I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was working on a story about J Dilla’s legacy and the problems that his estate has had in enforcing copyright law. It’s up and running now for you to scoff derisively at. A follow-up story with Dilla’s family may be in the works, so there may […]

Goals for the remainder of the year: Stop writing articles for the LA Weekly involving the phrase, [Random Band] is the Best [Insert Hyperbolic Superlative Here]. That said, I get hopelessly stannish when talk turns to Arthur Lee and Love, in particular their masterpiece, Forever Changes, which was just re-issued by Rhino last month complete […]

I wrote about the Mezzanine Owls here last month, and my review of their Mezzanine Owls EP appears in this LA Weekly. They’re one of my favorite local bands and they’ve got the Spaceland Monday night residency for the Month of May.  I’ll let the review say the rest. LA Weekly: Mezzanine Owls-Mezzanine Owls EP […]

The LA Weekly let me ramble at-length and with messianic zeal about My Morning Jacket in advance of their Coachella performance next weekend. I think it came out well, though ideally I would’ve loved to have had the chance to conduct in-person interviews with the band. That said, Jim James, bassist Two-Tone Tommy and Bo […]

In honor of the Genius’ Liquid Swords performance at the El Rey this Saturday night, I have an article in the new LA Weekly, analyzing the unimpeachable brilliance of the record and why nearly 15 years after its release it’s regarded as one of the genre’s finest.  It’s not really my place to say whether […]

  While even I can’t openly advocate Soulja Boy slaughter by an army of aggrieved pre-teens (somebody buy that 12-year old a beer), I can safely say that “Yahh” is the dumbest song that I have ever heard in my life. Granted, peaking at #48 on the Billboard 200 doesn’t exactly match the sterling success […]

The truth is that I will use any excuse to post the above picture of Devin the Dude. However, in this instance there’s a reasonable explanation, specifically the final print version of the LA Weekly’s SXSW coverage. I had a chance to edit and I think improve on my original Devin story, which ended up […]

This article may only have regional appeal, as Felli Fel’s celebrity is certainly strongest in LA, where he has held it down as Power 106’s version of Funkmaster Flex for the past nine years. Granted, “Get Buck In Here,” the break-out first single from Fel’s forthcoming Go DJ EP is a far cry from the […]

Don’t get me wrong, Pusha T and Malice are very good rappers. And I certainly don’t blame them for not wanting to be lumped into “your coke-rap genre.” Truth be told, they can rap rings around the likes of Young Jeezy and Rick Ross (though be fair, both of those heavyset clowns rap about as […]

I know, I know. Vampire Weekend, so last week right? But hey, my review for the LA Weekly was filed nearly three weeks ago and besides, I already wrote about them in July. I liked them then, I like them now. Yes, their eponymous debut LP that dropped on XL last week is a good […]