Music of Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

As well as being one of the most important cities in the world in the film industry, Los Angeles, California is also one of the most important places in the world for the recorded music industry. Many landmarks in Los Angeles - such as Capitol Records, which resembles a stack of albums - are representative of this. A&M Records long occupied a studio off Sunset Boulevard built by Charlie Chaplin (who wrote the music for his own films). The Warner Brothers built a major recording business in addition to their film business. At the other end of the business, local Rhino Records began a reissue boom by digging through archives of old recordings and repackaging them for modern audiences.

History

20th century

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' lineup c. 1987

During the 1930s and 1940s Los Angeles had a vibrant African-American musical community even when it was relatively small: a number of musical artists congregated around Central Avenue, and the community produced a number of great talents, including Charles Mingus, Buddy Collette, Gerald Wilson, but in the 1950s it disappeared.

In the 1960s the Sunset Strip became a breeding ground for bands like The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and The Doors. The Beach Boys were founded in nearby Hawthorne.

There was a sizable punk rock movement in the 1970s which spawned the hardcore punk movement featuring bands like X, Black Flag and Wasted Youth.

In the late 1970s, bands such as Toto (band) were some of the most 'heard' bands on radio; as most of the musicians in the band were well known session musicians.

In the 1980s, the Paisley Underground movement was native to Los Angeles in rock music. In rap music, the seminal career of N.W.A. would later lead the development of G-Funk out of the combination of P-Funk and gangsta rap. Much internationally acclaimed hard rock has come out of Los Angeles since the 1980s, including hard rockers Van Halen from nearby Pasadena; Guns N' Roses whose critically acclaimed debut Appetite for Destruction is the best selling debut album in history; glam metal/hair metal bands like Mötley Crüe and Ratt; thrash metal acts like Metallica and Slayer, and also '90s rock bands such as KoЯn and especially Red Hot Chili Peppers.

In the 1990s, Los Angeles' contribution to rock music continued with acclaimed artists such as Elliott Smith, Beck, Weezer, Sublime of Long Beach, Tool and Rage Against the Machine. At the end of the 1990s, the nu metal band Linkin Park was formed in Agoura, and was named after Lincoln Park in Santa Monica, near their recording studio. In addition, the gangsta rap and G-funk of the solo careers of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, and Snoop Dogg, among related acts, flourished in this decade and reestablished Los Angeles (particularly the communities of Long Beach and Compton) as a center of African-American musical development and G-funk as one of hip-hop's major living styles.

In the late 1990s, alternative rock artists such as Eels also rose to fame.

After 2000

In the new millennium, the city retains its importance as a center of live rock music, rap, and of the music industry. After 2000, LA based noise rock acts like Liars, Health and No Age became famous world wide (mainly Europe and America) touring bands. The Game became one of the most prominent voices in modern hip-hop, rising to prominence internationally in part due to a feud with New York's famous rapper 50 Cent.

The L.A. indie scene currently rides the wave through neighborhoods like Hollywood, Koreatown, Los Feliz, Silverlake, and Echo Park, which have given rise to such bands as Moving Units, Rilo Kiley, Earlimart, Autolux, Scarling., Giant Drag, Best Coast, and Local Natives^[1][2]. The venue The Smell became a prominent spot after 2000 where many new avant garde indie rock acts like Abe Vigoda, Anavan, Ancestors, BARR, Foot Village, Carla Bozulich, Captain Ahab, David Scott Stone, Health, Laco$te, Lavender Diamond, The Mae Shi, Mika Miko, Nite Jewel, No Age, Silver Daggers, Thrones, and Upsilon Acrux started their careers. The rap-rock group Hollywood Undead represents one of the most prominent acts of the so-called budding scene music subgenre developing in Los Angeles out of the emo subculture. Skeleteen is a band from LA as well. The Rave scene and electronic music have become extremely popular in Los Angeles in the late 2000s and 2010s. Particularly House Music, Dubstep and Drum and Bass, which have all developed very strong scenes in Los Angeles. The Electric Daisy Carnival festival which is an electronic dance music festival and had an attendance of over 185,000 people over a two day weekend. Making it the largest dance music festival in North America and one of the largest in the world. Other festivals such as Together As One, Monster Massive, Nocturnal and Hard Fest have had attendances of 50,000+ to 125,000+, Which undoubtedly makes Los Angeles the rave capital of North America.

Historic Music Venues in Los Angeles

Within L.A. Proper

• Los Angeles Music Center^[3]

Within the L.A. Megacity

• The Majestic Ventura Theatre in Ventura, California[1]

See also

• Arts and culture of Los Angeles
• History of Los Angeles, California
• List of bands from Los Angeles
• List of songs about Los Angeles
• Los Angeles Master Chorale
• Los Angeles Opera
• Music of California

Music of the United States
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References

1. ^ John, Zeiss (2007-09-11). "Earlimart: Steering Silver Lake's ship". Prefix Magazine. http://www.prefixmag.com/features/earlimart/steering-silver-lakes-ship/12917/. Retrieved 2008-12-22. 
2. ^ Dicks, Brett Leigh (2006-09-28). "The Watson Twins Display their Southern Manners". Faster Louder. http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/features/6223/. Retrieved 2008-12-22. 
3. ^ Los Angeles Music Center Retrieved on 2008-09-09

External links

• Music Scene of LA