Tues, June 1, KCRW DJs were early champions of garage rockers Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and our love affair with their music has never faltered. We welcome the band back to our studios to play songs from their new album — one of their best yet — on Morning Becomes Eclectic at 11:15am.
Wed, June 2, Three of LA’s best singer-songwriters have teamed up to form the Living Sisters. Inara George of The Bird & The Bee, Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond and singer Eleni Mandell will harmonize on a …

Free music from KCRW ALL summer long!
KCRW will be coming out of the studio and into communities across LA for our “Summer Nights” music series — free, all ages, outdoor shows in Pasadena, Santa Monica, Chinatown and beyond.
We launch the series in June with two great performances at One Colorado in Old Pasadena. On Saturday, June 12, Hot Hot Heat will deliver a semi-acoustic set of rock and roll fueled by highly infectious melodies.  They’ll play past favorites and new gems …

I’ve been a big fan of Chris Wetiz’s work, particularly the film “About a Boy,” and we taped this session right after the release of his last directorial effort, the blockbuster “Twilight: New Moon.” He was incredibly nice and clearly relished the idea of simply talking about music for a bit.
Chris credits his older brother, fellow filmmaker Paul Weitz, with influencing his early music tastes – as well as a stint in boarding school abroad that introduced him to his first “musical god,” Bob Marley.
He also highlighted a Grizzly …

KCRW’s resident world music guru Tom Schnabel will be traveling abroad to deliver a keynote address at the LIVE! Singapore Global Performing Arts Exchange. He’ll be talking about the origins, current status, and future of world music, both in the US, Europe, and in Asian markets.  Attendees are coming from over 20 countries for the conference June 8-11.
Check it all out here
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Last night, KCRW taped a live performance session with Hip-hop icon Nas and Damian ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley (the youngest son of Bob!) that will air on DJ Garth Trinidad’s show next Thursday, June 3 at 9pm PST. It will also be available in the archives here. I’ve been really digging their new album “Distant Relatives” and the new songs really came alive on stage with these two acclaimed artists joining forces. It was incredibly special to witness and I can’t wait for you to hear it!
We recorded the session at …

By KCRW DJ Dan Wilcox:
Recently, I was fortunate enough to witness one of my all-time favorite artists perform live for the first time: the legendary Roky Erickson.  I was hooked ever since junior high when I heard a cover of his immortal “You Don’t Love Me Yet” and then sought out the original… tracing his music from his vivid, startling solo work to his original ‘60′s band The 13th Floor Elevators, whose full-length “Easter Everywhere” stands in my estimation as one of the best psychedelic rock records ever.
Anyone who …

All the ladies were swooning in the studio this morning as Guillemots founding member Fyfe Dangerfield sang songs from his solo project, which is just now seeing a U.S. release.  His exuberant, love-drenched pop songs were perfect for a rainy morning. He also included his cover of Billy Joel’s “She’s Always a Woman” which has been flying up the charts in the UK.   Check out  the full performance

by KCRW DJ Marion Hodges
This past Tuesday night I had the privilege of introducing Nada Surf for a sold out show at the Troubadour. I liked their sole mainstream hit, “Popular,” when I was in junior high school but, like most Nada Surf fans, I really began to pay close attention when the began releasing records for Seattle-based indie label Barsuk years later. By that time, they had pretty clear cut idea of who exactly they were as a band, and what exactly they were trying to do — …

Nada Surf’s latest album is dedicated entirely to covers and we found out how it all came about this morning. Apparently keyboardist Louie Lino bought a recording studio and talked the band into recording an album there in exchange for going back out on the road to tour behind their last full length, the excellent album “Lucky.”
As Matthew Caws told DJ Chris Douridas, a covers record was a good compromise – “all the fun of recording without the pressure of writing.” They decided on the songs by just hanging out …

Photos by Jonathan Kalan

Review by Lulu:
The security guards of Royce Hall seemed mortified during last week’s show by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
“Wow. I love these seats. It’s like the stage goes on forever,” teased Alex Ebert, the lead singer and mastermind behind the local, eccentric ensemble that boasts over ten members. After only one song on the stage, Ebert walked on the backs and the arms of the historic auditorium’s seats, grabbing hands and sharing the mic with a young, spirited crowd. The group played favorites like “Home” …