Sweden

Marijuana Breathalyzer Test Could Be Near

One of the problems with medical marijuana, at least from cops' perspective, is that pot is hard to detect in the field, and many drivers could be getting away with DUI because they're high but not drunk. Nearly one-third of fatal California crashes involve drugged drivers. The problem inspired one ... More >>

The Best Los Angeles Metal Shows to See in May

Tuesday, May 7 Cauldron Five Stars Bar Toronto bassist/vocalist Jason Decay was near the forefront of last decade's revival of classic metal sounds, with his previous band Goat Horn. With his current outfit Cauldron, the brand of thrash falls more on the melodic side, taking strong influence from t ... More >>

Estonian Dance Pop Singer Kerli Talks Bubble Goth and Moon Children

L.A.-based pop artist Kerli is spreading love. She calls her latest EP, Utopia, "a collection of positive energy" and via collaborations with artists like Switch and "musical soulmates" SeventyEight, she creates big beat laden synth dance soundtracks for big nights out. Raised in Estonia, Kerli ha ... More >>

The Best L.A. Metal Concerts to See In March

Saturday, Mar 2 Meshuggah The Wiltern "I Am Colossus" is both the title track of Meshuggah's 2012 album Koloss, and the mission statement of the Swedish metal group -- after all, their off-kilter polyrhythmic riffs and drums have influenced dozens of bands. Their sound is anchored by the fantastical ... More >>

The Best Concerts in L.A. This Weekend

Friday, February 15 Foxygen ECHOPLEX If you add up the ages of Foxygen's 20-something Sam France and Jonathan Rado, then subtract it from the current year, you will verge on the era from which the duo's album, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic, takes its cues. There isn't a '60s ... More >>

The 20 Greatest Metal Albums in History: 20-11

If you count Black Sabbath's 1970 self-titled debut as heavy metal's birth, the genre is now over 40. It can no longer be called a fad. It can have adult children, and it can run for president. (Insert "presidental metal of freedom" joke here). See also: Top 20 L.A. Metal Albums: The Complete List ... More >>

Your Post-Presidential Election Food Guide: If Your Candidate Lost

Boy, they took away your fois gras, and now this? As it happens, it's National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day, a particularly apt food to celebrate on a day when you think at least half this country is nuts. No doubt you've already started cycling through the five stages of grief, starting ... More >>

The Five Best Shows in Los Angeles This Week: Garbage, Nick Lowe, Culture Collide

Tuesday, October 2 Garbage WILTERN When they formed in 1994, future chart fixtures Garbage had the makings of a sterile vanity project. Created by veteran studio rats (including Butch Vig, producer of Nirvana's Nevermind), with a grafted-on unknown vocalist, their formula appeared better suited to ... More >>

Steven Almeida, Alleged Hacker, Cut Off Power to Homes of Four 'Justice Officials' -- D.A.

Steven Grant Almeida was one angry hacker. At least if you ask the L.A. County D.A.'s office, which today announced he was facing 71 counts for alleged ID theft and "cyber attacks" that, among other things, cut off the power to the homes of four "justice officials," prosecutors said. Now, sure, a ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 5/14 - 5/18

In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "Animals have been talking to me. And any shaman will say that that's not that weird." Q & A With Roy Choi: Slinging Tacos at Midnight, Calling Out Jamie Oliver Choi's Vegetable Moment. "After all, in Los Angeles, nothing ... More >>

Five Bands Bringing Rock Back To Metal

Swedish occult-rockers Ghost​Trademarks such as death-growl vocals and vicious blast beat drumming have caused the term "heavy metal" to be associated in 2011 with the most guttural sounds that can be produced by mankind. It's very easy to forget that prior to the mid-1980s emergence of subgen ... More >>

Black Power Mixtape Documentary Review

How Swedish journalists predated hip-hop as the CNN of the streets

Hard Liquor Increases Risk of Pancreatitis

Guzzle & NoshLiquor bottles behind the bar at 1886 in Pasadena.​Candy may be dandy but liquor is quicker, especially when it comes to increasing your risk of pancreatitis. Drinking just 4 cl. (centilitre) of hard liquor, the equivalent of 1.35 US fluid ounces (or a little more than a typical 1 ... More >>

Sparks Premiere Radio Drama "The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman" Live at L.A. Film Fest Saturday, Guy Maddin Directs the "Film-to-Be" Performance

​ L.A.'s own veteran pop duo Sparks, brothers Ron and Russell Mael, bring the world premiere of a staged version of their latest project, a radio drama called The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman, to the Los Angeles Film Festival Saturday night. The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman is a musical compos ... More >>

Ten European Artists You Should Have Heard By Now

Parisian rapper Rohff​In the States, it's easy to be stuck in the bubble of our domestic music. Sadly, many European artists have a difficult time breaking into the North American market. Often, this stems from the language barrier, but it can also be due to the straight-up oddball nature of t ... More >>

Henry Rollins Column: Rollins' Predictions for 2011 (Protip: It Gets Better)

Maura LanahanOur eminent columnist, Mr. Henry Rollins!​[The one and only Henry Rollins contributes a weekly column and far-reaching reportage to the music section of the LA Weekly. Look for your weekly Henry Rollins fix right here on West Coast Sound every week and make sure to tune in to Henr ... More >>

THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST

GERRYMANDERING

New Yeasayer Video Features Sarah Marshall's Kristen Bell

Doesn't Kristen Bell always look a little "Dark Crystal"esque?​Yeasayer just debuted a new video for song "Madder Red." The clip was directed by Swede (again, WHAT'S UP WITH SWEDEN????) Andreas Nilsson, who's also made weird clips for Fever Ray and MGMT. The Yeasayer video features a blobby p ... More >>

Tonight: Ferraby Lionheart, Tim Finn, Fol Chen, White Arrows, Twilight Sleep

Ferraby Lionheart​You never know where you'll find Ferraby Lionheart, either geographically or in song. The L.A.-born, Nashville-reared singer-songwriter spent much of last decade in Los Angeles, eventually sequestering himself in a Koreatown apartment to write his debut album Catch the Brass ... More >>

L.A. Council's Travel, Lavish Accomodations Questioned

​A recent report by NBC4's Colleen Williams (pictured) questions the Los Angeles City Council's sometimes-lavish travel arrangements, especially in light of City Hall's $585 million deficit and impending layoffs. The station found that the mayor and council spent $70,000 on travel in 2008 and ... More >>

NOT THE SWEDISH MEATBALLS YOU'RE USED TO

Bill Murray on No Reservations: Give This Man A Travel Show

Anthony Bourdain's traveling road show, No Reservations, is a meandering and often exhaustingly self-referential hour of television. Not so for the final 4 minutes of last night's show, when, after wandering up and down the Hudson River, Bourdain ran into and dined with Bill Murray. Bill Murray (Gro ... More >>

Rock Picks: Daedelus, Beth Thornley, Yeasayer

Also, Ohioan, Hepcat, Vivian Girls and others

In Like Outfest

Our critics' guide to the best of the fest's closing weekend.

The Undercover Iraqi Asset

An Iraqi double agent killed for America. But when he got left behind, a Marine stepped in

Where There's a Will, There's a Goofy Overhead Smash

Jan Troell's Persistence of Vision

Swedish director adds a new page to his celluloid scrapbook

Top 10 Americana Albums of 2008

By Noah W. Bailey Picking the best folk and Americana records of the year isn't nearly as hard as discarding those great records that just didn't feel right stuck in the category.Releases by Calexico and DeVotchKa felt far too worldly to pigeonhole as folk or country, for instance, while Blitzen ... More >>

David Thomson: Notes On Canons, Pantheons and a Century of Cinema

An exclusive excerpt from “Have You Seen ... ?” A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films

Part Time Punks Festival: A Certain Ratio, Pylon, Love is All, Daytime Television Tear a Hole in History

A Certain Ratio's Jeremy Kerr: still dark and menacing Old men acting weird. That’s one way to look at it, and if I were one of the four pre-teen boys in the band Daytime Television, whose versions of the Buzzcocks’ “Everybody’s Happy Nowadays,” "Part Time Punks" and “Teenage Kicks” ... More >>

Last Night: Devil Horns all Around with Eagles of Death Metal, the Hives

If you were looking for a kick-ass, rock and roll time last night and were anywhere other than the Mayan Theatre downtown, then you just didn't find it. With the Hives and Eagles of Death Metal on the bill, it's hard to think there was a more rockin' spot in Los Angeles last night (unless Led Zeppel ... More >>

Beards, Blazers & Glasses or Jens Lekman, This Charming Man

Every time I write about Jens Lekman, I'm tempted to compare him to Morrissey, even though I know I shouldn't. After all, both songwriters specialize in witty and literate love-lorn laments sung in a smooth, mahogany baritone. And invariably, any time you can compare someone's voice to an article ... More >>

Lee Hazlewood: A Stranger in This Land

The renaissance cowboy cut a wide swath through the West, and inspired a generation of songwriters

Polyrhythmically Diverse

Gabriel Alegr�a Afro-Peruvian Sextet and other picks

Knitting Factories

Where to stitch �n� bitch in L.A.

Love Is All; Urgent Originality Would Be Nice

Love is All at the Echo, Ecstatic Sunshine and Eastern Youth at Spaceland

Aerobic Exorcise

Danava: Too much, and then... more!

Screamfest

The Rise of the House of Bunny

Best rabbit paraphernalia

Nile and Hypocrisy

At the Key Club, January 19

Shame of Iran

U.S. remains silent on gay hangings

Summer Enchanted Evenings

Lars Attacks!

Von Trier in Trollywood

Crashing Comdex

The Soccer Experiment

Interloper

Lukas Moodysson and the view from Mars

Lowrider Ergo Sum

The code and creed of the Ranfla Tribe

Into the Next Sun

New Music