“Scale it Back” is my favorite track on the new DJ Shadow record because it’s a collaboration with another stellar band, Little Dragon. In fact, the seeds of this pairing were sown at a KCRW event! Both artists played our first annual Masquerade Halloween party and were scheduled in the same room…the rest, as they say, is history.
Now, DJ Shadow is hosting a remix competition around the track and has already received 400 submissions, including one from KCRW’s own Jeremy Sole.
DJ SHADOW ft. LITTLE DRAGON – Scale It …

A lot of tiny black punk hearts were broken when legends of The Smell, Mika Miko called it quits in late 2009.
The various members (rooted firmly by the rambunctious (and brilliantly snotty) Clavin sisters) decided they wanted time to finish school and invest in other life endeavors. Like the end of a Looney Tunes cartoon where the iris closes and everything goes black, it seemed that those (with the tiny black punk hearts) would never hear from the Clavin sisters again.
However, thankfully, after one of the Clavin sisters returned to …

Editor’s Note: I watched my good friend Forrest Reda, a longtime member of the LA music community, go from writing about music to managing some local bands to being the merch guy for Dr. Dog and now directing their newest music video. And I thought, how did that happen!?! 
For those of you out there who have always wanted to hit the road with your favorite band and become an integral part of their world, THIS is how you make it happen:
From Forrest Reda:
Right before “We All Belong” (2007) …

I can’t tell you how I know this but a little bird told me that Elbow’s Morning Becomes Eclectic appearance this year will be making Jason’s list of his favorite performance of 2011.
We’re longtime fans of the band which makes the news they announced this week even more exciting – they will be composing music for the BBC use across their coverage of the 2012 Olympics in London!
I always love it when an “indie” gets some major attention, like when K’Naan’s “Wavin’ Flag” became the anthem for the 2010 World …

Over Thanksgiving weekend, KCRW DJ Anthony Valadez sent out an email to all the KCRW DJs hipping them to an artist he discovered:
“Liam Bailey out of the UK fuses throwback soul, blues and dub.   I stumbled across this 7′ and fell in love with his sound.  I hope it moves you as much as it has moved me.”
With those simple words, and a zip file of music, we all fell for Liam Bailey!
Check out “On My Mind”:
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Bailey has released two EPs and his …

Yesterday, Dam-Funk tweeted about the death of J-1, who apparently passed away in an accident in Sweden. KCRW DJ Anthony Valadez writes a tribute to the local musican:
J-1 is best known to the world as being part of Dam-Funk’s synth funkadelic trio Master Blazter. But to Los Angeles he was known as an all around great guy who loved to play records throughout the club scene.
He was not only my label mate on the Recordbreakin label, but someone who would show me love during my dj sets.
J-1 was always quiet and …

From Today’s Top Tune Curator Ariana Morgenstern:
Today’s Top Tune is a free song download we offer every day Monday through Friday, so about 250 TTT’s per year.  I go through piles of records every week to pluck out the gems within and share them with you. We have a mix of indie and established artist as well as a few exclusives and premieres that keep things interesting. Then I contact the label, the artist, or whoever will give me the green light for the download (which isn’t as easy …

I was really excited when I heard Jimmy Cliff would be on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night because I consider it a preview to KCRW’s holiday show this Saturday where the reggae legend will be headlining along with Iron & Wine.
The 63-year old is still going strong and teamed up with Rancid’s Tim Armstrong on his new EP, “Sacred Fire”, which came out yesterday. He teamed up with Fallon’s backing band, The Roots, for the “The Harder They Come” and here’s a fantastic performance of new track “World …

Thanksgiving weekend is a great time to hit the movies – especially when it’s the Arclight in Hollywood and it’s an advance screening of Cameron Crowe’s latest film, his first in some time.
As a music lover, “Almost Famous” will ALWAYS hold a place in my heart. Especially the scene with “Tiny Dancer”, it kills me every time.
Music plays a major role in “We Bought a Zoo” too, whether it’s the gorgeous, soaring score Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi created (did you know that Cameron first discovered Sigur Ros while listening to …

After releasing a number of stunning 12″ singles and remixes, UK producer Gatto Fritto (Ben Williams) jumped into the deep end of the pool and released a phenomenal self-titled full length early this year on Uruguay-based label International Feel.
Overall, the album is heady dance music that explores a variety of influential sounds that range from motorik Kraftwerk-y clicks to more the atmospheric sounds of Mu-ziq’s The Fear filtered through Barry DeVorzon‘s seminal soundtrack for The Warriors.
Although it’s undeniably dance music that you can dance to, this is shimmery dance music …