Brendan Mullen

Photo by Charlie GrossIN 1970, I SAW BLACK SABBATH, FUNKADELIC, THE Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin and more all on the same bill at an open-air three-day rock fest in northwestern England. This was before marketing terms like "heavy metal," "folk rock," "acid rock" and "whatever rock" sliced 'n' diced up......

CARAVANA CUBANA Late Night Sessions (Dreamer Music) Caravana Cubana: Late Night Sessions could be viewed as how the recent Buena Vista Social Club phenom might have played out had Ry Cooder come to L.A. instead of Havana to record scads of Cuban octogenarians. And here they are, all the local......

Art by Gustavo VargasIT'S A GORGEOUS SUNDAY IN FEBRUARY, AND ALAN Geik is on the air at KXLU (88.9 FM), busily spinning records and dishing out opinions in between taking calls and making announcements. He's leading up to the big finale of the afternoon, when he'll read off Alma del......

Photo by Anthony Barbosa If you want to be a musician playing some strain of American popular music either professionally or as a hobbyist, you get a choice of two main roads — working "organically" and developing chops on a specific instrument, or delving into the Euro-rooted post-Kraftwerk realm of......