Beastie Boys Reissue First Atwater Village Album

BEASTIE BOYS are reissuing their third album, Check Your Head, in a remastered collectors edition March 30, 2009. Check Your Head, with tracks like "So Whatcha Want" and "Pass the Mic," was the first B Boys album recorded at the band's G-Son studios here in Atwater Village (3218 1/2 Glendale Blvd.) in 1991. Also: the Boys headline the Hollywood Bowl for the first time, Sept. 24, 2009.

The Nickname You Get in Atwater Village

OUT THIS WEEK in limited release is Gunnin' For That #1 Spot, a high-school basketball documentary directed by Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys. Yauch comments on his b-ballin' days right here in Atwater Village for ESPN: You go by MCA and Nathaniel Hornblower, but at the Rucker you earn your nickname. What was yours? Oh, I don't think I got one. And Bobbito clearly says in the film that, at the Rucker, you don't nickname yourself. You get branded. So I wouldn't be so bold as to give myself one. Although I will say that at our own basketball court at Atwater, our recording studio [in Atwater Village, Calif.], the guys would call me "The Praying Mantis." Wait, what? I don't know. (Laughs) It's just my Atwater nickname. Maybe it was my technique -- praying mantis-style.

Atwater Chatter - Rock and Roll Edition

SOME OF THE LATEST and greatest Internet tidbits concerning our 8,000-resident sliver of Los Angeles, just one of 173 official LA neighborhoods. ROCK #1 - Beastie Boys at The Greek Theatre - "All of the old magic is there: Adrock is still the charmer; ad-libbing at the end of 'I grabbed two girlies and a beer that's cold! And it was LOVELY!!' (from 'Paul Revere') and remembering to give LA's Atwater Village (home of their old recording studio) a proper shout-out. [Popwatch Blog] ROLL #1 - Metrolink to improve security at crossings - "The crossing at Chevy Chase Drive near the Atwater Village-Glendale border already sits locked and gated - a grim reminder of its tragic past. On Jan. 26, 2005, Juan Manuel Alvarez allegedly deserted his Jeep on the train tracks... The 28-year-old has pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of capital murder and awaits trial." [Whittier Daily News] ROCK #2 - Arthur Magazine Goes to Press This Week - It's back! No. 26 of Atwater Village-based cultural icon is available for pre-order. [arthurmag.com] ROLL #2 - Elysian Valley Art Ride - "When I biked the LA River Ride last June from Griffith Park to Long Beach we ventured south of Atwater Village on through Elysian Valley ... And having seen a lot of cool artsy muralsy things along that stretch south of Fletcher I've since then wanted to go back with my camera..." [blogging.la]

Oh You Funny Little Flat Neighbors

THANKS TO BOOSTED capabilities in Google Book Search, we can all enjoy the heavily forward-slashed wit and wisdom of Barbara Bestor's Bohemian Modern: Living in Silver Lake without ponying up full retail. From page 193 in the book's Atwater Village section: "Atwater Village is a funny little flat neighborhood just across from Silver Lake on the other side of the LA River. In the mid-nineties, the Beastie Boys built a recording studio there where they recorded most of Check Your Head. Actually, it was more accurately a recording studio/basketball court/indoor skate park/Mulberry Street style 'private social club...'" And in another nod to our lack of topographic interestingness, page 194 describes Atwater as "a great place to build, with plenty of flat sites and great old buildings set against the concrete-lined, industrial-romantic landscape of the LA River."

Recreating Atwater Village's Beastie Boys Days

THREE GENTS OVER AT clothes maker XLarge have recreated this classic Beastie Boys photograph. In the 1990s Ari Marcopoulos shot the Beasties in front of our neighborhood sign. The rappers Atwater Village studio was at 3218 1/2 Glendale Blvd. XLarge founder Eli Bonerz (far right) and two designers posted their recreation today. Eli credits Beastie Mike D for his help "creating a unique concept" for the company, which keeps offices at 3222 Glendale Blvd., next to the old studio. Find the sign - which could, incidentally, use a shine! - along southbound Riverside Drive [map], just before Glendale Blvd.

Welcome New Readers

Happy new year and welcome to Atwater Village Newbie, a nominee for LA City Nerd's 2006 Blogger, a proud member of the blog-LA-sphere and, in the words of our esteemed blogging colleagues at LAist, "quite a good neighborhood blog." What is Atwater Village? A banana-shaped Los Angeles neighborhood, just inside northeast city limits, with about 8,000 residents. In ways a microcosm of LA: average housing prices (for LA), a mix of people and languages, palm trees and graffiti, struggles between tradition and progress. Unlike some LA hoods, though, a distinct village feel: outdoor movies, well-heeled sidewalks, holiday trees, mom-and-pop shops, farmers markets, and bickering about Starbucks. Where is Atwater Village? Between I-5 and the Los Angeles River to the west, highway 134 to the north, railroad tracks and Glendale to the east, and highway 2 and the Elysian Valley neighborhood to the south. Is Atwater Village on the east side of LA? Depends. It's east of the LA River, so yes. And it's 20 miles from the nearest beach. But it's north of downtown LA, and it's not adjacent to Latino-dominated East LA. Plus it's next to Glendale. And Burbank. Which might, to some, make Atwater Village part of the San Fernando Valley. (Definitely not the east side). To keep people from getting itchy, it's best not to say, "Atwater Village is eastside." Try instead, "Atwater Village is on the east side." Get the difference? No? Me neither. Who Is the Newbie? In 2006 Mrs. Newbie and I migrated from Colorado to California. In March, when we reach our one-year anniversary here, we will no longer be newbies and will be, according to the LA Times, LA veterans. (Subject to approval by other members of the blog-LA-sphere.) Looking for more? Perhaps these previous posts will help answer recent requests: Is the new Canele bistro on Glendale Blvd. any good? Do the Black Eyed Peas have a recording studio in Atwater Village? Didn't the Beastie Boys have one too? Sad about Atwater resident Matthew Merrill. What happened? Any giant new housing developments in the neighborhood? Or college campuses? What post, if any, riles up the most people? (See here for most recent riling) Is this blog really the #1 Google result for trendy red wine? Speaking of trendy, isn't Atwater Village one of those up-and-coming hipster hoods? Latte, anyone?

Best of Atwater Village Forums

Technically the plural of forum is fora, but I don't want anyone to think flora and expect to see a gallery of pretty gardens. Leave that to Flickr.

• YEAH! STARBUCKS! My house just went up in value! [What's Happening at the Ranch Market?]
• I still haven't been able to get a straight answer out of anyone as to what all this UNDERGROUND MUSIC STUDIO jibber jabber is all about. [Beastie Boys? Black-eyed peas? In Atwater?]
• STOP TRYING TO SCARE PEOPLE IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD YOU DOUCHE [Car Burglary & Theft on Finch Street]
• Is there a way to make it impossible to flatten a 900 square foot home to put up these horrible 2500 square foot 2 story eyesores? [Can we stop building HUGE houses...?] *
• I appologize for the douche comment [Car Burglary & Theft on Finch Street]

* Some "2 story eyesores" have been in Atwater Village as long as any single-family home, some 70 or 80 years. Stroll the sidewalks. You'll see at least one or two duplexes (maybe even three- and four-plexes) per block, not necessarily McMansions, but some well over 2,000 square feet.

Silver Lake Finally Swallows Atwater Village

Though its chamber of commerce once spared Atwater Village from an attempted takeover of northeast Los Angeles, a celebrated Silver Lake architect and author has no such qualms. From a book review in this morning's LA Times:

Bohemian Modern:
Living in Silver Lake
by Barbara Bestor

"This worthy book is as difficult to define as the neighborhood it documents ... Even geographic boundaries are a bit fuzzy, with Echo Park, Atwater Village and Mt. Washington thrown in - perhaps an argument that Silver Lake has evolved to become not just a place but a state of mind."

While our own state of mind is open to this public display of affection from a designer who cut her teeth on Beastie Boys offices in Atwater Village, we have to wonder how many Silver Lake hipsters will start calling their real-estate agents when they hear half their neighborhood now lies east of I-5.

Atwater Chatter

Thoughts and tidbits from in and around the Village:

• History lesson: How Atwater Village streets got their names
• Photographic proof that people do have a good time at pancake breakfasts
• Housesitting in the Atwater Village of Paris
• Small village: "My new neighbor is this guy Octavio"
• A writer from some place called Monrovia drives a few loops around AV and wonders, "This is worth all the hype?"
• Gilded Moose Architecture Review: Inside The Beastie Boys' Live/Work Studio

[Image from Friends of LA River]

Beastie Boys Peed Here

So whatcha whatcha whatcha want for the former HQ of the Beastie Boys, an office located in "hip" Atwater Village?

How about a cool $5 million. That's $1,000 per square foot! (But real-estate agent spellcheck will cost extra.)

Next to famous Club Tee Gee. From Craigslist:

$5001500 / 5000ft²

Creative office space in
famed Beastie Boys headquartes.

Newly renovatied creative office space available in legendary office building, previous Beastie Boys/Grand Royale headquarters. Multiple spacious units of varying size and cost available. Offices/Editing/Sound booths perfect for Film/TV/Music/Apparel/Graphic design company. Located in hip Atwater Village, adjacent to Silver Lake, restaurants, shopping, and parking. Call 323-953-3543 for information and appointment. Available May 1.

[48 Interior Pictures]

[Map of 3218 1/2 Glendale Blvd.]

AV in the News

• When angels feel a bit devilish - Much like his other bars - the whimsical Bigfoot Lodge in Atwater Village, the Little Cave in Highland Park and Lucky Tiki in Mission Hills - Saints & Sinners is proof that you don't have to cater to the Lohans and Hiltons to have a hit on your hands...
• Paint It Dirt - Pieper’s palette recently made its way to the homey Atwater Village shop Jill’s Paint, which offers many fine eco-friendly paints...
• Reward Offered To Find Atwater Murder Suspect - City Council offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who fatally shot a man, 41, in Atwater Village...
• Bohemia, with a killer view - Some of Barbara Bestor's earliest projects were done on "a super shoestring" budget at the Atwater Village offices of Grand Royal, the Beastie Boys' record label...
• LA Planner: Does it Take a Village to Raise a City? - LA City Planner Gail Goldberg was the San Diego planner who encouraged "villages" - pedestrian-friendly collections of housing, businesses, schools, public facilities, mass transit... Don't we have that action already in the form of Westwood, Atwater Village, Abbott-Kinney, Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Melrose...