Ben there, mashed that: My Groundswell column in this week's LA CityBeat (out a day early as a result of the holiday) takes a look at rising mash-up star Party Ben, the man behind such instant classics as "I Feel Crazy" (Donna Summer vs. Gnarls Barkley) and "Boulevard of Broken Songs" (mainly Greenday vs. Oasis).

"I've always been annoyed at people who think they’re too good for pop," Ben says. "People have these arbitrary and often racially based boundaries between music they like and music they’re not supposed to like."

-Paul Van Dyk stars in my weekly dance club recommendations for the Los Angeles area.