Jason Toney

Once described as an LA hipster's wet dream, The Adored's post-punk, mod-influenced sound stays true to their indie sensibilities and can be heard throughout the small club circuit east of the plastic glam of Hollywood. Drew, Max, Nat and Ryan have stayed under the radar from larger crowds in Los Angeles but that is likely to change in 2005 with their V2 Records EP release set for January and a great kick-off to the...

According to the prosecution's first witnesses, Robert Blake isn't that great an actor. Despite his years as the popular television cop, Baretta, and his over 130 other film and TV appearances, people at the scene of his wife's murder weren't convinced by his odd behavior after she was shot, and the anguish that he seemingly turned on and off depending on who was in front of him. Sean Stanek, who was the first on...

We're just so excited that our police commission "unveiled a plan Tuesday aimed at discouraging officers from using flashlights as weapons, except in emergencies." No longer will foot chases end with perps getting tackled and pummeled with aluminum lights. We're so relieved. Except for one thing: we didn't even know the flashlight was okay to use as a weapon by our police department. Unlike the baton choke hold that was in fashion under former...

Not that any ball drops here in Los Angeles and it frustrates us to no end that we don't have a signature New Year's celebration. That said, hopefully you're better prepared for the dawning of 2005 than we are. Those last minute invitations to join someone on their private jet to South Beach or Vegas to ring in the New Year just aren't rolling in like we'd hoped. We're not bitter. We can still...

It's rare that we actually listen to LA's commercial radio stations. KCRW and the faux-indie 103.1 usually do us just fine. While downing large amounts of tofu pad see ew at our favorite hole in the wall Thai restaurant today, however, the usually vanilla 94.7 The Wave said something that excited us. Throaty voiced DJ Talaya Trigueros announced that they were giving away a trip an hour (between 8 AM and 5 PM) from...

It's rare that LAist is star struck. We live in LA, damnit, where a starlet is just as likely to fight you for diet pills in the grocery store as she is to flash you on the red carpet. Last night, however, we were nearly blinded by the high wattage power of NBC 4's own Kelly Mack. At a very low key holiday party at Yi Cuisine for a bunch of reality tv big...

Is it just us or are the 47th Grammy Awards Nominations woefully lacking in Los Angeles based artists and bands? Oh sure, the Black Eyed Peas and No Doubt make a few appearances and Snoop Dogg's Neptunes produced "Drop It Like It's Hot" rightfully competes for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group but these are all the usual suspects. Was this really that bad a year for local music? Local indie fave...

LAist was feeling a little bit of deja vu last night. Mondays at the Spider Club have, in the past six months, become the place to be for young Hollywood scenesters early in the work week. DJ Morty spins 80s dance favorites while the beautiful people gyrate and drink strong cocktails. Apparently, however, what the beautiful people really love is Digital Underground. The last time LAist was in the house, Shock G treated the...

With the large amount of liquor offered on the menu of the Orchid Restaurant & Lounge, it seems an unlikely place for a baby shower but that is where LAist found itself this weekend. Trapped upstairs in a private room (although with windows allowing people from neighboring rooms to peek in, the privacy is questionable), we found ourselves drinking OB and vodka cocktails while belting out karaoke tunes to the delight of the mother...

Earlier this week, NPR's Day to Day featured something we hope to get in our Christmas stocking this year: the TrafficGauge. A PDA-sized real time wireless traffic map? As Xeni Jardin said during her piece, "It's like having a psychic friend." How lovely would it be to know whether or not it's going to take you twenty minutes or an hour and a half to go from the west side to Hollywood? Or to...