The best clubs in Los Angeles

Before you even reach the top of the stairs at this gritty, bi-level dive bar, you can feel the bass booming in your belly. And every Wednesday, Low End Theory is a beat-head's dream, with a massive sound system spitting out a wide range of experimental hip hop and beat-driven electronic music (IDM, dubstep, glitch, etc.). The packed-to-the-gills crowd (it's 18 and up here, so the throng skews young... and male) doesn't so much dance as surrender to the vibration. Keep your eyes peeled for live performances—everyone from Erykah Badu to Odd Future has graced the unassuming stage.

Couture's two major dance nights, Outspoken and Clinic Wednesdays, are probably the most underground-leaning of all the house and techno parties in L.A., with some of the best bookings in town. Of the two, Friday’s Outspoken, is the heavier hitter, hosting the likes of Francois K, Joakim, Martyn, DJ Dan, Ivan Smagghe, Roy Davis Jr. and Pittsburgh Track Authority. Clinic is no slouch either, with bookings like Terry Francis, the Drifter, Edu Imbernon, Patrice Baumel, Adam Shelton and Correspondant’s Jennifer Cardini. Quite a resumé for both, if we’re honest.

Funkmosphere (on Thursdays) claims to be "L.A.’s longest-running party for '80s-inspired funk, boogie, electro and modern funk," and we won't argue with them. Especially when the team behind the night includes such respected high-priests of the funk such as Laroj, Billy Goods, Randy Watson, Matt Respect and Eddy Funk as residents, as well its founding funkadelic father Dam-Funk. Be sure you bring your non-funky smelling dancin' shoes and maybe even check out some of Funkmosphere's many online DJ mixes to get yourself hyped.

Monday is probably the hardest night of the week to draw a crowd out to party, but don’t tell that to the team behind Mustache Mondays, the long-running, gay-themed (but very-straight-friendly) party at the Lash for the last three years. It's a fashion-forward jam sesh with hosts Grace Towers and Nacho and always-varied DJ sets from its residents and guests like Sporting Life, Lafawndah and Nightsweats, plus live sets from the likes of Maluca and local-boy-done-good Sam Sparro.

DTLA’s indoor/outdoor Mexi-megalopolis La Cita has been supporting weekly nights of all stripes for more years than Downtown has been re-christened "cool." Resident DJs Michael Stock and Boss Harmz have combined the aesthetics of their other parties—Part Time Punks and Dub Club, respectively—to start Punky Reggae (Fridays), the only party on this list whose name pays tribute to both Bob Marley and The Slits’ Ari Up (RIP). It promises not only punk and reggae, but also mutant disco and post-punk, and even ska. Guest sets come from varied DJs, some of which include the likes of Roger Cretin and Alex Transistor and live performances from genre acts such as Jah Faith & the Royal Lineage, Extra Classic and San Francisco’s Andy Human & the Reptoids. La Cita also plays host to what must be the only rockabilly-themed happy hour in town on Thursdays. So come for the rockabilly, stay for the punk reggae (or the other way around, just show up).

You’d think Los Angeles would be overrun with ridiculously good soul music nights, but alas, they are fewer and further between than one might like. That being said, SuperSoul Monday is up there with the best of 'em. Having relocated to Hollywood’s Dirty Laundry Bar, resident DJs Adam 12, Prophet and Jedi create a lovely, laid-back funk and soul vibe with assistance from JJ and The Spectacular, doing not one but two live shows a night (10:30pm & midnight), and with guests including Black Thought of The Roots.