As Los Angeles begins the process of rebuilding following the historic surge of wildfires that devastated Southern California just weeks ago, the music community has come together to champion recovery for one of its epicenters. The latest offering to arrive from this outpouring of support is Los Angeles Rising, a new benefit compilation featuring contributions from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and more.
Los Angeles Rising is curated by Kevin Haskins of Bauhaus and Love and Rockets and post-punk producer Nick Launay, who helmed Cave’s Skeleton Tree and Yeah Yeah Yeah’s It’s Blitz, as well as works by The Slits, Public Image Ltd, Gang of Four, Amyl and the Sniffers and more. Both of the album’s creators were forced to evacuate their Los Angeles homes during the wildfires, and while their homes and studios were saved, their experience inspired them to act for the many other artists who lost everything.
“As the wildfires were raging and destroying thousands of homes around Los Angeles, both my neighborhood and Nick [Launey]’s were instructed to evacuate,” Haskins shared in a statement. “But we were the lucky ones. The fire threatening our homes and recording studios was thankfully extinguished by firefighters just minutes away, but countless musicians and friends lost everything.
“This harrowing experience and witnessing the monumental destruction of entire communities, inspired Nick and I to team up to create a compilation album to raise money for the less fortunate. We reached out to our musician friends for unreleased recorded gems and the response was incredible! PJ Harvey, Nick Cave, Jarvis Cocker, Primal Scream, Gary Numan and Devo are just some of the artists that rushed in to help.”
Elsewhere in the 16-song tracklist are Band Of Skulls, David J, CRX, Danny Elfman, a supergroup led by Flea and John Frusciante, Nick Cave’s solo project Grinderman and more. The entries selected are all unheard, with demos, unreleased rarities, remixes and covers rounding out the lineup; highlights include Cocker’s cover of “California Dreamin’,” a demo of US Girls’ “Four American Dollars,” Devo deep cut “Should-A Said Yes” and an orchestral version of “False Flags” by Primal Scream.
Los Angeles Rising is available now on Bandcamp. Read on for the full tracklist.
Los Angeles Rising – Various Artists
- PJ Harvey with Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans – The Red River
- Grinderman – Worm Tamer – LaunayVauz Remix
- Gary Numan and Titan – Dark Rain
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Turn Into Redux
- Band Of Skulls – Cold Cold Sweat – LaunayVauz Remix
- Jarvis Cocker – California Dreamin’
- Primal Scream – False Flags – Orchestral version
- Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – Michelangelo
- Haskins, Vandermolen and Lohner – All We Ever Wanted Was Everything
- Danny Elfman – Monkeys On The Loose – LA Rising version
- Devo – Shoulda Said Yes
- Siobhan Fahey and Titan – Deep In LA
- CRX – Blip On The Radar
- David J – No New Tale To Tell – Original demo version
- Flea, Frusciante, Haskins and DeAngelis – A System For Shutting Everything Out
- US Girls – Four American Dollars – Demo version
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