Los Angeles always seems strange in the rain. Jim Morrison once may have said something to that effect. Then again, Jim Morrison once declared himself the lizard king and was known to drink blood at wiccan ceremonies, so maybe he wasn’t the best best guy to take advice from. But he was right in this […]

About three weeks ago when I was in New York, Tal Rosenberg pretty much gushed non-stop about the Burial record’s brilliance. At the time, I didn’t even know that the London-based Dub Step producer had a new album coming out, which isn’t much of a surprise considering fewer than ten people know his actual identity, […]

I only received a few hundred words in the Times to review Free at Last, mainly because I couldn’t tell my editor in good faith that the record deserved more. I get why people have been buzzing on it. The first two leaked singles (“It’s Over”) and the Jay-Z collabo were nice. And sure, the […]

Now that “Fiascogate” has crushed the dreams of the Okayplayer message board junkies who’d hoped to anoint him the rightful heir to the Native Tongues conscious rap throne, they’d be well served to redirect their dork-outs (like Buggin’ Out, but nerdier) towards 24-year old South Carolina MC, Danny!, a rapper/producer who reminds me of what […]

I usually re-post my Stylus articles in their entirety here, but it feels wrong to to do so for this one, as seems to make a lot more sense over there. I told my editor, Todd Burns, it’s either one of the best things I’ve ever written for them or one of the worst. Hopefully, […]

  Reading Crock Tock’s review of the Dark Star Orchestra show in San Francisco has gotten me in a Dead sort of mood. To get my fix before I see DSO this coming Saturday at the El Rey, I’ve been listening to The Dead’s Golden Gate Studio’s Autumn demos, recorded on November 3rd, 1965, in […]

Considering Zilla, is a regular contributor to this site, I’m obviously not the most objective person to evaluate his music. But the truth is, if I didn’t think his music was great, I never would’ve asked him to blog for me in the first place. Since I first wrote about them roughly a year ago, […]

There’s wolves in the garden,” Chris Richard belts out, midway through the fourth song of The Ortolan, the debut from the Silverlake quartet, the Deadly Syndrome. Every time I hear the line, it instantly triggers memories of an ‘80s movie that shall forever remain nameless, a fact I attribute to having spent one too many […]

Beirut’s balkan flavored Gulag Orkestrar arrived last year swept up in a maelstrom of blog-hype, a buzz so deafening and feverish that it seemed almost irresponsible. And indeed, the band’s first live performances were met with a withering criticism that failed to take into account the fact that not only was Beirut front-man/master-mind Zach Condon […]

When the Go! Team emerged in late 2004, it finally became clear what the Avalanches had been doing for the last half decade: taking gravity bong rips, staying up all night eating Lucky Charms, and watching Season 1 of “ChiPs” and “Magnum P.I.” At least, that was the impression you got from their debut, Thunder, […]