Rena Kosnett

5 Awesome Free Things To Do in L.A. This Week

See also: *Our Calendar Section, Listing More Great Things to Do in L.A. *5 Artsy Things to Do in L.A. This Week Fans of a good laugh, Tom Sizemore and the realm of the fantastic need not break their wallets this week. Check out these free offerings that make even the dullest weekday interesting, f ... More >>

Stephanie Miller's Sexy Liberal Comedy Tour

Michael LamontThe Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity​Kristoffer Diaz's comedy about television wrestling, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, just opened at the Geffen Playhouse. Check back on Tuesday for the review, and for capsule reviews for all other shows seen over the weekend. Check back thi ... More >>

Numero Uno Market Magnate Walks For Good After Feds Had Tried To Throw The Book At Him

Rena KosnettProperty owned by George Torres.​This guy had more charges than an iPhone and shadier friends than Tom Sizemore, but George Torres, founder of the Numero Uno markets and onetime alleged racketeer, is off the hook. Feds earlier this year withdrew RICO charges against him, and now th ... More >>

Extended Interview: Richard Swift Not a "Rock and Roll Romantic"

Richard Swift. Photograph from the album Richard Swift As Onasis. This is the extended interview from Rena Kosnett's article on prolific musician Richard Swift. L.A. Weekly: Was there a strategic purpose, or a goal, in releasing Ground Trouble Jaw for free? Richard Swift: I think it was void of ... More >>

Richard Swift's One-Man Genre

The prolific singer, whose music defies categorization, creates sounds in his own, Swiftian style

F Yeah: Frickin' Yes in the Summertime

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

Record Reviews: Inara George and Van Dyke Parks, Darker My Love

Also, Hawthorne Heights, the Starlite Desperation

Flyers of the Week: Dirty Sailor / Sunset Junction

This flyer is just a thing of beauty. MJ's has been hopping lately. Thumping bass bleeds through the walls, and I catch glimpses of glistening shirtless man-flesh dancing on a tiny stage as I walk to Trader Joe's for bread and cat food like the 80 year-old lady that I am. Still, I thought it was j ... More >>

I See Hawks In L.A. with the Chapin Sisters @ The Echo 6.8.08

Photos by Rena Kosnett. Los Angeles' own country heroes, I See Hawks In L.A., celebrated the release of their 4th album, Hallowed Ground, at the Echo. The Chapin Sisters proclaimed their love for I See Hawks by singing a few numbers with the quartet before the guests of honor wrastled the mic. T ... More >>

Target Video @ MOCA, 6.7.08

Target Video screens a 2-hour compilation video at MOCA's Geffen Contemporary, as part of the CineMOCA festival. Photos by Rena Kosnett. Blood brothers: Germs drummer Don Bolles and the night's music programmer, Henry Rollins. The turn-out for the Target Video screening was solid, mostly 30 and ... More >>

Mark Mothersbaugh: On the Cutting Edge of Designer-Wallpaper Chic

Climbing the walls

Developmental Disorder: More on "Doomscraper"

Plus, "Nikki Finke is a badass," and other judgmental remarks

Record Reviews: Man Man, Tokyo Police Club, Roommate

Also, Langhorne Slim, Sub Rosa's Noise Anthology and MP3s

Yvonne Burke's Crumbling Kingdom

She was hailed as a black pioneer and hero. Did she sell out?

Riverside's Castle Park: Southern California's Minigolf Mecca

Splendor in the "grass" among pagodas, minarets and mine shafts

The Wasteland: Marisa Silver's novel The God of War

Tim & Eric's Awesome Show live @ the Echoplex 5.5.08

They're so sweet and innocent. Photos by Rena Kosnett. Writing about the experience of seeing Tim & Eric’s Awesome Show Great Job! live on tour would be akin to dancing about architecture—some weird, fucked up architecture. It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. One certainty is that ... More >>

Dodos, Akron/Family, Natural History Musuem, 5/2

Akron/Family, The Dodos, Natural History Museum First Fridays May 2, 2008 By Mark Mauer For the past couple of years, one of the best venues in town to see excellent live music has been the Natural History Museum. The Submarines, Plaid, Deerhoof, Matmos and others have played sets in the NHM's "La ... More >>

Yeasayer at the Ukranian Culture Center 4.25.08

I can’t freakin' wait until Yeasayer come back to Los Angeles. I feel itchy knowing that last Friday's show at the Ukranian Culture Center on Melrose was their only L.A. engagement. Yeasayer is one band that requires you to hold your impressions until you’ve seen their live performance. As ... More >>

Billboards Gone Wild: 4,000 Illegal Billboards Choke L.A.'s Neighborhoods

Is City Hall corrupt, or just inept?

Record Reviews: Usher, Lurker of Chalice

Also, The Dodos, Mezzanine Owls and more

Donald T. Sterling's Skid Row Mirage

The billionaire Clippers owner claims he's creating a major homeless center. He's not, but image is what counts.

The Gangsters of Drew Street, Glassell Park

Why neither God nor the police can stop them

City Hall's "Density Hawks" Are Changing L.A.'s DNA

Bitter homes & gardens?

Will the Next President Try to Out-green California?

A solar White House

As Props. 94-97 Pass, Tribes Tell Voters: How Dare You?

Sore winners turn Biltmore victory party into a complaint session

Record Reviews: The Mars Volta, Radar Brothers

Also: Vampire Weekend, Crystal Antlers

Jessie Evans with Toby Dammit at Bordello, 1/31/08

“Are we ready?” was the question Jessie Evans put to her drummer Toby Dammit right before she dropped her heavy, black winter coat to the Bordello stage floor, causing the crowd to inhale collectively at the sight of her costume underneath. (all photos by Rena Kosnett) Never has a country- ... More >>

Prop. S: The Revolution May Be Taxed

L.A. City Hall wants to tax your air. After all, it's an emergency

Bureaucrats Move to Silence South L.A. Black Neighborhood Group

Department of disempowerment

Crystal Antlers at High Voltage Party, Safari Sam's, 1/21/08

Crystal Antlers Safari Sam's, Jan. 21, 2008 The sparkling reputation of Long Beach’s Crystal Antlers drew me out to the High Voltage Magazine party at Safari Sam’s last night, and despite the clear lameness of the event (see below for unfortunate High Voltage missteps), Crystal Antlers deliver ... More >>

Will Alexander Benefit

Jan. 13 at Skylight Books

2007’s Best Untethered (Unprotected) MP3s

Singles streaming steady

Cave Singers at the Echo 12/4

Cave Singers Echo, Dec. 4 To call a spade a spade: I’ve been listening to the Cave Singers album Invitation Songs an appreciable amount over the last few weeks. And listening, and listening, and listening… It’s become borderline monomaniacal; the show at the Echo last night, though, did not ... More >>

Top of the Dome 4: Dia de Los Muertos

The Crewest Gallery downtown held their fourth annual Day of the Dead exhibit with more than 100 ceramic skulls painted, decorated, reassembled and sculpted by dozens of graffiti artists, tattoo artists and and designers. Rena Kosnett hit the opening on Saturday, November 3 and got these shots. More ... More >>

Jon Spencer, Jail Weddings at the Echo, 11/10

Heavy Trash, Jail Weddings The Echo, Nov. 10 Photos and review by Rena Kosnett I’m just trying to understand why Jon Spencer is doing this. This egomaniacal vanity study called Heavy Trash, which I could take for ironic stagecraft if I wasn’t under the impression that his inflated id is all t ... More >>

The Black Lips at the Troubadour, 10/19/07

(Photos by Rena Kosnett. Click here for more) The Troubadour got punked. The proliferation of stage jumpers, crowd surfers, beverage throwers, and scaffolding climbers that came out to see The Black Lips on Friday totally emasculated the Troubadour's large and normally austere bouncers. There we ... More >>

Live in L.A.

Beirut with Colleen and Alaska in Winter at Avalon, October 10

Beirut free show at Amoeba tonight

Missed the sold out Beirut shows? Ahh, lucky you. They're playing at 6:30 tonight at Amoeba Records. Go on over and check it out or read Rena Kosnett's review to convince yourself not to miss it. Photo by Rena Kosnett Amoeba will have a webstream of the performance on their website, but come o ... More >>

Best of L.A. 2007 Armageddon it!

The last things we'd ever do

Live in L.A.: Entrance at Safari Sam's, 8/3

Entrance are not who you think they are. They are not a quiet, mellow trio nipping at the heels of the psych-folk pack mule, despite their long hair, skinny limbs, pale skin and bare feet (which make them look like they're on their way to see the California country line-up at Topanga Days). As the ... More >>

Primp'n Hos

Uncovering the goods in Hollywood Boulevard’s legendary stripper-ware shops

Cut the Mustard

What to do with Griffith, the most misunderstood park in the land?

April 13, 2007

�Mas Suave! They�re handsome, charming and so good to their mothers. They�re Mexican American Princes, and they rule Los Angeles. By DANIEL HERNANDEZ

Hollywood Brush Fire

Photos and footage of the Friday afternoon fire in the Hollywood Hills

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