Foster the People’s DTLA mural: an experiment in postmodern self-promotion


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Every year come February, millions of Americans suddenly become fascinated by television commercials, something usually reviled. Thanks to their ubiquity, high-price, high concept Super Bowl ads can serve as a fascinating cultural barometer. Following recent trends, this year’s crop continued to go for spectacle, emotion, and cuteness over traditional methods of persuasion. Today’s commercials must […]

Music’s new over-Lordes and innovators


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In 2013, the world’s biggest artists created an unexpected amount of innovative, provocative music, often forsaking tried and true formulas. It seems this innovation race is being propelled from the bottom, largely by an extremely talented new crop of female singers. This group has been able to take hold at a time when the most […]

Vampire Weekend performs at USC


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There are few things teenagers today are willing to wait in line nine hours for and those are almost exclusively limited to a new iPhone, a Harry Potter premiere and the gentle flip of Ezra Koenig’s bouncy bangs. At 11 a.m. on Jan. 22, four people sat on Trousdale Parkway, lawn chairs and all, decked […]