Joaquin Phoenix: More Present Than Ever

September 23, 2010 by

Casey Affleck’s admission that “I’m Still Here” was all a hoax makes it a much better movie.
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FYF Festival Satisfies Despite Growing Pains

September 16, 2010 by

September 4, which marked the seventh year of FYF Fest, saw downtown Los Angeles look a little like God’s idea of a cruel joke on hipsters.
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Making Wavves at SOhO

August 25, 2010 by

At “Rock the Bells” a few years back, the MC announced that the special guest for the show would be Lauryn Hill. As in Fugees, “Killing Me Softly” Lauryn Hill.
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A Record Made for the People ***

May 13, 2010 by

With The People’s Record, Club 8 heads closer in the direction of tropicália, a genre which it had previously only hinted at over the course of its six-album career thus far.
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Betties Battle It Out

November 12, 2009 by

I found out about last Saturday's season-closing bout between the Mission City Brawlin' Betties and the West Coast Derby Knockouts entirely by chance. At dinner with a VP at Citrix, she casually menti...
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Pixies at the Palladium

November 12, 2009 by

Pixies, widely held to be grunge's progenitors as well as early '90s alt-rock darlings, kicked off its Doolittle tour in rollicking style last Wednesday at the Hollywood Palladium. The band's members ...
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It’s a Wild, “Wild” World Out There *****

October 22, 2009 by

"Where the Wild Things Are" has achieved a rare quadruple-media self-referential storm that has taken the beloved children's book from its place at the bottom of boxes in attics and elevated it to a m...
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Ghostface Killah’s Spectre Haunts Velvet Jones

October 22, 2009 by

Fresh off an appearance at VH1's Hip Hop Honors, founding Wu-Tang Clansman Ghostface Killah made a shambolic appearance at Velvet Jones last Saturday night. Apparently battling some sort of flu, Ghost...
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New Album Reviews: No Age (***) and The Swell Season (****)

September 24, 2009 by and

No Age returns to smaller releases after flirtation and romance, brought singer-its last two projects have produced LPs. The Losing Feeling EP - due out Oct. 6 - is a bit of a departure for the band, ...
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Magical Mystery Tour *****

September 17, 2009 by

Reviewing a video game is a strange experience, and one that has little to do with actually playing the game. True, you play more of the game than probably 80 percent of the people that play the game ...
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“Star Trek” Rebooted *****

May 14, 2009 by

Although big screen re-imaginings of comic books or TV series have long been de rigueur, none have taken on a series with such a rich back story and committed fan base as "Star Trek." With the collect...
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Psychedelic Mushrooms

April 23, 2009 by

Before seeing the band's set, I was rather surprised to see a long line of students waiting to see an Israeli trance duo named after an afflicted fungus wrapped around the UCen. Last Wednesday evening...
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Spending 4/20 With Fleet Foxes

April 23, 2009 by

Two days after playing to a sweaty Coachella crowd, the musicians of Fleet Foxes must have felt a bit of déjà vu when they looked out into the crowd and saw it full of the same smiling and s...
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Q&A: A Chat With No Age Frontman Randy Randell

March 5, 2009 by

Guitarist Randy Randall and drummer Dean Sprunt are collectively known as the noise punk band No Age. Randy and Dean have become iconic in the L.A. music scene, inspiring hordes of imitators and inspi...
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Another Acid High *****

March 5, 2009 by

The Black Lips' musical talent somehow surpasses its considerable reputation for debauchery. That's saying a lot for a band that has been banned from multiple concert venues in L.A. for its members ma...
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