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 ›

With Coachella behind us, some of those bands are going to be playing more locally this summer. The Hollywood Bowl this morning announced additional bands and one new show (that some of you already knew about). more ›

The Natural History Museum brought out the big guns for their second installment of 2010's First Friday's series. All musical talent aside, it was like the Pitchfork version of Maxim's Hot 100 List with the beautiful ladies of Warpaint opening for the handsome gents of Yeasayer. An intense amount of excellent genetics in one room upstaged only by key picks from their respective oeuvres. (Speaking of which, you should really grab the latter's Odd Blood if you haven't already. Good stuff.) more ›

With advance tickets selling out two weeks ago and people lined up yesterday before noontime (and in the rain no less!) to buy the remainder, interest in last night's edition of First Fridays at the Natural History Museum, with performances by Warpaint and Yeasayer, was at a near-record pace. It was the most ambitious project yet for Spaceland Productions, who set up a whopping 14 videocameras, four of which were also used for the live webcast via Stickam, and two RED ONEs converted for shooting in 3D. more ›

Tonight Old 97's front man Rhett Miller will be headlining the Troubadour with none other than local alt-country troubadours Leslie and the Badgers. LA-based electronic mastermind Daedelus is poised to take on the Echoplex with Nosaj Thing. And, lastly, Philadelphia-based rapper and singer Amanda Blank will be performing at the Avalon in Hollyweird. But we strongly suggest doing whatever it takes to get into the Natural History Museum to catch Brooklyn-based buzz band Yeasayer, who will be performing for this month's edition of First Fridays. Local indie rockers Warpaint (LAist Review, #2, #3) are slated to kick things off. more ›

This week Brooklyn-based buzz band Yeasayer will be headlining the Natural History Museum with none other than local indie rock outfit Warpaint (LAist Review, #2, #3) for this month's edition of First Fridays. Ann Arbor's crown jewel, a relatively diminutive post-afrobeat outfit by the name of Nomo (LAist Review, #2) are poised to grace Spaceland with Orgone, a proficient funk troupe that stunned us at Bumbershoot Festival in Seattle a few years back. English folk singer-songwriter Laura Marling will be taking on Largo at the Coronet. And, lastly, Brooklyn's own punk rock trio Vivian Girls will be performing at the Smell in Downtown with LA-based lo-fi pop act Best Coast in tow. more ›

December is list-making season. And for us music journalists, it is a time to look back on scores of albums, reflect upon the music and recapitulate our favorites. But this year, just like the last, we took this opportunity to flip that tradition upside down, asking the artists that influenced us what influenced them. The prompt was not limited to albums that came out in 2008. more ›

Tonight Brooklyn-based buzz band Yeasayer will be headlining the Troubadour. Last year they were rocking out to twenty some-odd people at the CMJ Festival in New York. And a mere ten months later they were performing for thousands at this year's Lollapalooza. Talk about mobility! Anyways, Rhett Miller will be returning to the Largo at the Coronet with Murry Hammond of the Old 97s. And local singer-songwriter extraordinaire Charlie Wadhams will be continuing his residency at Tangier. But, in all honesty, we're really excited for the Cure Tribute Night at the Echo. LA-by-way-of-Brooklyn psych duo Gangi (LAist Review) are slated to perform with Hecuba. It'll be a strange night of electronic-infused fringe music, but it is not to be missed. more ›

It's the last Saturday of the month and that means The Blue Mask at Mr. T's Bowl in Highland Park is back after a little holiday break. LA Weekly describes the all-night music party put on by fellow musicians of Motorcycle Black Madonnas as a venue to catch "some of the city’s most respected underground punk, hard-rock and bent-jazz musicians... Best of all, there’s almost no chance that the faux-rock glitterati (or celebrity trash like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan) will ever discover/ruin the place." more ›

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... more ›

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... more ›

Day Four began with jazz hands. I started off at Cake Shop to see NY native Patrick Cleandenim. He struck my interest with his brand of flamboyant, jazz-infused pop. However, it'd be nearly impossible for him to replicate the orchestral backing live and thus his live performance seemed a bit flat. Regardless, Patrick is destined for large things. His latest effort Baby, Come Home was recorded in Kansas at a studio I am quite... more ›

Yesterday commenced with an LA bang. I started off at the Indaba music loft again because they have been hosting a plethora of good (free!) shows. There's something comforting about watching bands from someone else's living room. I showed up around mid-day to catch one of my favorite LA bands Division Day. Front man Rohner Segnitz and the boys ran through a pleasant acoustic set. With drummer Kevin Lenhart on shakers, Division Day sounded... more ›