Randall Roberts

THEY WRITE ABOUT THE SONGS

Top Tape: Dublab DJs 'Spin' Cassettes at Calling All Kids Friday

The record will be sitting this one out.​Despite at least one spirited argument to the contrary, the audio cassette revival soldiers on, and this Friday, it has a home at the Hyperion Tavern in Silver Lake. One of LA Weekly's favorite clubs, Calling All Kids, will be teaming up with one of ou ... More >>

Rock Picks: The Strange Boys, Memory Tapes, Scout Niblett, Four Tet

Also, El Perro Del Mar, Phranc, Moonrats and others

Burger Records and the Lo-Fi Cassette Revival

We at West Coast Sound get a ton of mail, most of it consisting of CDs, press kits, and the occasional piece of vinyl. It arrives by the mound in those postal service bins, and though we love free stuff as much as the next music geek, all those plastic squares containing plastic circles pile high on ... More >>

The Grammy Awards, As Seen from the Staples Center Press Room

Last year we came down pretty hard on the numbskulls journalists in the press room at the Grammys, but would like to officially recant last year's unfair judgment. Specifically, for the record, this is what we said about what awaits the lucky Grammy winners backstage: ...their audience, a bunch of ... 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

Rock Picks: MIKA MIKO, SILVER PINES, OLIN & THE MOON, LIVING THINGS

Also, Tim Eriksen, Spaceland on Ice With Twilight Sleep, and others

Rock Picks: Amy Millan, Dirty Projectors, Chip Taylor, LA 101

Also, Pixies, Justice, the Happy Hollows and others

Michael Jackson's This Is It Premieres for the Press in Hollywood

If you're a MIcheal Jackson diehard, prepare to be thrilled -- and heartbroken yet again. This Is It, the new documentary created from film footage of Michael Jackson's rehearsals at the Staples Center and Culver Studios in advance of what was supposed to be his final 50-show run in London, provides ... More >>

Z-Trip Demos DJ Hero in Las Vegas, Honors DJ AM at Friday Night Residency Debut

Thursday, October 15, 6:50 p.m. Landed in Vegas, am on way to Palms Hotel from airport. In a half hour, the DJ Hero battle will begin: West Coast Sound vs. Z-Trip. Focus. I've had ten years to learn Technics technique. Countless hours in front of the decks, matching beats, absorbing breaks, tweakin ... More >>

Best of L.A.: Shopping

FYF Fest 2009: Parks and Inspiration

Event's new mission: Save Our State Parks (and deliver a mind-bending roster of punk, electronics and noise)

Rock Picks: Jon Brion, Andrew Bird, Tortoise, Vice Squad

Also, Beyonce, the Datsuns, the Veils, the Germs and others

Live From the Michael Jackson Memorial

LA Weekly Music Editor Randall Roberts is live-tweeting from the Michael Jackson memorial this morning through @laweeklymusic and @liledit. Here are some of his most recent observations: Jennifer Hudson just blew mariah off the stage. 8 minutes ago from TwitterBerry Tears in staples for lati ... More >>

Live From the Michael Jackson Memorial

LA Weekly Music Editor Randall Roberts is live-tweeting from the Michael Jackson memorial this morning through @laweeklymusic and @liledit. Here are some of his most poignant observations: Crowds gathered on overpases to catch a glimpse of the hearse half a minute ago from TwitterBerry Just bi ... More >>

Jerkin' at Avalon Hollywood: A Dance Primer on a Budding Craze

Last Saturday, while down the street on Hollywood Boulevard throngs were lined up around Michael Jackson's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and celebrating his music and dance moves, the Avalon played host to an amazing dance contest that would have made the King of Pop proud. While a few blocks a ... More >>

Video Exclusive: Ozomatli in Burma, Where Cameras Are A Loaded Weapon

Last month I was lucky enough to travel with Ozomatli as they toured Southeast Asia, where they did outreach programs and concerts organized and financed by the U.S. State Department. I wrote a feature on the trip, which appears as the cover story in this week's issue. As well, in addition to being ... More >>

Rock Picks: Electric Daisy Carnival, Explosion in the Sky, Rodriguez

Also, DAT Politics, Mika Miko, Etta James and others

Rock Picks: Daedelus, Peanut Butter Wolf, Femi Kuti, Isis

Also, The Choke, Nouvelle Vague, Wilco, Sunset Rubdown and others

Rock Picks: Erykah Badu, Peaches, The Church, Camera Obscura

Also, Au Revoir Simone, Patrick Wolf, The Field, Fortress of Amplitude and others

Rock Picks: Fol Chen, Moonrats, Brightblack Morning Light, Bachelorette

Also, the Curious Mystery, Graham Parker, Miss Derringer, Marduk and others

Ozomatli in Myanmar: Punk's Not Dead

Randall RobertsPunk's Not Dead scribbled on a wall in Yangon, Myanmar No, Ozomatli's not a punk band, at least not in the traditional sense -- though Uli Bella does have a Crass button pinned to his requinto jarocho strap -- but that doesn't mean they don't have the attitude. Long story short: I' ... More >>

Rock Picks: Iron & Wine, Mika Miko, the Vaselines, Extra Golden

Leslie & the Badgers, Scout Niblett, Theresa Andersson, Meat Puppets and others

Rock Picks: Black Lips, Maria Taylor, Audacity, Irina Bjorklund

Also, Gangi, Chris Cornell, Joe Lally, Useless Keys and others

Coachella Report, Friday, April 17: They Call Her Warrior Queen for a Reason

Randall RobertsA rolling, tantruming, fucking breakdown on the polo field: Warrior Queen is victorious We're going to provide a more detailed analysis of Warrior Queen's amazing sunset moment in the hours to come, but wanted to offer this quickie picture of her and collaborator The Bug's huge Gobi ... More >>

Coachella Day 1: I Carpathians and the Amazonian Assault of Warrior Queen

Randall RobertsAll hail the Queen Bret Easton Ellis once pointed out that the inhabitants of Los Angeles never stop babbling about the freeways. Then again, he penned, Less than Zero during the comparatively halcyon Tom Bradley days, prior to the total arteriosclerosis of the 405 and 101. Nowadays, ... More >>

Coachella Day One: Nothing's Happened Yet ...

Randall RobertsWill the VIP area feature as many silly headbands as last year? Stay tuned to find out. ... but if our calculations are correct and time keeps moving forward at the same rate it always does, in about five hours the tenth anniversary of Coachella will commence with a set by DJ Switch. ... More >>

Rock Picks: Mark Eitzel, Wanda Jackson, Dan Deacon, Heartless Bastards

Plus, Hecuba, James Pants, Angus & Julia Stone and others

Michael Jackson's Neverland Auction: An LSD Trip Without the LSD

Randall RobertsMichael Jackson welcomed us. Holy holy holy. Just got back from the press preview of the Julien's Auctions' impending Michael Jackson auction, which features hundreds of items from the King of Pop's collection. It is without a doubt the most surreal and disturbing and tragic and thr ... More >>

Rock Picks: Leonard Cohen, Wavves, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Britney Spears

Also, The Henry Clay People, Vetiver, Mad Professor and others

Over the Weekend: John Mayer's Cruise, Tom Morello's Justice Tour, Lucha VaVoom's Girlie Girl Catfight, Chris Anderson's "Venice"

It's only been a week since we returned from the deafening, drunken mayhem that was SXSW but that didn't keep us from spending our weekend cruising the concert circuit here in L.A. We'll sleep when we're dead (or when they cut off our bar tab). In addition to live performances by John Mayer, Tom Mor ... More >>

All Aboard John Mayer's Mayercraft Carrier 2: Jordin Sparks, Sara Bereilles, Gavin Rossdale, OAR, Guster (and the Mayer Himself)

Randall RobertsSpring-breaking with Mayer: A busload of women road-tripped to get on a ship with the man they love. John Mayer's going to get some action this week. Just, you know, in case you're wondering. He's come up with this plan, and it's called the Mayercraft Carrier 2, the sequel to last y ... More >>

SXSW Overview: Where We Were, What We Saw, What We Missed

View the SXSW archives for complete coverage . Randall RobertsStrange Boys drummer Matt Hammer at the Beauty Bar It's all a blur, but a few snapshots remain. Many who follow the fest, of course, were there and damn sure weren't anywhere near the Internets. We were. We were blogging. Over the past ... More >>

Screw Metallica: Southern Lord Showcase Kills at SXSW

Randall RobertsPelican rips it at the Southern Lord Records showcase I'm sure Metallica was great. They were good when I saw them at the LA Forum a few months back, where the dudes in the pit were in their typical testostero-frenzied state. And the indulgent 45-minute soundcheck that preceded their ... More >>

SXSW: The Unsung Power of the Analog Poster in a Twittering World

Randall RobertsCasxio, of LA, have a major presence at SXSW this year Casxio, the synthesizer dance pop band from LA, is on a lot of peoples' radar at this year's festival. And it's not because they've even necessarily performed a transformative show or anything (we've missed them thusfar, and appa ... More >>

Mess With Texas Party at Waterloo Park: The F-Yeah Fest Posse Hits SXSW, Pulls It Off Again?

Randall RobertsSaturday afternoon at the Mess with Texas party. Yes, they pulled it off. For the past three years, Sean Carlson and Keith Morris, in conjunction with Transmission Entertainers, the founders of Austin's renegade summer autumn Fun Fun Fun Fest, have thrown the Mess With Texas party ... More >>

SXSW Questionable Marketing Ideas #1: 'Affliction' Pillow Case

Randall RobertsWaking up with Affliction We don't know whether this was a Hilton Hotel exclusive or not, but everyone checking in received a special gift when they got their (Island/Def Jam/Mercury) keycard: a black and brown pillowcase with a screaming, crazy-looking eagle with its evil tongue sti ... More >>

Silversun Pickups Record Daytrotter Session at SXSW: A Glimpse from Inside the Studio

Randall RobertsBrian Aubert, in black, seated, and band/crew await their date with Daytrotter. For bands at South by Southwest, there's a lot of waiting involved. Yes, there's hustling, and unloading and reloading the van, and dealing with sound dudes on short notice when everybody's feeling a litt ... More >>

J Dilla's Legacy Honored at Luckman, Talib Kweli, De La Soul's Pos, Common, Others Make Surprise Appearances

Randall Roberts (with apologies to professional photographers everywhere)Miguel Atwood-Ferguson conducts his Suite for Ma Dukes at the Luckman Last night at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex composers/producers/musicians Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Carlos Nino debuted their "Suite for Ma Dukes," a colle ... More >>

The Perfect Bumper Sticker for Music Producers and Engineers

Spotted on a pole near Hollywood and Vine: Randall Roberts (with apologies to professional photographers everywhere)Fuck what? Anyone who's ever had a bummer experience with the industry standard Pro Tools software for recording and mixing will understand ....

This Week in LA Music: Victory Music, Eagles of Death Metal, Madonna, TV on the Radio, DJ AM and Spinnerette

all photos by Timothy Norris Something big happened that resulted in lots of great music echoing across the land, a Tuesday night became a virtual New Year's Eve, and we rejoiced, as we always do, with music. Erin Broadley snuck backstage and hung with the Eagles of Death Metal before their Jimm ... More >>

CD Underbelly: To Sell, or Not to Sell?

On Randall Roberts' "Confessions of a Promo-CD Junkie"

Rock Picks: DJ Quik, Alejandro Escovedo, Ratatat

Also, the Bad Plus, Amos Lee, Built to Spill, and more

Record Reviews: Beck, Abe Vigoda, Nico Muhly

Also, James McMurtry, Barn Owl

The Beginning of a No Age: Nouns

Simply put, the best punk album of the 21st century

Howling Over "Wolf Songs" and other letters

The Magic of David Lee Roth's voice, naked

Attention producers: I defy any of you to listen to this vocal track of David Lee Roth singing "Runnin' With the Devil" and not stumble across some sample-worthy snippet. Holy Toledo think of the remixes! The mashups! Those grunts are golden! (courtesy Chunklet) photo by Randall Roberts

Björk: Intruder Alert

Björk at Nokia Theatre, December 12

Just Another Night On The Strip

Costume contest at the Key Club Monday Night Havent been back to Metal Skool's Monday mash since I used to deejay the VIP room, and thankfully nothing's changed. KISS wanna-bes, half-naked nymphos, ironic 'staches, lil creepy guys trying to look up my dress... Okay it was their annual Halloween pa ... More >>

The Burning Man Returns

By Randall Roberts The Burning Man, which was prematurely torched by burner-assassin Paul Addis on Tuesday morning, has returned. This morning at about 11:30, a crane lifted what is now known as the Spawn of Burning Man into its rightful place at the center of Black Rock City. The soundtrack to ... More >>