Some of music’s leading figures are at the forefront of two wildfire relief benefit albums, a compilation of new releases, live and previously archived recordings. The records, titled “Los Angeles Rising” and “Good Music to Lift Up Los Angeles,” will release on Bandcamp Thursday and Friday, respectively.
The former features 16 tracks, including unreleased recordings from legendary Australian outfit Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, PJ Harvey, Gary Numan, Primal Scream, Devo and Danny Elfman. Other notable songs include “Turn Into Redux,” an alternative version of Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ hit song off of 2006’s “Show Your Bones.” Jarvis Cocker of Pulp also lends an acoustic rendition of the timeless “California Dreamin’,” recorded back in 2020.
The project, led by Bauhaus’ Kevin Haskins and record producer Nick Launay, is the fruit of tragedy. The two thought up the benefit album after having to evacuate during the recent wildfires.
“I took my garden hose and soaked my yard and decks, and then took off,” Haskins recalled. “It was very stressful and I ended up in grid lock traffic getting through Hollywood.”
On the other side of the fire, Launay faced a similar process. But they “were the lucky ones,” as many musicians and friends in the city faced the destruction of their beloved homes.
“Nick and I both reached out to every musician [and] band that we know and Nick Cave and PJ Harvey were the first to respond,” Haskins told The Times. “Once they were on board, the response was incredible. It has been a very heartwarming and inspiring experience to witness this wonderful show of humanity, when there’s so much negativity surrounding us these days.”
The cover of the compilation album “Los Angeles Rising,” designed by Shepard Fairey.
(Courtesy of Motormouth Media)
It was befitting that the album cover would be created by longtime Los Feliz denizen and artist Shepard Fairey, who completed his work the day Haskins reached out to him.
“Los Angeles Rising” is donation-based with a $10 minimum and all proceeds will go to Sweet Relief, a nonprofit charity for professional artists and industry workers.
Similarly, “Good Music to Lift Up Los Angeles” is another compilation album being released by Good Music, the 2020 brainchild of author Dave Eggers and Jordan Kurland. The pair released other comps in 2020 and 2022, titled “Good Music to Avert the Collapse of American Democracy” and “Good Music to Ensure Safe Abortion Access to All.” Both projects raised a combined total of over $800,000.
Now, they’re back with a 90-song, single-day release project featuring the likes of Modest Mouse, Interpol, Toro y Moi and R.E.M. It certainly won’t disappoint fans, offering everything from new music and live versions to remixes and demos, highlighted by the Postal Service and Death Cab For Cutie’s cover of Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence.”
The album, priced at $20.25, will donate all of its Good Music proceeds to California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Recovery Fund and L.A. Regional Food Bank. Bandcamp will match this, donating 100% of their share to MusiCares.