Southern Lord

Henry Rollins Doesn't Smoke Marijuana. But He Has No Problem With It

[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.] If the spread of marriage equality wasn't enough good news for you, recreational use of marijua ... More >>

The Power of the Riff - Fonda Theater - 12/20/12

The Power of the Riff Fonda Theater 12/20/12 Better Than... counting down your Mayan advent calendar at home alone. Despite the US Government's attempt to convince us otherwise, we attended metal festival The Power of the Riff last night hoping that the end was, to quote 28 Days Later, "extremely ... More >>

The Five Best Concerts in L.A. This Week

Monday, December 17 The Moonbeams HEMINGWAY'S LOUNGE The Moonbeams' upcoming single might be titled "Life's a Circus," but the song is more mournful and foreboding than cheery or escapist. Lead singer Beck Black howls her bloody imprecations with a solemn, sullen intensity as drummer Adam Alt and g ... More >>

Music Picks: The Weeknd, That '70s Soul, Power of the Riff

The Five Best Concerts in L.A. This Weekend

Friday, August 10 Bomba Estéreo LEVITT PAVILION, MACARTHUR PARK Bomba Estéreo draw upon traditional styles of music like cumbia and champeta, but the Colombian quintet is too musically restless to be strict revivalists. Instead, band leader Simón Mejía pumps up their folkloric influences with h ... More >>

Music Picks: As Blood Runs Black, Kelly Hogan, Regina Spektor

Also, Agalloch, Antibalas, Power of the Riff and others

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

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

The Top Five Los Angeles Metal Shows of 2011

Audio Visual PhotographyAgalloch ​In the world of heavy metal, the most critical component for long-term success is a killer live show. Even back in the era before the record industry imploded, the bands that got the most devoted fan bases were the ones that could fucking bring it live. All of ... More >>

Power of the Riff - The Echo & Echoplex - 8/14/2011

Pentagram​What: Power of the Riff Where: The Echo and Echoplex When: 8/14/11 Better than: Listening to records and smoking pot in your mom's basement. The Power of the Riff at The Echo and Echoplex was a study in logistics: 19 bands, 2 stages, 1 day. Put on by Southern Lord, the gathering f ... More >>

The Power Of The Riff: Skip The Smoke Break For These Five Bands

Nathaniel ShannonPentagram vocalist Bobby Liebling​Last year, The Power Of The Riff festival packed hundreds of metal kids, hardcore kids, and old geezers that remember the tape-trading days of the 1980s into the Echo and Echoplex, partly due to the ability to offer free admission thanks to a ... More >>

Five Bands You Should Check Out If You Like Metal, But Hate Vocals

​You head over to a band's YouTube or Bandcamp page because your computer will never physically (or emotionally) recover MySpace giving it herpes, and Justin Timberlake be damned, you're never going back to THAT place. Very interesting things are happening with the guitars, drums, and bass, ... More >>

Over the Weekend: The Power of the Riff Festival at the Echo and Echoplex

Evil AlexCorrosion of Conformity's Mike Dean​ Nothing beats a free show, especially in today's economy. Which is why both the Echo and the Echoplex were full to capacity on Sunday, for a 12 hour eclectic mix of metal artists such as grindcore innovators Repulsion, Southern California hardcor ... More >>

Music Picks: BB King and Buddy Guy, Silversun Pickups, Hard Summer, W.A.C.O.

Also Lady Gaga, Frazey Ford, Whispertown 2000, Ludacris and others

Early Earth Day! Doom Metal Dirges by Earth and Wolves in the Throne Room at the Echoplex

Early Earth Day! Doom Metal Dirges by Earth and Wolves in the Throne Room Tonight at the Echoplex

East Coast Clobbers West Coast in 2009 Pazz & Jop Music Poll

Well, if you're keeping track at home, the so-called "west coast sound" got clobbered this year in the Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll of the year's best music. And when we say "clobbered," we actually mean "beaten to a bloody pulp." Consider this: In the list of the top 100 albums o ... More >>

Red Line Fever: It’s Casual

Coming to an off-ramp near you

INCHES010: New Wax fr. Pelican, James Pants, Foot Village, 60W Kid, MMC ( MP3s, video debut!)

In the unpredictable wake of music's digital rebirth, vinyl has experienced a modest boom in popularity, seen by many (with delicious irony) as a replacement for the awkward middleman that is the compact disc. INCHES seeks not only to review the output of L.A.'s healthy vinyl community (artists and ... More >>

Best of L.A.: Shopping

West Coast Sound Interviews Greg Anderson of Sunn 0))) and Southern Lord Records

East Hollywood-based metal imprint Southern Lord is one of the most respected independent record labels of the '00s, a solid, consistently-surprising label started by two men in the drone metal band Sunn 0))) -- Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley. Gisele VienneSunn 0))​ West Coast Sound rec ... More >>

House of the Holy: Sunn 0))) guitarist Greg Anderson on “Big Church” and Monoliths & Dimensions

This Week in LA Weekly: Jerkin', Sunn 0))), Amanda Blank, LA Ladies Choir, More

This week's hard copy of the LA Weekly is packed with useful music information, news, profiles, and music picks (if we do say so ourselves). Haven't gotten around to grabbing one yet? Here's what you'll see: Star ForemanLA Ladies Choir​ Jeff Weiss has written an in-the-trenches feature on th ... More >>

F-Yeah Fest Preps Line-Up, Announces a Walk-a-Thon (?), Promotes Volunteerism, and Sunn 0)))

The ever-busy, uber-productive Tasmanian devil that is Sean Carlson and his F Yeah Fest organization are gearing up for a busy next few months filled with rawk, charity, goodwill, rock, the F Yeah Fest, a tour, and a bunch of great shows. The most prominent of these endeavors will be the Septemb ... More >>

On Sunn 0)), 'Monoliths and Dimensions,' and The Epic Track "Big Church"

"Big Church" begins with a female chorus. Then a low-tuned distorted guitar powers up like a muscle car, and the juxtaposition between the chorale passage -- all altos and sopranos -- and the creeping guitar pattern -- baritone and bass -- is immense. Both move slowly and with great intent, beauty ... More >>

Rock Picks: Pelican, Herman Dune, Rasputina, Bill Frisell, Random Patterns

Also, the Rakes, Cold War Kids, Idan Raichel Project and others

SXSW: Who Would Leave Metallica for Black Cobra? Our Man in Austin

Randall Roberts Finds Himself in the Studio With the Silversun Pickups

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 >>

Southern Lord Records Announces Big-Ass SXSW Convergence (And Wolves in the Throne Room Live)

So the SXSW parties are all falling into place, and we'll be providing one jumbo list of all the LA-related stuff going down in Austin in a few weeks. It promises to be a strange festival; everybody is scaling back. Artists are asking for cash to play day parties they once did for free. Sponsorshi ... More >>

Record Reviews: Toumani Diabate, Wye Oak, Boris

Also, Wighnomy Brothers, HEALTH, Elbow

Record Reviews: Usher, Lurker of Chalice

Also, The Dodos, Mezzanine Owls and more

Neuromancers

Neurosis, Red Sparowes at the El Rey

New Doom Rising

Empire of Doom

How Hollywood’s one-man record label Southern Lord unchained mutant metal