Taylor Swift

Tinder Is Like Pandora for Hooking Up

Twenty-seven-year-old Justin Mateen knows a whole lot about your dating life. He knows how old you are, how many Facebook friends you have and what physical characteristics you're most attracted to in a potential mate -- that is, if you're a member of the nationwide, L.A.-made dating app, Tinder, wh ... More >>

Victoria Justice: The Kids' Choice

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2013 issue. Check out our entire People 2013 issue here. "I think you go right here," says Victoria Justice, guiding a reporter toward her house in the Encino Hills, overlooking the mountains and just down the street from Martin Lawr ... More >>

For 66 Years, Verdugo Woodlands Elementary School Dads Have Put On L.A.'s Weirdest Annual Drag Show

See also: *10 Best Drag Clubs in L.A. *Our Latest Theater Reviews The year was 1947. Headlines announced the establishment of the Cominform and the formation of the CIA that marked the non-declaration of the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. In suburban Glendale, meanwhile, a differ ... More >>

Tomahawk's Duane Denison Is Tired of Your Questions

Tomahawk guitarist/founder Duane Denison is bored with questions about the six-year break between the band's new album Oddfellows and their last album, Anonymous. "I was in prison for manslaughter. I was in a laundromat. This woman was looking at my wife's underwear, and I shot her." See also: Wha ... More >>

Sorry, But Kanye Is the GOAT

Kanye West is the greatest hip-hop artist of all time. He's made the best albums and changed the game the most, and his music is the most likely to endure. One thing before we get going: This isn't one of those arguments meant to piss people off or "start a conversation." We really mean it. And, c ... More >>

Quit Disrespecting the Taste of Teenage Girls and Start Appreciating Justin Bieber

By Brittany Spanos At what point did teen girls suddenly just become wrong? "Serious" music fans have little patience for any artist who willingly sells to the rabid teen girl market. It's why we non-teen-girls only divulge our love for Justin Bieber and One Direction with a "self-aware" laugh. Se ... More >>

Bowling, Karaoke, Drunk Strippers and Weed: Out All Night With the Band Nico Vega

[Editor's note: Soon-to-be-award-winning gonzo music journalist Danielle Bacher prowls the late late night scene for West Coast Sound. For this installment, she hit the town with Nico Vega, the prolific and talented LA alt-rock band you might know from their collaborations with hitmaker Linda Perry, ... More >>

How Can You Be Relevant When You Grew Up in a Religious Cult?

With the recent release of his solo album Lysandre, much is being made (again) of former Girls singer Christopher Owens' uncommon upbringing in the Children of God cult, which disallows exposure to mainstream culture. Owens still seems a little bitter about it. "Show me any American movie about the ... More >>

Los Angeles Musicians Dominate Pazz and Jop

Pazz and Jop is here! The Village Voice's annual, venerated, logistically-nightmarish critics' poll has arrived, and there are shit tons of L.A. musicians who placed highly. Frank Ocean won the album poll, which was no big surprise; be sure to peep Eric Sunderman's quite-touching piece about him. ... More >>

Angel Olsen - Bootleg Theater - 1/5/13

Angel Olsen Bootleg Theater 1/5/13 On Friday night, Angel Olsen blew my expectations for her show to pieces with a shotgun. Making her L.A. debut at the Bootleg Theater, the 25-year-old singer-songwriter -- who could easily be called the anti-Taylor Swift -- swam effortlessly through an hour-long ... More >>

Garth Brooks Is a Genius, and He Revolutionized Nashville

[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.] Huey Lewis is a dick. It's not hip to be square -- it's square to be square, the thing that the hip will always fight aga ... More >>

Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together": Why This Song Sucks

[Editor's note: Why This Song Sucks determines why particular tracks blow using science. It appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday.] See also: Exclusive: A Disgruntled Label Exec Spills the Beans About Taylor Swift's Insane-Sounding New Album Song: Taylor Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Ba ... More >>

Exclusive: A Disgruntled Label Exec Spills the Beans About Taylor Swift's Insane-Sounding New Album

Big news: Young country-pop starlet Taylor Swift took a bit of time out from making the "Who me?" face to record another album. Red, out October 22, is about "relationships and breakups," according to Swift, and its first single is called (no shit) "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together." She's be ... More >>

Q&A: Perez Hilton On His New CD and the Music He Has Sex To

See also: Meet Iggy Azalea, the Street Smart Blonde Bombshell Behind "Pu$$y" Megalomaniacal Hollywood gossip blogger and one-time self-described "Queen of All Media" Perez Hilton's first CD compilation, Pop Up! #1, was released earlier this week on the Opus Label. As early as 2009, there was talk o ... More >>

Questions My 5-Year-Old Sons Ask After Watching the Greatest Rap Videos of all Time

Were I an ideal parent, there'd be no real need for a television in our home. My boys and my wife and me, we'd just read books and ride bikes and learn new languages and talk about heavy philosophical shit all day. But I am not. So there is. I mean, kids ask somewhere around, like, 4,000 questio ... More >>

Fuck Guilty Pleasures: Tim McGraw's Not Country and He's Not Pop. He's Just Awesome

[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.] For a true country aficionado, mentioning Tim McGraw in the same breath as Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, or any country ... More >>

Maker Studios Is Flush With YouTube Cash

In 1981, MTV pushed music videos to the forefront of pop culture. In 1999, Napster made mp3s more popular than porn. Now, in 2012, L.A.-based Maker Studios is revolutionizing YouTube. Created by viral video sensation Danny Zappin, Lisa Donovan and her brother Ben, the crew was frustrated with the H ... More >>

Why the Grammys Stink

See also: *2012 Grammys: The Best, the Worst and the Weirdest *Deadmau5, Rihanna - House of Blues - 2/13/12 *Dan Wilson: From "Closing Time" to Adele's "Someone Like You" So, our Grammy credentials were fairly limited last night. In fact, we were trapped in a room for eight hours, with journalists ... More >>

Mendocino Farms Banh Mi: Sandwich of the Week

When is a banh mi not a banh mi? That is not a trick question, by the way. When it has no charcuterie? When it lacks pickled vegetables? Must it be served on a baguette? The ever-blurring boundary between all other sandwiches and the banh mi -- or what's passing for one these days -- undoubtedly wi ... More >>

Mike Vitar, 'Sandlot' Star Turned Los Angeles Firefighter, Adored by Internet

TumblrBenny done growed up.​It's hard to hate a man in uniform. Especially when he gets caught by news cameras casually saving a kitten from smoke inhalation, emerging from a car explosion unscathed, etc. Add a starring role in the cult childhood flick of a generation, and you've got Internet ... More >>

Shane Sakhrani's A Widow of No Importance

Mumbai cougar at the Bollywood Zoo

The Ettes, Sade, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Benefit for Nick Curran

Also, Kendrick Lamar, the Punk Rock BBQ, Katy B and others

Carmageddon Survival Guide: 10 Artsy Ways to Salvage Your Weekend

Cult soul singer Evie Sands in the 1960s; Sands is performing at Viva Cantina this Sunday.​ With the impending shutdown of the 405, everyone's unsure of what to do this weekend. Quoth a friend: "Should I leave? Should I stay? And if I stay, what should I do?" Have no fear, we've got you cove ... More >>

Another Angel Descends on Our City: Taylor Swift's Moving In?

Taylor Swift​"Well, the first thing you know Taylor Swift's a millionaire, Kinfolk said, 'Tay move away from there' Said, 'Californy is the place you ought to be' So she loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly. Hills, that is. Swimmin' pools, country music stars." We only poke very gent ... More >>

Time's 140 Best Twitter Feeds: Marion Nestle, Michael Pollan, Harry Reid Lord Voldemort

If you only have 140 characters, they should be worth reading, no? Depends on whose Twitter feed you read. Time Magazine has just published a list (of course they did) of the top 140 Twitter feeds around the country. No, sorry, neither Charlie Sheen nor Kim Kardashian made it -- Neil Gaiman is #1, S ... More >>

Perez Hilton Grows Up: Chats About New Music Projects, His New Attitude. Plus, A Peek Inside His Blue Ball Birthday Bash

Lina Lecaro Selena Gomez and Perez Hilton are true blue. ​ With live performances by Macy Gray, Dita Von Teese, Prince Poppycock, and Greyson Chance to name a few and Debbie Gibson, recorded greetings by Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber, and an in person Happy Birthday serenade from ... More >>

Basque in Bakersfield

Communal dining at the Noriega Hotel

Slow Soul: The Rise of Neoclassical Soul

Can R. Kelly’s latest be called “throwback” when all of R&B seems to be playing Back to the Future?

Website Commemorates Kanye West's Top 10 Meltdown Moments

Clashmusic.comWhat next, Kanye?​ Just when you thought America's favorite hip-hop star had put all of his embarrassing moments behind him, you cringe when you hear radio hosts poking fun at his latest...embarrassing moment. This time it's Kanye chastising Matt Lauer while on the set of NBC's ... More >>

Pulp Reunite, Best Coast / Marnie Stern Feud Continues, Rent 2 Damn High Guy Autotuned, and More News From Across the Universe

Pulp Reunite, Best Coast / Marnie Stern Feud Continues, Rent 2 Damn High Guy Autotuned, and More News From Across the Universe

Nightranger: REDRUM & RITZ

Down in a Hole: Chilean Miner Mix Tape 2010

Down in a Hole: Chilean Miner Mix Tape 2010

Tonight: Fool's Gold, Dirty Projectors, All for the Hall benefit, Chinese White Bicycles, Jim Jones Revue

Marianne WilliamsFool's Gold​You almost wonder what Fool's Gold can do for an encore. The L.A.-based purveyors of pop and world-beat jambalaya have now toured the globe with their songs for a multinational, friending (in the true sense) the likes of Malian musical rebels Tinariwen and challen ... More >>

Who Cares About Bieber, Gaga, or the VMA's? You Do! Winner Recaps Past and Present

Who Really Cares About Bieber, Gaga, or the VMA's? You Do! Winner Recaps Past and Present

Theater New Reviews: Tooth and Nail, Sarah Sarah, Canned Ham

Also, Groundlings International Airport, Full Disclosure

Music Picks: Liz Pappademas, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Mad Professor, Bill Frisell

Also, Taylor Swift, Los Tres, Saint Motel, David Allan Coe and others

Nightranger: We Wear It Well

BOOM, BOOM, OW! SURVIVING GRAMMY WEEK IN L.A.

Five Reasons Why Karin Dreijer Andersson Is Our Pop Diva

You can take Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and any other Grammy-approved lady you wish, but Karin Dreijer Andersson is our pop diva. The mastermind behind Fever Ray and one-half of The Knife, Andersson is unafraid of going against convention, but her experimental nature never comes at the expense ... More >>

The Grammy Awards, As Seen from the Staples Center Press Room

Last year we came down pretty hard on the numbskulls journalists in the press room at the Grammys, but would like to officially recant last year's unfair judgment. Specifically, for the record, this is what we said about what awaits the lucky Grammy winners backstage: ...their audience, a bunch of ... More >>

Grammy Winners Meet Jersey Shore

Grammy Winners Meet Jersey Shore: Hypothetical Jerzification

Mega-Telethon Broadcasting From L.A., Elsewhere

CNNAnderson Cooper.​A Friday telethon to raise money for the victims of last week's earthquake in Haiti will be broadcast from Los Angeles, New York, London and Haiti, organizers announced Thursday. It will be everywhere: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN, BET, The CW, HBO, MTV, VH1, CMT, PBS, TNT, Show ... More >>

Kanye West Feeds L.A. Homeless

Simon James/WireImage.comKanye West​See that, Everybody-In-The-World-That-Hates-Kanye-West? It's possible to get mad at Taylor Swift over a video music award and give back to the community (who'd have thought?). TheBoomBox.com is reporting that Kanye West and girlfriend/model Amber Rose were a ... More >>

Top Entertainment Stories of 2009 Named; Jackson, L.A. Dominate List

​The death of Michael Jackson topped a list of top-ten entertainment stories for 2009, and headlines emanating from Los Angeles dominated the list. The survey of news editors was conducted by Associated Press. Its top stories: 1) The death of Michael Jackson; 2) the rise of singer Susan Boyle ... More >>

And The Nominees For The 52nd Grammy Awards Are ...

Grammy Awards​Here's a running count of some of the more interesting nominees for the 52nd Grammy Awards, which were being announced Wednesday night at the Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles. Song of the Year: "Poker Face," Lady Gaga. "Pretty Wings," Maxwell "Single Ladies," Beyonce "You ... More >>

Kanye Who? VMA Moments That Didn't Suck

Kanye West interrupts Taylor Swift, continuing a long tradition of unspontaneous VMA quackery. Back in the day, VMA's didn't suck, here's evidence.

Rock Picks: The Kills, Lady Sovereign, Fischerspooner, the Dears

Also, Sun Kil Moon, St. Vincent, Alexandra Hope and others

Movie Reviews: Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience, Must Read After My Death, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li

Also, Dog Eat Dog, Echelon Conspiracy and more

Hitsville: The Year in Music, by the Numbers

You don't need a half-wit music critic to tell you it's been a remarkable year for America, one historians will be discussing and researching for centuries to come. War, financial collapse, politics, technology: All have been dinner-table topics for many Americans. Racial barriers in 2008 were dem ... More >>

Everybody Skate!

What to do this week