wasn't hot enough!​Might as well just get this out of the way now. You either want to follow the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, formerly known as Prince William and Kate Middleton, around L.A. like creepy red-coat sympathizers (the weekend after Independence Day, no l ... More >>

Faile Comes to Venice

Vincent Gallo in Essential Killing

LinA in LA: Coloring Outside the Lines

Music Picks: Breakestra, Slang Chickens, the Muffs, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson

Also Meth Leppard, Tennis With Lord Huron, Kid Infinity and others

Mick Rock's Top 10 Iconic Rock Images, with Running Behind-the-Lens Commentary (and a Few Surprises)

Mick Rock (c)​ Mick Rock has shot some of the most recognizable portraits in rock music history and he's got, hands down, the best name in shutterbugdom. But with a candor and style that's as palpable as any of his subjects, he is also just as cool. In LA this weekend for a couple of events ... More >>

Exclusive Download: Ninja Tune Jazzer Bonobo Gets Hazy on 'Eyesdown (featuring Andreya Triana & DELS)' [MP3]

Exclusive Download: Ninja Tune Jazzer Bonobo Gets Hazy on 'Eyesdown (featuring Andreya Triana & DELS)'

Top 10 Men With Salad Names

Recently, we brought you Top 10 Men With Meat Names, culled from an online collection of men who share their names with different kinds of animal flesh. It got us thinking, though -- what about all those gentlemen with vegetables for last names? Where was that amusing website designed exclusively f ... More >>

This weekend: Jonsi, LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, the National, Die Antwoord, Paul Oakenfold, Hoodoo Gurus

Jonsi​Fans who witnessed Jónsi in the 93-degree heat at the Outdoor Theatre at Coachella in April fairly swooned over the Sigur Rós frontman's gorgeously orchestrated pop-prog anthems. Those people ain't seen nothin' yet. The falsetto-wielding singer-guitarist is touring behind his solo alb ... More >>

Blithe Spirit

Stage Raw: Titus Redux

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSCover Story on LATE's The War CycleNEW REVIEW GO TITUS REDUX ​Photo courtesy of Circus Theatricals Military hero Titus (Jack Stehlin) radiantly returns to Washington DC from the Middle East wars to a grand welcome by the public and his family, but ... More >>

New Top Chef Cookbook: Why To Think Twice Before Signing Up For That Reality TV Show

​The reality of reality television shows like Bravo's Top Chef is that if you're chosen as a contestant, you get to sign a big fat contract. You know, the kind of legalese that says something along the lines of the network gets to do pretty much anything it pleases. Including using you to prom ... More >>

Tonight: Kings of Leon, Mississippi Man, Summer Darling, the Outline, Active Child

Dean ChalkleyKings of Leon​We suppose it would be fashionable, this being a blog after all and an alternative publication's one at that, to play music snob and put Kings of Leon in the crosshairs this morning. But why, really? Somebody you know will be fighting traffic and crowds to hit the H ... More >>

Them Crooked Vultures Announce LA Benefit for Eagles of Death Metal's Bassist

​ We've just received an official announcement that Eagles of Death Metal bassist Brian O'Connor "has been diagnosed with cancer, and is undergoing treatment in Los Angeles. He will undergo surgery today and will begin chemotherapy in three weeks." O'Connor is one of America's many uninsured ... More >>

Theater Reviews: Blank, Palomino, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Also, Four Places, Love, Loss, and What I Wore, 1951-2006 and more

Drink Me: Gin

Ben CalderwoodJuniper berries, actually heavily modified seed cones​ The hallowed digestive of colonial Britain, if only because it helped to mask the bite of malaria prophylaxis quinine (rethinking your gin and tonic yet?), gin is a complex spirit with a complex history. Distilled from grain ... More >>

Movie Reviews: Dirty Hands, Furry Vengeance, Harry Brown

Also, The Good, the Bad, the Weird, Timer, The Good Heart

Movie Reviews: The City of Your Final Destination, Oceans, Five Easy Pieces

Also, Paper Man, Handmade Nation, Kenny Chesney: Summer in 3D and more

Thanks, Eyjafjallajokull! Iron Man Premiere Moved to LA

​Even Iron Man can't fly through volcanic ash. With air travel over Europe still suspended due to the massive fallout from the eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull, Paramount has announced that they're moving the Iron Man 2 premiere and press junket, previously scheduled to take plac ... More >>

Q&A: DJ Will Saul Loves That Good Ole' 'Futuristic Melody'

Will Saul is a relatively new name to Los Angeles, but the British dance music artist has tapped a fresh sound that has made him at "it" DJ in global clubland in the last year. The spinner's sound is described in his bio as "deep dubdiscohousetechno with flashes of soul and irresistible melodies tha ... More >>

Brick’s Picks: Heavy Traffic

Q & A With Andy Cook, Part 2: Risotto as Object Lesson, Cooking to Jazz & The Importance of Google Image

Andy Cook, executive chef at both Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood and the month-old Boxwood Café, has been at the posh hotel since it opened in the summer of 2008. As we learned yesterday, Cook, a native of Birmingham, England, has become very fond of Los Angeles, of its weather and its ... More >>

Q & A With Andy Cook: The Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood Chef Talks About Gordon, LA Weather & The Importance of Chip Butty

Gordon Ramsay may have gotten most of the press at his eponymous restaurant, Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood, both before and after he sold it early this year, but executive chef Andy Cook has been the one behind the stoves every night. We caught up with Cook recently, shortly after he op ... More >>

Stage Raw: Comedies About the End of the World

COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSTHE LATEST NEW THEATER REVIEWSSTAGE FEATURE on Leonard Nimoy and Company of AngelsCOMEDIES ABOUT THE END OF THE WORLD​Poland's Theatre ZAR rehearsing Gospels of Childhood at the Barbican in London, where they performed last month. That piece is the first third of the ... More >>

Lynn Barber: Don't Ask, Do Tell

A legendary interviewer opens up about the new film based on her old May-December romance

Armando Iannucci: Political Satirist

That's How the Scottish Comedy Director Stays in the Loop.

Stage Raw: Mr. Merkin Misses His Second Deadline

THE LATEST NEW REVIEWS ARE EMBEDDED WITHIN THE COMPREHENSIVE THEATER LISTINGSStage Raw is soon changing locations within the L.A. Weekly website. IT is currently working on ways to preserve the archives and the links. Stay tuned. BREAKING NEWS: Stage Raw regrets to announce that Mr. Merkin has still ... More >>

Courtney Love Leaving L.A. -- But to Where?

Various British gossiparazzi sites have picked up an item that actress and former Hole singer Courtney Love is packing up and leaving swinging Los Angeles for comatose Buckinghamshire, England. "People criticize Britain," the item quotes Love, "but it's still a cleaner, safer place to live than Ho ... More >>

Swoosh!

Comets (and reactions to them) through the ages

Cocaine Index