Free Moral Agents are one of the most original and unpredictable bands in L.A. music—from collaborations with people like Afrobeat legend and Fela Kuti’s drummer Tony Allen or beatmusic psychonaut Hudson Mohawke to superheavy covers of Sonic Youth, Free Moral Agents and band mastermind Ikey Owens are always ready to explore the unexpected. This song [...]

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A freshly reunited Pavement came back in style to the immaculate and majestic Hollywood Bowl with the help of granny-art-punks Sonic Youth and heirs to the pop/thrash throne No Age.

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Beijing’s music may be mostly unrecognized on these shores, but the best bands from China can definitely hold their own with L.A.’s finest. Los Angeles is awesome for recognizing this and welcom

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Sonic Youth played one of the last regional dates on their Eternal tour presented by 89.9 KCRW Saturday at the Wiltern. The show was sold out, with an original date on the ticket as Sept. 29, 2009.

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You can just picture the all-ages show behind the skate park under Southern California skies, where Roger, Ryan and Richie honor the tradition of the power trio and create the tableau for skaters to sniff glue and fuck around. Themes of isolation and impending responsibilities will be recognizable to anyone forced to grow up too soon. You’ll nod along to songs like “Product of the Eighties,” “Let The Bullets Through” and “Entitled” and say, “I know this song—I get this.”

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lis Download: Michael Nhat “I Love Bread” Mixtape [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Rapper Michael Nhat’s new self-titled album releases Tuesday, Oct. 27, on How To Be A Microwave and his record release show is this Saturday at the House of Vermont. He presents L.A. RECORD with a mixtape—which he titled I Love [...]

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Download: Sonic Youth “Sacred Trickster” [Audio clip: view full post to listen] (from The Eternal out now on Matador) Via Matador/Beggars—Sonic Youth’s Sept. 29 L.A. date and all other West Coast tour dates have been cancelled due to guitarist Lee Ranaldo fracturing his wrist while playing tennis. The band has rescheduled for a January 8 [...]

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The Entrance Band came together around guitarist Guy Blakeslee and spent two years writing their new album on stages across California. They have just signed to Ecstatic Peace and hope to go to towns no band ever visits. They speak now just before leaving for many months of tour. This interview by Chris Ziegler.

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L.A. RECORD is proud to co-present Allison and Tiffany Anders’ annual Don’t Knock The Rock music documentary festival, which starts tonight and runs every Thursday at Cinefamily at 611 N. Fairfax Ave. in July and August. Get the complete schedule and musical line-up—plus clips of all the films!—below! THUR., JULY 2 at 8 PM: Chicano [...]

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On the surface, We Be Xuxa almost seems like a retread of old school American punk, but actually it evokes without constant copying—it’s fresh-faced punk, yet my heart hears Born Innocent-era Redd Kross in their sisterly choruses, and early early Black Flag or even Ramones in their strumming (minus Greg Ginn’s noodling) and Wipers downturns on the chords, and a Darby Crash-like insistence on writing lyrics too self-referential and profound to sing straight into the microphone. And there’s even a Urinals cover!?! And there’s a Beach Blvd-esque melodicism to Jessie Clavin’s bass lines, one that perfectly matches their Descendants-like love of making up pragmatic gerunds such as “Totion.” A lot of reviewers have said these gals (et dude) sound like X-Ray Spex, but that is a lazy lie!

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