TO....OBLIVION: At Sunset (and Horn Ave.) - Alexander Elliott Miller

Alexander Elliott Miller, guitar & electronics Thomas Kendall Hughes, drums Mikey Ferrari, vocals Rychard Cooper, audio & video "To….Oblivion" is a collection of pieces for solo electric guitar, sound effects and video, each inspired by a historic or lost landmarks around Los Angeles of some societal or personal significance to me. Tower Records did not begin in Los Angeles. The famed record store began in Sacramento, California in 1960, eventually operating locations around the world, until going out of business in 2006. Yet, its arguably most famous store stood at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Horn Avenue, at the heart of LA’s Sunset Strip. Legendary rock clubs, including the Viper Room and Whiskey a Go Go were mere steps away. Celebrity sightings were frequent, concerts occasionally even took place in the parking lot. I chose the Tower Records site as a grand finale for my suite of historic landmarks in Los Angeles for several reasons. It is a symbol of the changes in the music industry over the last decades, it was located in on a street that, for all its excesses, is a cultural focal point for the city, and it is an institution that, in a way, I believe represents a kind of welcoming attitude and celebration of all styles of music. Special thanks to Thomas Kendall Hughes (drums) and Mikey Ferrari (voice, guitar) for improvising their own background recordings for the soundtrack of this piece, and to the California Association of Professional Music Teachers for their commission of this movement.