Red Bull Music Academy, the energy drink company's traveling annual program of lectures, workshops and live performances by emerging artists and mentoring veterans, is returning to L.A. next month — sort of. The full RBMA experience will take place this year in Montreal, but our city will be home to the relaunch of RBMA Radio, which will now stream online 24/7 with multiple channels broadcasting from around the world.

To promote the relaunch, Red Bull Music Academy is setting up shop at a custom-built studio in the downtown Arts District for two weeks, beginning on July 11. During those two weeks, it will be broadcasting an array of L.A.-centric shows, including one hosted by Dublab founder Frosty and another dedicated to the city's thriving garage and psych-rock scenes. It also will host a series of special events, all of which sound pretty cool:

July 11: A Conversation with Gaspar Noé. Co-presented by Cinefamily, this discussion with the groundbreaking director behind such films as Irreversible and Enter the Void will focus on the use of music in film, both Noé's own and some of the movies that have influenced him.

law logo2x bJuly 15: United States of Bass. Celebrating bass-heavy music in all its forms, and L.A.'s contributions to the sound, from G-funk to the beat scene, this night at Union Nightclub features an incredibly stacked lineup headlined by DJ Quik, Big Freedia, Egyptian Lover and Arabian Prince. Hosted by Star Eyes, aka Vivian Host, the night will also feature DJ Funk, DJ Assault, RP Boo, MikeQ, Uniique, TT The Artist, Kingdom and Asmara.

July 16: La Transición. An evening of cutting-edge techno and electronic music from Latino DJs and producers, this one will feature a who's who of L.A.-based talent, including Silent Servant, Santiago Salazar and Droid Behavior's Raiz. Also on the bill: Mexico City beatmaking collective N.A.A.F.I., making their Los Angeles debut. Venue for this one is TBA.

July 20: PC Music Presents Pop City. “Pop gone pointillistically bonkers” is how The New York Times described the sound of London-based label and production crew PC Music, which is as good a description as any for their surrealist synth-pop. For Pop City, PC Music's A.G. Cook, Danny L Harle, GFOTY, Hannah Diamond and QT will take over Create nightclub in order to “reclaim the birthplace of modern pop and build a new metropolis” (so says the press release). Special guests and confetti are promised.

For more information on RBMA Radio: Live in Los Angeles, go here. And check out some RBMA Radio live now in the player below.


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