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Welcome to the KCRW Corner on DrownedinSound. KCRW is one of the most influential public radio stations in the United States, broadcasting at 89.9FM from Santa Monica, California. We’ve got our ears trained to catch the best new music and you can hear us online all the time at www.KCRW.com. We also have 11 years’ worth of live performances archived for your listening pleasure.
This month, Liza Richardson, host of The Drop, (direct link) shares her favorite music.
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| Liza Richardson: fan of funky house |
There are two things Liza Richardson loves more than anything else in the world – music and surfing. Luckily, those two collided in the best possible way when she became the music supervisor for Surf’s Up – the Sony animated mockumentary featuring penguin surfers that will be out in the States in early June and in the UK on August 10. The name of her Saturday night dance music show is a surf reference, to when you take off on a steep wave and make ‘The Drop’ down. Liza sees a lot of similarities between DJing and surfing.
“I love matching beats and going with long tracks that evolve and grow and recede just like waves,” said Liza.
The soon-to-be blockbuster film is just one of many projects Liza has been involved in that will be seen by the masses and proves her talent for finding great music goes well beyond the dance genre. Those iPod commercials that broke Australian sibling rockers Jet? That was Liza’s doing. She was also the music supervisor for Lords of Dogtown (another skate/surf extravaganza based here by the beach, close to where KCRW is located) and has just wrapped the first season of the critically-acclaimed television show Friday Night Lights. Liza was also on the turntables as the very first DJ ever to spin tunes for Hollywood heavyweights and celebrities during breaks at this year's Academy Awards ceremony.
No one has had more incarnations on KCRW than Liza, who has been at the station for 16 years. From The Mad Doll Show to Man in the Moon, Rancho Loco to Total Eclipse, Que Sera Sera to The Drop, Liza has proven her vast knowledge of music. Liza spends hours researching music for her show, as well as television/film projects, and still thrives on that magical moment when she hears something really special. Here are a few of her current favorites:
Plunky and The Oneness of JuJu
“Their track ‘Every Way but Loose’ is on a compilation called Science Lab from Now Again records, which is based in LA. It’s the funkiest, funniest house track.
Trans Am
LINK
“Their new album Sex Change is underplayed and underappreciated – the first three tracks are brilliant and wonderful. It is out on Thrill Jockey.”
OMNI
LINK
“Usually I like commercial hip hop better than underground hip hop, so this is a surprise. The first song he samples is one of my favorite Herb Alpert songs – it’s a really creative use of a sample. OMNI is a West Coast artist.”
The Martinez Brothers
LINK
“On the other coast you have this band. They’re making the deepest, dopest, New York house. I found it online and tracked down the single, ‘My Rendition’, at Amoeba Records, where I get most of my vinyl.”
George Demure
LINK
“He’s a UK artist and he has a song called ‘Atari Swan Song’ that is just hilarious. It’s an ode to his drum machine that he is about to get rid of.”
Timbaland
LINK
“The new full length is so cool and has so many amazing creative collaborations. ‘Throw It On Me’ with The Hives is a little hardcore for my show, which is mostly dance music, but I couldn’t resist playing it.”
“The UK puts out the best dance music and it was hard not to include more of it on this list, so keep it coming!” said Liza.
KCRW is broadcast on 89.9FM across most of Southern California from our studios in Santa Monica, California. You'll be pleased to know that you can hear news of the Californian clime, as well as a host of hot musical treats, online at www.KCRW.com.
