Koga

Part of an ongoing series (read their interview with LAist's Molly Bergen) LAist first met Long Beach/Los Alamitos-natives Avi Buffalo last March at an LA-Underground-presented showcase that included local rising stars The Sweet Hurt, Ema and the Ghosts, Amnion, and Cobra Lilies. Since then, the unsigned indie rock quartet have continued performing in Southern California, and in January landed on tastemaker Kevin Bronson's list of Bands to Watch: "Labels are already checking out this...

Last week, the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park continued its monthly First Fridays program with a sold-out show of music by The Phatal DJ and Chico Sonido in the African Mammal Hall and performances by the New Zealand-based The Ruby Suns and Australians Wolfmother in the North American Hall. Among the highlights of Wolfmother's energetic hour-long set was the debut of "California Queen" off their forthcoming sophomore album Cosmic Egg, and the encore...

On Sunday night, Georgian-born singer-songwriter Katie Melua performed a sold-out show, as part of her latest tour promoting the release of her new album Pictures, at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. It was actually her second show of the day as she did a free in-store earlier at the nearby Amoeba Records. Seeing Melua, who in 2006 was Europe's highest-selling female artist, at such an intimate venue as the Hotel Cafe, was not unlike Katy...

Part of an ongoing series When Tori Black, whom LAist first met last March, walked the red carpet at the XRCO Awards, she almost broke into tears when confiding to a nearby photographer friend about how hard she's worked this past year. And while she again lost to Stoya for New Starlet, her excitement at winning Cream Dream, against an impressive lineup that included Lexi Belle, Dakoda Brookes, Alexis Love, and Faye Reagan, was...

Part of an ongoing series If the AVN Adult Movie Awards are the Oscars of the adult industry, then the X-Rated Critics Organization (XRCO) Awards would be the equivalent of the New York Film Critics Circle Awards. Coinciding on the same night as the Grey Gardens premiere at the neighboring Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the 25th Annual XRCO Awards were held last month at Highlands in Hollywood, hosted by pornstars Jessica Drake and Kayden Kross,...

Last Wednesday, San Diego-based Tristan Prettyman (MySpace) and local Jesca Hoop (MySpace) anchored a solid night of female singer-songwriters at Hotel Cafe (MySpace) in Hollywood that included openers Lucy Schwartz (MySpace) and Annie Bethancourt (MySpace). The show also marked the beginning of Prettyman and Hoop's month-long residencies. Prettyman, who hasn't performed at Hotel Cafe in years, mentioned committing to a residency after reuniting with many of its regulars, including local Jim Bianco (MySpace), a...

Last Sunday was the fourth edition of Kidrockers at The Echo (MySpace), hosted by comedians Matt Dwyer (MySpace) and Matt Braunger (MySpace), with performances by local indie bands Le Switch (MySpace) and Radar Bros (MySpace). With this show, it is become readily apparent that the Kidrockers brand, which was established in New York and started here late last year, is now strong enough to pack the room, regardless of their musical lineup. The next...

Last month, Vivid-Alt head Eon McKai (MySpace) celebrated the release of his new movie On My Dirty Knees, his fourth directorial effort for the imprint, and one that LAist was witness to during its first day of filming, with a party at The Echoplex (MySpace). It was coincidentally held the same night of Miss Kitty's Parlour 7th Anniversary Ball. In attendance were stars Violet Skye, Dane Cross (MySpace), and Daniel (MySpace). Also present were...

LAist has been fortunate to run into pornstar and mainstream crossover artist Sasha Grey (MySpace) already a few times this year -- at AVN's Adult Entertainment Expo and Adult Movie Awards as well as Vivid-Alt's Live In My Secrets release party. In that time, Grey responded to recent criticism in editorials published by UCSB's Daily Nexus newspaper, the news of which even made the New York Post's Page Six column. Her musical project, ATelecine...

Part of an ongoing series. LAist has been a longtime fan of Vivid-Alt (MySpace). Since its creation in 2006, the Vivid Entertainment imprint has released 18 movies and utilized an all-star roster of directors that includes Vivid-Alt head Eon McKai (MySpace), photographers Octavio "Winkytiki" Arizala (MySpace) and Dave Naz (MySpace), artist Vena Virago (MySpace), and pornstar Kimberly Kane (MySpace). 2009 looks to be its biggest year to date, with 30 nominations at last month's...