Los Angeles is a mess. Sprawl, smog, clogged arterial freeways and just general congestion are symptoms that have long defined the city’s ill-repute to any number of people coming from the East, unused to such a colossal example of “urban expressionism”. Yet take one step backwards and the city’s preeminence begins to come together – from the global influence of Hollywood to the architecture articulated by Neutra, Frank Lloyd Wright and seen in the Eames and Gamble Houses. The city has long been a cauldron of experimentation, and still remains as one perhaps as a lasting characteristic of L.A.’s spontaneous growth.

Over the past few years, photojournalist Ethan Pines has documented the constitutive building blocks of Los Angeles and its surrounding cities. From aerial landscapes of the city’s farthest reaches, to revealing portraits of single-family homes, Pines has created a compelling dialogue on the unique forms of Los Angeles and their peculiarity. Tomorrow, February 2, NEW THEME Gallery presents the first solo exhibition of Pines, which highlights the eccentricity of L.A.’s distinct urban forms, as well as proposing a future sustainable architecture for the city based on NEW THEME’s design of the Hollywood Hills residence of photographer Jill Greenberg.

The opening reception takes place from 7PM-10PM at NEW THEME Gallery. Click here for more information on the exhibition and to RSVP.

NEW THEME Gallery did a pretty unique thing this year when they set up their space on Melrose as an extension of their eco-conscious mindset (as well as to promote their custom-crafted furniture). Now they end the year on a high note, as they celebrate their artisan wares with wine, music and a special 20% discount for all of those who attend. On Sunday, December 16, from 4 to 8PM, stop by NEW THEME on 8178 Melrose Ave. to take your pick of some of the most uncommon, custom wares this side of the 101. From TASCHEN books to ingeniously-designed knife holders or even installation art, it’s a full-on presentation of all the inspiration you’ll need for your gift-giving mindset. Check out more information here.
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NEW THEME Gallery did a pretty unique thing this year when they set up their space on Melrose as an extension of their eco-conscious mindset (as well as to promote their custom-crafted furniture). Now they end the year on a high note, as they celebrate their artisan wares with wine, music and a special 20% discount for all of those who attend. On Sunday, December 16, from 4 to 8PM, stop by NEW THEME on 8178 Melrose Ave. to take your pick of some of the most uncommon, custom wares this side of the 101. From TASCHEN books to ingeniously-designed knife holders or even installation art, it’s a full-on presentation of all the inspiration you’ll need for your gift-giving mindset.

Check out more information here.

Tonight, in Los Angeles, Boiler Room finishes up 2012. The live vidcast party, which debuted earlier this year, has already left an impression on the city’s electronic music scene, informing the world that L.A. still gets the party going even when the cops, zoning and liquor license laws have tried their best to prove otherwise. As captured so well in this year’s Clubbing in Los Angeles feature by Resident Advisor, the dedication and plurality of the scene keeps it strong, vital and sharp as a condition to stay alive and well.

Starting at 7PM tonight, Boiler Room joins up with one of the foremost institutions of clubbing culture in the city, A CLUB CALLED RHONDA, and presents us with an early present. Rhonda Resident GODDOLLARS meets broken-beatmaker Groundislava as well as the bass-inflected grooves of the UK jockey Julio Bashmore, who will also be playing later on at Rhonda’s year-end party as well. Watch BRLA’s last 2012 transmission from 7-10pm on http://boilerroom.tv/ and join-up in person at Los Globos from 9PM to put yourself in the party.

As much as we love gathering in a former Berlin city bath to watch the latest electronic talents flex their mixing muscle, sometimes we just have to expand our horizons. Boiler Room, known for its DJ-centric vidcast, brings its L.A. arm into full gear tonight with an impressive West Coast lineup brought in by local label dublab. Expect frenetic bass action from the likes of Dntel, Daedelus, Total Freedom, Blase and Slayron of Peaking Lights. It all goes down at 7PM PST, which is 10PM in New York and, well, 4AM in Berlin just in case you need that extra momentum to keep your eyes open during the early morning hours. Tune in this evening (or morning) at boilerroom.tv/live as it unfolds.
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As much as we love gathering in a former Berlin city bath to watch the latest electronic talents flex their mixing muscle, sometimes we just have to expand our horizons. Boiler Room, known for its DJ-centric vidcast, brings its L.A. arm into full gear tonight with an impressive West Coast lineup brought in by local label dublab. Expect frenetic bass action from the likes of Dntel, Daedelus, Total Freedom, Blase and Slayron of Peaking Lights. It all goes down at 7PM PST, which is 10PM in New York and, well, 4AM in Berlin just in case you need that extra momentum to keep your eyes open during the early morning hours.

Tune in this evening (or morning) at boilerroom.tv/live as it unfolds.

From the States, the Barcelona-based festival Sonar might seem like a paradise out of reach. Each year, the world’s best, most dynamic artists descend upon the Catalan capital for what is often considered three days of “sublime” performances and musical transcendence. Yet understanding this lack of exposure, Sonar has brought a wild bunch of artists to pound the hell out of a cross section of North America. Tomorrow, November 10, marks the final, penultimate show as Sonar’s North American tour reaches L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium. The artist roster is considerable: Detroit-bred Seth Troxler is matched up with Azari & III, Berliner Paul Kalkbrenner, Nic Fanciulli and even South African absurdist rap-stars (pictured above) Die Antwoord. Unlike covers the event as L.A. gets its fair slice of the action.

Click here for more info about the show and how you can get tickets.

Rhonda’s back in town tonight for a particularly muscular evening. Glasgow party duo Bicep descend upon Los Angeles to spin their distinct fusion of jacking, pumping disco and house. And if that’s not ideal for the fashion-show-cum-polysexual-gathering that is Rhonda, then have the knowledge that Heidi and Berlin’s very own Hunee will be backing up the show with their very own blend of aboriginal grooves. To grab a sampling of it all, head on over to Mount Analog where Bicep will be playing from 6-8pm to the tune of free drinks. Check out their recent Beats in Space mix below, and more about tonight’s event here.
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Rhonda’s back in town tonight for a particularly muscular evening. Glasgow party duo Bicep descend upon Los Angeles to spin their distinct fusion of jacking, pumping disco and house. And if that’s not ideal for the fashion-show-cum-polysexual-gathering that is Rhonda, then have the knowledge that Heidi and Berlin’s very own Hunee will be backing up the show with their very own blend of aboriginal grooves. To grab a sampling of it all, head on over to Mount Analog where Bicep will be playing from 6-8pm to the tune of free drinks.

Check out their recent Beats in Space mix below, and more about tonight’s event here.


The pop-up is akin to the flower: it blooms, flourishes and wilts with expedience. Its allure is its ephemerality. This pop-up, however, is much more of a bouquet. Taking place on October 6 in Downtown Los Angeles, A Current Affair will see the convergence of over thirty vintage retailers as they congregate for a day-long presentation of their finest apparel, jewelry and general trinkets to pop down your glamour gullet. And, with our L.A. couture crew Weltenbuerger and Saint-Marie Vintage representing among the many other worthy vendors, there should be no limit to how tight, loose, asymmetrical or irregular your fashion sense will be enlightened and/or expanded.

A Current Affair will take place on Saturday, October 6, in the Cooper Design Space Penthouse from 2pm-9pm. Check here for more information.

Irish Artist Simon McWilliams brings his unique perspective on the urban landscape to the heart of Culver City’s art district with an exhibition of his new paintings at Skotia Gallery, Los Angeles. McWilliams takes his observations of the city around him and filters them through his bold, painterly imagination. What he delivers is a fictional developing city, housing mysterious forms cloaked with impasto paint, reminiscent of Christo’s wrapped buildings. Not a drab concrete city but a new optimistic metropolis, resplendent in abundant, tactile colours, promising, “a glorious morrow”.   Capturing a kind of grand and dizzying chaos that is both beautiful and alarming. By doing so for purely visual reasons the potential for analogy to our own crazy civilization and it’s dazzling potential for demise is made all the more powerful. Yet, this is visual work first, conceptual second. SIMON MCWILLIAMS “Shoots and Ladders”   12th May - 16th June 2012
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Irish Artist Simon McWilliams brings his unique perspective on the urban landscape to the heart of Culver City’s art district with an exhibition of his new paintings at Skotia Gallery, Los Angeles. McWilliams takes his observations of the city around him and filters them through his bold, painterly imagination. What he delivers is a fictional developing city, housing mysterious forms cloaked with impasto paint, reminiscent of Christo’s wrapped buildings. Not a drab concrete city but a new optimistic metropolis, resplendent in abundant, tactile colours, promising, “a glorious morrow”.
 
Capturing a kind of grand and dizzying chaos that is both beautiful and alarming. By doing so for purely visual reasons the potential for analogy to our own crazy civilization and it’s dazzling potential for demise is made all the more powerful. Yet, this is visual work first, conceptual second.

SIMON MCWILLIAMS
“Shoots and Ladders”
 
12th May - 16th June 2012

Here’s the sweet stuff. After cooking up lots over these past few months, Unlike’s just about to boil over with fresh content in new cities including New York, San Francisco and L.A.

In the past weeks, our team has been hustling Sunset Blvd, scoping the freeways and marking the hottest places in Los Angeles from Beverly Hills to Echo Park. Try out The Edison for size:

Wedged in an unmarked alleyway, the basement nightclub The Edison has helped spearhead the central core’s resurgence, aided in part, by reintroducing absinthe to the city via festive, enabling absinthe fairies. Affiliation with its namesake inventor dissolves as one proceeds downstairs and encounters a chamber awash in a copper glow that feels like the engine room of an art deco cruise-liner, yet looks like the vault of a Gothic cathedral. Arrive early enough, and a 35 cent coin (redeemable for a drink-of-the-day) might be in store; stay long enough, and catch a troupe of flapper dancers supplementing the period mood.

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