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Flooding Kept Me From Going to the Juicy J Concert and OMG Kill Me

[Editor's Note: Shea Serrano sometimes writes about Why This Song Sucks, and sometimes about his hilarious and poignant life and times. Better put your shoes on because your socks are about to be blown off.] Saturday was to have been maybe the greatest day that's ever been because Juicy J was in to ... More >>

The Mystery of Shuggie Otis

Gone for nearly four decades, the celebrated singer-songwriter is back. But where has he been?

Exclusive: KCRW to Relaunch Metropolis with Original Host Jason Bentley

Electronic music program Metropolis is returning to KCRW with its original host Jason Bentley, West Coast Sound can exclusively report. The dance music show, which Bentley created and hosted from 1992 to 2008, will air Saturdays from 10pm to midnight, starting this Saturday. Bentley will maintain hi ... More >>

Why Does Spotify Keep Ripping People Off?

Ten dollars a month is a small price to pay for practically every piece of recorded music except The Beatles. Which is why, late last year, I signed up for Spotify. Only two months in, however, I was out, and feeling like I'd been ripped off. Turns out I'm not the only one. See also: What Are You ... More >>

How to Become a Music Snob In Four Simple Steps

I'm not going to begrudge anyone for not knowing who Coachella headliners The Stone Roses are. The simple fact is that their first album, (the only one that really matters), came out in 1989. If you're in college now, you most likely weren't even born then. Plus, The Stone Roses were a bigger deal i ... More >>

The Best Concerts in L.A. This Week

Monday, January 21 Baron von Luxxury, Yellow Alex, Yung Skeeter THE SATELLITE Electro-pop comes in splendiferous shapes and sizes. And Baron von Luxxury brings the wicked-wit version, in which DeBarge, ELO, Hall & Oates and other formerly uncool '80s soul stylists float through the disco in super-s ... More >>

Music Picks: FIDLAR, Muse and Lady Gaga

Why EDM Is Thriving While Other Genres Are Sinking

DJs are the new rock stars? Maybe. (Although chefs are already the new rock stars.) Still, the big name DJs do seem to be living pretty large, what with the constant travel to exotic locations, goofily-clad fans, eager women, drugs and parties. Just swap MacBooks for guitars and it doesn't look so d ... More >>

Holy Ship!! Wrap-Up: It Was the Best of Times....

There were a lot of grim faces on Monday morning as the electro-loving masses emerged off the MSC Poesia -- aka the EDM party boat Holy Ship!! -- and did a slow zombie shuffle through U.S. customs and back into the real world (aka Fort Lauderdale). Here in the industrial port the sky was overcast, a ... More >>

Quit Hating on Kings of Leon, Even If You Disliked "Sex On Fire"

[Editor's Note: Fuck Guilty Pleasures celebrates the over-produced, commercial, artless, lowbrow music that we believe is genuinely worthwhile. Like, among the best music ever.] I have several friends who should ostensibly like everything about Kings of Leon, but they strongly dislike the Nashville ... More >>

Is Music Site Uncool Cool Enough to Get Funding?

Music writers David Greenwald and Daniel Siegal want to create a site for in-depth music reporting and criticism, and they want to pay writers a fair wage to do that work. Sort of like the L.A. Weekly's music section, but they want to do it minus the kind of pageview-driving clickbait -- listicles a ... More >>

If Enya's Music Doesn't Soothe You, You're Probably Not Human

[Editor's Note: Fuck Guilty Pleasures celebrates the over-produced, commercial, artless, lowbrow music that we believe is genuinely worthwhile. Like, among the best music ever.] On South Park, Enya is portrayed as a horrible joy-sucking presence in pop-culture. Her music actually forces Stan to com ... More >>

Drip.FM Is HBO for Music Nerds

[Editor's note: Jeff Weiss's column, "Bizarre Ride," appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday. Be sure to also check out the archives.] It's hard to pinpoint the date when the music industry stopped speaking like a shell-shocked trench poet, but the sky quietly quit falling. Last year, album sal ... More >>

Music Picks: Hootenanny, The Moonbeams, Kamasi Washington

Also, Eleni Mandell, Endermen, The Lions

Conan O'Brien's Workout Mixtape: Stuff White People Like

Last week, we received the following press release: "Curious on how Conan O'Brien maintains his lean physique? It takes hours and hours in the gym -- and to keep his energy up, Conan needs the right kind of music. We we cornered Coco and got him to reveal what's thumping in his headphones while he ... More >>

Hey, Moron! Why Are You Recording Concerts on Your iPhone?

Rebecca Haithcoat​People who record shows on their iPhones baffle me. At the Jay-Z and Kanye West show in November, a dude took it to a new level by recording practically the whole thing on his iPad. I was reviewing the show and had a seat on the floor, which went for $250. The guy with the i ... More >>

Alabama Shakes - Troubadour - 1/25/12

Aaron FrankBrittany Howard of the Alabama Shakes​Alabama Shakes Troubadour 1/25/12 Last night the Troubadour was packed with folks out past their bedtimes. They came from record labels, radio stations, music licensing companies, newspapers, and even Spoon. (Hi, Britt!) They were there to see ... More >>

What Are You Listening to on Spotify? Guess What, Nobody Cares!

In the late aughts and the early teens, or whatever we're calling these decades, streaming music and social media began to merge; this, the geniuses of Silicon Valley, Alley, and Beach declared, would be utopia. Not only would it rain cash, but everyone's musical taste would improve. And thus soon, ... More >>

Music Picks: Matthew Sweet, Summer Darling, Billy Childs Quartet, Rusko,

Also, The Aggrolites, Kris Bowers, Chasing Kings, Asher Roth and others

Four Tet - Low End Theory - 12/21/11

Aaron FrankFour Tet​See Also: *Our oral history of Low End Theory *Teebs: Flying Lotus' Former Roomie Speaks On Loss And Art Four Tet Low End Theory 12/21/11 Better Than... John Wall and David Guetta's heralded Spotify Playlists. Let's face it: straight vinyl DJ sets can either be delight ... More >>

Top Ten Los Angeles Metal Albums of 2011

Harassor​There was a lot that was great on the metal scene in 2011, from The Big Four's show in April to Prosthetic Records picking up U.S. distribution for Norway's Indie Recordings. (Dear Prosthetic, please get Shining over here for a tour next year). Sure, the closing of The Blvd. Cafe in B ... More >>

Erykah Badu - The Wiltern - 12/8/11

​See also: Erykah Badu Responds to D.O.C., Speaks On Their Private Life Together Erykah Badu The Wiltern 12/8/11 From landmark debut Baduizm -- which helped defined the neo-soul movement -- to the more recent electronic and hip-hop inspired material created with producers Madlib, 9th Wonder ... More >>

Drake, Maroon 5 and Busta Rhymes - Google Music Launch Party - 11/16/11

Lina Lecaro ​See also: *Fuck Guilty Pleasures: Drake Is An Incredible Lyricist *Funky Homosapiens: The Best Rapper Names Of All Time "Today the climate changes!" proclaimed Busta Rhymes to a horde of Hollywood hipsteratti and actor/model types inside the gaudy, graffiti-swathed walls of stre ... More >>

UNTAPPD: New Beer App Makes Drinking (Virtually) Social

​A little late for last year's check-in app rage, but just in time for the third annual LA Beer Week comes another new Android and iPhone app for beer geeks and casual macro-enjoyers alike. UNTAPPD started out last year as a web app that allowed users to share their current beer choices with ... More >>

To MOG Or Not To MOG? We Test All The Damn Streaming Music Sites Using The Highly-Scientific Captain Beefheart Method

​See also: Spotify: The Honeymoon's Over Which Is Better: Spotify or Grooveshark? With MOG's big roll out last week, your options for streaming music sites are more numerous than ever. Its main rivals are Jango, Spotify, Rhapsody, AOL Music, Rdio, Last.fm, and Grooveshark, and competitions i ... More >>

Prosthetic Records Is The Third L.A. Metal Label To Pull Their Catalog Off Of Spotify

Skeletonwitch's new album - not coming to Spotify​We recently told you about how Norwegian metal giant Indie Recordings was partnering with Inglewood-based label Prosthetic Records. Now there's more news on the Prosthetic front. The imprint has revealed to West Coast Sound that they are in t ... More >>

Spotify: The Honeymoon's Over

L.J. WilliamsonI cain't quit yew.​Last month I posed the question: Which Is Better: Spotify or Grooveshark? Though my comparison of the two music subscription services wasn't entirely conclusive, I reckoned that, in the end, "Grooveshark just has too many glitches, whereas if a track shows up ... More >>

Which Is Better: Spotify or Grooveshark?

LJ WilliamsonWhich one gets your money?​The arrival of Google is forcing us to make some tough choices about Facebook -- what about the friends, carefully-curated photo albums, and goofy little notes you're not sure you want to pack along to the new place? And now there's Spotify, which is tr ... More >>

Is Grooveshark the Future of Digital Streaming?: The Secrets of the Popular Streaming Site You're Probably Listening to Right Now

Did Prince upload all this?​ Article and interview by Jade Shames I got on Skype and called my contact. His name is Ben Westermann-Clark, the VP of Public Relations at Grooveshark's head office in Gainesville, Florida. While I'm writing this article, I'm listening to a band called Masterfac ... More >>

8 Things You Need to Know About Music in the Cloud

cloud music...​ The future is almost here. Except for the part with jet packs and holographic television. The part that is here? Cloud based music storage. WTF is that, you might be wondering, and why should I care? Herewith we will tell you what it is, why it's important, and how it affects ... More >>

2009: The Year in Obsessions

L.A. Weekly’s music editor lists the 10 records he couldn’t get out of his head