KCRW – Various Artists – Sounds Eclectic: The Next One

Those of us that live in Southern California are spoiled, I’ll admit it. After all, one of our public radio stations, KCRW, stands as one of the best college music stations in the world. Nic Harcourt’s weekday Morning Becomes Eclectic show attracts the best musical talent on the planet, and its close proximity to Los Angeles means that everyone that’s anyone gets within its vicinity at one time or another. For instance, Morrissey was the show’s guest DJ a little while ago where he and Harcourt chatted about The Moz’s favorite records growing up. The station also puts out compilation CDs every once in a while, which spotlight some of the more notable program appearances. The latest edition – Sounds Eclectic: The Next One – includes plenty of its own aural delights.

For the most part, this 12-song compilation presents relatively unknown acts. Of course, you don’t need to be an indie snob to know The Shins [represented by “Australia”] or new sensations, The Ting Tings. But the rest of the pack is primarily made up of excellent candidates striving to be the next great indie act.

If you like the fun of The Ting Ting’s “Fruit Machine,” you’ll likely also love “Heart It Races” by Architecture in Helsinki. It mixes electronic percussion with the more organic variety, which serve to underpin a party atmosphere vocal. And if you like British Invasion music, like the sort often created by The Shins, Spoon [with “I Summon You”] will immediately touch your pleasure centers.

Morning Becomes Eclectic is always open to presenting new music, although you won’t hear a lot of the more mainstream styles. For instance, there is no emo. There’s also no hip-hop or metal for that matter. Instead, this is modern music that many times shares roots with classic rock and pop. It’s the sort of music post-college professionals can dig and still feel like they haven’t lost touch with the modern. This is not to say, however, that the station is closed to anything weird. For instance, Natasha Khan coolly revives all that’s creepy and wonderful about Goth with “What’s A Girl To Do?” But “You’re A Wolf” by Sea Wolf, which would not sound out of place on one of those great The Kinks’ ‘60s albums, is far more representative.

You can argue until you’re blue in the face about the perceived limitations on KCRW’s play lists, but a great song is always a great song, which is certainly the case with “Falling Slowly” from the soundtrack to Once. Sung (and acted) by Glen Hansard and Marketa Inglova, this is a wonderful ballad that would – in a perfect world – be just as popular as any finely quiet Beatles song. Similarly, music that is too imitative is, well, too imitative. “Home” by Great Northern, which puts a Beatles-like orchestration to a Radiohead manic depression rant, is just a little too derivative.

KCRW is what all music radio stations should sound like. Once upon a time, DJs actually played music they liked, and at KCRW that principle is still in practice. Buy this CD and pretend you’re listening to the live radio while it plays. That way you too can play the role of a spoiled Southern Californian.

No related posts.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.