kcrw

KCRW is a Santa Monica based public radio station with a large internet presence and several quality programs worth your attention. Music director Nic Harcourt, a British transplant, hosts Morning Becomes Eclectic each weekday 9a - noon, and it’s a show I listen to as often as possible.

Morning Becomes Eclectic plays a wide range of new alternative, progressive, indie, chill and world music, and it has provided the US debut for folks like Coldplay, Dido, Moby and Norah Jones. Nic also brings artists in studio weekly for 45-minute live performances, the audio and video of which are archived on the KCRW site. View a recent list of real audio clips here (use time-based search for older clips) and don’t miss these outstanding sessions:

Death Cab for Cutie (audio) (video)
David Gray (audio) (video)
Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble (audio) (video)
Si Se (audio) (video)
Kings of Convenience (audio)
Maria Taylor (audio) (video)
Aqualung (audio) (video)
Madeleine Peyroux (audio)
Steve Earl (audio) (video)
Brazilian Girls (audio) (video)
Rilo Kiley (audio) (video)
Postal Service (audio) (video)
Sarah McLachlan (audio) (video)
Norah Jones (audio)
Coldplay (video)

The best tracks occassionally are released on CDs. Older material is used for Rare on Air, and newer songs appear in the Sounds Eclectic series (amazon). Morning Becomes Eclectic has embraced podcasting as well, and you can download newer performances in mp3 format here from iTunes.

Each evening, Jason Bentley hosts Metropolis. Metropolis focuses more on electronic music, and top djs often stop by for studio visits when they are in LA. Recent guests spinning live include:

Naked Music star Miguel Migs (audio)
Trance legend Paul van Dyk (audio)
James Zabiela (audio), perhaps the most talented DJ in the world
Techno hero Sander Kleinenberg (audio)
San Francisco based Gabriel and Dresden (audio), masters of the melodic remix