Thurston Moore

S.S. Coachella Gossip: We Stalk Jarvis Cocker

No one's really interested in reading about the actual performances taking place on this musical ship of contradictions, the S.S. Coachella, amirite? (Well, if I'm wrong, here's our report from the first day.) Instead, you want a spoonful of gossipy anecdotal sugar, straight from the decks of this f ... More >>

RIPPED: Expressions from the Underground

Kurt Vile, Santigold, Rusko

Also, Star & Dagger, Charli XCX, Church of Misery and others

Zooey Deschanel and Ben Gibbard Call It Quits: The Year's Five Biggest Music Couples to Hit Splitsville

See also: Wherein We Hilariously Predict Katy Perry's 2012 It was a sad day in indieville yesterday as actress/singer Zooey Deschanel officially filed for divorce from Death Cab For Cutie's Ben Gibbard. Though the two had been rumored to be on the rocks for some time, fans held out hope that the du ... More >>

Henry Rollins: The Column! Sleep is the Cousin of Death

​[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.] I have spent well over half of the last 30 years living on the road, all over the world ... More >>

Music Picks: Ravi Shankar, Marilyn Scott, Duran Duran, Burkina Electric

Also, Emmylou Harris & Her Red Dirt Boys, Odd Future, Gillian Welch and others

1991: Nirvana Documentary Captures the Band Moments Before They Broke

Death, Drugs and Rock n' Roll- "Don't Knock The Rock's" Timely Glimpse into Musicians' Triumphs and Tragedies

Lina LecaroAllison Anders and Patty Schemel​There is a segment in the riveting new documentary Hit So Hard- The Life and Near Death Story of Patty Schemel that explores the concept of "Saturn Returns" (the astrogical phenomenon which is said to influence and test a person's life development be ... More >>

Top 10 L.A. Bands to Watch in 2011

​Top Ten This, That, and the Other Thing of 2010, yadda yadda. As 2010 becomes more and more "the year that was," we'd like to push the fast-forward button a bit and tell you the Top 10 LA Bands to Watch in 2011. Come next December these are gonna be the bands on those ubiquitous end-of-the-ye ... More >>

Thurston Moore's New Solo Album Was Produced in LA by ... Beck???

​The NME reports that in an interview with a Philly paper, Sonic Youth very tall person Thurston Moore revealed that his new solo album was recorded in Beck's LA home, produced by the enigmatic local genius himself. "Beck sings and plays a little bit on it," said Moore. Violinist Samara Lubels ... More >>

In Honor of the Walkman: Ten Must-Have Cassette Classics, From 'Da Da Da' to Deathrock to 'Do Me!'

Turns out the Walkman isn't dead yet, but let's face it (those of us who weren't surprised to find that the outmoded portable was still being manufactured): The writing's on the wall. As a sort of premature eulogy for the player, West Coast Sound revisits some of the Walkman's finer moments through ... More >>

This weekend: Plastic Ono Band, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, School of Seven Bells, the Avett Brothers, Fountains of Wayne

Yoko Ono​John Lennon would have turned 70 next week, and among the events celebrating the legendary Beatle are two shows this weekend featuring a reconstituted Plastic Ono Band, the loose collective of musicians Lennon assembled 40 years ago. His widow Yoko Ono and son Sean Lennon (the musica ... More >>

Live in L.A.: Woodsist Festival, Thurston Moore, Sting, Justin Currie, Abandoned Pools

Sarah McKayKurt Vile​In case your lifeline to Brooklyn is broken: Woodsist is a four-year-old record label, founded by Woods guitarist Jeremy Earl, that caters to fans who like things gloriously unvarnished, or who think the Vivian Girls are original. The label has brought a small army of lo-f ... More >>

Top Tape: Dublab DJs 'Spin' Cassettes at Calling All Kids Friday

The record will be sitting this one out.​Despite at least one spirited argument to the contrary, the audio cassette revival soldiers on, and this Friday, it has a home at the Hyperion Tavern in Silver Lake. One of LA Weekly's favorite clubs, Calling All Kids, will be teaming up with one of ou ... More >>

Wear it on Your Sleeve: T-Shirts from the Underground

Wear it on Your Sleeve: T-Shirts from the Underground

Hiss and Pop: The Cassette Revival Is Upon Us

Really

Burger Records and the Lo-Fi Cassette Revival

We at West Coast Sound get a ton of mail, most of it consisting of CDs, press kits, and the occasional piece of vinyl. It arrives by the mound in those postal service bins, and though we love free stuff as much as the next music geek, all those plastic squares containing plastic circles pile high on ... More >>

Sonic Youth at the Wiltern: Killing the Kalifornia Girls

View more photos in Timothy Norris' Sonic Youth slideshow. There was Kim in sequins and Thurston in a conservative plaid button-down, same as always, give or take. He in jeans and basketball high-tops like he was on the way to a bookstore or something; she moaning, strumming and swinging and headed ... More >>

Rock Picks: Al Kooper, Year Long Disaster, Steven Severin, the Phenomenal Handclap Band

Also, Kimya Dawson, the Cigarette Bums, Willi Williams and others

The Entrance Band Preps Self-Titled Major Label Debut, Embarks on "Full Realization of the Power Trio"

Sasha Eisenman​The last time we heard recorded work from Entrance, the project comprised a lone longhaired bluesman with Baltimore roots and a home base in Chicago. Much has changed since the Tee Pee Records release of 2006's heavy, stoned stomper Prayer Of Death. Frontman Guy Blakeslee has up ... More >>

No Age's Coachella Debut: Packed Tent in the Early Afternoon, Side-Stage Filled with Musicians

Timothy NorrisThe pit at the Mojave Tent on Sunday; keep in mind it hit 100 degrees that day. Sunday was a good day for the noiseniks. Coachella-goers who arrived early enough were greeted by boxes of complementary earplugs as they piled through the gate -- vital accessories for a My Bloody Valent ... More >>

SMMoA on Sunday: Mike Watt, Lee Ranaldo, Raymond Pettibon, others Celebrate Rock, Paper, Scissors Opening

FROM FRIDAY: Seriously. Take John Payne's advice below. Go to this. First of all, Animal Collective is sold out, and all your friends who will be there will be bragging in tomorrow about the AMAZING SHOW they saw at the Troubadour. You, however, will have a trump card. Background: Mike Watt, Ray ... More >>

Rock Picks: Everest, Mumiy Troll, Busta Rhymes

Also, Faun Fables, Chris Darrow tribute, Allen Toussaint and others

Rock Picks: Thurston Moore, James Blackshaw, Lisa Hannigan, Modest Mouse

Plus, Scott Walker Night, Dead Confederate, A.C. Newman

Thurston and Kim Rather Rip Through MOCA

Plus, Lovers & Strangers at Hear Gallery, Mustache Mondays at La Cita and Dance at Arena

Lou Reed's Berlin: Julian Schnabel Captures the Music, Moment and Mood of His Man

Director makes cinematic trance of Reed's days-long 2006 concert at Brooklyn's St. Ann’s Warehouse

The Glowing Trough of Music: Five Days of South by Southwest

We laugh, we cry, we hate, we score some dirt weed, suck at the corporate teat, rejoice

SXSW Day 3: Pissed Jeans, Valet, White Rabbits, Thurston Moore, and an impregnated brain

Last night. Last night? Umm, last night ... What the heck did I do last night? Wait. Where the hell am I? In a hotel room, okay ... yeah ... good. At least I'm safe. Okay, now, what the hell did I do again? Jeez. Think. Flashes is all I got, and one grainy image on my cell phone. A half a taco on m ... More >>

Sonic Youth: They Are Not Rock. They Curate Rock.

Marc Jacobs asked Sonic Youth to leap. Their response was "How high?"

Rather Ripping

Urban Outfitters in Santa Monica, July 21

Sonic Youth Rides its Masterpiece

Don't Daydream it's over

Arthur Mag Dead

ARTHUR MAG IS DEAD. This on Pitchfork:  Hippies, stoners, and folk freaks the world over wept today as it was announced that Arthur magazine will close its doors after five glorious years of delivering discourse and pretty pictures on art, music, and more to our marijuana-stained hands. As con ... More >>

Rock Picks

For the week of Jan 18 – 25

Rock Docs Are Go! Rockumentary Recommendations

As CDs wither, the low-budget rockumentary is born again

Moca Brings the Noise!

Cut Shorts

We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen

Nightranger

Arthurfest

Live in LA

13 Great CD Reissues You May Have Never Heard Of

A Small New Future

ALEC HANLEY BEMIS on the casualties and survivors in the war between the Cynics and the True Believers

Too High To Die

Coming down with the Meat Puppets

Miracle in the Desert

The Voice of America

Deep listening with DJ Shadow

Bring the Noise

All Tomorrow's Parties feeds back to the future

Don’t Be Afraid

Nels Cline applies the hot iron

Stuff Happens

Out of the Woods

Loren Mazzacane Connors, ax hero

The World's Most Dangerous Musicians

L.A.’s post-jazz scene