​Earl Sweatshirt, the lost member of Los Angeles collective Odd Future, is back home.

How do we know? Less than an hour ago, Tyler, the Creator, tweeted that Earl has a Twitter account, @earlxsweat. So far, the mysterious rapper only has three updates -- the first simply says, "home," and the last links to a video snippet of a new song of the same name. His account also lists a Tumblr, although there are no posts yet.

The 18-year-old 17-year-old, whose real name is Thebe Neruda Kgositsile, received widespread critical acclaim for his 2010 mixtape Earl. But by the time the media descended on the group, Earl was nowhere to be found. Chants of "Free Earl!" were as ubiquitous as mosh pits and bloodied noses at Odd Future concerts until it was discovered last spring he was at a school for troubled boys in Samoa.

In the video below, Earl jokingly says if he gets 50,000 Twitter followers he'll release the full song. That should happen in oh, about five minutes.

More >>

David Cotner

The Regent Theatre today

​Downtown's Regent Theatre -- a Skid Row echo of the movie palaces on Broadway just a couple of blocks west -- has been a first-run cinema, a warehouse, and during the porn heyday of the '70s and '80s, even an adult theatre. Most recently, it's been the site of one-off concerts brought by various promoters over the last decade.

Now impresario Mitchell Frank is sharing his plans to turn the Regent into a multi-use performance venue.

Frank, who founded such clubs as Spaceland in 1995, The Echo in 2001 and more recently the cantinas Malo and El Prado, has himself been a downtown resident off and on for the better part of two decades. His clubs have fostered talent as diverse as Beck, Jenny Lewis and Silversun Pickups, making him a bellwether for local musical talent.

More >>

Tom Meek

The Ron Jones Orchestra at the Jazz Bakery, 2008

​The Jazz Bakery, L.A.'s major jazz non-profit organization, is in turmoil because of the pending shutdown of the Culver City Redevelopment Agency.

Jazz Bakery president Ruth Price had been working with the agency to reopen Jazz Bakery's venue at a new building near the Kirk Douglas Theatre later this year. After losing its original Helms Avenue location in 2009, the organization announced last year to that it would develop a two-stage performance venue at the new site -- with the help of a $2 million seed grant from The Annenberg Foundation.

But the Culver City Redevelopment Agency's demise appears to have killed that project, along with numerous others. Culver City's summer music festival -- also co-produced by the Jazz Bakery -- may also get the axe at a city council meeting next week.

More >>

Josh "CuriousJosh" Reiss

This will not be you.

​Both weekends.

Sorry charlie.

You can check out the 2012 lineup to see what you're missing, or read about how it almost didn't happen. Or, below, check out some slideshows of young hip people who left their pants at home.

More >>

c/o Kelvin Anderson

Owner Kelvin Anderson Sr. with Craig Mack, left, and Notorious B.I.G., right

​For this week's feature story, we wrote about the impending demise of World Famous V.I.P. Records in Long Beach, which once boasted a dozen branches and was instrumental in the rise of West Coast hip-hop.

Now it's official: the store took down its iconic sign last Monday, Jan. 2, just short of V.I.P.'s 34th anniversary. But the news isn't all bad. Owner Kelvin Anderson and his son Kelvin Jr. say the store will re-open in a smaller location in the same complex off of Pacific Coast Highway in February. The new mini-V.I.P. will house the 30,000 vinyl records Anderson has accumulated over the years and be open to the public -- a paradise for crate-diggers. Those records, in addition to V.I.P. merch and memorabilia, will also be available online.

In any case, talking with the Andersons was a trip. Here are our favorite outtakes from the interview, hitting on subjects like Warren G's early days and carpooling with Snoop Dogg.

More >>

Nickolas Brown, via Facebook

​UPDATE: Goldenvoice has released an official statement. See the bottom of the post.

Say it isn't so. The Music Box at The Fonda seems to have been shuttered overnight.

As our very own Lina Lecaro's blog LA Slush reported this morning, the legendary music venue on Hollywood Blvd. was packed up earlier today. A "Closed for Inventory" sign was hung on the door; meanwhile, the sound system, lighting, and bar all were broken down and taken from the building.

More >>

Mike Rosenstein via Instagram

​As reported earlier by our sister blog The Informer, Odd Future frontman Tyler, the Creator was arrested last night after losing his temper during the collective's performance at the Roxy. The sound was cut during their last song, at which time Tyler lunged at the sound guy and jumped atop the soundboard, damaging it.

He was escorted out of the club by Odd Future security, and arrested on Sunset Blvd. by West Hollywood sheriff's deputies. He was brought in, questioned, and let go on $20,000 bail. Meanwhile, some 400 fans leaving the show started freaking out, although no one was hurt.

Roxy owner Nic Adler spoke about the incident to West Coast Sound, explaining why he made the call to cut the sound, the extent of the soundboard damage, and whether or not Odd Future will ever be invited back.

More >>

Robert Kenney

Greg Ginn, second from left

​By Nicholas Pell

On Wednesday morning, several punk bands awoke to find their videos had been removed from YouTube. They were understandably irritated; that's almost worse than running out of beer.

In their places were notes that they'd been yanked due to Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) complaints lodged by SST Records -- the legendary label founded by Black Flag's Greg Ginn, formerly based in Los Angeles but now in Austin. The allegation? That these videos were using unauthorized SST music.

But that was not so.

More >>

Colin Young-Wolff

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros performing at Sunset Junction in 2010

​It's been nearly three months since Sunset Junction was canceled, but most people still haven't gotten their refunds. Frustrated ticketholders are now taking steps to file a class-action lawsuit against the Sunset Junction Neighborhood Alliance, whose founder and organizer Michael McKinley has been AWOL since late August, when the festival's permit was denied by the city.

"I'm completely aggravated. It just isn't legal," says Michelle Stimson, a tax law attorney and ticketholder who is spearheading the suit. (Stimson will not serve as counsel on the case). She announced her intentions on Sunset Junction's official Facebook page, and has since been joined by a handful of other prospective ticket-buyers.

More >>

Rae Deslich's neck, healing

​See also: Our review of FYF Fest, September 3, 2011

On Labor Day at FYF Fest, Rae Deslich was enjoying the performance by the recently reunited dance-punk band Death From Above 1979.

The 28-year-old Echo Park resident had gotten separated from her friends at the event, held at Los Angeles State Historic Park. She was dancing behind the mosh pit when, she says, the experience turned ugly.

As she describes it, she was struck out of nowhere by a flying metal spike -- the kind used to secure tents and canopies -- which lodged about an inch into her neck.

More >>