L.A. Loves L.A. Underground
I’d like to draw your attention to L.A. Underground, a site filled with Los Angeles centric music news, without any of the lovely bullshit that runs other sites (like my beloved Scenestar). Maybe it’s because of their ravings about the depreciation of Coachella and the music industry remind me of my older brother or because of the fact that they’re always referencing venues and hot spots down the street from my apartment, but there is something about this writer that makes me feel at home on their blog.
“So the chaos of Coachella weekend has arrived again. After attending a few times, we’re more reluctant to watch big shows like these via YouTube than make an effort to drive out to the desert. And we wouldn’t dare go into all that chutzpah about how Coachella was “so much better in 1999″ although we will say there sure was a lot more room to do the centipede back then. “
This blogger reminds me of every 26 year old I’ve met in a bar in Silverlake since I’ve moved up here. I like the familiar use of trendy cultural references, without going overboard and suffering from the Juno effect. Formatted with just two columns, the site makes for easy reading. While displaying a healthy littering of photos, the blog is still all about the writing and commentary. I can appreciate that while this blogger isn’t afraid to comment on their subjects, they usually keep the anecdotes quick and painless while focusing on information of past and upcoming concerts, festivals and release dates.
There tends to be three parts to a blog that focuses on music and art: Text, images and .mp3 links. I don’t know whether Mark the Cobrasnake started this trend, or just capitalized on something that was already happening in the clubs, but wide angle, flash photography is to this generation of scene kids what high contrast/saturation photography was to the 90s.
And i’m sick of having to scroll down pages of it to get to any information on a music blog. Some blogs are built up almost exclusively by these photos, (check out KidPaparazzi). L.A. Underground has none. Maybe that’s why I like reading L.A. Underground so much. The layout and photos featured on a blog becomes a part of its voice and like a blogger’s writing, have the ability to attract readers for the same reasons that different writing styles do. There’s something about the utilitarian photographs this blogger uses that makes me feel at ease. By utilitarian I mean they’re actually photos of the artists and not of meth chic hipsters. I get enough of that nonsense all up in my face when I go out at night, I don’t need to see it while I’m just trying to find out when Patrick Wolf is playing next.
Skimming through the blogroll on L.A. Underground has linked me to so many great sites. It’s important to look at the media a blog is linking too in order to find their voice as well. A blogger’s taste is probably the most important thing about an art and entertainment blog. What music they think is relevant leads to which bands they cover and the more often that a reader finds themselves agreeing with a blogger’s taste the more likely they are to return to the site.
Repeated columns like “Los Angeles Loves…” (which typically features a new, up and coming artist) also help to build up a blogger’s voice and a reader’s sense of familiarity with the writer. I think that when doing something like an art and entertainment blog it’s important to take into consideration whether you’re writing for a lay audience or a savvy audience. You should think about this when you’re deciding what to link to and what background information to include on an artist.
L.A. Underground can be appreciated by almost anyone, but can also be enjoyed by the hard to reach, jaded hipster geriatric set. This is in large part due to the blogger’s focus on reporting actual information rather than just entertaining their own opinion. The tone of the blog is like that of a resource page, something like a custom made CitySearch. Overall I think the voice of the blog comes across as informative and approachable, skipping style for substance.
