Given how the last few years have been so fallow for mainstream L.A. hip-hop, plenty of post-Dilla indie stalwarts are making a run at establishing a dominant local sound of fuzzy soul samples and virtuosic cut-and-paste beats. But the producer Flying Lotus might be the best of the bunch, precisely because he's the least traditionally hip-hop of them all. First off, his June debut full-length for Warp Records, "Los Angeles," is mostly instrumental. And those instrumentals are blinding thickets of reverb, alien techno noise and heavily treated vocal snippets.
Strong as they are commercially these days, the Jonas Brothers aren’t immune from the forces that shape most hot teen pop and rap performers’ new releases. But despite a 72% sales drop for the trio’s album “A Little Bit Longer” during its second week of release, the trio still managed to hold down the No. 1 position on the national album sales chart.
The album sold 147,000 copies last week, easily topping Kid Rock’s “Rock n Roll Jesus,” which moved up one position to No. 2 with sales of 101,000 copies, the only other album to crack the six-figure barrier last week. It’s all the more impressive given that the album has been on the chart for close to a year, propelled into the chart’s upper reaches of late by his Warren Zevon and Lynyrd Skynyrd-echoing hit single “All Summer Long.”
Staind’s latest, “Illusion of Progress,” entered the chart at No. 3 with sales of 92,000, breaking the hard-rock group’s streak of No. 1 debuts with its three previous collections. Ice Cube’s “Raw Footage” drops in at No. 5 with first-week sales of 70,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Matthew Sweet has accumulated some devoted fans since his emergence in the early '90s with the celebrated garage opus “Girlfriend.” They’re conscientious too.
At a show Monday night at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, the singer-songwriter-guitarist marked the release of his latest CD, “Sunshine Lies” (on Shout Factory Records), with a preview of many of the new songs. But it was obvious some in the crowd had already heard them.
Dave Navarro and Berlin's Terri Nunn (is there any female musician in town Navarro is not friendly with?) teamed up last week to record Olivia Newton-John's dreamy "Magic" for Los Angeles-based charity organization Project Angel Food. Newton-John was honored over the weekend at Project Angel Food's 15th Annual Angel Awards for her work on the importance of early breast cancer detection. The good folks at PAF were kind enough to give us a minute-long sneak preview of their cover, which will be available in full on Friday at both Navarro's Mania TV website and at Berlinpage.com.
Hearing Punjabi music, particularly bhangra music played at a Sunset Strip nightclub, is a rare thing. But on Saturday, Brooklyn-based DJ Rekha spun a set at the Roxy that was enthusiastically welcomed with waving arms and rhythmic stepping in the bhangra dance style.
Unfortunately, the turnout wasn't as expected, partly due to an unrelated altercation that began at the Roxy's upstairs bar area. It resulted in two stabbings and three arrests, according to the West Hollywood sheriff's station, and the crime scene shut down the western portion of Sunset Boulevard during prime bar-hopping hours.
To say the least, those who did make it in got nearly two hours of some of the best in Eastern-flavored party music, which is now crossing over heavily into the huge Bollywood industry, even attracting Snoop Dogg's participation.
House of Blues: Panic at the Disco, Sept. 6; Billy Bob Thornton, Sept. 7; Cubensis, Oct. 7; The Academy Is..., Oct. 15; Umphrey’s McGee, Oct. 28; All Time Low, Nov. 1; Hanson, Nov. 14; Gwar, Nov. 24; Bell Biv DeVoe, Nov. 28 (now); Gram Rabbit, Oct. 2; White Lion, Oct. 10; Suicide Silence, Oct. 2; Method Man & Red Man, Nov. 11, the Misfits, Nov. 18 (Sat.).
Andre Romelle Young Jr., the son of hip-hop legend Dr. Dre of N.W.A, was found dead Saturday morning in his Woodland Hills bedroom, MTV News and the LA Weekly are reporting. He was 20.
An autopsy was conducted on Young's body Monday, but a cause of death has not yet been determined, pending the results of a toxicology report, a representative for the Los Angeles County Coroner's office told MTV News. The coroner's rep confirmed that an Andre Romelle Young Jr. passed away Saturday, but was uncertain if he was Dre's son; Dre's rep confirmed that information Tuesday (August 26).
Young was discovered in his bed at around 10:30 a.m. Saturday by his mother, who attempted to rouse him, the coroner's spokesperson said. Young was unresponsive, so she called paramedics, who responded to the scene. After their efforts to revive him failed, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the coroner's spokesperson, Young had spent the previous evening with friends. His mother told police that he'd returned home Saturday at around 5:30 a.m., and that she'd heard him in his bedroom. Police said they did not suspect foul play. - MTV
The pioneering producer and rapper from South L.A. issued a statement today through a spokesperson. "Dr. Dre is mourning the loss of his son Andre Young Jr. Please respect his family's grief and privacy at this time."
Dre is currently working on his third solo album, "The Detox." Longtime collaborator Snoop Dogg recently told Rolling Stone that the album, the first since 1999's "2001," is nearly finished and is simply awaiting Dre's decision on which tracks would make the cut. N.W.A's groundbreaking album, "Straight Outta Compton," which Dre produced and rapped on, came out 20 years ago this month.
Update: Young Jr. was the subject of a paternity dispute 18 years ago when his mother, Jenita Porter, sought $5,000-a-month in child support from Dre.
Who’s big enough to throw some attention back on the venerable Hollywood Palladium, which has been shuttered for most of the last year while undergoing a complete makeover? Think of a rapper whose name rhymes with cray-zee, which is what hip-hop fans are likely to go at the prospect of catching one of the genre’s biggest names in a facility with a maximum capacity of about 4,000.
Yes, Jay-Z will bring his game to the Palladium on Oct. 15, backed by a 12-piece band. Tickets will go on sale Sept. 5.
The line of hipsters stretching down the southern end of Hill Street on Thursday was every indication that something special was going on inside La Cita. Its weekly Thursday jump-off, Dance Right, has been pretty surprising with its DJ picks for a couple of years now. It's even become something of a hipster Mecca for the grittier East Side contingent.
Still, despite the $3 whiskey special that ran until midnight, most of the crowd came downtown to see golden boy turntablist A-Trak do his thing. If there's an art to live mixing and mashing for a dance floor, A-Trak is something of a Rembrandt.
In addition to his championship level cutting and scratching game, he's also co-owner of a pretty hot indie label, boyfriend to a pretty hot rapper you might have heard of and musical cohort to the likes of Jay-Z and Kanye West, with whom he's toured.
For those of you not still hung over from Sunset Junction or awaiting the latest twist in Spencer and Heidi's living arrangements on "The Hills," the voice behind one of my favorite singles of the year is playing two shows in L.A. tonight. Lykke Li, a pixieish twentysomething Swede making the rounds for her debut album, "Youth Novels," is a perfect approximation of everything I'm listening to now: dusty '60s girl-group pop, cut-and-paste electronica and outsider minimal R&B. It's perfectly realized on her single "Little Bit," where jittery steel drum samples and a tinny acoustic guitar prick away at her endearingly dejected falsetto. The song's aggressively soft-lit video is turning into something of a YouTube smash, and if you can't catch her crazy-sold-out show at Hotel Cafe tonight, she's playing for free down the block at Amoeba Records at 6:30 p.m. I'd say it's a safe Monday night respite from Audrina Partridge and Lo Bosworth's death stares, but who really knows these days.
Given how the last few years have been so fallow for mainstream L.A. hip-hop, plenty of post-Dilla indie stalwarts are making a run at establishing a dominant local sound of fuzzy soul samples and virtuosic cut-and-paste beats. But the producer Flying Lotus might be the best of the bunch, precisely because he's the least traditionally hip-hop of them all. First off, his June debut full-length for Warp Records, "Los Angeles," is mostly instrumental. And those instrumentals are blinding thickets of reverb, alien techno noise and heavily treated vocal snippets.
Strong as they are commercially these days, the Jonas Brothers aren’t immune from the forces that shape most hot teen pop and rap performers’ new releases. But despite a 72% sales drop for the trio’s album “A Little Bit Longer” during its second week of release, the trio still managed to hold down the No. 1 position on the national album sales chart.
Hearing Punjabi music, particularly bhangra music played at a Sunset Strip nightclub, is a rare thing. But on Saturday, Brooklyn-based 
Andre Romelle Young Jr., the son of hip-hop legend Dr. Dre of N.W.A, was found dead Saturday morning in his Woodland Hills bedroom, MTV News and the 
