FYF fest draws standout artists and dedicated fans despite heat, dust of LA setting

Since its inception in 2004, FYF Fest has made quite a change. The brainchild of then 18-year-old L.A. native Sean Carlson, FYF Fest has gone from an Echo Park, local-band music party to a full-on, two-day event whose roster reaches well beyond the borders of Los Angeles to include the likes of seminal Swedish hardcore band Refused and the U.K.’s electronic prodigy James Blake.

Album Review: "Swing Lo Magellan" by the Dirty Projectors

Generally characterized along the lines of indie or experimental, Dirty Projectors has released albums time and time again that keep its genre hazy. Ecstatic, mostly difficult-to-hum-along-to polyphonies are the band’s home turf.

Dirty Projectors’ newest album “Swing Lo Magellan” is maddeningly catchy and weird, boasting more funky thrummings (as in the wonderful track “Gun Has No Trigger”) and intimate songwriting (but no fewer vocal harmonies) than 2009’s “Bitte Orca.” But it is also one of the band’s more listenable ““ aka more pop-sounding ““ records yet.

Getty Museum displays works by famed photographer Herb Ritts in new exhibit

The Getty Museum’s new exhibition, “Herb Ritts: L.A. Style,” offers a thoughtfully curated and extensive survey of Ritts’ work from 1984 to his death from HIV complications in 2002. During this time he shot more than 200 magazine covers for publications including Vogue, Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair, and photographed celebrities ranging from Naomi Campbell, John Paul Gaultier and Elizabeth Taylor to Johnny Depp, Britney Spears and Jackie Joyner-Kersee. He is also known for his nudes and photos that incorporate the symbolic and subtle beauties of the natural landscape.

Arianna Huffington shares her views on leadership, social media and the role of college students

In the years since its launch in 2005, the Huffington Post has been the subject of both admiration and controversy. On Saturday, its current editor-in-chief, Arianna Huffington, will appear at Royce Hall on behalf of non-profit organization Insight University as the first speaker for its “Transformational Leaders” series.