KCRW is a great public radio station from Los Angeles broadcasting online.
They are certainly eclectic – I won’t even try to to describe the music they play, because they’re not fixed on a musical genre. You might hear a soft and pop-py song with some cute & kooky female vocals, some edgy electronica, a bit of grungy-ish rock, then a beautiful Led Zeppelin meets Debussy instrumental number on a nylon guitar.
What KCRW’s DJs do have is taste – they pick good music…that sticks in your head until you go online and download music that you heard. This is not an easy listening station – I find I can’t just have it on in the background – too much of the music is good and commands attention.
What do I mean by “good”? The music on KCRW tends to have one or more of these qualities:
- Artistic – there’s something beautiful about the music – it isn’t just your standard overproduced schlock
- Avant Guarde – music that’s trying something new.
- Quirky – the music different or curious in some way.
- Beautiful – sometimes the music is just flat out beautiful.
It’s a great break from commercial music.
Will you enjoy KCRW? Try them. If you don’t like it, try them again later. And perhaps once more. Don’t judge them solely by first listen. If you love music, you will find some music you love. And sometimes you’ll get gold.
KCRW plays lots of new music, and often has bands in playing live. With L.A. being the center of the music industry, KCRW gets some talented bands in their studio.
You can find KCRW under Radio in iTunes under the Eclectic section. You have two free radio stations to pick from:
- KCRW ON AIR – their live-to-air stream, which also has programming from the BBC, PRI & NPR (National Public Radio).
- KCRW ECLECTIC24 – their 24 hour music mix – recommended.
