Music News & Events

Music Librarian Eric J Lawrence compiled our Most Played Record List for 2008 and, surprisingly, Gnarls Barkley got the most plays. “The Odd Couple” was a rare record that got airplay on literally every music show (all of our DJs have varied tastes so that is quite an accomplishment).  
 
This is not a “best of” list, but more of a tally of actual spins. If you want to see the Top Ten lists from each of our DJs, go HERE

RR

KCRW’s Top 110 Most Played Records of 2008

1)  Gnarls Barkley (234 spins)

2)  Little Dragon (224)

3)  Coldplay (207)

4)  Santogold (202)

5)  Goldfrapp (191)

6)  Moby (188)

7)  Verve Remixed 4 (173)

8)  M83 (173)

9)  Ting Tings (172)

10)  Duffy (170)

11)  Beck (156)

12)  MGMT (154)

13)  Kraak & Smaak (141)

14)  Adele (137)

15)  Brazilian Girls (136)

16)  Vampire Weekend (134)

17)  Jamie Lidell (133)

18)  Raphael Saadiq (128)

19)  Jose Gonzalez (126)

20)  Death Cab for Cutie (125)

21)  Bajofondo (125)

22)  West Indian Girl (122)

23)  Black Ghosts (114)

24)  Stereolab (113)

25)  Hot Chip (110)

26)  Friendly Fires (107)

27)  Duke Spirit (106)

28)  Thievery Corporation (106)

29)  Ray LaMontagne (102)

30)  Emiliana Torrini (101)

31)  Hercules & Love Affair (100)

32)  Booka Shade (99)

33)  Lions (98)

34)  School of Seven Bells (97)

35)  Mercury Rev (95)

36)  TV on the Radio (95)

37)  Jazzanova (93)

38)  David Holmes (90)

39)  Black Keys (87)

40)  Bloc Party (83)

41)  Sigur Ros (81)

42)  Carmen Rizzo (80)

43)  My Morning Jacket (78)

44)  Calexico (77)

45)  Cut Copy (77)

46)  MIA (74)

47)  Lykke Li (73)

48)  Bitter:Sweet (72)

49)  Dandy Warhols (71)

50)  Portishead (71)

51)  Seun Kuti (71)

52)  Keane (70)

53)  Black Kids (70)

54)  Ratatat (69)

55)  Sam Sparro (68)

56)  CSS (67)

57)  Raconteurs (66)

58)  Verve (64)

59)  Devotchka (63)

60)  Faint (62)

61)  Nightmares on Wax (60)

62)  Pop Levi (60)

63)  Zuco 103 (60)

64)  Femi Kuti (59)

65)  Little Jackie (59)

66)  Cold War Kids (59)

67)  Groove Armada (58)

68)  Jem (58)

69)  Little Joy (58)

70)  Juana Molina (58)

71)  Does It Offend You, Yeah? (57)

72)  Mark Farina (57)

73)  Badu, Erykah (56)

74)  Calypso Soul (56)

75)  Chris Joss (56)

76)  Quiet Village (56)

77)  Byrne & Eno (55)

78)  Fleet Foxes (album) (54)

79)  Herbaliser (54)

80)  Sunny Day Sets Fire (52)

81)  Shawn Lee (51)

82)  Pinker Tones (50)

83)  Quantic  Presents Flowering Inferno (50)

84)  B-52s (50)

85)  Robin Danar (49)

86)  Elbow (49)

87)  El Guincho (48)

88)  I Like It Like That (48)

89)  Rachael Yamagata (48)

90)  James Hunter (47)

91)  Kutiman (46)

92)  Mr. Scruff (46)

93)  Jim Noir (46)

94)  James Pants (45)

95)  Dynamics (44)

96)  Kinky (44)

97)  Merz (44)

98)  Submarines (44)

99)  Fleet Foxes EP (43)

100)  Orb (43)

101)  Presets (43)

102)  Ulrich Schnauss (43)

103)  Tilly & the Wall (43)

104)  Estelle (42)

105)  Sounds Eclectic – The Next One (42)

106)  Alla (41)

107)  Primal Scream (41)

108)  Raveonettes (41)

109)  Virgins (41)

110)  Ipanemas (41)

Upcoming Live Performances on MORNING BECOMES ECLECTIC with host JASON BENTLEY

Wednesday, January 7, Hans Zimmer and James Howard Newton talk about their collaboration scoring The Dark Knight on Morning Becomes Eclectic at 11:15am.

Friday, January 9, Composer Alexandre Desplat shares anecdotes from his music making career including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button on Morning Becomes Eclectic at 11:15am.

Upcoming with Garth Trinidad (weekdays 8-10pm)

Thursday, January 15 Los Angeles-based producer Flying Lotus joins Garth for a Guest DJ set and interview in the 9 o'clock hour.

Wednesday, January 21 Florian, from Boozoo Bajou, joins Garth for a Guest DJ set in the 9 o'clock hour in advance of his appearance at Zanzibar. He will be deejaying as part of Afro Funke on Thursday, January 22.
 
KCRW.COM PRESENTS

Wed, January 28, NIGHTMARES ON WAX at the MUSIC HALL OF WILLIAMSBURG in NEW YORK CITY.

KCRW PRESENTS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Thurs, January 8, NORTEC COLLECTIVE'S BOSTICH + FUSSIBLE at the ECHOPLEX.
Fri, January 9, GRAM RABBIT W/ POP LEVI at the TROUBADOUR .
Tues, January 20, THE WALKMEN WITH BEACH HOUSE at the MUSIC BOX AT THE HENRY FONDA.
Thurs, January 22, BOOZOO BAJOU AT ZANZIBAR.
Fri, January 23, FEMI KUTI at the HOUSE OF BLUES ON SUNSET .
Sat, January 24, WEST INDIAN GIRL at the ROXY.
Sun, January 25, SHARON JONES AND THE DAP KINGS at CLUB NOKIA.
Fri, January 30, ADELE at the AVALON.
Sun, February 22, KINKY at THE SOHO in Santa Barbara.
Thurs, February 19, OF MONTREAL at THE GLASS HOUSE in Pomona
Sun, Feburary 22, KINKY at the THE SOHO in Santa Barbara.
Tues, Feburary 24, KINKY at the MUSIC BOX AT THE HENRY FONDA.
Wed, March 4, M. WARD AT THE MUSIC BOX AT THE HENRY FONDA.
Thurs, March 5, DELTA SPIRIT at THE SOHO in Santa Barbara.
Wed, March 11, CUT COPY WITH MATT AND KIM at the MUSIC BOX AT THE HENRY FONDA.
Thurs, March 19, LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO at the CONGA ROOM.
Sat, March 28, MADELEINE PEYROUX at the NOKIA THEATRE.
 

Mike White decided on a theme for his Guest DJ set – songs that scared him when he was a kid. The “School of Rock” scribe has certainly grasped the life-changing power of music, but his hilarious guest DJ set looks at the dark side – from a 70’s sex symbol to a frightening musical and a couple other surprises.

RR

Eric J Lawrence hosted his annual holiday-themed show this past weekend and it is now available in the archives. This year marked the 8th edition of the holiday show. One of his collaborators is Jason Groman, a KCRW staff member responsible for loading in each and every band that plays at the station, among many other things. Groman searches record stores throughout the year to look for the quirkiest Christmas songs he can find. It’s a surprising mash up of holiday music that is good, hilariously bad and just plain out there!

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Eric J Lawrence hosted his annual holiday-themed show this past weekend and it is now available in the archives. This year marked the 8th edition of the holiday show. One of his collaborators is Jason Groman, a KCRW staff member responsible for loading in each and every band that plays at the station, among many other things. Groman searches record stores throughout the year to look for the quirkiest Christmas songs he can find. It’s a surprising mash up of holiday music that is good, hilariously bad and just plain out there!

RR

Jazz bassist and raconteur Charlie Haden shared anecdotes from the making of his latest release “Rambling Boy” on Morning Becomes Eclectic this morning. Charlie has a long history at the station – he performed at the inauguration of KCRW’s current location and two of his children, Rachel and Josh, worked as volunteers in KCRW’s music library. Petra and Josh have performed on the air here, and Rachel is currently touring with Todd Rundgren. They are quite the musical family!

Charlie was really getting into the music, pointing out riffs that gave him particular joy. You can enjoy his entire guest DJ set and interview here

RR  

We had a couple of guests in the studio for Mercury Rev’s performance last week. LA Weekly Music Editor Randall Roberts and photographer Tim Norris dropped by to document the performance – and a bit of new Morning Becomes Eclectic host Jason Bentley in action. You can check it out here

Here is a link to the performance in our archives.

RR

Earlier this year when Grizzly Bear debuted a new song during their Morning Becomes Eclectic performance, I knew it would be a big deal. Not only was the band garnering tons of critical acclaim and a growing fan base but they clearly had something special. Watching them perform this track live was one of the highlights of my year, musically speaking, and it turns out Spin Magazine feels the same way. They included the live track at #13 on their list of the 20 Best Songs of the Year.

See the full performance here

Spin's complete list is here

RR

After posting all the Top Ten Lists of the very talented KCRW music staff, I decided to throw my own into the mix. Thanks for reading the blog and all your support for KCRW – we couldn’t do any of it without you. Sincerely, RR 

1) Dr. Dog – Fate (I didn't think they could make a record better than their debut, Easy Beat, but they did)

2) Mates of State – Re-Arrange Us (This married duo infuses catchy pop songs with passion)

3) Helio Sequence – Keep your Eyes Ahead (As soon as I heard this album, I knew it would be on this list. I can listen to it over and over again)

4) Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes (This album seemed to come out of nowhere with gorgeous harmonies that made my heart melt. It didn't leave my stereo for some time.)

5) Little Jackie – The Stoop (This was the soundtrack to many of my favorite moments this year. Well-produced soulful pop, Brooklyn's answer to Amy Winehouse)

6) Thao (and the Get Down Stay Down) – We Brave Bee Stings and All (While I loved this album, seeing Thao live catapulted her on this list. She's the real deal)

7) Black Keys – Attack and Release (This bluesy, dark and fierce music really stunned me when I first heard it. It only gets better over time)

8) Michael Franti & Spearhead – All Rebel Rockers (This is top of the list for albums to dance to that make me feel good.  I heard him sing "Say Hey" at a Bob Dylan tribute show and I knew it would be one of my favorite songs of the year.) 

9) Blind Pilot – 3 Rounds and a Sound (Superb folk rock from a band out of Portland, many gems on here.)
 
10) Santogold – Santogold (This album is simply infectious. I love her voice and her vibe.)

Runners up:

Herman Dune – Next Year in Zion
&
Estelle – Shine
&
Nada Surf – Lucky

RR

Little Joy

I have a confession – I’m a die hard fan of The Strokes. I love every album they’ve put out and I’ve been anxiously waiting for another one. So when I heard Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti not only lived in LA but had started up another band, I was thrilled. Little Joy has a bit of magic to them and a lot of it stems from the nonchalant way the band got together. Fabrizio and Rodrigo Amarante (of Los Hermanos) met during a music festival in Lisbon, Portugal. They casually talked about making music together but it wasn’t until Binki Shapiro came in the picture that the talking became a reality. That laidback approach is totally apparent in their music, as is their Brazilian influences and a love for simplicity that makes their songs so easy on the ears.

This was a very special performance because they had only rehearsed the night before to translate their tracks into the stripped down acoustic versions heard this morning. There were a bit of nerves -- and a last minute call for a glockenspiel (thankfully McCabe’s Guitar Shop is right down the street!)  – but the end result was fantastic.

Check out their full set, including a song that did not make it on air, HERE

RR