Sam Ribakoff

Credit: Suze Randall

Best Horse Ranch for At-Risk Kids

Sam Ribakoff
When you think of horses in Los Angeles, you're likely to conjure images of towns at the far reaches of the San Fernando Valley or stables attached to multimillion-dollar homes overlooking the ocean at Rancho Palos Verdes. But you'll also find these majestic animals just off the Metro Blue Line......
Bridgetown DIY; Credit: Daniel Torres

Best All-Ages Music Venue

Sam Ribakoff
Located in a nondescript strip mall behind a zumba studio in La Puente, Bridgetown DIY is an all-ages, alcohol- and drug-free venue that fosters a scene of local punk, metal, experimental, noise and electronic acts. The venue specializes in booking SGV bands but also brings in up-and-coming touring acts, including......
Credit: COURTESY LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY

Best Place to Do More Than Read a Book

Sam Ribakoff
The Los Angeles Central Library is and has always been a great place to scour the shelves for exactly the right book, find exactly the right nook and read to your heart's content. Located on Fifth Street in DTLA, the art deco edifice — designed by New York architect Bertram......
Dam Funk; Credit: Dam Funk

Best Unpretentious Club Night

Sam Ribakoff
Usually when you see someone in an L.A. club wearing a fedora, you know you're in the wrong club. But on Thursday nights at the Virgil, when Funkmosphere is in full swing, the only fedoras in attendance will be plush red ones worn by older gentlemen holding court at the......
DJ Michael Stock at a Part Time Punks live event; Credit: Dylan Gordon

Best Rock Radio Show

Sam Ribakoff
If you're looking for rock radio stations in L.A., your choices most days of the week are basically the station that plays alt-rock from the mid-2000s and the two stations that play jock rock from the '70s. That's why it's always a moment of instant joy to hear the messy......
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Best Dance Music Radio Show

Sam Ribakoff
Los Angeles is a city best experienced at night and in motion, and the best soundtrack for your after-dark walk, drive or bus ride is house music. In a club setting, a good house DJ can read the crowd and give them what they didn't even know they wanted. DJ......
L.A. Club Resource's Jimmy Mock (left)

Best Dance Music Label

Sam Ribakoff
If John Carpenter made techno, it probably would sound like an L.A. Club Resource record. The label, founded and run by Delroy Edwards,ostensibly is in the business of putting out dance music, but this isn't the fun, disco-imbued sound of Chicago house or the shiny anthems of EDM. L.A. Club......