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A Beginner’s Guide To Music In LA

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A Beginner’s Guide To Music In LA

LA may be best known around the world for its Hollywood glitz and glamour or exciting film studios, but Los Angeles is also a central music-industry hub and is one of the best places in the country to live or visit for its outstanding music scene. From the iconic Capital Records and the Legendary Sunset Strip to the Hollywood Bowl, LA has a multitude of venues to enjoy. Music lovers can explore not only the history of the music scene but witness venues showcasing emerging artists that are bound to make a splash.

History

The LA music scene has a vast history as the birthplace for many phenomenal artists, often attributed to the city’s diverse population and beautiful backdrop. As jazz grew in popularity across the U.S., Los Angeles welcomed in a flourishing African American music scene in the 1920s, and LA soon became a hub for music of all genres, containing many of the Rock ‘N’ Roll landmarks. Songs written about this fantastic city are known all around the world, and if you want to know more about the exciting history of the LA music scene, check out ‘A Music Lover’s Guide to the City of Angels’ tfrom Pirate.

Capitol Records

Capitol Studios first opened its doors over 60 years ago, celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2016, and began its business with Frank Sinatra, recording his iconic album Frank Sinatra Conducts Tone Poem of Color. The studio has hosted a number of recording sessions for renowned acts such as Paul McCartney, the Goo Goo Dolls, and Green Day, and is where several soundtracks and hit albums have been mixed. The Capitol Records Building is also the site where the orchestra for the Academy Awards rehearses and records.

The Capitol Records building is still a functioning and busy studio, with many of its current acts recording performances on the roof of the iconic tower. Unfortunately, guests are not able to tour the building except for the occasional ticketed event. However, tourists can take photographs in front of this impressive, historic tower and the mural: Richard Wyatt Jr’s Hollywood Jazz.

Sunset Strip

The Sunset Strip is famed for its colorful rock ‘n’ roll history. Although the strip is not as wild or gritty as it used to be, you can still find a thriving music scene here. Stroll along the strip, witnessing the looming billboards and explore the live music clubs where rock legends were made. Situated along Sunset Boulevard, the mile and a half strip became a frequent haunt for musicians in the 1960s. Clubs like Whisky a Go Go and The Roxy, which are still around today, saw artists like Jim Morrison, David Bowie, and Jimmy Page frequent their establishments and stages on a regular basis.

The Sunset Strip was the birthplace of several glam-metal artists in the 1980s, with Mötley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses among but a few of the acts still popular today. Many of the clubs famous for their phenomenal acts are but memories, such as the 1970s hotspot Rodney Birgenheimer’s English Disco, but that doesn’t mean that guests today can’t relive the glory days of this famous strip of clubs and venues. There may be less debauchery on the strip today, but that doesn’t make it any less fun or exciting to see the live music offered at many venues such as The Troubadour or Viper Room. Get a drink at the popular hangout for many music legends, the Rainbow Bar and Grill, which Alice Cooper, John Lennon, and Lemmy of Motörhead fame frequented often.

RockWalk

Hollywood’s Walk of Fame is a must-see attraction for every visitor to Los Angeles. Many distinguished musicians have been honored on this famous stretch of sidewalk, including Louis Armstrong, the Backstreet Boys, Christina Aguilera, but there is a special section outside of the Guitar Centre on Sunset Boulevard that is reserved for rock musicians. The Guitar Center RockWalk was established in 1985, and here you’ll find the handprints of famous rock legends such as The Cure, ZZ Top, Van Halen, and Nancy Wilson. One of the most popular stars is that of Iron Maiden, as it includes a skeletal handprint alongside the band’s handprints that is meant to belong to band mascot Eddie.

Amoeba Music

When taking a tour of the vibrant LA music scene, there’s no better place to find music-themed souvenirs than at Amoeba Music. As one of the largest record stores in the world, Amoeba Music boasts two floors packed with vinyl records, CDs, DVDs, art, games, apparel, posters, and more. Many take a day to explore the treasure trove of goodies houses in the Hollywood store, and you could even catch a live show while you’re there. Amoeba Music host many free live shows, and the famous 2007 EP Amoeba’s Secrets from Paul McCartney was recorded here during an unannounced live performance. When the company announced that the iconic store was relocating from its current space at 6400 Sunset Boulevard, many fans were worried, but Amoeba Music confirmed that the new store would stay in the vicinity of its famous location.

Hollywood Bowl

A tour of the LA music scene would be incomplete without a visit to the illustrious Hollywood Bowl. This famed amphitheater opened in 1922 and is a veritable LA landmark that oozes in history, the detail of which can be explored in many wonderful exhibits housed in the free museums around LA. Boasting acts from genres such as pop to rock, and even the LA Philharmonic, artists such as Tony Bennets, Lady Gaga, Nine Inch Nails, The Beatles, and Genesis have been gracing the stage at the Hollywood Bowl for decades.

Grammy Museum

Opening in 2008, this innovative museum is the home to a host of ephemera and exhibits relating to the history of music, how it’s made, and the history of the Grammy Awards. The Grammy Museum draws many tourists and locals because of the iconic music artifacts that can be seen in its exhibits, including Dolly Parton’s elaborate rhinestone-adorned costumes. Many of the exhibits are interactive and aimed towards inspiring the museum’s guests to learn about the recording process and the different music genres. You can often find rotating exhibits focused on acclaimed artists such as Michael Jackson, Taylor Swift, Barbara Streisand, Roy Orbison, and, of course, Elvis Presley. Exhibits are not the only thing that can be found at this prestigious museum, as they often host lectures and hold other events in the 200 seat Clive Davis theatre.

Jon Hopkins Announces New Album, Shares New Song ‘Sit Around the Fire’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Jon Hopkins Announces New Album, Shares New Song ‘Sit Around the Fire’

Jon Hopkins has announced a new album. It’s titled Music For Psychedelic Therapy, and it comes out November 12 (digital/CD) and February 11 (LP) via Domino. Today’s announcement comes with the release of the first single and album closer ‘Sit Around the Fire’, a collaboration with producer and ceremony guide East Forest and the late guru Ram Dass. The track arrives with an accompanying video created by Tom Readdy and Lucy Dawkins at Yes Please using imagery from the pages of Ram Dass’ book Be Here Now. Check it out below and scroll down for the LP’s cover artwork and tracklist.

Music for Psychedelic Therapy marks Hopkins’ first full-length release since 2018’s Singularity. “It felt like time for a reset, to wait for music to appear from a different place,” Hopkins said of the album, which is inspired by a creative expedition he went on in 2018 at Tayos Caves in Ecuador. He added:

What grew from this experience is an album with no beats, not one drum sound, something that is closer to a classical symphony than a dance / electronica record. Something that is more like having an experience than listening to a piece of music. Maybe something far more emotionally honest than I had been comfortable making before – a merging of music, nature and my own desire to heal.  The freedom from traditional rhythmic structures unlocked so much – it felt like I was free to explore a new form of rhythm, one that you discover when you just allow things to flow without letting yourself get in the way. 

Music For Psychedelic Therapy is not ambient, classical or drone but has elements of all three. For me it’s a place as much as it is a sound. It works for the sober mind, but takes on a new dimension entirely when brought into a psychedelic ceremony. In my own psychedelic explorations testing this music, I found a quote I had read would keep coming to mind. ‘Music is liquid architecture, architecture is frozen music.’  I love this idea of music as something you inhabit, something that works on you energetically. In fact, it was while in that state that the title appeared to me. Psychedelic-assisted therapies are moving into legality across the world, and yet it feels like no one is talking about the music; the music is as important as the medicine.

Elaborating on ‘Sit Around the Fire’, Hopkins said: “I was contacted by East Forest, who had spent some time with Ram Dass in Hawaii before he passed. He was given access to several lesser-heard talks from the 70s, and asked to set them to music. He sent me some starting points, including the beautiful choral vocals he recorded which open the piece. I put my headphones on and with Ram Dass’ voice inside my head, I sat at the piano and improvised. What you hear is the first thing that came out – it just appeared in response to the words.”

Music For Psychedelic Therapy Cover Artwork:

Music For Psychedelic Therapy Tracklist:

1. Welcome
2. Tayos Caves, Ecuador i
3. Tayos Caves, Ecuador ii
4. Tayos Caves, Ecuador iii
5. Love Flows Over Us In Prismatic Waves
6. Deep In The Glowing Heart
7. Ascending, Dawn Sky
8. Arriving
9. Sit Around The Fire (with Ram Dass, East Forest)

Listen The Doors’ Previously Unreleased ‘Riders on the Storm’ Demo

Konstantinos Pappis
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Listen The Doors’ Previously Unreleased ‘Riders on the Storm’ Demo

The Doors have announced a 50th anniversary deluxe edition of their sixth and final studio album, L.A. Woman. Set for release on December 3 via Rhino, the 3-CD/1-LP collection will feature the original album newly remastered by the Doors’ longtime engineer and mixer Bruce Botnick, two bonus discs of unreleased studio outtakes, and the stereo mix of the original album on vinyl. Also included is the previously unheard original demo of ‘Riders on the Storm’, which has now been unveiled. Give it a listen below.

The demo of ‘Riders on the Storm’ was recorded at Sunset Sound studios with producer Paul A. Rothchild, who infamously called it “cocktail music” before departing the project. This led to the band working with Botnick, who explained in a press release:  “The previously unreleased reels here – serial takes of ‘The Changeling,’ ‘Love Her Madly,’ ‘Riders On The Storm,’ and ‘L.A. Woman’ – depict a band obsessed with groove while executing turns and flourishes with the precision of a well-drilled soul combo… The idea was to go from song to song, to let it flow.”

In addition to these outtakes, the collection also includes covers of Junior Parker’s ‘Mystery Train’, John Lee Hooker’s ‘Crawling King Snake’, Big Joe Williams’ ‘Baby Please Don’t Go’, and Lee Dorsey’s ‘Get Out of My Life Woman’.

The Doors’ L.A. Woman (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) Tracklist:

Disc One: Original Stereo Mix Remastered
1. The Changeling
2. Love Her Madly
3. Been Down So Long
4. Cars Hiss By My Window
5. L.A. Woman
6. L’America
7. Hyacinth House
8. Crawling King Snake
9. The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat)
10. Riders On The Storm
Bonus Tracks
11. Hyacinth House – Demo
12. Riders On The Storm – Sunset Sound Version – Original Demo*

Disc Two: L.A. Woman Sessions, Part 1
1. The Changeling *
2. Love Her Madly *
3. Riders On The Storm *
4. L.A. Woman (Part 1) *

Disc Three: L.A. Woman Sessions, Part 2
1. L.A. Woman (Part 2) *
2. She Smells So Nice *
3. Rock Me Baby *
4. Mr. Mojo Risin’ *
5. Baby Please Don’t Go *
6. L.A. Woman (Part 3) *
7. Been Down So Long *
8. Get Out Of My Life Woman *
9. Crawling King Snake *
10. The Bastard Son Of Jimmy & Mama Reed (Cars Hiss By My Window) *
11. Been Down So Long *
12. Mystery Train *
13. The WASP (Texas Radio And The Big Beat) *

* = Previously unreleased

Drake Reveals ‘Certified Lover Boy’ Features Young Thug, Future, 21 Savage, and More

Konstantinos Pappis
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Drake Reveals ‘Certified Lover Boy’ Features Young Thug, Future, 21 Savage, and More

Days ahead of its release, Drake has revealed some of the guests on his next record Certified Lover Boy. One billboard in Atlanta announced that “Slime, Pluto, Savage and Baby are on CLB,” referring to Young Thug, Future, 21 Savage, and Lil Baby. Another one in California promised Giveon and Ty Dolla $ign, while Project Pat and Yebba were confirmed in Memphis. Another billboard in Chicago teased Lil Durk, who appears on the single ‘Laugh Now Cry Later’, while New York’s Times Square version appears to suggest that JAY-Z will be on the project: “Hey New York, the GOAT is on CLB.” Check out the series of billboards below.

Earlier this week, Drake confirmed Certified Lover Boy will come out this Friday, September 3. The album, which will follow 2018’s Scorpion as well as last year’s Dark Lane Demo Tapes, was first announced last August and was originally set for release in January before being indefinitely delayed.

Kanye West Shares New ‘Come to Life’ Video

Konstantinos Pappis
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Kanye West Shares New ‘Come to Life’ Video

Kanye West has shared a new video for ‘Come to Life’, from his new album Donda. The visual features footage from the album’s third listening event at Chicago’s Soldier Field, which saw West having a replica of his childhood home rebuilt in the stadium. Also included are clips of Kim Kardashian’s surprise appearance and West seemingly setting himself on fire. Watch it below.

After multiple delays, the follow-up to 2019’s Jesus Is King finally arrived on streaming services on August 29. West later claimed that his label released the record without his approval. The 27-track Donda features contributions from Jay Z, Lil Durk, Lil Yachty, Travis Scott, Baby Keem, Kid Cudi, Don Toliver, Jay Electronica, DaBaby, Marilyn Manson, and more. Read our review of the album.

Lil Nas X Reveals ‘Montero’ Tracklist Featuring Megan Thee Stallion, Elton John, Miley Cyrus, and More

Konstantinos Pappis
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Lil Nas X Reveals ‘Montero’ Tracklist Featuring Megan Thee Stallion, Elton John, Miley Cyrus, and More

A day after revealing its cover artwork, Lil Nas X has unveiled the tracklist for his debut full-length album, Montero, which is out September 17 via Columbia. The 15-song record includes the previously shared singles ‘Montero (Call Me By Your Name)’, ‘Sun Goes Down’, and the Jack Harlow-assisted ‘Industry Baby’ and features contributions from Megan Thee Stallion, Elton John, Miley Cyrus, and Doja Cat. (The Elton John collaboration, ‘One of Me’, will also appear on John’s just-announced album The Lockdown Sessions.)  Check out the full list below.

Montero Tracklist:

1. Montero (Call Me by Your Name)
2. Dead Right Now
3. Industry Baby [feat. Jack Harlow]
4. That’s What I Want
5. The Art of Realization
6. Scoop [feat. Doja Cat]
7. One of Me [feat. Elton John]
8. Lost in the Citadel
9. Dolla Sign Slime [feat. Megan Thee Stallion]
10. Tales of Dominica
11. Sun Goes Down
12. Void
13. Don’t Want It
14. Life After Salem
15. Am I Dreaming [feat. Miley Cyrus]

Album Review: Kanye West, ‘Donda’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Album Review: Kanye West, ‘Donda’

Before it was an actual album that arrived on streaming services on Sunday, August 29, Donda was a million different things. And maybe, as an endlessly malleable product with no set release date and an excuse for us to mythologize its creator, it had reached its ideal form. Ahead of the album’s third listening party at Soldier Field in Chicago, Kanye West launched a Stem Player that would accompany the release of the album, allowing fans to customize any one of its songs by controlling instruments, isolating parts, or adding effects. And when the LP once again failed to materialize last Friday, undercutting the promise of molding something that would likely never exist in any real capacity seemed like the most poignant statement this whole rollout had to offer. If this was going to be it, the message was loud and clear, more reflective of our own desires and biases as an audience than West’s ego.

After all, could there be a better way of presenting an art project centered around obsession – with God, with family, with one’s own self – than having it be nothing but an idea to be consumed by? When everything you do in the public eye scans as performative, how much does the music actually matter, and how could it possibly deliver? Forget about living up to the hype – how much time and editing would it take for an album in which Kanye invokes his dead mother’s name to truly align with his grand artistic vision? As an endless series of questions, Donda was as perfect and fascinating as it could be.

And then, apparently without the artist’s approval and with no guarantee that it would be the final version (one change has already been made), Donda, the album, saw the light of day. It’s an unfinished and self-indulgent work by design, and the fact that it fails to transcend Kanye’s own mythos should surprise nobody. But the rapper’s 10th studio album is also shallow, incoherent, and frustrating, a 27-track effort with a 1 hour and 48-minute runtime that faithful devotees, alienated fans, and sceptics alike will surely have a hard time sitting through, much less connect with. West is self-aware enough: “I ain’t deliverin’ heavenly messages just for the hell of it/ Don’t try to test me, I keep it clean, but it can get messy,” he raps on ‘Off the Grid’. Things do indeed get messy on Donda, but rarely in the chaotically ambitious ways that set apart West’s most iconic projects.

Instead, he crams moments of forced profundity, occasional brilliance, and insufferable lyricism into an album that tries harder than it should to be both poised and manic, epic in scale yet somber in tone. It’s the sort of contrast that has characterized some of West’s best work, but Donda’s tonal inconsistencies feel mostly purposeless. The opening track, an extended chant of his mother’s name, hints at an album that would require patience but could achieve a haunting resonance, yet the collection of songs that follows feels simultaneously overwrought and undercooked. When West reunites with Jay-Z on ‘Jail’, over anthemic power chords that aim for a familiar sense of grandeur, the result falls short of highlighting anything beyond the obvious spectacle of it all.

The extended/alternate version of the song, one of four remixes unnecessarily placed at the end of the album, is even worse. Recruiting DaBaby, who has been kicked off festival gigs for making homophobic remarks onstage, and Marilyn Manson, who faces multiple allegations of abuse and sexual assault – on a track whose chorus goes “Guess who’s goin’ to jail tonight?/ God gon’ post my bail tonight”– is no doubt a callous attempt at taking on cancel culture; but even as an act of provocation, like so much of the album, it feels empty. Critics have already pointed out the absence of female voices on an album that’s at least partially supposed to be a tribute to Dr. Donda C. West, but the truth is that it lacks any sort of overarching perspective, gendered or not.

Guests generally help elevate the project from being totally underwhelming, from Houston singer Vory’s mournful hook on ‘Jonah’ to Jay Electronica’s excellent verse on ‘Jesus Lord pt 2’ to Baby Keem and Travis Scott’s animated presence on ‘Praise God’. Playboi Carti and Fivio Foreign also stand out on ‘Off the Grid’, one of the album’s euphoric highlights. But most memorable of all is a spoken-word segment from the son of imprisoned gang leader Larry Hoover, who thanks West for bringing his father’s cause to the White House; it’s an example of how the artist’s framing can be both ethically dubious and affecting. West’s own writing and delivery is at its best when he shifts his focus away from his public persona to expose his vulnerability, whether directly addressing his mother (“Mama, you was the life of the party/ I swear, you brought life to the party/ When you lost your life, it took the life out the party”) or his ongoing divorce (“I don’t wanna die alone/ I don’t wanna die alone/ I get mad when she gone/ Mad when she home.”)

But for the majority of the album, either West’s songwriting falls flat or his scattered ideas fail to coalesce into a compelling, complicated whole, even if they’re clearly in service of something bigger. A similar problem concerns the album’s production; there are echoes of West’s prior work – the stark minimalism of 808s & Heartbreak, and, less often, the abrasive heights of Yeezus – and although his attempts at integrating the gospel influences that culminated on 2019’s Jesus Is King on tracks like ‘Hurricane’ are largely effective, so many of the musical choices here come off as arbitrary and inconsequential. Some may call this West’s best album since 2016’s Life of Pablo, but at least the flawed, depressing nature of 2018’s ye, if less than revelatory, was part of its emotional appeal. And that record was 23 minutes long. Donda just leaves you feeling bemused and exhausted, wondering not which potential version would have the greatest impact, but which would best emulate the thrill of its non-existence with the least collateral damage.

Elton John Announces New Album ‘The Lockdown Sessions’ Featuring Nicki Minaj, Eddie Vedder, Stevie Nicks, and More

Konstantinos Pappis
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Elton John Announces New Album ‘The Lockdown Sessions’ Featuring Nicki Minaj, Eddie Vedder, Stevie Nicks, and More

Elton John has announced a new album titled The Lockdown Sessions. Out October 22 via Interscope, the record features collaborations with Young Thug and Nicki Minaj, Eddie Vedder, Stevie Nicks, Stevie Wonder, Brandi Carlile, Lil Nas X, Charlie Puth, and more. It also includes previously released collaborations with Dua Lipa (‘Cold Heart (Pnau Remix)’), Rina Sawayama (‘Chosen Family’), and Gorillaz (‘The Pink Phantom’). Find the full tracklist below.

John said in a statement about the new album:

The last thing I expected to do during lockdown was make an album. But, as the pandemic went on, one‐off projects kept cropping up. Some of the recording sessions had to be done remotely, via Zoom, which I’d obviously never done before. Some of the sessions were recorded under very stringent safety regulations: working with another artist, but separated by glass screens. But all the tracks I worked on were really interesting and diverse, stuff that was completely different to anything I’m known for, stuff that took me out of my comfort zone into completely new territory. And I realised there was something weirdly familiar about working like this. At the start of my career, in the late 60s, I worked as a session musician. Working with different artists during lockdown reminded me of that. I’d come full circle: I was a session musician again. And it was still a blast.

The Lockdown Sessions Cover Artwork:

The Lockdown Sessions Tracklist:

1. Elton John & Dua Lipa – ‘Cold Heart’ (PNAU Remix)
2. Elton John, Young Thug & Nicki Minaj – ‘Always Love You’
3. Surfaces feat. Elton John – ‘Learn To Fly’
4. Elton John & Charlie Puth – ‘After All’
5. Rina Sawayama & Elton John – ‘Chosen Family’
6. Gorillaz feat. Elton John & 6LACK – ‘The Pink Phantom’
7. Elton John & Years & Years – ‘It’s a sin’ (global reach mix)
8. Miley Cyrus feat. WATT, Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Trujillo & Chad Smith – ‘Nothing Else Matters’
9. Elton John & SG Lewis – ‘Orbit’
10. Elton John & Brandi Carlile – ‘Simple Things’
11. Jimmie Allen & Elton John – ‘Beauty In The Bones’
12. Lil Nas X feat. Elton John – ‘One Of Me’
13. Elton John & Eddie Vedder – ‘E-Ticket’
14. Elton John & Stevie Wonder – ‘Finish Line’
15. Elton John & Stevie Nicks – ‘Stolen Car’
16. Glen Campbell & Elton John – ‘I’m Not Gonna Miss You’

Rosalía and Tokischa Join Forces on New Song ‘Linda’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Rosalía and Tokischa Join Forces on New Song ‘Linda’

Rosalía has teamed up with Dominican rapper and singer-songwriter Tokischa for a new song called ‘Linda’. The single was produced by Leo RD and comes with an accompanying music video that you can check out below.

Earlier this year, Rosalía shared the Billie Eilish collaboration ‘Lo Vas a Olvidar’ and featured on a new version of Oneohtrix Point Never’s ‘Nothing Special’. Last month, Tokischa joined J Balvin on the single ‘Perra’.

Meek Mill and Lil Uzi Vert Team Up for New Song ‘Blue Notes 2’

Konstantinos Pappis
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Meek Mill and Lil Uzi Vert Team Up for New Song ‘Blue Notes 2’

Meek Mill has enlisted Lil Uzi Vert for the new song ‘Blue Notes 2’. The collaborative track comes with an accompanying music video co-directed by Meek Mill and Kid Art. Watch and listen below.

Just last week, Meek Mill teamed up with Lil Durk and Lil Baby for the new track ‘Sharing Locations’. His last album was 2018’s Championships. Since releasing Pluto x Baby Pluto last year, Lil Uzi Vert has linked up with the likes of Pi’erre Bourne, Internet Money, and more.

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