MF Doom

The Best Concerts to See In L.A. This Week

Monday, April 1 Rhye, Nosaj Thing MASONIC LODGE Love hurts! On the one hand, Rhye does offer more of that sort of nu-quiet-fire sexy pop that blows through cocktail bars from here to Ouagadougou. You know, the kind that, if your timing is off in the hearing of it, might just encourage you to go ahe ... More >>

Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge - The Mayan - 3/28/13

Ghostface Killah with Adrian Younge The Mayan 3/28/13 Somewhere between a classic film score and an adventurous concept album is where Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge meet on their upcoming album "Twelve Reasons to Die. Inspired by Tarantino and the RZA, the album is heavy in genre specific homa ... More >>

Bizarre Ride: Jeff's Humorous Predictions and Most Anticipated Albums for 2013

[Editor's note: Weekly scribe Jeff Weiss's column, "Bizarre Ride," appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday. His archives are available here.] Half of January has elapsed and we've survived. There was no collapse due to fiscal cliff, Central American apocalypse or dubstep deluge. A new year unfu ... More >>

Schmoozing 101 or Making Your Crippling Social Anxiety Work For You

Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls' Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you ... More >>

The Identity of the Mysterious Captain Murphy Was Revealed Last Night

Captain Murphy, Pac Div The Airliner 11/28/12 Earlier this week, a local mystery rapper calling himself Captain Murphy announced that he'd be performing at Low End Theory last night. See also: More Low End Theory Oral History From Those Who Helped Build It People got excited about it, so much s ... More >>

What's the First Rap Song I Should Play For My Newborn Son?

In maybe one or maybe eight or maybe two or maybe six days, my third son will be pulled from my wife's womb. (C-section life, bitches.) He has a name, but I'm not going to tell you what it is. If you want to refer to him as Boy C, that's cool. That'll do just fine, I imagine. There are a bunch of r ... More >>

Let's Play 'Guess the Rapper'

See also: KDAY, the Gangsta Rap Oldies Station, Breaks New Ground by Playing Music From the Bad Old Days Below are some illustrations of rappers. (The top is an example.) They also contain hints to help you guess who they are. There are 15 total. If you miss more than three, you lose and everyone ... More >>

Music Picks: The Descendents, Stones Throw 15th Anniversary Show,, Princess Pangolin, Brian Setzer

Also, Guns N' Roses, Weingart, Stevie Wonder's House Full of Toys, and others

Music Picks: Andrea Bocelli, Carina Round, A Hero A Fake

Also, Norma Jean, Jonathan Richman, Jay-Z and Kanye West and others

Madlib

How Many Adult Swim Musical Tie-Ins Can You Name?

MC Pee Pants​Adult Swim is integrating all sorts of hip music folks into its late-night shows: Odd Future shot a pilot for the cable channel, and word is that Major Lazer has something in the works. But the cutting-edge programmers have long been musically inclined. MC Chris came to prominen ... More >>

Anticon MC Serengeti: The Quirkiest, Deepest Rapper

Top Ten Songs About Beer

​Wine and cheese; scotch and cigars; tequila and...more tequila: Good things come in pairs, and drinks are no exception. Our personal favorite? Beer and music. As card-carrying beer nerds, we couldn't be more excited that Monday kicked off American Craft Beer Week; and, as your trusted music ... More >>

OMG OMG OMG: MF Doom's "Operation Doomsday" - The Lunchbox!

​Fitting that MF DOOM's re-release of his debut solo album, 1999's Operation Doomsday, comes in an old-school metal lunchbox: Fulfilling our geekiest grade school fantasies, the deluxe box set contains the original album, alternate versions, b-sides and instrumentals, PLUS lyric book, PLUS a s ... More >>

Music Picks: Batusis, Interpol, Minus the Bear

Also, Taj Mahal, Shakira, Sufjan Stevens and others

The Madlib Mystique

An exclusive interview with underground hip-hop's most elusive producer

MP3: Mayer Hawthorne Covers Daniel Johnston

M.H. hearts D.J.​When Dam-Funk covered Human League, it wasn't exactly a shocker. But this? Thoroughly unexpected. Culver City blue-eyed soul guru Mayer Hawthorne has just released what seems to be an unsolicited cover of "Held the Hand" by legendary home-recorder Daniel Johnston. Unsolicite ... More >>

Adult Swim Debuts New Madvillain Track, Goes Coffee-Tasting With Madlib

Madvillain's 'Papermill'​There've been questionable leaks and legitimate teasers, but fans drooling for a new Madvillain LP have had precious little to cling to. Beside faith, of course, that in L.A. producer Madlib's apparent quest to set the record for album releases in a year (he's on targ ... More >>

Vinyl of the Week: CX Kidtronik's Booty-Crack Picture Disc, Plus MF DOOM Cameo [MP3]

In the strange wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES reviews the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community, believing that good music deserves much more than a handfu ... More >>

MP3 Exclusive: Madlib Remixes Dabrye and DOOM's "Air," Forthcoming on Ghostly

Ghostly Intl, 'Horizon Line'​For over a decade now, Ann Arbor's Ghostly International has been the gold standard in ethereal, beat-driven electronica. Michigan-based boundary-pushers like the poppy Matthew Dear, the hypnotic Deastro and the rap-steeped Dabrye have become the label's bread and ... More >>

Stones Throw in Toronto: Video of the Posse Up North [MP3]

Pitchfork.tv is currently running a pretty interesting short documentary about Stones Throw Records' recent sojourn to Toronto for a showcase, and if you're a fan of any of their artists, it's a good chance to watch them all record shopping. The best part is watching MF Doom browsing the racks wit ... More >>

Watch: Sao Paulo's Cibelle Pays Tribute To J Dilla's "Lightworks" [MP3]

The late, great Jay Dee​As West Coast Sound scribe Drew Tewksbury just reported, Wednesday marked the fourth anniversary of the tragic passing of legendary hip-hop producer J Dilla, a.k.a. James Yancey. After years of excellent behind-the-scenes production work, Dilla rose to fame as a member ... More >>

The GZA Performs Liquid Swords at the Echoplex, and the RZA and Killah Priest Make Cameos

In high school Spanish, freshman year, there was a skater named Steve who knew all of the words to Liquid Swords. I sat next to him - more like diagonally behind him - at an angle that both afforded me a prime sightline to the small BIC explosions he'd set off inside of his huge JNCO pockets (fillin ... More >>

Madlib To Kick Off Album-A-Month Series At Good Hurt Thursday [MP3]

(stonesthrow.com)​It's no secret that L.A.'s best-kept secret, hip-hop producer extraordinaire Madlib, is a prolific dude. During the aughts, he helmed upwards of 20 albums operating under numerous pseudonyms -- Quasimoto, DJ Rels, Yesterday's New Quintet -- and released a handful of classics ... More >>

The 10 Best L.A. Albums of the ’00s

From Beck and Dilla to Fiona, Jenny and Quasimoto, a mishmash decade of Southern California sounds

10 Hip Hop Highlights of 2009, from Doom to Raekwon to Antipop and Beyond

Top of the Hip-Hop Or, how Dan LeRoy learned to stop worrying and love da bomb.   While year-end, catch-all wrap-ups are common to every musical genre, in no other style of music do they turn into the hand-wringing, "state of the game" examinations that hip-hop seems to provoke. (I've certainly wr ... More >>

YouTube Wildcard: Los Angeles Music Clips from Around the Web

There's no way we can cover it all. We try, but, as you well know, West Coast Sound misses a lot of music events every week. We just can't cover them all. But YouTube can, and it's got its own beautifully random tastes. Herewith, stuff that happened recently that we missed, but others caught. Wil ... More >>

Over the Weekend: Flight of the Conchords, Gary Busey at Point Break Live!, Dazed and Confused at Hollywood Forever Cemetery and more

There's nothing more depressing than the end of a long holiday weekend (except the hangover, of course, which is why you should try this remedy). In addition to the WTFBBQs and beach parties, we caught Flight of the Conchords at the Greek, hung out with Gary Busey at Point Break Live!, and inhaled s ... More >>

Weiss' 50 Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2008 (#50-26)

Over the next two weeks, myself and a very talented cadre of contributors will be emulating the book above. Unlike said tome, it won't cost money and you'll get free MP3s--which, presumably, serve a tangible purpose. Now go cry into your near-beer, Phillip Ardagh, you lovable rogue. 50. Redman ft ... More >>

The Year That Anticon Became a Label

After nearly a decade of innovation, an influential hip-hop cooperative goes legit, relocates to L.A.

The B-Sides: The Knux Interview

The Many Moods of Rock the Bells

Hip-hop's been in a lull. Meet the new torchbearers

E-Harmony: Daedelus' Love to Make Music To

L.A.-based producer-composer's new LP recalls the bliss of rave culture

How Autechre Got Their Groove Back

The English duo mine their past for advice on how to go forward

Mixed Messages

The mixtape scene slowly rebounds nearly a year after DJ Drama’s bust

Bells On Parade

Public Enemy, Wu-Tang Clan, Rage against the Machine and more at Rock the Bells

Rock Picks: Detroit Cobras, Gore Gore Girls, MF Doom, Squeeze

For the week of August 9 – 16

stones throw discog

Rebel Central

The fantastical real-life story of L.A.’s Stones Throw Records, a hip-hop legend in the making

DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, Madlib, Jurassic 5, Dilated Peoples, MF Doom—No Shit!

Killah on the Road

Ghostface returns to the streets — and his own inner weirdo — on Fish Scale

Thank You, J Dilla

Where’s the Funny?

The year hip-hop forgot its dick can fly

Of Mice and Gorillaz

Panoramic producer Danger Mouse orchestrated some of 2005’s most memorable moments. He’s just warming up

Smash The Rock

Flying high with Daedelus

Into the Mix

This Is Our Music

The Napster museum of cultural heritage

Keep It Comin'