Tune in today (1/12) at 11:15am (pst) for a live studio performance by singer-songwriter Jesca Hoop, courtesy of LA’s only good radio station—KCRW.
Category Archives: kcrw
Ceci Bastida Visits KCRW
[on the rise] TRISTEN
I was first introduced to Tristen last week, via KCRW’s Today’s Top Tune, and was instantly intrigued.
Originally hailing from Chicago, where she first began recording music at the age of 14, Tristen packed up after graduating from college and headed for Nashville to experience the city’s one of a kind music scene. That, and with such influencers as Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Lou Reed, Loretta Lynn, and Dolly Parton, Tristen has effortlessly blended pop, rock, folk, and country to create a fresh and organic sound, which she describes as, “neo-traditionalist pop”. Her latest, Charlatans at the Garden Gate, is due for release February 1st, 2011, and I can already tell it will be in heavy rotation on my iPod.
Tristen is currently in the middle of a South East tour (check the dates here), ending December 4th in Nashville, with an in store 7″ release show at Grimey’s New and Pre Loved Music. Hopefully she’ll make it out West for some shows after Charlatans at the Garden Gate is released.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Tristen is offering up her Eager For Your Love 7″ for free download at her site, tristen.com.
The 7″ includes Eager For Your Love, Baby Drugs (KCRW’s Todays Top Tune aka the track that introduced me to Tristen), and Cheatin (previously unreleased b-side).
Want a physical copy of Eager For Your Love 7″ and tour poster? Leave a comment with your favorite Tristen track and a winner will be randomly selected on 12/15 at 12pm.
a few more of my favorite things…
A couple weeks back, I shared with all of you some of my favorite remixes. More importantly, I also made a promise to continue sharing favorites of mine. I’m happy to announce, that I’m keeping that promise and this time, I’ve decided to share my favorite websites to find free and legal music.
Believe it or not, the world wide web is full of free and legal music, ripe for the picking, and if you know where to look, there’s plenty of good songs out there waiting to be added to your iPod. So without further ado, here are my favorite places to find free and legal music.
There’s many reasons why KCRW is the best radio station in LA (89.9 FM) and Today’s Top Tune is one of them. Today’s Top Tune is a free song a day, from KCRW’s all Music Channel, that represents a cross section of KCRW’s eclectic music format. Tracks selected are chosen from recent and upcoming releases as well as songs performed live on Morning Becomes Eclectic.
KEXP (Seattle’s 90.3 FM) has a pretty robust selection of free songs. Song of the Day is new music from independent artists delivered daily, Music that Matters features the world’s best independent artists delivered bi-weekly, and Live Performances features exclusive live sessions from KEXP delivered weekly.
Tip: on the KEXP homepage, the most recent songs from all three aforementioned links are available for download. Look for them on the right hand side of the page.
Launched in 2007, as a joint venture between Downtown Music LLC (Gnarls Barkley, Cold War Kids, Santigold) and online media pioneer Peter Rojas (Engadget, Gizmodo, Weblogs, Inc.), RCRD LBL delivers free curated MP3s on its website (and directly to you if you sign up for the newsletter) on a daily basis.
UO Music is part of the Urban Outfitters blog. Say what you want about Urban Outfitters, but you have to give them credit for the musical tastes. My favorite part of UO Music are the LSTN playlists, downloadable playlist with 20+ free tracks, but there’s also Music Mondays, five free songs every monday. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed.
Lastly…your favorite band’s website
Musicians understand the idea of word of mouth better than most and the dawn of the digital age has made it that much easier to showcase their talents. Go to one your favorite bands websites and I bet they are giving away a song or two (especially if they are promoting a new album). For example, head on over to the xx’s website, and if you subscribe to the newsletter, you get Basic Space (Sampha Remix) for free.
Until next time…
coachoose your own adventure
the folks over at coachella.com have a nifty little app (coachooser) to help you map out your plan of attack this weekend (i think there is one for your iphone as well). this makes it a heck of a lot easier to make my picks/recommendations (bold outline in pics below) for all of you. you’ll notice that some of my picks overlap with others. it was too hard for me to decide, so i’m leaving it up to you.
unfortunately, i won’t be able to attend this years festival, but i hope all of you that do have a fantastic time.
friday picks
saturday picks
sunday picks
check out the kcrw music blog for more coachella recommendations: