Kristina Benson

See also: *Nick Waterhouse: The Young Man Who Makes Old R&B *Top 10 Los Angeles Albums of 2011 The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue came out this week, and for some reason it went all indie on everybody's asses. A-Trak, the world's most hipster DJ, graces the pages, and the models'......

Born legally blind, Mickey Schiff experienced his surroundings as though they were a Monet landscape -- all colors and shapes and softness. When he was 11 his vision was corrected, turning the word into edges, hard angles and lines so sharp that he was startled into nausea. Now that he......

Thundercat - Daylight by BRAINFEEDER When L.A.'s world-class beat/electronica crew Brainfeeder takes over the Fonda later this week, you'll spot one guy up there making music the (comparatively) old-fashioned way. Him with the extraterrestrial sense of style and supernatural ability on the bass? That's Thundercat, a.k.a. Steve Bruner, who you've......

It's summer and yet it's temperate out, so we get to enjoy all the shows and fests that come with the season without melting in 100+ degree temperatures. Who said that global climate change had no upside? Not us! Anyway, this weekend there are fests, free shows, cheap shows, all......

Looks like they do! The most recent issue of the peer-reviewed psychology journal "Advances in Cognitive Psychology" contains a study examining the link between intelligence and music. The researchers asked the parents of 194 boys about their musical activities since preschool, and looked at the boys' reading and spelling performance......

Musician and writer Gil Scott-Heron passed away Friday afternoon in New York. He was 62. Gil Scott-Heron was born in Chicago, but reared in Jackson, Tennessee. He spent his teens in the Bronx and later received his Masters in Creative Writing from Johns Hopkins University. One of his earliest singles,......

Once upon a time, there were not one, but two physical Rhino Record stores in Westwood: The first was a 2,000 square foot space that opened in the late '70s and then transitioned into the "Blow-it-Outlet"--selling used and discontinued merchandise--upon the opening of the newer location. The newer location, which......