Newton Compton

A rap group on the verge of signing their first record deal is the city's only hope in a battle with a giant mutating snake monster.

Although it has been 20 years since the shootings of rappers Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace, also known as "Biggie Smalls”, the unsolved homicide cases remain open sores for the families and friends of the victims. Wallace, in particular, strikes a nerve to Angelinos, because the shooting took place in our own backyard; the Peterson Auto museum.

Gangs are still a fact of life in Compton but homicide and gun violence have fallen significantly. As Katty Kay discovers though, years of extreme gang violence have taken their toll.

"Thompson-Hernández's portrayal of Compton's black cowboys broadens our perception of Compton's young black residents, and connects the Compton Cowboys to the historical legacy of African Americans in the west. An eye-opening, moving book."— Margot Lee Shetterly, New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Figures

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is a 2022 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay by J. K. Rowling and Steve Kloves. It is the sequel to Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018), the third instalment in the Fantastic Beasts film series, and the eleventh overall in the Wizarding World franchise.Pianist, producer, and composer James Newton Howard scored over 60 films beginning in the mid-'80s, including The Fugitive, The Prince of Tides, Pretty Woman, Glengarry Glen Ross, Batman Begins, Michael Clayton, and the Hunger Games series.He has received numerous Oscar nominations, and won an Emmy Award for his theme for the television show Gideon's Crossing and a Grammy Award in 2009 for his work on The Dark Knight. Those accolades brought continued high-profile film work, such as 2012's The Bourne Legacy, the Hunger Games franchise, and the Huntsman film series. He made his debut in the Harry Potter universe with 2016's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

In California by name, in California by nature. You’ll struggle to find 14 songs more drenched in lazy West Coast sunshine than Compton and Batteau’s only album (recorded in 1971 before promptly falling into the abyss of wonderful, overlooked recordings). Fans of Gene Clark, John Phillips, Fraser & Debolt and the like will be well served here, with many of the tracks leaning towards the cowboy balladry these artists share. Completing the line-up with the likes of Randy Meisner (The Eagles, Poco) and Jim Messina (Loggins and Messina, Buffalo Springfield) ‘In California' understandably has an additional proto-yacht rock feel, evoking ‘Late For The Sky’ era Jackson Browne - though it’s the more up-tempo offerings that really showcase the duo’s ability to write a tune.