From KCRW Volunteer Taryn Olsen
I first heard about Jessica Lea Mayfield in an interview on NPR.  At the tender age of 21, Jessica completely enchanted me in her interview and conducted herself with maturity beyond her years as she spoke of growing older and being “less susceptible to heartache” even though she admitted to being a magnet for bad dudes.
For weeks afterward I fielded calls here at the station from people wanting to know about the singer that was featured during “that show this weekend” on NPR. It seemed she …

KCRW’s Top 50 Most Played Albums for the Week of 04/25/2011
1 TV ON THE RADIO == Nine Types Of Light >> [Interscope]
2 CAGE THE ELEPHANT == Thank You Happy Birthday >> [Jive]
3 FLEET FOXES == Helplessness Blues >> [Sub Pop]
4 CALVI, ANNA == Anna Calvi >> [Domino]
5 ROME – DANGER MOUSE & DANIELE LUPPI == Rome – Sampler >> [Capitol]
6 ARCTIC MONKEYS == Suck It & See – Sampler >> [Domino]
7 TUNE-YARDS == Whokill >> [4ad]
8 KILLS == Blood Pressures >> [Domino]
9 SIMON, PAUL == So Beautiful Or So What …

By KCRW Volunteer Taryn Olsen
KCRW DJs Anthony Valadez and Eric J. Lawrence, and opener Crystal Stilts will be getting the crowd pumped for a new headliner next Friday, May 6th at the Natural History Museum for the May installment of First Fridays.
Moving Units was announced yesterday as the headliner to rock the Diorama Hall this month. Their brand of funky, dance-punk has been a favorite of some of the DJs here at the station. I was sad to have missed them out in the dessert for their Coachella set on …

From KCRW Volunteer Taryn Olsen

This morning on Morning Becomes Eclectic, Jason Bentley complimented The Royal Bangs on the nice live sound captured on their new album “Flux Outside,” noting that he liked the way it didn’t sound overly produced. The band graciously accepted the compliment and deferred to the warm, homey space in their home-town of Knoxville, Tennessee where they were able to record.

While it’s true that recording spaces greatly influence the overall sound that ends up on an album, the great …

By KCRW Volunteer Taryn Olsen

Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn (known simply as Mirah) and Thao Nguyen of Thao with the Get Down Stay Down have both cultivated interesting music in their own separate careers.
You might recognize each of the girls individually, as they’ve both been favorites of the station throughout their individual careers.
The two collaborated for a new album, “Thao + Mirah” (which was released on April 26th) and with the help of tUnE-yArDs mastermind Merrill Garbus (see Sierra Drucker’s post), these amazing ladies have mixed, mingled, and meshed their sounds …

From KCRW volunteer Sierra Drucker –

That playful use of punctuation in the band name tUnE-yArDs is no mistake.  Merrill Garbus, the one-woman force known as tUnE-yArDs, has been breaking all the rules since she stepped out on the scene with her debut album “BiRd-BrAiNs” in 2009.  This lo-fi ramshackle garage neo-tribal psych rock album (yes, all of those adjectives are necessary) first turned heads for its sheer brave quirkiness.  But once she took her show on the road, people really began to notice that those lo-fi recordings translated to infectious …

From KCRW Intern Monika Scott

Mark Ruffalo has always been someone I’ve heard being described as an “actor’s actor.”  For what it’s worth, I’m not an actor and yet have been a big fan of his for a long time.  The Brothers Bloom remains one of my all time favorites. So I tried to keep my cool when I discovered he was on this week’s Guest DJ Project.
When I first listened to his Guest DJ set, I could feel myself getting emotional at his take on the message of Elliott …

From KCRW Intern Monika Scott
This morning, the delicate, folksy guitar playing of Richard Thompson filled the halls of KCRW.  He has been named by Rolling Stone as one of the 20 best guitar players of all time and that was very clear in his live set with Jason Bentley this morning.  I couldn’t help but feel myself moving my shoulders to the songs, ultimately causing me to tear myself away from my computer poke my head into the (packed) control room to get a first-hand peek.  The warmth of his …

From KCRW Volunteer Taryn Olsen:
I have a confession: It took me a while to appreciate Henry Rollins’ KCRW show. It wasn’t until I went to see his Rare Cuts & Conversations evening at The Echoplex last year that I finally GOT IT.
Henry is a mesmerizing storyteller and host. He’s the only person who can get me to listen to bands like Sexual Milkshake or Dante vs. Zombies because I know that whatever it is he’s playing, he has some interesting anecdote or enlightening story – a unique perspective into the …

All of our DJs receive hundreds of CDs a month to consider for airplay. In this regular feature, KCRW DJ Chuck P catalogues his musical bounty from the Post Office each week.
A gorgeous and windy day. The week is forecast to be typically perfect SoCal weather. The beauty of the weather is mirrored by a beautiful and bountiful grip of vinyl and other releases at the post office this week.

1) 3 LPs + 2 7″s – Wowsers! New 12″s from Computer Magic and One AM Radio, along with an excellent …