"Countless musicians and friends lost everything." Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Jarvis Cocker, Primal Scream, Red Hot Chili Peppers duo and more donate unreleased songs to new benefit album to aid Californian wildfire relief

(Image credit: Chiaki Nozu/WireImage | Adam Berry/Redferns | Samir Hussein/WireImage)

Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker and a newly-formed quartet featuring Red Hot Chili Peppers duo Flea and John Frusciante are among the artists who have donated previously unreleased music to a new benefit album collated to raise money for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund in their efforts to support artists and music professionals badly affected the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.

The compilation album, titled Los Angeles Rising, and available for purchase now via Bandcamp, was put together by Love and Rockets/ex-Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins and English record producer Nick Launay, who has previously worked with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, IDLES, Killing Joke, Girls Against Boys and many more. Both men were forced to evacuate their homes and recording studios in LA during the January fires, which claimed 29 lives and destroyed thousands of homes.

Explaining the motivation behind the 16-track digital compilation, Haskins says, “As the wildfires were raging and destroying thousands of homes around Los Angeles, both my neighborhood and Nick [Launey]’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.

“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,” the drummer continues. “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.”

The track-listing for Los Angeles Rising is:

1. PJ Harvey with Danny 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, 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)
15. Flea, Frusciante, Haskins, DeAngelis – A System For Shutting Everything Out
16. US Girls – Four American Dollars (Demo version)

The album can be purchased for $10 on Bandcamp, though buyers are asked to "please donate as much as you can afford."

Los Angeles Rising album artwork — (Image credit: Los Angeles Rising)

A second benefit album, Good Music To Lift Los Angeles, will be released tomorrow, February 7, on Bandcamp for one day only.

The 90-track collection features songs from R.E.M, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, Chelsea Wolfe, Tenacious D, TV On The Radio and more.

All proceeds from the album will be donated to the LA Regional Food Bank and California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Fund.

Artists

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.