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Hi friends,
What is a music venue in Los Angeles?
A club? A theater? A concert hall? Sure. But lately, it also seems to be a park, a storefront, a laundromat, a riverbank, a truck parked next to a churro shop, or whatever patch of public space someone decides can hold a sound system and a few hundred people.
There is so much demand for music, gathering, and real-world connection in this city that it keeps spilling beyond the places traditionally built to contain it. Angelenos are finding their own ways to gather, often in spaces that were never designed for live music in the first place.
Leaving Records has been doing exactly that for years with Listen to Music Outside in the Daylight Under a Tree, its recurring all-ages, donation-based concert series in LA parks. The premise is almost beautifully literal: go outside, sit under a tree, listen to music together.
Elsewhere, dance parties have appeared along the LA River, turning a concrete platform in Frogtown into a temporary dance floor for disco, house, funk, soul, and whatever else moves people. Noise shows happen in neighborhood bars. Renegade raves materialize in parks. Punk shows take over unlikely corners of the city. None of these places need to become permanent venues. That may be precisely the point.
Sticko at Echo Park Rising / Photo courtesy of Brandy Hernandez
And then there’s Echo Park Rising, which KCRW was proud to partner with this year. For a weekend, shops, restaurants, sidewalks, bars, and improvised stages throughout the neighborhood became one sprawling music ecosystem. A hardcore band could play on top of a truck next to a churro shop while, a few blocks away, another band was playing inside an ice cream shop.
Maybe what we’re seeing isn’t a shortage of venues as much as an expansion of the definition.
Los Angeles has always been a city where people invent the culture they want to experience. Right now, that seems to mean taking music out of the spaces assigned to it and putting it wherever people already are.
There’s something hopeful about that. At a moment when so much of life is individualized, optimized, and delivered directly to us, people are still going out of their way to stand next to strangers and hear something together… and the city can barely contain it.
- Ale
P.S. If all of this has you wanting to get out and experience some live music yourself, here’s one more opportunity. Until midnight, donate to KCRW for your chance to win two VIP passes and a car camping pass to Head Trip Festival this October.
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Jon Hassell always seemed to make music that existed slightly outside of time. *Music Is Invisible*, out October 2nd, is the first release of new music since his passing in 2021, built from what became his final live performance in London and shaped through the layered, collage-like Pentimento process that blurred the line between live and studio work.
KCRW’s connection with Jon goes back decades, from a 1985 appearance with Deirdre O’Donoghue to a 2009 Guest DJ set and a rare 2014 *Morning Becomes Eclectic* performancethat previewed music later heard across the Pentimento trilogy. I also had the good fortune to book Jon for “Tonalism” in 2014, when he performed his 1969 sound sculpture “Solid State” at Sonos Studio. Hearing this new record now feels less like an archival discovery and more like another chapter from an artist whose ideas are still unfolding.
More Music Moments
Res on Morning Becomes Eclectic!
This morning, Res stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic to talk with Novena Carmel about the 25th Anniversary of her first album, How I Do, and promote her upcoming shows in LA, presented by KCRW, on September 21st at The Mint, and September 23rd at Moroccan Lounge. We also hear guest selections that influenced her career, from Stevie Wonder to Lena Horne. Watch the full conversation on YouTube now.
Our first Ambient24 Mix has arrived on YouTube
Ambient24 is KCRW’s home for long-form ambient listening, featuring hand-picked music by KCRW Music Director Ale Cohen. Launching with 10-hour mixes on YouTube, the series moves through ambient, experimental, modern classical, drone, and other immersive sounds, connecting pioneering recordings with contemporary artists and new discoveries. Designed for deep listening, focus, reflection, sleep, or simply letting the music reshape the room around you, Ambient24 offers an extended journey through atmosphere, texture, and space. Enjoy the first episode now on YouTube, and stay tuned for new episodes biweekly.
Must Listen Episode 3: Alabama Shakes
KCRW continues weekly with its new Must Listen series, where we bring someone through the expansive CD library with two instructions: find something that is a “must listen” record, and leave a note in the CD case for the next individual who picks it. The first two episodes included Liz Phair and Corin Tucker (Sleater-Kinney), and Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien, and our newest episode is out now, featuring Alabama Shakes. The upcoming episodes include visits from Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip), Fcukers, Melody’s Echo Chamber, and more. KCRW’s Must Listen is sponsored by Qobuz, an independent music and streaming and download platform whose support reflects a shared commitment to human curation, intentional listening, and artist discovery.
KCRW and HBO invite you to a special advance screening of the HBO original comedy series, Youth.
From the creator of Bad Sisters, Catastrophe, and Divorce comes Sharon Horgan's new HBO original comedy series, Youth. The show follows Alex (played by Horgan), a 50-year-old divorcee as she navigates this chapter of life, searching for sex and love, whilst juggling caring for her ailing parents on top of also parenting her should-be grown-up son.
We are so excited to present Haruomi Hosono’s upcoming show at The Greek this Sunday, September 20th. Hosono is a long-time KCRW favorite, and his work has shaped pop, indie, and electronic music and beyond globally for over five decades. Frieze has described him as "probably the most significant artist in the history of Japanese popular music.” Now at the age of 79, Hosono is entering his next chapter with his 23rd studio album, Yours Sincerely.
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