On a warm summer evening in June, KCRW kicked off it's World Music Festival at the Hollywood Bowl in grand style. They presented the crowd with four bands, two American and two African, who couldn't be more different, but were all linked by their use African inspired drumming within their songs. It was really fascinating to watch the same beats reborn in four completely unique ways almost like a musical Iron Chef challenge. more ›

Tonight Dallas-bred multiple Grammy Award-winning soul singer-songwriter Erykah Badu will be headlining the Greek Theatre with none other than Kansas City-bred pop singer-songwriter Janelle Monae and Chicago-based hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco. Scottish folk singer-songwriter and former member of Pentagle Bert Jansch is finally making his return to the US following an illness that scuttled his planned 2008 tour, and will be playing at the Largo Coronet tonight with special guest Pegi Young. And, lastly, LAist favorites, San Franciscan indie pop trio Geographer will be gracing Spaceland. But we strongly suggest doing whatever it takes to get into the Hollywood Bowl to catch Brooklyn-based buzz band Yeasayer and local afro-centric indie pop act Fool's Gold, who will be warming up the stage for Senegalese singer-songwriter Baaba Maal and Tinariwen, a band of Saharan musicians from northern Mali. more ›

This week Dallas-bred multiple Grammy Award-winning soul singer-songwriter Erykah Badu will be headlining the Greek Theatre with none other than Kansas City-bred pop singer-songwriter Janelle Monae and Chicago-based hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco. Tinariwen, a band of Saharan musicians from northern Mali, are poised grace the Hollywood Bowl with Brooklyn-based buzz band Yeasayer, warming up the stage for Senegalese singer-songwriter Baaba Maal. London-based electronic singer-songwriter Imogen Heap will be gracing the Greek Theatre as well. And, lastly, Junip, an indie rock trio formed by critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter José González during his formative years, will be making their LA debut at Center for the Arts in Eagle Rock. more ›

If you missed Tinariwen at Temple Bar last November, Fader and a few other blogs have posted this from the Taureg band's instore at Other Music in New York. The group's latest cd has been making everyone's Best Albums of 2007 list from Rolling Stone to Pitchfork to KCRW. more ›

There are many different ways you could have heard of Tinariwen by now - even if you don't keep up with world music, you could have heard Henry Rollins play them on Indie 103.1, or read that they opened for The Rolling Stones, or heard that Thom Yorke was inspired by one of their guitar riffs while writing 'The Clock' on Eraser. Not your usual buzz band, Tinariwen are part of a nomadic desert... more ›