Isaac Simpson

A gathering in Echo Park; Credit: Ron Gilbert/Flickr

Is Gentrification Ruining Los Angeles, or Saving It? Pick a Side

Isaac Simpson
Editor's note: What better topic than gentrification to split people in Los Angeles into distinct camps? Below, writers Art Tavana and Isaac Simpson passionately argue the point and counterpoint of L.A.'s gentrification boom. Just Say "Yes" to Gentrification By Art Tavana Angelenos are sun-addicted colonizers who expect the pristine charm of......
Credit: BJ DeHut

10 Best L.A. Street Art Murals of 2014

Isaac Simpson
This year should have been a pinnacle for street art in Los Angeles. A 10-year ban on public murals was lifted at the end of last year, and our city, with unlimited walls and unmeasurable creative energy, was expected to become saturated with public color. But, as is often the......
Chief Keef; Credit: Courtesy of Glory Boyz Entertainment

Was Chief Keef Too Gangster for Interscope?

Isaac Simpson
America in the 21st century is one of the most economically polarized and heavily armed societies in history. As the top rises, it becomes harder to see the ground through the clouds. Disconnected, nihilistic subcultures have developed in areas abandoned and forgotten by mainstream society. Such aberrant cultures used to......
In Bert Rodriguez's A Word of Advice

How Bert Rodriguez Escaped From the Art Gallery System

Isaac Simpson
Bert Rodriguez is doing a piece of performance art. It's called Without You I'm Nothing, and it's billed as "a lecture, conversation and four-course dinner," in which a new, original artwork will be revealed by the evening's end. But right now it apparently involves Rodriguez drunkenly telling the story of......
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Best New Comedy Club

Isaac Simpson
In just two years, Christian Chavez has created an oasis of chill under the Sunset Boulevard bridge in Echo Park. Echoes Under Sunset is nothing like the Laugh Factory or the Comedy Store. No comic's friends laughing too much at his lame jokes, no two-drink minimum, no limits on obscenity......
Credit: Courtesy of FoLAR

You Can Fly-Fish the L.A. River, and It's Pretty Damn Cool

Isaac Simpson
The so-called "Greatest" Generation that grew up during the depression and fought during World War II is often lauded as, well, the greatest generation. When they were in charge of Los Angeles, however, they made some mistakes. From 1930-1960, downtown was abandoned and left to rot, public transportation was neglected,......
A man and his son play at Frog Spot

L.A.'s Hottest New Neighborhood, Frogtown, Doesn't Want the Title

Isaac Simpson
It’s a sign of changing attitudes that there are no bars or restaurants in L.A.’s latest “most-talked-about” neighborhood. There are no grocery stores, no coffee roasters, no art galleries, no vintage clothing stops. In Frogtown, it's almost impossible to spend money. “There’s no reason for people to come through here,”......
The day Permaid was brought to life

Permaid, Dressed in a Black S&M Mermaid Suit, Washes Up in L.A.

Isaac Simpson
A woman in a full black body sleeve is sitting in a Caribbean restaurant in Silver Lake, the material glistening in the shredded dusk light coming through a blinded window. She’s holding a tortilla wrapped around a dead fish, and pretending to stuff it in her mouth. Another woman is......
The author

If Normcore Is Cool, Are People Who Always Dressed Normally Cool Too?

Isaac Simpson
When the term “normcore” arrived earlier this year, the hipster media fell upon it in the same over-thought way that it does with most trends. The New York Times, New York, Vice and Vogue offered their inconsistent definitions. Fashion brands like A.P.C. told us they were already over it, and clothing......