Video

A couple months ago, Rhye entered our studios, turned down the lights, and completely floored us with their U.S. live radio debut.
Their album “Woman” is out now and three of our DJs — Jason Bentley, Garth Trinidad, Aaron Byrd — reflect on why it’s made such a huge impact.

“Riptide” has been a noticeable addition to Jason Bentley’s Morning Becomes Eclectic sets  recently and when I popped into the studio to ask him about it, he said it “feels like the next smash”, continuing where bands like the Lumineers, Mumford and Sons, and Of Monsters and Men have let off.
Vance toured with the latter — as well as another Aussie we love Julia …

Ella Yelich-O’Connor,aka Lorde,has just reached double platinum status in her native New Zealand with her track “Royals”.
It’s a sensation that seems to be creeping  onto our shores.
KCRW Djs Travis Holcombe and Chris Douridas are fans and for good reason: the teenage singer translated her real life experiences into melodic snapshots about teenage life.
Despite being called “Royals”, there is little glossing over what teenage life …

Before becoming Acid House Gods and way before becoming anti-everything sonic nihilists, Primal Scream were all about the jangly psychedelic Sonic Flower Groove power. From lo-fi Byrds-ian jams, to Rolling Stones tambourine shakers, to full on brown noise rave assault, they can do just about anything but it’s that blues-inflected 60s vibe that’s their most tried and true sound.
Set to release their 10th Studio album, “More Light“ in …

Athens-bases artist T. Hardy Morris is set to release his solo debut “Audition Tapes” in late July.
We featured his track “Lucky” as part of our Today’s Top Tune series (which you should totally subscribe to) but there is an interesting back story to the accompanying video that’s worth investigating a bit more.
Inspired by The Georgia Trust For Historic Preservation’s “Places In Peril” list,  T. …

Brooklyn-based synth pop duo Holy Ghost! are hitting the West Coast next week. Sadly their LA show is already sold out, but they’ve released a video for their track “Dumb Disco Ideas“, which is getting some serious love on KCRW’s airwaves.
The video, directed by Ben Fries, features a plethora of colorful, synchronized lights and a backdrop of the New York City skyline from dusk …

It happened again.
A voice conquering the tiny laptop speakers in my office, filling the room with its magnitude, lodged itself into my consciousness. At this very moment, “Worthy“, the song I first heard some weeks ago is now in constant replay in my mind, specifically a certain passage of the verse and then the booming chorus.

Isn’t it a wonderful thing, the hold a great …

Hello.

I’m Travis Holcombe and I’ve been one of the DJs at KCRW for the past year and a half. Previously, you could hear me on Tuesday nights from midnight~3AM. Since I’m sure many of you were fast asleep by the time I came on the air, our blog maven and station publicist, Rachel Reynolds, thought it would be a good idea for me to …

Possibly the only thing stranger than the politics of the music industry might be the politics of the music industry in the townships of South Africa. My friend Dean went to South Africa a few months ago in search of an artist and in turn came back with another artist and some pretty intense stories about life in the townships.
A number of years back, unknown South African …

It’s a gutsy move to play a 9-minute song on the radio. But when Anne Litt gave the new Kurt Vile a spin a couple weeks ago, it was a transcendent moment of radio magic.
Kurt is a really exciting artist. KCRW DJ, and fellow Philly native, Mario Cotto is a big fan and he was my highlight of Matador Records’ 21st anniversary show in …