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Country Star Brad Paisley's Veiled Liberalism

By Alan Scherstuhl Editor's note: Alan Scherstuhl sometimes writes about country music for our sister blog at the Village Voice. Brad Paisley, "Southern Comfort Zone" Current Billboard Country Singles Chart Position: 10 The Verdict: Holy shit, songs on the radio can still be important! In this ... More >>

The 20 Greatest EDM DJs: The Complete List

Electronic dance music's recent resurgence has made the genre more popular than ever before, but it's still often not taken seriously as an art form. World's Douchiest DJs: The Top Five The 20 Worst Hipster Bands Top 20 Musicians of All Time, in Any Genre And yeah, many goofily-dressed ravers are ... More >>

Top 20 L.A. Metal Albums: The Complete List

When it comes to discussion of the top metal scenes, Los Angeles never gets its due. Maybe it's because we're not known for being pioneers of a single subgenre (Bay Area thrash and Florida death metal for example), but there's still no doubt that the city has been vital in the evolution of metal. ... More >>

Music Picks: As Blood Runs Black, Kelly Hogan, Regina Spektor

Also, Agalloch, Antibalas, Power of the Riff and others

Mickey Avalon, Everyone's Favorite Former Heroin Addict and Male Prostitute, Rides Again

See also: Mickey Avalon's True Hollywood stories Mickey Avalon, party rapper extraordinaire, is set to drop his new solo album Loaded today. We last checked in with him for a 2006 cover story depicting his utterly-wild ways; plenty has happened for him in the ensuing years, including many shows and ... More >>

Green Day Never Sold Out, You Just Got Old and Complacent

One of the most mainstream punk bands since the new millennium, Green Day has faced criticism for selling out ever since releasing 2004's American Idiot -- some would say as far back as after the release of 1994's Dookie. Fuck that. They didn't sell out. In fact, American Idiot and 21st Century Br ... More >>

The National, Neko Case & Sharon Van Etten - Hollywood Bowl - September 11, 2011

Timothy Norris​The National, Neko Case and Sharon Van Etten Hollywood Bowl September 11, 2011 See also: The National's Matt Berninger On Shutting Down Honolulu's Airport and Finally Ending Their Tour Better Than: Listening to these bands perform on "Morning Becomes Eclectic." It was only t ... 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 >>

Rage Against The Machine's Tom Morello Dishes On LA Rising, Politics and Rage's 20th Anniversary

20 years in and still raging​For first time in 11 years, Rage Against The Machine will be playing a hometown gig tomorrow, but this isn't just any run-of-the-mill show. The band will be making their return to Los Angeles in style with an all-day extravaganza featuring themselves, Muse, Lauryn ... More >>

Beavis and Butt-Head Returns to MTV October 27: Here's Our Top Ten Music Video Moments From the Old Show

Get More: Beavis and Butt-Head, MTV Shows It's official: The Beavis and Butt-Head re-boot now has a premiere date on MTV: Thursday, October 27th at 10PM. Exciting for fans, but will it be as edgy as it once was? When it debuted in 1993 Beavis and Butt-Head displayed a pathological lack of compass ... More >>

The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman

Eleven Weirdo Rock Star Alter Egos

​Something about achieving major fame in music seems to drive creative artists to assume new personae. Whether it be fodder for an epic concept album, a stab at a different genre or just plain boredom, many of our favorite stars have conjured up characters in order to explore and indulge their fan ... More >>

Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax Play Coachella April 23

EXCLUSIVE Interview: Why Anthrax's Scott Ian Hates Coachella and Loves the Big 4

Steve ApplefordAnthrax guitarist Scott Ian​ Guitarist Scott Ian has been metal's No. 1 fan ever since his first whiff of Kiss back in the '70s. He's also been the one constant in every lineup of Anthrax, now one of the "Big 4" originators of thrash-metal set to land on the site of Coachella i ... More >>

Spider-Man on Broadway; La Traviata at the Met

Big loves in Gotham

The American: As American as Existential Dread

Anton Corbijn turns the tried-and-true thriller inward

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

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

Rock Picks: Steve Earle, Polvo, These Arms Are Snakes, Correatown

Also, Bob Dylan & His Band, Motorhead, John Doe & Exene Cervenka and others

Interview: Former Chameleons Frontman Mark Burgess on His Spontaneous US Comeback, YouTube and Pirate Bay

​ Mark Burgess, former frontman of cult-favorite The Chameleons, was simply taking a vacation. He had traveled to the US to meet a friend in Maine, ended up in Boston through a twist of events and was asked to play with some musicians who were also fans of his old band. Word spread and people ... More >>

It Might Get Loud: Davis Guggenheim’s Guitar Heroes

In director’s new documentary tribute, Jimmy Page, the Edge and Jack White talk axes, licks and other euphemisms

GO LA: Dead Poets, Dead Writers and Denis Leary

Plus lots more to mourn and celebrate in town (not necessarily in that order), April 3-9

GO LA: Gay Fusion, Jackie Kashian and the Gold Standard Food Festival

Plus, lots more to see, hear and consume in town, March 6-12

Stage Raw

Please see below for comprehensive theater listings that replicate the global format found in the print edition, compiled by Derek Thomas. This new stage blog -- to be posted once a week -- is till in the works, Suggestions are welcome. A memorial service hosted by Madelaine Shaner was held at t ... More >>

Jonathan Wells

The champion

Joy Division to the World

Ian Curtis’ afterlife seems like it’s been one big after-party

Beautiful Dreamers

Mew wake up America

Born in the USA

Killers summon their inner Springsteens

Soul Men

Pearl Jam’s traveling love-in hits the Fonda

Exquisite

Unembarrassed and undestroyed, Leonard Cohen at 71

This Is Not Earth Music

Reintroducing Tom Verlaine

Music Picks

Rawk Your Body!

L.A. club DJs mix indie rock and hip-hop; world does not explode

Rocking Horses

Busking for Stardom

What matters for buzz bands these days is becoming the next blog thing

Every Now and Then He Falls Apart

Seeing Bright Eyes in the big picture

Joiners in Believing

Prog rock is back, and it’s coming for your hipster children

Guilt by Association

20 Ways To Shake It

Side Tripping

DJ Muggs smokes alone

Harder ’n Emeralds

The Year in Music

Slice-and-Dice Aesthetics

Comix degenerate Mike Diana and plundering mixmaster John Oswald

Super Furry Sound

A year in music

Dead Air

Jim Ladd on the demise of freeform radio

Midnight Sun

Pearl Jam’s book of changes

It Boy

Give the Drummer Some

Earl Palmer, rock & roll's heavy hitter

The Prisoner

Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesia's leading writer, out on tour

Power of Flower

Go Ahead, Make My Polygonal Day

Game character Lara Croft busts out to pop stardom.