Every city has one -- that special eclectic venue that consistently brings in some of the world's best underground music acts. In New York, there's the Knitting Factory. In San Francisco, it's Bottom of the Hill. In LA, we have Spaceland. For over a decade Spaceland has been the rest-stop of choice when acts like Sonic Youth, Pavement, Ben Harper and Beck stroll through town. The venue's modest capacity (it holds about 250) ensures an intimate experience, and on any given night you're liable to catch either a well-known band you've been dying to see or an act you've never heard of that blows your socks off. Located in Silverlake, the club lacks the pretentiousness of some of the city's more chichi venues and substitutes them for a grungy atmosphere that includes reasonably priced booze and burgers. When it comes to live music in Los Angeles, it doesn't get much better than this. -- Garrett Kamps (Photo: Rick Fisher)