Mecca

Leave Snoop Lion Alone

When Snoop Dogg started calling himself Snoop Lion last year, those who casually follow him (ie the entirety of the internet) collectively snickered. His embrace of Rastafarianism and journey to Jamaica -- resulting in April's Reincarnated -- has been widely criticized and mocked, by those in the kn ... More >>

5 Hottest Rental Neighborhoods in Los Angeles

Competition for apartments and rental homes in this town is fierce. At least according to the online rental marketplace Lovely, which crunched the numbers for L.A. recently. It found that a mix of upscale and hipster neighborhoods made up Los Angeles' most-competitive areas for people seeking to re ... More >>

5 Great Places to Drink at Lunch

It is often the case that the good old days weren't nearly as good or even as old as they seem. In fact, those days were once the crappy, boring, degenerate present, and many relics of the supposed good old days became relics for good reason. Then again, there are plenty of habits from yesteryear ... More >>

Wild Life Street Art Points To Hipsters, Gentrification Via Downtown L.A. Street Signs

Update: Despite our afternoon note yesterday that the art had been taken down, we found one piece that's still up. Photo at the very bottom. First posted at 2:25 p.m. Thursday. If you need help finding a hipster in downtown Los Angeles just spit and you'll hit one. Just in case however, with tongu ... More >>

Theater to See in L.A. This Week, Including Sherlock's Last Case

No new reviews this week, but these will return at the same time next week, as the new theater season gets underway. See below for complete listings of shows to see this week.In this week's stage feature, we asked our stable of critics what they most dread and anticipate when being assigned a s ... More >>

10 Best L.A. Restaurants That Closed in 2012: An Elegy in 10 Parts

The conclusion of every year is a time to catalog both beginnings and endings, to look back over what exactly happened in the twelve months now drawing to a close. Which means that we're getting a lot of lists -- thank you, David Letterman -- as we calibrate and recalibrate, and remember, or try to, ... More >>

San Diego Beer Week: Top 5 Events Worth The Drive South

To most Angelenos, San Diego is the kid sister of SoCal cities. But to beer lovers, San Diego is Mecca. Ten years ago, when L.A. was still trapped by endless Bud and Miller tap handles, San Diego brewers were over-hopping their suds, blowing palletes (and minds) and defining an entirely new west coa ... More >>

Where to Eat in L.A. According to L.A. Residents vs. The Wall Street Journal Other Publications

The Wall Street Journal recently ran a story about our city's culinary scene titled "Finding a Food Mecca in the West," pointing its readers to Sprinkles Ice Cream, Fonuts, Umamicatessen, 800 Degrees and ink.sack. And though we have little quibble with the amazing efficiency of 800 Degrees or a cup ... More >>

The Best Comeback to 'L.A. Is a Heavenly Place,' CNN's Embarrassing Love Note to Los Angeles

We're tickled, of course, that CNN thinks "L.A. Is a Heavenly Place." We do, too! But as so many L.A.-ophiles discovered upon actually reading the meat of the article, writer Jennifer Wolfe thinks of L.A. like a postcard, not the smoggy grimy wasteland we've come to call heaven. The piece is part ... More >>

10 Best Sandwiches in Los Angeles

So much can happen between two slices of bread. Practical, portable, difficult to define and nearly impossible to mess up entirely, the sandwich offers a broad canvas for the harried parent or the creative chef. John Montagu (aka the 4th Earl of Sandwich) could never have dreamed of the baroque monu ... More >>

Sundance Film Festival 2012: Detropia

​ The first image in Detropia, the excellent new documentary about the decline of Detroit from filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp), is of a conductor raising his baton to lead an orchestra. It's a clue that what we're about to see is a city symphony film, in the tradition of ... More >>

Umar Hakim's Muslim Faith Inspires His Fight for Social Justice -- and a Responsible Banking Ordinance

The offices of L.A. Voice, where Umar Hakim is in residency, are on the third floor of the First Baptist Church of Los Angeles. So when it comes time for Hakim to offer his daily prayers, he finds a quiet room, faces Mecca and turns his thoughts to God. "Most people don't object to prayer," he says ... More >>

Moshe Brakha, Legendary Photographer, Collaborates with Son on Project of Interviewing One Subject a Week for a Year

Black Flag, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Keanu Reeves and Devo have all been shot by famed photographer Moshe Brakha. Charismatically colorful from the start, his photographs burst with movement and personality. He shot the cover for Boz Scaggs' Silk Degrees album in '76, shot Run DMC for Rolling Stone, a ... More >>

30 Sandwiches in 30 Days: Cole's vs. Philippe's

The Cole's vs. Philippe's French dip rivalry may be the most one-sided rivalry since San Francisco vs. Los Angeles. (For the record, San Fran: We think you have a charming, walkable little burg with great bars and good, cheap burritos. We like to play there on weekends and extended holidays, then ... More >>

International Alchemy Conference: Getting Magickal and Mysterious in Long Beach

Tanja M. LadenDome and performance stage at the International Alchemy Conference​ Whether it's through Kundalini yoga, Vedic astrology, FengShui, Wicca or Kabbalah, the people of Los Angeles have always been willing to go to any lengths to find answers to the unexplained, especially with 2012, ... More >>

Fanatics! Henry Rollins to Play the Entire X-Ray Spex Album on KCRW This Saturday Night in Tribute to Poly Styrene!

Timothy Norris​KCRW BROADCAST #112 for Saturday, April 30. Fanatics! This week our Fanatic Freak Flag is at half mast as we say goodbye to Poly Styrene, great vocalist of X-Ray Spex, who passed away last Monday from breast cancer. The band was one of the first on London's break out Punk Rock s ... More >>

Adam Curtis' It Felt Like a Kiss

Q & A with Kaumudi Marathé: Regional Spices, Hot Oil Seasoning Marathi Cuisine

Melkon KhosrovianChef Kaumudi Marathé prepares dinner for an Un-Curry Table event.​Born in Pune, India, Kaumudi Marathé grew up all over the world. (Her parents loved to travel and took jobs in far-flung locales.) After her early years living on and off in Maharashtra, a central Indian state ... More >>

Los Angeles Takes A Wimpy 162nd Place In National Violent-Crime Rankings

LAPDUnlike the St. Louis PD, the LAPD gets to just chill with dogs​We like to think it's pretty rough out here on the streets of Los Angeles. It seems like every hour we hear about another murder or robbery at gunpoint. So why, in this year's annual CQ Press crime rankings, does the City of A ... More >>

Q & A With Alex Moreno: Nouveau Mulitas, La Taquiza Meets CASA

CASAchef Alex Moreno​CASA in downtown L.A. hasn't had an easy start. Barely a month after it launched in January 2009, chef Kris Morningstar decamped for Mercantile and District. The Mexican restaurant consistently draws happy hour customers but hasn't had much success cracking L.A.'s foodist ... More >>

Tokyo 7-7: The Diner That Time Forgot

Long before Culver City became a happening culinary Mecca, dotted with chic brasseries and wine bars, it belonged to humble eateries like Tokyo 7-7. Tucked in an alley off Washington Blvd., this Japanese-American diner sits in the shadows, literally and metaphorically, of half-a-dozen hip, ups ... More >>

Intelligentsia Coffeehouse Opens in Pasadena

A. ScattergoodIntelligentsia Pasadena​ As of 10 a.m. this morning, Old Town shoppers, itinerant off-duty baristas, embedded Pasadena food writers and refugees from the Rose Bowl now have a place to order an excellent macchiato on Colorado Boulevard. Intelligentsia Coffee, Doug Zell's Chicago-b ... More >>

Salt: the First (Ambiguous) Action Heroine

Angelina Jolie's contradictions buoy an otherwise rote movie

Where Punk Meets Glam: An Interview with Murderdolls' Joey Jordison and Wednesday 13

[Also see the review by Full Metal Jackie and Alex Distefano of Thursday's Murderdolls show at the Key Club.] Taking a few minutes before a headlining show at the Key Club in Hollywood, Joey Jordison and Wednesday 13 took time to give the LA Weekly insight into the much anticipated second Murderdol ... More >>

Interview: Nikki McClure on Illustrating with an X-Acto Knife

Based in Olympia, Washington, Nikki McClure is an artist with roots in the Pacific Northwest indie music scene of the 1990s, having worked with both K Records and Kill Rock Stars. Her medium of choice is cut-paper illustration, which she creates using an X-acto knife. McClure's latest project is Mam ... More >>

Consumer Reports Tells You How to Store Produce: They'll Rate Appliances AND What's Inside Them

ConsumerReports.orgAutomatic coffee makers, 1958​I don't know about you, but when I was a kid we read the Sears, Robuck catalog, the Farmers' Almanac and Consumer Reports like kids now read Harry Potter or Manga comicbooks. Okay, the windswept prairie circa 1960-whatever was not a cultural Mec ... More >>

Guantánamo’s Final Days

America prepares to shutter the infamous prison camp, and jihad looms

Tonight at the Smell: The Godfather of Indie, K Records' Calvin Johnson

Among Calvin Johnson's many accomplishments over the course of his illustrious career: He was part of the petri dish that morphed into Sub Pop Records in the early 1980s. He founded K Records in 1982, a label that has gone on to release some of the first and best recordings by Beck, Bikini Kill, ... More >>

Rock Picks: Digable Planets, Pigeon John, the Wedding Present, Prima Donna

Also, Josh Rouse, the Raconteurs, Chicha Libre and more

Falling Sky: Athol Fugard's Victory

The playwright's latest premieres in Los Angeles

Victory

Theater Reviews: Lost Angeles, Point Break, This Lime Tree Bower

Also this week's pick, The Wreck of the Unfathomable

To Live and Die (But Not Show) in L.A.

Jason Rhoades, 1965–2006

Dance Club Listings

For February 24 - March 2

Dance Club Listings

Dance Club Listings for Feb. 17-23

Rock & Pop Listings

For February 10 - 16

Portals to Other Worlds

L.A.’s comic book stores: A driving guide

Jazz Pilgrimage

What kind of idiot’s never seen Sonny Rollins?

Tehran Nights

Paradise Created

Mysterious, private and sensual . . . the backyard in Los Angeles

Peeking Through the Stage Door

Behind the scenes of Athol Fugard’s newest play

If It Happened Here

A bioterrorism attack on Los Angeles might look a lot like this

The Year In Music

Permanent Groove

Our Town

Inglewood, once more with feeling

The Scalpel Squad

The people, forces and money behind the latest plan to cut up L.A.

War Talk: Reserve Judgment

It’s the Oil

For all of punditry’s hot air, the root cause remains the same

All Grown Up

Female Trouble

Artificial insemination, adultery, the dark forces of otherworldly evil, et cetera