We were fortunate to attend an evening session featuring St Vincent at Bob Clearmountain’s Apogee Studio a few weeks back. The session, hosted by KCRW, was an album release party of sorts: Annie Clark and team entertained an audience of roughly 150 KCRW foot soldiers with songs from her new album, Strange Mercy. She also shared a few anecdotes about songwriting, guitar technique, Garage Band, albums-as-children, and David Byrne with host Jason Bentley.
KCRW pledge lines now open. Call or donate online.
Upcoming live MBE performances:
Friday, February 11 — The Decemberists
Monday, February 14 — Black Mountain
Wednesday, February 16 — Black Dub
Friday, February 18 — Local Natives
A few weeks back I was fortunate to attend an evening KCRW session at Bob Clearmountain’s Apogee Berkeley Studio. With Father’s Office pouring the suds and Manu Chao entertaining an audience of roughly 100, if that, the mood was festive indeed. Tom Schnabel managed to get a few questions in to Chao, who had to shift more than a couple of lingual gears to eventually arrive at an English response.
How time flies. Just last week Jason Bentley, KCRW (89.9 FM Santa Monica; 89.3 KCRI Indio/Palm Springs; 89.1 KCRU in Oxnard/Ventura, and 88.1 KCRY in the Antelope Valley) Music Director and host of the popular post-NPR program Morning Becomes Eclectic, completed his first full year in his new role. I spoke with Jason at a coffee shop last year in Venice, right before the torch was passed, and admittedly no small part of me is left wondering just what in the hell I personally have completed in those 365 days, by comparison. He’s still got nine years left to champion Nic Harcout’s run. Think he’ll be around that long? He’ll have a new boss for year two; Ruth Seymour is leaving at the end of February. Here’s his top 10 album list for 2008 (before helming the entire station) and here’s his list for 2009 (with applicable Music Director title). And though I’ve personally listened to terrestrial radio far fewer hours this year than any other year in history, all told I think he’s doing a pretty bang-up job. But enough about me – what are your thoughts?
Believe it: Dublab has been webcasting quality programming, throwing killer events and spinning wax all over town for ten years now. Big thanks to the entire crew for keeping things beyond bearable here in Los Angeles during that time.
To celebrate this watershed moment, the group is hosting ten glorious back-to-back anniversary events all over town over the course of ten days, beginning October 1. Said events include art shows, DJ nights, screenings, and special broadcasts. (By contrast, when Losanjealous turned four last spring, we ate a bowl of stale pretzels and read Victor’s post out loud in the Sandalwood conference room of the Marina del Rey Courtyard Marriott.) The full 10-day Dublab anniversary schedule is over on their their site and the final event threatens to be huge:
PHOTO: Eric J Lawrence Pumas the Crowd, World Folktronic Jazz Lounge, KCRW RadioActive @ Park Plaza.
Photo by Salvador Farfan.
Saturday
11 April 2009
KCRW Presents RadioActive: A Spring Dance Party at the Legendary Park Plaza Hotel
(The) Park Plaza was built in 1925 by the Elks to be used as lodge number 99. The building, done in the Neo-Gothic style, was created by renowned art deco architect Claud Beelman… Eventually, the Elks sold the building, and the building ended up being transformed into a luxury hotel, set perfectly then on the shores of what was a very glamorous MacArthur Park. (source)
Excitement in the elevator. We’ve parked on the sixth floor in a garage off Carondolet. The time is 925pm. Elevator fills. “Everybody ready for Schnabel?” I try valiently to work the crowd into something other than a sort of anticipatory silence. “It’s all about the T. See you guys there. I’ll be there!” A few giggles and clever remarks are thrown about and suddenly we are inside the gates, here, now, for RadioActive, the dance party being thrown by KCRW this evening featuring damn near every DJ on the Santa Monica station’s roster. The event is long sold out. And hey – even Kogi’s here! (OG; not Roja.)
KXLU, our very own Loyola-Marymount-based bastion of independent radio, needs your help now more than ever. Times are tough, sure, but your donation means more than you realize. This Saturday you’ll get the chance to have an absolute blast downtown, all while donating $10 to the station.
We also have a free ticket to give out. Yes, just one ticket, since this is a FUNDRAZOR. Fourth person to email me right here wins this ticket, a $10 value which should make you feel only slightly guilty for waltzing into a fundraising event absolutely free of charge. At the very least, go find Matt Strasser, KXLU’s Music Director, and put a quarter in his pocket you lousy cheapskate. (Just kidding about the lousy part.) Event details follow.
KXLU FUNDRAZOR
HELP KEEP FREE-FORM RADIO ALIVE!
Saturday, April 11th, from 5:00 pm until 2:00 am
The Regent Theatre
448 S. Main St. downtown
$10
What to expect:
Live sets by Rainbow Arabia, Foot Village, vOICESvOICES, The Happy Hollows, Kill Kill Kill, Devon Williams, Meho Plaza, Blank Blue and Combat!
DJ sets by Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel, Professor Cantoloupe, Fred of Demolisten and Michael Stock of Part time Punks
Artwork
Raffles
Food and merchandise sold by independent vendors
Record swap and sale. Bring 5-10 records to swap (for your own benefit) and get 5 free raffle tickets!
All that and much more. Keep eyes tuned to KXLU.com for updates, and we’ll see you there.
A few days prior to activating the crucial “download” buttons on his website, Aquarium Drunkard‘s Justin Gage offered yours truly a sneak preview of the project he’d been finalizing: a collection of Los Angeles artists paying tribute to Paul McCartney’s 1971 album Ram, song by song, titled Ram On LA. In his words:
As records tend to do, a revisited appreciation of Paul McCartney’s 1971 solo album, RAM, had begun to see a resurgence of sorts within a number of local Eastside artists, coming up in conversations and on the turntables of various house parties.
The theme was found. Over the course of the second half of 2008 eleven Angeleno artists individually went in to various studios, rehearsal spaces and apartments to record their take on what is my favorite, and arguably, McCartney’s best solo work…. the end result is RAM On L.A.
Let it be known that April 11, 2009 shall be your chance to see damn near every single music-spinning radio face the Santa Monica station has to offer at one place and one time, including Jason, Garth and the newly-added face of Henry Rollins:
On Saturday, April 11, KCRW (89.9FM and KCRW.com) will host RadioActive, a Spring dance party featuring the station’s own skilled selectors at The Legendary Park Plaza in Downtown Los Angeles, a beautiful space that is not normally open to the public. Tickets to RadioActive go on sale to members only on Thursday, March 12 and will be available to the public starting Tuesday, March 17.
HENRY ROLLINS RETURNS to THE LA AIRWAVES ON KCRW
Saturday Nights from 6 to 8pm PST
Appearing as a Guest DJ on Morning Becomes Eclectic TOMORROW, February 19
Starting March 7, KCRW DJ Liza Richardson will host Saturday night music from 8 to 10pm, followed by Jason Eldredge from 10pm to midnight.
Henry Rollins returns to the station where he got his start in radio, hosting a KCRW music show that will feature “a great mix of all kinds from all over from all time.” It will air live — on air at 89.9 FM and online at KCRW.com — Saturday nights from 6 to 8pm starting March 7. Each show will also be available on demand until the next show airs. »continue reading KCRW Snags Rollins
Not long ago we asked veteran KXLU jock McAllister to sound off on Indie 103′s demise. Commenters had a field day with the article: loving it, hating it, getting depressed she didn’t write the way they wanted her to and so forth. As such I consider that article a massive success. At the time, we also asked representatives from KCRW and Indie itself (RIP) to voice their reactions to the situation. Former Indie 103 Music Director Mark Sovel had no official response for us, but said he’d be glad to speak on air about anything and everything. (You can read some words he gave Daily Swarm over here.) KCRW, on the other hand, has now taken the opportunity to roll the death of the station into its winter pledge drive: »continue reading Additional, Arguably Unnecessary Notes Regarding Indie 103′s Demise (And KCRW’s Response)
Note from ed: We’d asked veteran (and venerable) KXLU morning DJ McAllister to sound off on Indie 103′s apparent demise today. She responded with aplomb, fresh off her Thursday morning drive time shift no less. Without further ado…
Apparently Indie 103.1 is over. I have no idea if this rumor is true because I don’t have an iphone or twitter or a carrier pigeon that keeps me posted on these kinds of things, but for right now let’s consider it true. Losanjealous asked for my official response as a KXLU dj, so here it is: »continue reading Regarding Indie 103′s Demise
Yep, it’s true. We should have some interesting takes on the Indie/Entravision station’s death soon. Meantime, Metblogs has posted what appears to be the twitter scoop here. Some kind soul (embittered staffer?) has already updated Wikipedia as well:
On August 19th, 2008, Station Manager Dawn Girocco announced her departure from the station.[2] Starting in October 2008, longtime specialty shows were either dropped (“Feel My Heat,” Community Service,” “Big Sonic Heaven,” “Camp Freddy Radio”) or moved to weekends (“Harmony in My Head”).[3] Upon the cancellation of his roots music show “Watusi Rodeo,” Chris Morris accused the station of “now being styled as KROQ Jr.” in an effort to increase the station’s ratings.[4] »continue reading Indie 103.1 Has Imploded, If You Did Not Get The Memo
Believe it: 
HEADS UP
A few days prior to activating the crucial “download” buttons on his website, 
Yep, it’s true. We should have some interesting takes on the Indie/Entravision station’s death soon. Meantime, Metblogs has posted what appears to be the 
