Akifumi Moshizuki

For the past eight years, Los Angeles metal band Graf Orlock have been culling samples and dialogue from action movies like Predator and Lethal Weapon into a manic concoction of noise, punk and grindcore that they call "cinemagrind." The group twists seemingly innocuous dialogue from these badass flicks into lyrical diatribes on the decay of society, making them stand out from the rest of the grindcore pack.

On their new work, Los Angeles, they have created what may be their masterpiece: a 7-inch EP focused entirely on Michael Mann's 1995 sprawling cops-and-robbers epic, Heat.

Over beers at Good Microbrew & Grill in Silver Lake, the quartet's founder, Justin Smith, says they picked the film because of its memorable representation of L.A. "It looks at the simultaneous shittiness and awesomeness of L.A.," says Smith, who also plays guitar.

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Bob B. Brown and Weekly Dig/CC 2.0

​See also:
*Interview With a Raver Who Wears Electrical Tape on Her Boobs
*Ask a Teen Raver

Lines stretched for blocks in northeast L.A. last night as fans jostled to get a taste of the latest Skrillex project -- a literal taste, that is, of the diminutive dubstep pioneer's new mobile culinary lab, Grillex.

The Grammy-winning L.A. native Skrillex (born Sonny Moore) launched Grillex to minimal initial fanfare, keeping it mostly a secret until yesterday afternoon, when the truck rolled up to the corner of Echo Park Avenue at Sunset and tweets piled upon tweets, prompting a rush of mostly black-clad superfans to get their hands on his new creations.

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"I am not a geek!"

​Story by Nicole Pajer

As the fake ID-bearing McLovin' in Superbad, Christopher Mintz-Plasse portrayed -- stay with us here -- one of the all-time great on-screen characters. He went on to play the socially awkward, Lair-loving Augie in Role Models and a crime-fighting nerd in Kick Ass.

But in real life, he's not such a geek. In fact, he's the drummer in the Young Rapscallions, a quite cool rock band he formed with childhood best friends.

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Rebecca Haithcoat

​Saturday night Fergie threw a St. Patty's Day party at the Beverly Hills club Confidential. It was a celebration of the new partnership between Voli Light Vodka and the Don-A-Matrix (yes, we get it) fitness company, both of which Ferg's somehow involved in.

Though we rarely go to "The Club," we're game for any heath and wellness company that hosts a party with an open bar shilling a drink created specifically for it. In this case it was "The Ferguson," a blend of lemon vodka, soda water and 2002's favorite schnapps, Apple Pucker, which was surprisingly not bad. Seeing as we didn't get a chance to speak with the Duchess, we had some time on our hands; as someone who rarely hits "The Club," here are our thoughts on it.

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Elano Pizzicarola

Laura Kelsey, 24, Marz Beeuwsaert, 17, Kristin Cooper, 21, and Beth Boyd, 20

​The Flytraps will have you know that they have no feminist agenda. Oh, and their members can "out-drink any guy," says their bassist Kristin Cooper, on a warm Sunday afternoon in drummer Laura Kelsey's backyard.

The group members are prone to giggling and teasing each other in person. They've been together for about two years; two previous members left for school. "They weren't rock and roll types," Cooper says.

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Courtesy of Mexican Summer

​It's a sunny Saturday afternoon and Aaron Coyes and Indra Dunis -- members of breakout psychedelic duo Peaking Lights -- are trying to mellow out Miko, their vivacious 10-month-old son. He's gnawing on an unopened furniture box from Ikea.

"Dude," Coyes says. "You're being extrasilly today."

It's a rare moment of respite for Peaking Lights. They've just finished mixing their ebullient latest album, Lucifer, due in June on Mexican Summer in the U.S., and on Domino imprint Weird World globally. It's their first new release as part of the career-making, multi-album contracts they signed with the labels this summer. Soon, they'll leave their home in Echo Park for months of touring, including dates in Europe with fellow Angeleno Julia Holter.

For two lifelong independent rockers, that's not just high-stakes stuff -- it's what you do to take care of your family.

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​Emanuela Bellezza isn't from L.A., but she decided a long time ago this was where she wanted to be. Born and raised in Italy, she'd dreamed of making music here since her teenage years in Rome, when she first started writing original songs. Now, four years into her L.A. life -- with two albums under her belt and a full band backing her up -- Bellezza is on the verge of stardom.

But it hasn't been a traditional ascent. She's played some festivals around town and a few clubs here and there, but she's only barely toured in the U.S. and never played a single show in Latin America. Her rapidly-growing fame has more to do with her recent television appearances on networks like Univision, Telefutura and TV Azteca. That and earning the personal endorsement of Juanes, arguably Latin America's biggest pop star of the past decade. It's a story Bellezza can barely believe as she tells it to us at a strip-mall Starbucks in Sherman Oaks.

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Viernes 13

​Local eight-man ska band Viernes 13 started out playing backyard shows in Whittier and South Gate in the mid-90s. It makes sense, since those were the days when Reel Big Fish and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones ruled the airwaves. But as ska faded from top 40 radio, its popularity only kept growing in L.A.

"In the backyard South Gate scene, there weren't a lot of bands playing what we were playing," recalls guitarist and founding member Mario Luna.

It was mostly metal and punk, adds front man Juan "J.P." Pulido. "When we'd go on stage with horns, people were like, 'What the fuck?'"

You'd never know it now. In East L.A. and South L.A., "There's like 13 ska bands on each block!" trombone player Ruben Durazo estimates, only slightly exaggerating.

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Lupica using his cosmic beam at a performance in Hollywood

​Francesco Lupica is one cosmic dude. Note the weather-beaten skin like leather, his weird hat with a silk band, and the fact that he has more rings than a fortune-teller. It's the kind of look you see on guys hawking gem stones and alien posters on the Venice Boardwalk. But Francesco is a well-spoken mystic, and has worked with directors like Terrence Malick -- on the best-picture-nominated The Tree of Live -- and making his own compelling music.

His main instrument is something he calls his Cosmic Beam, a 450 pound 13 foot long steel structure with custom strings that vibrates of off electromagnetic pickups placed every three feet or so. The sound created is a strange, otherworldly drone, not unlike a landing UFO. The layered rhythms and drones sound like a score, and indeed they have been in The Thin Red Line, Star Trek, and Sicko, and he's signed on provide music for the next three Malick projects.

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Courtesy photo

Lady Danville

​Trio Lady Danville formed in 2007 by two former UCLA a cappella boys and a musical theater major. Capturing the yearning harmonies and earnestness of college scene bands like Guster and Fleet Foxes, they've ridden that wave around the country, opening for Ben Folds, pop-punk band Jack's Mannequin and the kings of emo, Dashboard Confessional.

On stage they're irresistible. Guitarist Dan Chang is always wearing a bow tie, and teases his hair into a Bruno Mars-style up-do. Keyboardist Michael Garner looks like an athlete who accidentally discovered his musical talent. Scruffy percussionist Mathew Frankel, seated on a box drum, is all smiles. They perform tonight at Bardot Hollywood.

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