Kai Flanders

The popular Venice Beach Drum Circle has done away with the bongos and embraced the digital age. This week the group, which meets every Sunday just before sunset, announced that it has replaced traditional instruments with a collection of smartphones and Rock Band drum kits. Ariel Coriander, who describes himself......

I first encountered The Orwells last year, not in their native state of Illinois, but on the rooftop of a CMJ show in New York. Los Angeles rockers Francisco the Man had just finished downstairs and everyone had retreated skyward for a view of the city and lungfulls of tobacco......

Garage-pop trio Criminal Hygiene's self-titled debut is a blend of catchy song structures and skate-rat not-give-a-fuckery. Vocalist-songwriter James Watson's front teeth are false, the result of a skateboard to the face. See also: Purgatory Pizza: The Punk Rock Pie Shop It looks like the tradition of East L.A.'s Purgatory Pizza......

If David Allan Coe's "If That Aint Country" comes on after Andy Sheppard has had more than a few Coors Lights (his favorite brand), he'll sing along without reservation to the line: Tryin' like the devil to find the Lord / Workin' like a nigger for my room and board......

Linda Ramone lives in an eccentric museum. The widow of iconic Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone (who died in 2004 of prostate cancer) is dedicated to preserving her late husband's legacy, and his estate. She still lives in the home they shared in the Valley -- a wacky, charmingly garish house......

Although he was baptized at age 8, Kevin Toney didn't really apply Christian ideals to his life until he was over fifty. Throughout most of his long career, which included being a member of the Grammy-winning jazz group The Blackbyrds as well as being a solo jazz pianist who played......

On American Royalty's latest EP, Matchstick, it seems like there's more than one band playing. Marc Gilfry and Billy Scher, two 23-year-old multi-instrumentalists who like to "fall down every rabbit hole," and drummer Mat Ungson make up the band. They write psychedelic dance songs that venture down a spider-web of......

Hipster Holocaust should grab attention, if only for the name. "Hipster" is still a hot-button word; combine that with unchecked bloodshed and you're probably onto something. The film, which premieres tonight in L.A. at Laemmle's Royal Theatre, is the story of two working class goons who wind up at a......

See also: *Little Known Fact: Woody Guthrie Was a Big Ol' Racist *Woody Guthrie in Los Angeles: A more vivid picture of the folk singer emerges via newly released songs from his time here Our music feature this week focuses on the oldest known Woody Guthrie recordings, which were found......

On July 10, four days before the 100th anniversary of Woody Guthrie's birth, Smithsonian Folkways released the legendary folk singer's oldest known recordings for the first time. The songs, part of a massive box set titled Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection, take Los Angeles as their subject......