In the previous installations of Coachella there have been some huge headliners. Rage Against the Machine, Radiohead, Bjork, The Beastie Boys but none quite on the level of day two's headliner, the Purple One, Prince. From the moment he hit the stage with Morris Day and Shelia E. it was apparent that the audience was in for a lesson in musicianship and showmanship. As he played through a set mixed of standards and the cover......

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, music festivals are the dim sum of the concert-going experience; try a little of everything and go back for more of what you like (or ditch out on what you don’t). This year’s Coachella was no exception, with acts like country crooner Dwight Yoakam vying for time against dance-rock lovelies Hot Chip, or Prince breaking down the funk for the masses after a particularly breathtaking Portishead set. With the......

The moment has finally materialized: The official lineup for the three-day mega music fest in the middle of nowhere (aka Empire Polo Field in Indio) has been announced. Start putting those Susan B. Anthonys in your piggy banks now, music fans. 3-Day passes will run you $269.00 (+ $3 charity + applicable service fees), and single day passes are $90 (+ $1 charity + applicable service fees). If you're just picking one day, be ready......

M.I.A. struts her stuff at the Echoplex, July 31 UCLA's online student radio station UCLAradio.com has released its list of top 10 most-played albums of 2007. Looks like it was a good year for hip-hop at the station, with the above-pictured third-world jetsetter M.I.A. taking the number one spot. The station also recently put out favorite record lists from many of its managers. Longtime Promotions Director Jason Stern describes his favorites using only lyrics......

It's the end of another year and LA has lost yet another handful of important buildings. LA Weekly has the goods on the "big ones" that were lost this year including the Ambassador Hotel and Cocoanut Grove, Trader Vic's, Johnie's Broiler, Mann National Theatre and our personal vote for deepest loss of the year, Tail o' the Pup. It seems we're not the only ones who mourn the loss of our favorite hot dog......

I've always been intrigued by other "best of" lists, but this year I decided to take it to a whole new level. I e-mailed a handful of bands that I've seen this past year in order to unearth what exactly captivated them in '07. As music listeners, it is our duty to take a keen interest in our favorite musician's influences. After all, they rocked our little world, might as well see what rocked their......

Last year we did a lot of Best Of lists, and this year we are on a roll to eclipse the quantity and quality of last year. One thing I have noticed is there seems to be two ways to do a Best Of list. You can do a politically correct one for the hipsters and cynics - which is boring and a lie. Or you can keep it real and talk about how......

I've always been intrigued by other "best of" lists, but this year I decided to take it to a whole new level. I e-mailed a handful of bands that I've seen this past year in order to unearth what exactly captivated them in '07. As music listeners, it is our duty to take a keen interest in our favorite musician's influences. After all, they rocked our little world, might as well see what rocked their......

Listen to the interview here: Deborah Harry is on her way to LA to play the Music Box at the Henry Fonda Theater tomorrow, Friday the 7th. She's got her first new solo album in fourteen years out, Necessary Evil, and you can hear some samples of it at her MySpace. Unfortunately our conversation sounds like I'm contacting her by sat-phone somewhere in Tibet but these are the days of multiline patch-ins so it couldn't......

I've always been intrigued by other "best of" lists, but this year I decided to take it to a whole new level. I e-mailed a handful of bands that I've seen this past year in order to unearth what exactly captivated them in '07. As music listeners, it is our duty to take a keen interest in our favorite musician's influences. After all, they rocked our little world, might as well see what rocked their......

If you totally dug the soundtrack to American Beauty (not the orchestral score by Thomas Newman, which is amazing too), then you must know that KCRW DJ Chris Douridas was behind it. His choices in music for that movie led to a Grammy nomination, but that is only one of many movies and accomplishments under his belt. As a DJ, Douridas hosts New Ground on Saturdays at noon for three hours. In September, we......

Here's the mix: Download or listen to the mix above which contains the songs and their related articles below: - Spoon "Infinite Pet" for show review by Staci Goodner - No Age "Everybody's Down" for a story/show review by Joshua Pressman - Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings "Tell Me" for a CD review by tomdog - MIA "Galang" for a show review by Joey Maloney - Cake "War Pigs" cuz they play on 11/30 at......

Yesterday we started our Best of 2007 list with choices from KCRW's Nic Harcourt and Tom Schnabel. But then we realized we weren't being gentlemen. The ladies of KCRW should have gone first! D'oh! So fasten your seatbelts for The Drop's host Liza Richardson's picks for 2007. Something tells us our comments will be buzzing. Will it be for the inclusion of M.I.A.? Let's hope. 1) Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon......

There has been no one to hit the music scene in the past few years as original and refreshing as M.I.A. Her infectious blend or hip hop, dancehall, drum and bass and even a bit of electronic, has been getting crowds across the world shaking and moving to her grooves. Friday night she returned to Los Angeles, and after making the crowd wait a bit longer than expected she came through like a whirlwind......

Joanna Newsom - "Monkey and Bear" Joanna Newsom @ Disney Hall ZZ Top @ The Greek Of Montreal, Grand Buffet, MGMT @ Avalon Loudon Wainwright III, Joe Henry @ El Rey M.I.A., The Cool Kids @ The Wiltern Ben Harper, Piers Faccini @ Orpheum Rhino Bucket @ Knitting Factory Dave Mason @ House of Blues, Anaheim Eek-A-Mouse @ Galaxy Theatre Jesu, These Arms Are Snakes @ Echoplex She Wants Revenge, Kenna, theSTART @ Henry......

In it's 3rd year of existence, this past weekend's Vegoose Music Festival featured quite the impressive lineup. Boasting the final North American Show of the ever incredible Daft Punk and the final stop of Rage Against the Machine's reunion (tour), the fest also included great performances from Gogol Bordello, Muse, M.I.A. and many, many more. Follow the jump for tonnnns (literally) of pics of Muse, Queens of the Stone Age, M.I.A., Gogol Bordello, Queens......

These dudes didn't make the list. The year is already over for L.A. Times pop critic Ann Powers; in a piece dated tomorrow, she lays out an unremarkable top 10 albums of 2007. Maybe Powers gave up on 07 when she couldn't get on OiNK anymore. Or perhaps, like Christmas decorations and presidential primaries, top 10 lists are just going up earlier than ever this year. Either way, I guess she's not waiting on......

As one blogger so delicately phrased it, "CMJ goes out with a whimper". There wasn't a whole lot I wanted to see on Day Five of CMJ. So I rested my weary bones, wandered around Williamsburg, and caught a couple of shows. One highlight was Ha Ha Tonka's performance at Union Pool in Williamsburg at a homey, jam-packed venue. I believe there was a BBQ going on as well. Williamsburg was lovely, flourishing with......

New York you're bringing us down. One look at this weekend's Detour Fest lineup and it appears that Los Angeles, once again, is the center of all things rock. While dozens of acts will descend on downtown LA this Saturday, from as far as Australia, Sweden, France, Mexico, and Missouri, the NYC rock scene is MIA. Hell, even the two-headed Raveonettes are staking their claim to Hollywood, listed as hailing from "New York, Los......

Summer has passed and acts such as Suzanne Vega, Tegan and Sara, M.I.A., Spoon, and Rilo Kiley have reclaimed the spotlight after significant hiatuses, but the year is far from over. It’s now time to look forward to albums on the horizon that look like winners already: 21. In Our Bedroom After the War – Stars: The popular Canadian indie outfit is poised to take America by storm. (Release date: September 25) 20. As......

There was some really good music released over the summer and it's always nice to return to school with some "indie cred" so here are the Top 5 Albums to bring back to school with you: 5. The Stage Names - Okkervil River The next hot band on the indie stage. 4. Marry Me - St. Vincent After departing from the mega collective Polyphonic Spree, Annie Clark blazes her own glorious trail on her......

Here is a mix of tunes by bands that were mentioned in LAist in July of 2007: Powered by Podbean.com the Dwarves - Detention Girl (Anti interviewed Blag Dahlia of the Dwarves) Snoop Dogg - Beautiful (Anti reviewed Snoop's show) Gnarls Barkley - Crazy (Paul Dateh plays violin on 'Crazy' interviewed by Tony Pierce) Spoon - Infinite Pet (concert previewed by Michele Reverte and reviewed by Joey Maloney) Interpol - Slow Hands (CD review......

PB&J playing their hit @ Red Eye Fly, SXSW 3/14 Peter Bjorn & John, Cass McCombs @ Henry Fonda Godsmack @ The Wiltern MIA @ Echoplex Michael Penn, Patton Oswalt @ Largo Oliver Future, The Gray Kid, Astra Heights @ The Troubadour The Last Town Chorus @ Amoeba (6pm) Maxeen, The Mercy Kiss, Acute @ Key Club Mower, Lords of Rock & Roll Thunder & Lightning @ Viper Room Bat For Lashes, Tara Busch,......

The first show sold out in a sneeze so if you're looking to spy a shake of the Sri Lankan sweetheart, you best be buying your tickets like nowsville. M.I.A. @ The Echo July 31, 2007 Buy tickets here.......

There have been plenty of excuses: Luke Walton and Kwame Brown are out with injuries; Kobe Bryant had to miss a game because he can’t control his arms; Lamar Odom is not 100% from his knee problems; it was a long eight-game road trip to cold places; Mercury was retrograde so the stars were lined up against the Lakers. Maybe it’s because all the Laker players can do is “play video games and watch porn,”......

It’s difficult to argue that KCRW, 89.9 FM, isn't one of the better things we, the citizens of Los Angeles, get to experience firsthand. Yeah, the station offers podcasts and streaming radio, but it’s not the same as actually living in the city the station is broadcast from. Not only does the station play some of the most innovative and unique music in the world, but broadcasts daily news and cultural information unable to......

The news trucks were gathered en masse as the USC football team returned to campus a week after handily winning the Rose Bowl, but the mood was decidedly somber. The team met privately for about an hour and mourned with a priest before special teams assistant coach Dan Anno -- representing the team and the Danelo family -- addressed the press on the steps of Heritage Hall, flanked by Mario Danelo's closest teammates. "Obviously......

Gram Rabbit Cultivation (Stinky) – They’ve got a unique sound (kind of like Calexico mixed with trip-hop) and they’re from Joshua Tree. This is their second release and they’re performing live at Tower Sunset on 4/20 at 6:00 PM and the Echo on 4/21. Listen to some tracks on MYSPACE. Languis Other Desert Cities EP (Pehr) – Highly recommended new release from an under-appreciated local band. If you haven’t seen or heard them since......

It should be established that when it comes to the next hot ish (yes, you can still say 'ish' in 2006), URB is not to be doubted. The local mag was up on M.I.A., Bloc Party, The Go! Team, Feist, Dears and Arcade Fire long before they were the top tracks on your last.fm charts. Well, tonight, they are celebrating the future of music with not one but two parties. From 7-10pm we'll be......

TUESDAY • MIA appears tonight with Spank Rock at the Henry Fonda Theater. Doors open at 9 PM; tickets are $20. • Four Tet, Koushik, Jamie Lidell and DJ Peanut Butter Wolf are on stage tonight at The Echo at 8:30 PM. Cover is $12. [18+] • At the Silverlake Lounge, 9 PM brings on The Terrors, Lipstick Pickups and Gris Gris. Cover is $7. • Laura Cantrell and John Doe perform tonight at......