Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Devo and more have been announced as contributors featured on the ‘Los Angeles Rising’ wildfire relief benefit compilation album.
The Los Angeles wildfires, which began on January 7, have left 28 people dead, more than 12,000 structures destroyed and saw the evacuation of more than 150,000 residents.
Created by Kevin Haskins (Love and Rockets, Bauhaus) and producer Nick Launay (Nick Cave, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, IDLES), all proceeds from ‘Los Angeles Rising’ will go to Sweet Relief – a musicians fund that helps provide financial assistance to musicians and music industry workers. You can purchase the album exclusively from Bandcamp.
The LP features 16 previously unreleased tracks from the likes of Cave, Harvey, Gary Numan, Primal Scream and more. ‘Los Angeles Rising’ also includes an alternative take on Yeah Yeah Yeah’s 2006 release ‘Turn Into Redux’ as well as a stripped-back rendition of The Mamas and The Papa’s iconic track ‘California Dreamin’ by Jarvis Cocker which was recorded back in 2020. You can check out Cocker’s cover below.
Speaking about the creation of the compilation album in a press release, Haskins said: “As the wildfires were raging and destroying thousands of homes around Los Angeles, both my neighbourhood and Nick’s were instructed to evacuate. 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.”
Launay added: “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”.
‘Lost Angeles Rising’ tracklist is:
1. PJ Harvey with Danni Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans – ‘The Red River’
2. Grinderman – ‘Worm Tamer’ – LaunayVauz Remix
3. Gary Numan and Titan – ‘Dark Rain’
4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – ‘Turn Into Redux’
5. Band Of Skulls – ‘Cold Cold Sweat’ – LaunayVauz Remix
6. Jarvis Cocker – ‘California Dreamin’’
7. Primal Scream – ‘False Flags’ – Orchestral version
8. Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – ‘Michelangelo’
9. Haskins, Vandermolen and Lohner – ‘All We Ever Wanted Was Everything’
10. Danny Elfman – ‘Monkeys On The Loose’ – LA Rising version
11. Devo – ‘Shoulda Said Yes’
12. Siobhan Fahey and Titan – ‘Deep In LA’
13. CRX – ‘Blip On The Radar’
14. David J – ‘No New Tale To Tell’ – Original demo version
15. Flea, Frusciante, Haskins and DeAngelis – ‘A System For Shutting Everything Out’
16. U.S. Girls – ‘Four American Dollars’ – Demo version
Elsewhere, a study recently shared by World Weather Attribution, claimed that the LA wildfires were made “more likely” by human-caused climate change. The study said that the hot, dry and windy conditions that drove fires in the Californian city were “35 per cent more likely due to warming caused primarily by the burning of oil, gas and coal.”
In other news, Big Thief have recently announced their new charity EP ‘Passion Relation’ which will help raise funds for those who were affected by the LA Wildfires.
