Portland (Oregon)

The Best West Coast Christian Rappers in History

Christian hip-hop has had an important presence on the West coast for many years now, although the genre continues to bleed into the secular industry. Even its biggest star, Lecrae, seems to be poising himself for a mainstream invasion. Hey, everyone wants to stay culturally relevant; after all, one ... More >>

Exclusive: A Disgruntled Label Exec Spills the Beans About Taylor Swift's Insane-Sounding New Album

Big news: Young country-pop starlet Taylor Swift took a bit of time out from making the "Who me?" face to record another album. Red, out October 22, is about "relationships and breakups," according to Swift, and its first single is called (no shit) "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together." She's be ... More >>

10 Best Pizza Restaurants in Los Angeles

From our 2012 Restaurant Issue, celebrating everything pizza in L.A. 10. 800 Degrees Not since Bill Walton led the Bruins to a 30-0 record have UCLA students had such good reason to rejoice. Westwood's newest pizzeria, a fast-casual concept dreamed up by Umami guru Adam Fleischman, is open until 2 ... More >>

Mom at Justin Bieber Concert: Heart-Shaped Gondola Destroyed My Hearing

OMG, it's Biebs and his heart-shaped gondola! Can Justin Bieber's music actually destroy your hearing? A Portland, Oregon, mom claims that it's done just that -- filing a lawsuit yesterday alleging that she suffered "hearing loss, severe tinnitus and hyperacusis" in both ears after enduring a July ... More >>

Music Picks: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Esperanza Spalding, Jack White

Also, the Crystelles, Arturo Sandoval, Backbiter and others

Is Huntress Frontwoman Jill Janus Too Hot To Be Metal?

Huntress's debut album, Spell Eater, doesn't arrive until later in the month, but people are already talking shit about the Los Angeles group's frontwoman, Jill Janus. The band, otherwise composed of men, plays a galloping blend of Judas Priest-inspired traditional metal and classic thrash, while Ja ... More >>

Josh Macciello Convinced L.A. He Was in Line to Buy the Dodgers. But He Was Really a Fraud

Ace Hotel Comes to Downtown Los Angeles: Hipsters Rejoice

As if downtown could take one more hipster, the Ace Hotel chain is opening a venue on Broadway. Post-hangover, you might retain some memory of the Ace Palm Springs bar from your last trip to Coachella: Yeah, that place. The office of City Councilman Jose Huizar this week announced the development ... More >>

Music Picks: Skrillex, Diplo, Wu-Tang Clan, The Health Club

Also, Art Lande, Albert "Tootie" Heath, Gilad Hekselman, The Stitches, The Villains and others

Henry Rollins: The Column! My Travels With Dinosaur Jr. 


[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.] See also: Henry Rollins: The Column! Of Rock and Dinosaurs I am on the road with Dinosaur Jr. ... More >>

Occupy L.A.: The Revolution Is Being Televised

After 46 arrests for civil disobedience, Occupy L.A. feels its oats

Henry Rollins: The Column! A Modest Proposal: Occupy Music Festivals

​[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.] Does music have the power to cause real change? Several times in my life I have been as ... More >>

Rum Cannonball: The Life Aquatic's Mythical Drink on Bill Murray's Birthday

Bill Murray as explorer Steve Zissou in The Life Aquatic​1 hour and 26 minutes into Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, as he's about to lead a daring raid on the decrepit Hotel Citroën, Bill Murray pauses and tosses off the line (one of many throwaway lines in the film): "They ... More >>

Farrell's Expands Maybe Huntington Beach

Guzzle & NoshTwo ice cream sundaes flank the iconic drum at Farrell's in Santa Clarita.​Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour, our favorite place to eat a 50-scoop sundae served by teenagers in pinstriped vests and fake straw boaters, is expanding. Farrell's yesterday announced it will open two new Sout ... More >>

Staff Meals: 10 L.A. Chefs/Restaurateurs Recall the Best and Worst

Picasa user KeithChefs eating​"I never had a bad staff meal," said former Palihouse chef Gary Menes. "I'm very grateful for all the chefs I've worked for. They don't have to do it. It's not mandated by law that they have to feed us, or the waiters. That's their generosity, and I humbly accept ... More >>

Community Watchdog Cary Brazeman Fights Villaraigosa's Crusade to Allow Development Everywhere

L.A.'s postwar zoning code on the chopping block

Trashcan Sinatras: John Douglas Talks House Gigs, Requests and Tours

Liz OhanesianTrashcan Sinatras backstage at McCabe's​ It's a familiar situation for those of us who go to see live bands frequently. We get so caught up in the haze of a really good show that the details become blurry. Time passes and we forget songs and maybe bits of banter that we so loved a ... More >>

Top 10 Men With Meat Names

Men With Meat Names is an ad-hoc website that lists, you guessed it, men with meat names. We compiled the ten best into one, easy-to-read top-10 list for your reading (or is tasting?) enjoyment. Are the photos a bit large? Sure they are, but you don't want to see tiny thumbprint shots of these guys, ... More >>

Nosaj Thing Remixes The xx, Plots 'Magical Properties Tour' with Daedelus and Jogger [MP3]

We've been preaching the gospel of Nosaj Thing, Jogger and Daedelus individually and as a pack for a long time now, and now the fearsome LA three is converging around a mission: to make a half-circle around the continent. Beginning (where else?) in Palm Springs, the three acts, all part of Daedel ... More >>

PEEK AT PUSSY FOR THE RIGHT PRICE

A Web site you can dig your claws into

"Stuff On My Cat" Website For Sale: Thousands Of Unpublished Cat Photos Could Be Yours

Photo courtsey of StuffOnMyCat.comThousands more like this could be yours! Attention all you who like cats, stuff, and stuff on cats: the website "Stuff On My Cat" is up for sale. Mario Garza, the website's creator, was 20 years old when he started the site. He is 24 years old now. Four years and ... More >>

THE OUTSIDERS

The Bird and the Bee Announce Leno, Kimmel Appearances, Offer First Glimpse of New Album

LA's The Bird and the Bee have been doing rehearsal gigs around town for the past couple months, so it's not like you haven't had ample opportunity to catch them live. But in anticipation of their upcoming second full-length, Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future, the duo of Inara George and Greg Kurs ... More >>

L.A. Weekly's "Top Seven Music Things of the Year That Weren't Compact Discs" List

Michelle Williams Finds a Safe Haven With Outsider Director Kelly Reichardt on Wendy and Lucy

The wanderers

Yosi Sergant and the Art of Change: The Publicist Behind Shepard Fairey's Obama Hope Posters

The facilitator talks Obama, art, the DNC and Fairey's Denver arrest

F Yeah: Frickin' Yes in the Summertime

This weekend's fest offers a glimpse into the future of rock & roll

¡Ask a Mexican! the Dating Gain

Dear Mexican: Why do so many of my peers assume I must have low self-esteem just because I’m dating a Mexican guy?

Rock Picks: The Slits, Squiddo, Electrocute

For the week of August 2 - 9

Rock Picks

For the week of March 8 – 15

Earth to ELF: Come In, Please

Does the radical environmental group really exist?

Nature Boy

Leaving Bush Behind

Companies make peace with Kyoto Protocol

Another View of Elliott Smith

LAPD detectives seek advice on singer’s cause of death

The Final Moments of Elliott Smith’s Life

Autopsy reveals details of argument with girlfriend

The Elliott Smith Mystery

Coroner’s Office can’t determine how the singer died

Excelegant

Radical Mamas

Made in the USA, Part III: US Government Agency Listings

Remnants of the Day

Beyond Bernie

The future nears for the LAPD

A Dossier of Desperate Measures

Godspeed offshoots light the fuse.

Letters

Letters

Panic Time

The days, and the electoral votes, dwindle down

Raising Santa Monica

Groundbreaking plan would double low-wage pay

Heart Beats

Kid Loco's love song

The Arroyo Special

The Blue Line is a damned good idea — that costs too damned much

Lap dancers

Lap dancers win right to be treated as employees

Crime Takes a Bite Out of Riordan

As numbers go down, fed funds go elsewhere