Westfield Culver City is the quintessential late 20th century American mall. A sprawling, multilevel maze of everything from a Cinnabon to a Radio Shack, the mall formerly known as Fox Hills also has a bit of an unfortunate history, and has recently undergone a massive transformation.

In an effort to revitalize the shopping center to reflect the improvements in the area, a reported $180 million was sunk into the recent transformation of the Westfield Culver City. All of which made the free KCRW-sponsored concert by emerging soul sensation Mayer Hawthorne an improbably special event.


Mall concerts have been historically predominated by industry-driven potential teen sensations (see Tiffany’s fame-generating “The Beautiful You: Celebrating The Good Life Shopping Mall Tour” of 1987). But on Saturday, an impressive crowd of fans and unsuspecting shoppers alike found themselves enthralled with Hawthorne's snappy, Motown-inspired blue-eyed soul.

The L.A. musical landscape is thick with options over the rapidly approaching Halloween weekend.

Beat-crazy dance aficionados can choose between the 12th annual Monster Massive at the L.A. Sports Arena and the expanded two-day HARD Haunted Mansion event at the Shrine. Indie rockers can check out stalwarts Built to Spill at the Echoplex and/or new heroes the Dirty Projectors at the Jensen Rec Center.

Public radio powerhouse KCRW has entered the Halloween party fray with “Masquerade,” a costume ball and dance party at the Park Plaza Hotel in downtown L.A. that now boasts Bay area legend DJ Shadow as the headliner.

DJ Shadow joins a lineup that already includes Swedish indie urban rock outfit Little Dragon alongside such local acts as mod folkie Sea Wolf and sunshine-poppers Edward Sharpe and  the Magnetic Zeros. A who’s who of KCRW DJs, including Liza Richardson, Jason Bentley and Garth Trinidad, will spin at the event too.

Tickets are available at KCRW.tix.com

-- Scott T. Sterling

Photo: DJ Shadow performing at the Mayan Theater. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times.

Even in Los Angeles, it’s a rare week when music fans are treated to the grandeur of Thom Yorke and Fever Ray. So it was easy to miss Tuesday's low-key album release party for the L.A. rhythm rebel band Fool’s Gold at the Masonic Temple at the Hollywood Forever cemetery. But for the crowd of taste makers and mavens that made it, the show was a quick look at one of the most promising new acts currently emerging from this city.

Delving into the moodier side of their recently released debut full-length on the IAMSOUND label, the percussive, pan-ethnic soul of songs such as “Nadine” created a dreamy atmosphere in the ornate setting. Ending with a celebratory take on “Ha Dvash,” the band members kept the song going as they filed from the stage and back into the room with the bar, where the party continued.

It was a fitting warm-up as the band prepares to embark on a nationwide tour with another buzzed-about L.A. band, modern hippie heroes Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.

Fool's Gold perform with Metronomy and Destructo at the Roxy, 9009 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood on Friday, Oct. 9. Doors are at 9 p.m.

-- Scott T. Sterling

Up until 2003, Los Angeles band the Black Eyed Peas was a fledgling hip-hop act best known for its impressive dance moves and feel-good beats.

But with the addition of Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson, BEP transformed into a sleek pop hit machine, churning out a seemingly endless stream of hit singles, which culminated with a record-breaking run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this year with “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling.”

Although there’s no indication that the Black Eyed Peas' female-powered success was any influence, N.E.R.D., the pop-rock outfit fronted by superstar producers the Neptunes, has followed suit by introducing a woman into its fold.

Do not be alarmed; the image at left boasts one very big and obvious falsity: French electronic music duo Daft Punk is not playing at this year’s HARD Haunted Mansion event, happening at the Shrine over Halloween weekend in downtown Los Angeles (although according to actress Olivia Wilde, the duo will make a cameo appearance in the movie “Tron Legacy,” for which they’re also crafting the soundtrack). 

Upon closer inspection, the flier also states that the event is happening at a location called “The Hudson.”

This ambitious forgery is just one of many rumors swirling around the Internet regarding the dance music event, including claims of a location change to San Bernardino and that the show is already sold out.

The popular HARD series of dance events garnered a whirlwind of notoriety after HARD Summer 2009 at the Forum was canceled as a result of raucous fans crashing the main floor area.

“HARD Haunted Mansion will take place Friday, October 30 and Saturday, October 31 at the Shrine as planned,” insists promoter Gary Richards via e-mail. “There are many rumors flying around that are false. All correct and up to date information and links to purchase tickets are available at www.hardfest.com.”

-- Scott T. Sterling

 
While I may or may not be of a minority opinion, I’ll stand firm in my conviction: The cancellation of the Kanye West/Lady Gaga “Fame Kills” tour, quite frankly, stinks. It’s also a sad commentary on the state of modern pop music, which could have benefited from something so inspired.

At its best, pop music is thrilling, sexy and occasionally brilliant, but quite almost always controversial. When it works, it elevates beyond music to a larger pop cultural stage, and provokes more than just a conversation. Between the two of them, Lady Gaga and Kanye West have done all of the above and more. They’ve affected the cultural zeitgeist and are walking among the biggest pop stars in the world because of it.

The aptly titled "Fame Kills" tour was an intuitive juxtaposition of the new pop power structure. West’s panoramic hip-hop appeal with Gaga’s even broader reach -- one that includes the gay/lesbian community -- was sure to draw a mind-bogglingly cross-cultural crowd.

The few leaked details on the actual show made it sound like a truly ambitious undertaking, with both artists on stage at the same time:

“I’ve been to a lot of charity events, but I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Old-school rapper Heavy D surveyed the sold-out Hollywood Palladium crowd gathered for the second annual “Common & Friends,” a star-studded affair that featured appearances from a seemingly endless cavalcade of A-list hip-hop stars to benefit Common's Common Ground charity.

The audience had already seen a series of highlights. De La Soul opened the show with a quick, high-energy set, punctuated by a surprise appearance from masked rapper MF Doom, who ferociously ripped through his verse from “Rock Co.Kane Flow.”

Black Thought and Amir “Questlove” Thompson represented for the Roots, and Ludacris ignited concertgoers with a crowd-pleasing set that culminated with “I Do It for Hip-Hop.” The latter allowed him to introduce Nas, who appears on the recorded version (video here).

After a simmering take on “One Mic,” Nas looked on in appreciation as the night’s host, Common, proceeded to spit most of Nas’ “N.Y. State of Mind” verbatim.

The crowd was also treated to an impromptu Black Star reunion, with Mos Def and Talib Kweli hitting the stage together. The two galvanized the audience with solo hits “Umi Says” and “Get By,”  respectively.

But it was Heavy D who offered up one of the most surprising highlights of the show. Among the many unbilled performers of the evening, even those too young to remember Heavy D's late '80s/early '90s hits such as “We Got Our Own Thang” and “Now That We Found Love,” responded to his showmanship and the enduring qualities of the songs.

Word had been circulating throughout the day that one Kanye West would also be among the surprise performers, a fact that Common teased the audience with briefly.

“He’s still going through some things, trying to deal with everything that’s happened because of a choice he made, so he couldn't make it tonight” Common said, obviously referencing West’s meme-generating mike grab from Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV VMAs. “But he still wanted me to send his love to everyone.”

If you listen closely, you can hear the sound of the Los Angeles chapter of the Hip-Hop Nation collectively holding its breath. All they have to go on is a blunt, simple announcement on the website of L.A. indie hip-hop label Stones Throw:

“Announcing:
Madvillain Live in Los Angeles
November 21, 2009 at the We The People festival

More info coming soon”

First things first: An actual live appearance by masked rapper MF Doom (one-half of Madvillain, alongside L.A. producer Madlib), who in this humble scribe’s honest opinion is among the greatest rappers alive, is akin to a Bigfoot sighting. Particularly over the last couple of years, after a series of scheduled MF Doom shows in 2007 descended into near-riots when the man onstage wearing the mask appeared to be someone other than Daniel Dumile (the rapper’s real name). Adding insult to injury, the supposed impostor seemed to be lip-synching.

“Everything that we do is villain style. Everybody has the right to get it or not get it,” was the closest Doom came to addressing the issue in Rolling Stone earlier this year. “Once I throw it out, it’s there for interpretation. It might’ve seemed like it didn’t go well, but how do we know that wasn’t just pre-orchestrated so that we’re talking about it now?”

Only time will tell whether Doom will end up onstage at this year’s edition of the We the People festival, which last year was a hit-or-miss affair with a solid lineup (including Suicidal Tendencies, Flying Lotus and RZA), but was marred by failing sound equipment and scheduling issues.

Expect more information in the coming weeks. And For Doom fans, fingers crossed.

-- Scott T. Sterling

One of the few artists able to make an impression during the Kanye West/Taylor Swift-dominated 2009 MTV Video Music Awards was Lady Gaga.

Her elaborate, fake blood-smeared performance of single “Paparazzi” was equally disturbing and engrossing, yet another example of Gaga putting her own indelible mark on the world around her.

Lady Gaga is proving herself to be just as creative when it comes to capitalism. Her forays into unusual merchandise (from school supplies to hooded leather jackets) have been readily documented. But she ups the ante via a new collaboration with audio accessories company Monster to design her own signature brand of high-performance in-ear headphones.

“Heartbeats by Lady Gaga” feature space-age aesthetics, innovative design (the flat cables are simple yet ingenious, all but eliminating tangles) and crisp, loud sound sure to shame your stock iPod ear buds. Monster is the same company that designed the popular “Beats by Dr. Dre” studio headphones, and Lady Gaga’s brand boasts comparable quality. They retail for $99.99, and pre-orders are available through Best Buy.

-- Scott T. Sterling

Photo: Lady Gaga attends Marc Jacobs Spring 2010 fashion show on Monday in New York City. Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images

While the pop culture universe all but imploded in the wake of Kanye West stage-crashing Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for best female video last night at the MTV Video Music Awards, there has been relatively little chatter in regards to the evening’s other bold stage-crasher, rapper and judge on “America’s Best Dance Crew,” Lil Mama.

Toward the end of a rousing show-closing performance of “Empire State of Mind,” Lil Mama jumped onto the stage, much to the visible chagrin of Jay-Z. While Jay-Z turned his back on her and embraced Alicia Keys during the ovation at the end of the song, Lil Mama stood her ground next to the multi-platinum performers.

“You gonna T-Pain me?” is what Jay-Z reportedly said to the stage-crashing rapper, in reference to rapper and producer T-Pain crashing Jay-Z's stage when he debuted the song “D.O.A.” at a New York radio concert this summer.

“I did not mean any disrespect towards Jay-Z or Alicia Keys. I admire them and look up to them as role models,” Lil Mama told MTV News after the incident. “ 'Empire State of Mind’ had my emotions running high. In that moment, I came onstage to celebrate my two icons singing about N.Y.”

But given the much higher emotions surrounding West and Swift, Lil Mama’s unscripted appearance will go down as just another bizarre curiosity during an evening filled with them. Our own “Envelope” column even credited her as just an “audience member who managed to grab her 15 minutes of fame during the last moments of the two’s performance.”

UPDATE: During an interview with Kathy Lee Gifford and and Hoda Kotb on the Sept. 16 broadcast of the "Today" show, Alicia Keys was quoted as saying "We can appreciate her being overwhelmed and inspired, but we would have appreciated it if she would have did it from her seat."

-- Scott T. Sterling

Photo: From left, Lil Mama, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday in New York City. Credit: Christopher Polk / Getty Images.

 

After more than 18,000 concertgoers discovered that the Forum was not the ideal locale for an electro-powered dance party at the semi-disastrous HARD Summer party, promoter Gary Richards and the HARD team have announced the long-awaited details for the upcoming Halloween event.

The 2009 HARD Haunted Mansion party is now set for the Shrine in Los Angeles, and has expanded into a two-day event beginning Oct. 30 and continuing on Halloween. The Shrine was actually the location of the HARD Summer event in 2008, which featured N.E.R.D, Spank Rock and Amanda Blank.

The Friday night line-up is topped by controversial dance music upstart Deadmau5, alongside 2 Many DJs, DJ A-Trak, the Bloody Beetroots and more.

There's a large faction of rock fans who have turned hating on Weezer and the band’s leader, Rivers Cuomo, into something of a sport. The guy can’t seem to do anything -- including name a new album, in this case the forthcoming “Raditude,” due in stores Oct. 27 -- without igniting a whirlwind of controversy.

Cuomo’s pal Rainn Wilson has had enough.

It’s Wilson who's credited with naming “Raditude,” which has been openly derided on the Internet via blogs and fan sites. Yet during a recent interview with ABC in advance of the coming season of “The Office,” he dismissed anyone who had issue with the title.

Is the mini-brouhaha due solely to Wilson's actor status? Wilson thinks so.

He theorized that if Charlie Sheen had been the one who coined the name for Radiohead's 2007 album "In Rainbows," the world would be against it.

"People would be like, ‘In Rainbows,’ that’s stupid,’” he joked to interviewer Dan Harris. “It happens to be the best album of the last decade.”

There’s also footage in the ABC clip of Wilson playing the bongos on Weezer’s cover of Joan Osborne’s “What if God Was One of Us?” Music is a focus of the interview, as Wilson goes on to discuss how a tape of the Clash’s “London Calling” changed his life.

-- Scott T. Sterling

Photo: The Associated Press