Lisa Hannigan: Little Bird

KCRW recently hosted Irish singer Lisa Hannigan live in the studio. I know her beautiful voice from Damien Rice's albums, but I had no idea that she recorded a brand new solo album in 2011. It looks like I need to come out from under my rock and go listen to it. What a voice!

Lisa Hannigan: Little Bird
(You can watch the full in-studio session on KCRW's website.)

Raphael Saadiq: Good Man

Here's a find from KCRW's In Studio sessions. They've had all kinds of great musicians over there recently (Moby, Badly Drawn Boy, Lykke Li) and I was glad to come across this video of Raphael Saadiq. I've never heard him before, but apparently his new album Stone Rollin is one of KCRW's favorites for 2011 so far. I can see why. What a voice!

Raphael Saadiq: Good Man

Broken Social Scene on KCRW

Kevin and I got to spend Thanksgiving in his hometown Los Angeles, which is always an adventure for a girl from an unincorporated town of 800 people. In between trips to Intelligentsia (Kevin's coffee mecca) and celebrity sightings (I'll admit, I asked "Who's Toby Maguire?" and was promptly chagrined because I *did* of course adore the Spiderman movies), one of my favorite things about visiting L.A. is flipping between KCRW and KJAZZ on the car radio. I know, I know, I can listen to both stations online, but there's something extra cool about hearing them local.

Which reminded me that I haven't been regularly checking out all the great In Studio Sessions that KCRW posts on their YouTube channel each week. If you scroll down the sidebar, there are some great recent performances by Band of Horses, Arcade Fire, and Los Lobos to name a few. Here's a cool live version of 7/4 by Broken Social Scene.

Broken Social Scene: 7/4

The Airborne Toxic Event: Sometime Around Midnight

I guess I haven't been over to KCRW in a long while, because they have a brand new In Studio on Morning Becomes Eclectic page that I didn't even know about. You can watch videos of "the best of the best" live moments from Morning Becomes Eclectic. Pretty cool.

While there, I came across a great live performance of "Sometime Around Midnight" by The Airborne Toxic Event. I love the lush texture of the violins and the way the song slowly builds itself into a controlled frenzy.

I can't find a way to post that particular KCRW video here, but if you go to the In Studio page, it should be 2nd or so on the list (at least it is today).

I did find a way cool acoustic version on YouTube, though.

Sounds Eclectic: Nic Harcourt's Best of 2007

It's time, it's time for KCRW's Nic Harcourt to make the judgment call on the best songs of 2007. Last year's show got me hooked on Band of Horses. What will this year bring?

You can listen to the entire show here. It aired on Sunday, but I'm just getting around to it today.

Well, what do you think? Agree? Disagree? What are *your* favorite songs of 2007?

Off the top of my head, mine would have to include:

• Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us from the new Alison Krauss/Robert Plant collaboration.

• It would be hard to single one out from Andrew Bird's stellar album Armchair Apocrypha, but I have to say I'm partial to the quirky swing of Imitosis.

• And yes, oddly, Harper Simon's version of Yankee Doodle. I'm telling you, against all odds, he makes you like that song. :)