Ross A. Lincoln

For the uninitiated, La Roux are the current (and richly deserving) darlings of England's resurgent synth-pop scene. After emerging last Fall as though they sprang fully formed from the head of drum machine Zeus, the London-based duo (singer/keyboardist Elly Jackson and keyboardist co-writer Ben Langmaid) has gone from "who?", to "Holyfuckingshit" in less time than it took the Bush Administration to hoax the Democratic caucus into accepting their transparently idiotic WMD claims. Their first single, "Quicksand", recorded before they even had a proper record deal, debuted in December and quickly became an international iPod staple. In short order, they subsequently:

Blaine Campbell is a man on a mission - most of the time. For the last few years, when he hasn't been entertaining friends with his home-taped Christmas records and intermittent LA area live shows, he's been involved in politics (including working with former Mayor Hahn, and having been a 2004 delegate to the Democratic National Convention!). For now, politics has taken a backseat to art and finally, seemingly years in the making, Blaine's...

"So what's with the Prop 8 bullshit anyway?" So said Jens Lekmen just before starting "A Postcard to Nina", to warm applause from the crowd of Angelenos who were as weary of codified hatred as they were entranced by the performer in front of them. The comment was a grim reminder of the things America (and in particular, California), sorely lacks: decency; equal protection under the law; and more musicians like Jens Lekmen....

The El Portal in NoHo Comedian Robert Wuhl is probably better known for his film roles or for his HBO series Arli$$, than he is for his stand up, though he's been at it for the bulk of his 30+ career. This changed somewhat in 2006 with the launch of Wuhl's brilliant Assume The Position with Mr. Wuhl, a hilarious history lecture (given to actual students) about the way history is created and treated...

Despite representing France at Eurovision 20081, having songs featured on TV shows as widely watched as Ugly Betty and playing to sold out crowds nationwide, Sebastien Tellier is, in the United States, surprisingly obscure. The question "who?"2 must have been asked about 40 times in the weeks prior to the show, and we eventually gave up putting him into broader context; instead, we simply said "imagine if Giorgio Moroder and Prince were surgically grafted to...

For people opposed to our current national Policy regarding marijuana, it has been an interesting couple of months. Secretary of State Clinton’s “shocking” admission that the problems stemming from the drug trade are in large part because Americans Like Drugs is the most recent, but most startling was newly minted US Attorney General Eric Holder articulation of the Obama administration's position on medicinal marijuana: Tepidly hands-off. They will no longer raid or prosecute Medical...

God's House: Phone Book - watch more funny videos Fearing the lack of God in your life? In need of some salvation, stat? Longtime friends of LAist, Los Angeles' own Honor Student are back with another short. Welcome to God's House....

Last October, LAist had the opportunity to interview local band Princeton as they were beginning the push to support their debut recording, the Bloomsbury EP. The interview was great but we've been remiss in getting to a review of the actual record. Fortunately, they're playing tonight at Spaceland's Club NME, which provides the perfect excuse to make up for this egregious error. The EP, named after the district in central London that is almost...

For people concerned that the Obama era would be a time of reconciliation and national good feeling, during which old and painful divisions would be healed and the impetus for political-tourrette's outbursts would be gravely diminished, Proposition 8 has been the gift that keeps on giving. Since passing last November, the battle between the supporters of equal rights and the supporters of building a magic time machine back to the 19th century has been...

In the latest of an increasingly dismal series of articles about the terrifying state of California's Economy, the lede says it all: California, the eighth largest economy in the world, is broke. Wait, what? Since state legislators failed to meet an end of January deadline on an agreement to make up for California's $40 billion budget gap, residents won't be getting their state tax rebates, scholarships to Cal Grant college will go unpaid, vendors...