Spank Rock

What the Hell Is Trap Music (and Why Is Dubstep Involved)?

You may have heard the term "trap music." You may even realize that what people are calling "trap music" today (which sounds a whole lot like dubstep) is not necessarily what people were calling "trap music" a few years ago. See also: Flying Lotus' Nocturnal Visions: Once believing himself destined ... More >>

Music Picks: Shelby Lynne, Marsha Ambrosius, John Scofield Quartet, Wiz Khalifa

Also, Leon Russell, Chris Brown, Azar Lawrence Quintet and others

NIGHTRANGER: FACES & PLACES

Franki Chan Talks Check Yo' Ponytail, Steve Aoki, and The End of Electro

Lina Lecaro The "final" Check Yo with Erol Alkan at the Echoplex 2 years ago. ​In our years covering the popular dance party Check Yo' Ponytail (which started at the now-defunct Safari Sam's) we always felt the best thing about it was the mix of patrons: from ironic indie rockers to day-glo-ga ... More >>

Tonight: Kele, Ratatat, Funeral Party, the Parson Red Heads, Furthur, Efterklang

Kele​It's been a revelatory year or so for Kele Okereke. His band Bloc Party put on the brakes in 2009, announcing mid-tour that they were going on hiatus. (Surprise.) He quickly retreated to a London studio to make a solo album, The Boxer. (Surprise.) This spring he came out in Butt magazine ... More >>

Nightranger: Studs and Poses

Dance Documentary 'The Electro Wars' Nearly Neglects Los Angeles Scene for a NY-Centric View

​ If the frustrating new documentary The Electro Wars gets any kind of notable media attention (it gives major shout-outs to the significance of music blogs, so we're guessing it will), we guarantee "the war" will end with more than a few artist and DJ casualties and no Jedi mind trick will pr ... More >>

DJ Q&A: A Few Questions For Diplo, Who Espouses NYC 'Gay Vogue House.' Really.

Diplo: Mad for Gay Vogue House​Perhaps more than any other artist, Philadelphia-bred spinner Diplo opened the electronic dance music scene to global, non-linear music and ushered in its hipster era. His dub, world and Brazilian influences are well-represented on his mixtapes and in his partner ... More >>

The Continuing Adventures of Squeak E. Clean

The star-studded N.A.S.A. project by L.A.'s best-connected producer gets a remix

ODB Lives!: N.A.S.A. Releases New Video for Ol' Dirty Bastard, Karen O, and Fatlip Track

N.A.S.A. Releases New Video for Ol' Dirty Bastard, Karen O, and Fatlip Track

Music Picks: Goldfrapp, Concrete Blonde, Sally Seltmann, Black Francis

Also, Electric Daisy Carnival, the Adicts, Lou Barlow and others

Rage Against the Machine, Sonic Youth, Massive Attack and Many Others Push for Boycott Against Arizona Law

​(Via Billboard) A number of influential musicians and other artists have now joined their voices to the organized repudiation of the recent immigration legislation in Arizona. The following names have been posted on the website thesoundstrike.net endorsing a boycott of Arizona, most likely b ... More >>

Interview: Armand Van Helden 'Doesn't Get' Lady Gaga, But He Tries

Few DJs have ridden the wild waves of club-land as long as Armand Van Helden has and still survived with their careers intact. The New York spinner's anchor is soul, disco and hip-hop, and no matter how far dance music drifts from its roots, he's in the mix, a buoyant reminder of where it all comes ... More >>

Rock Picks: J. Tillman, Peaches, Japandroid

Also, Franklin Bruno, the Vic Chesnutt Band, the Moore Brothers and others

Larry Tee Talks: 'L.A. Has a Better Club Scene Than New York'

Larry Tee has floated through contemporary club history like Forrest Gump on ecstasy, seemingly everywhere you'd want to be. Growing up in Atlanta, he hung out with R.E.M. and co-wrote fellow Atlantan Ru Paul's 1992 hit "Supermodel (You Better Work)." In 1990s New York he became a DJ on the club kid ... More >>

Amanda Blank: Philadelphia Freedom

MC knows no genre boundaries, has little reverence for copyright, and easily surfs between street and camp

N.A.S.A. Unveils Great New Video for 'Whachadoin' Featuring M.I.A., Santigold, Spank Rock, Nick Zinner

What could West Coast Sound possibly write that would do this video justice? It features Spank Rock, MIA, Santigold and Nick Zinner. Need we say more? N.A.S.A - "Whachadoin?" Video

Producer/DJ Switch Interviewed: On M.I.A., Santigold, Major Lazer, Amanda Blank and 'Fidgit House'

British-based Switch is one artist who lives up to his name. Known in the super-club world for his left-field, tech-flavored up-tempo sets, the DJ born as Dave Taylor has also become a certified name-brand pop producer, having working with the likes of M.I.A., Diplo, Santogold and up-and-coming rap ... More >>

Skeet Skeet? Keep an Eye Out for Post-Coachella Cameos

N.A.S.A.'s DJ Squeak E. Clean: Ready for Liftoff

Teams with Tom Waits, David Byrne, MIA, Santogold, Spank Rock, RZA, Ghostface Killah, Kanye West and others to create The Spirit of Apollo

Marcus Schulz, Dragstrip 66, Devlin & Darko of Spank Rock

From Cool Kids to Kanye: Top 10 Hip-Hop Albums Of 2008

By Dan Leroy A couple of weeks ago, an expert on the Harry Potter series told an audience of high school kids how lucky they were to have this Big Shared Experience--these seven books and 41,000 words in common. What does Harry Potter have to do with hip-hop in 2008? In an age when many year-end ... More >>

The B-Sides: The Knux Interview

The Many Moods of Rock the Bells

Hip-hop's been in a lull. Meet the new torchbearers

Wax On, Wax Off

Car wash, yeah; pole-dancing queen; photo Zone at Drkrm

They Blinded Us With Scions: L.A. Riots Among Bands Entering Corporate Marriages

A car company recruits rising stars of the L.A. music scene to help sell autos. Who's buying?

Franki Chan

Hipsters heart him

Good Times Never Seemed So Good: Snapshots From Coachella

From the express train to the Gobi Tent to the VIP and beyond

Coachella Day One: Walk the Line

I hate lines. They're somewhere in the lower rungs of my own personal inferno along with club kids in fedoras, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the abstract concept of valet parking. Unfortunately, entering Coachella brings me into contact with three of those four food groups as quite often, while wai ... More >>

Bob the Lefsetz vs. Antony & the Johnsons. ALSO, some words about Coachella.

Why we love Antony and why we hate Coachella.

2007: Outta Sight

Falling, spinning, shining stars and the year's most stellar parties

Licensed to Ill

In The Hood

If I hear Outfield’s "Your Love,” one more time I’m gonna hurl. It’s definitely this year’s answer to Hall & Oates’ “I Can’t Go For That”- the ironic, catchy yet cheesy sing-a-long pop–rock anthem of choice for deejays right now, and a fave with today’s dance floor fiends who p ... More >>

Mix and Mash

Neighborhood Music Fest and Nocturnal Festival

Indie Spin

Are you ready for this jelly?

Sam Lanni

It's a jungle out there

Coachella And the Cure for the Common Festivalitis

The Gospel According to Cee-Lo

The poet of Gnarls Barkley reveals the broken-but-beating heart of an unlikely hit

Spankrocked

I had my ass seriously Spankrocked afterhours at the Echo on Friday night, and it hurt pretty good. We were forced to stand outside for an hour in the nasty cold winds because some monkey at the Echo had forgotten to print the will-call list. But it was worth the hypothermia just for the ser ... More >>

The Year Blogs Got Lame, Business Got Hip and Nostalgia Was King

Rock PIcks

For the week of December 7 - 14

Spank Rock, Wolfrock and Honest Hips