With the 22nd James Bond film due out in UK cinemas in October, and with still no public announcement as to who will sing its theme tune, speculation has been growing across the Internet.  One thing’s for sure, whoever is given the job of writing the tune to the rather bizarrely titled ‘Quantum of Solace’, will have their work cut out for them in finding a rhyme to match the title.  Paul McCartney, who has already sang a title track for a Bond film with 1973’s ‘Live and Let Die’, has ruled himself out of penning a second track saying “I definitely wouldn’t do it again.  I have been trying to think of something to rhyme with ‘Solace’ and all I can come up with is ‘Wallace’!  I don’t envy whoever is going to do the song!”

McCartney himself has tipped Amy Winehouse for the track saying “I think she would do a really good job.  My advice to her would be not to try and rhyme ‘Solace’ with anything – that’s too hard.”  Bond producers have clearly taken a shine to Amy, thinking that her style would fit well with Daniel Craig’s aggressive Bond, and they are thought to have offered her the track on the provisory that she stay off the drugs.  The bookies former favourite, Amy was thought to be writing the track with producer Mark Ronson but he has since come out to say that their possible Bond theme has now been scrapped because Amy “is not ready” to return to work.  Online betting websites have now dropped Amy’s odds to 12/1, with Leona Lewis the new favourite at 2/5.

However, the X-Factor winner could have a fight on her hands with Aussie songstress Kylie Minogue also apparently interested in singing the theme.  Following in the footsteps of legends like Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney and Tina Turner, Kylie, with her twenty year pop career, thinks she would be well suited to the job and has said “It’s every girl singer’s dream.  I would love it.”  With producers keen for a female vocalist after Casino Royale’s rock heavy track by Audioslave’s Chris Cornell, Kylie could be a good bet, and bookmakers are offering odds of 10/1 on Kylie landing the track.

Other names in the frame include Vegas band The Killers, who were apparently approached to write a possible track late last year and Arctic Monkeys, who dedicated their cover of ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ to Shirley Bassey at Glastonbury last year.  However, with both these bands having a style of music not dissimilar to Audioslave, producers are likely to favour something different this time around.  Odds on The Killers are 18/1 and Arctic Monkeys are around 33/1.
    

The obvious places to visit in LA are the Santa Monica beaches, Sunset Strip, and Hollywood. However, it’s easy to forget that LA functions as a city without the famous sign and Hollywood Walk of Fame. Around the main attraction are some interesting corners that show a less synthetic Los Angeles.

One of the top lesser known areas to visit is Silverlake City. This is a particularly great place to check out bands from the local LA scene and from outside California. The area has some famous residents from the music scene including Tom Waits and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. LA weekly or UCLA’s Daily Bruin magazine has good listings of all the bands come through the city, and Spaceland in Silverlake is a great venue for catching up-and-coming artists in an intimate dive-bar setting. It’s in a slightly edgy area, which by night translates as dodgy, so remember not to saunter around too much by yourself.

Koreatown is a real working community and has got over a past of racial rioting on the nineties. It’s now a cool corner of the city and boasts some of the best BBQ around and some supersized supermarkets full of Korean food. Koreatown Plaza in particular is jam-packed with a Korean grocery store, Korean stationery store, Korean bakery, cosmetics, clothing, and a Korean music store. There are also some rather fun karaoke houses to enjoy and the hip LA crowd descend on the nightclubs, which have become very trendy, because they are away from the Hollywood scene.

A final stop is Echo Park. This district sits North East of downtown LA and has a pretty lake that looks out to the city’s skyline. The silent film industry was set in Echo Park before cinema went to Hollywood just after the First World War. It overlaps with Little Manila, an area populated by the Filipino community, and China Town is close by. There are some really cool bars to sit back and crack open a beer in. Check out the Gold Room, full of leather booths and kitsch Christmas fairy lights and popcorn machine. It’s a great place to put a dollar in the jukebox and listen to some old rock n roll.

For trip to LA, have a look at Travelzoo’s website – they search out a load of cheap flights and pool them on their website, so you don’t have to trawl through the internet looking for the top travel bargains. Also, don’t forget the importance of getting travel insurance before you go. AA Travel offer a range of deals that can cover you for any trip.