Straight out of Chi-town, these fresh-fased twenty-somethings of Smith Westerns, create a nostalgic blend of T.Rex and Supergrass-infused cheery pop for the masses.   Their new album, Dye It Blond is a slick, studio-backed upgrade from their former lo-fi basement days of their self-titled debut. After touring as the support band for jangly pop-rock maestros, Girls, alongside Magic Kids, Smith Westerns are ready to break out of their embryonic fluid capsule and develop into a full-grown baby with their new headlining tour at the Echo on February 11^th.

Win tickets for their (hopefully) spectacular debut at the Echo by tuning in this Tuesday, February 1^st, at 12-2 PM on UCLARadio.com.

Love Sarah?  Want to see her in concert?  Well here is the information you need to know.  The concert is on WEDNESDAY FEB. 9TH @ NOKIA THEATER.  Now that you know the deets about who, what and where now you must be asking.  HOW HOW HOW?!?  Well….all you have to do is tune in MONDAY JAN. 31st to “MUSIC & LYRICS” from 10am – 12pm.  The INSTANT you hear a Sarah McLaughlin song….hint hint I love her song “I Will Remember You” and “Sweet Surrender” call in IMMEDIATELY to the station.  I will be announcing the number multiple time and it is also on the right hand side of this lovely website.  The FIRST CALLER will be THE WINNER to Miss. McLaughlin’s concert.  So don’t miss your chance to see her in concert!

Guster is one of the most solid alternative rock bands out there, and possibly one of the wittiest.  Their performance at The Music Box Theater in Hollywood last Saturday was a perfect demonstration of what twenty years of practice can do for a band.  Not only did each member switch instruments three or four times throughout the night, they also kept a crowd of both faithful fans and new listeners totally entertained.

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Australian-native Mariana Machain, used to singing in the comfort of her room, has begun to share with the world just how relatable and touching her lyrics and music can be.

Named after Audrey Hepburn and her pet deer, Mariana catches you unaware with her acoustic strumming and painfully honest emotion. Her ability to sing for herself inevitably draws listeners in as they find themselves identifying with her love-lost stories. In “No Guilt,” she depicts a deteriorating relationship, and the simultaneous pain and fondness one experiences at the end of a relationship as she sings, “now your memory is tempting me to stay.” She further examines the fragments of a broken heart as her lyrics in “This Fear” expose her raw thoughts: “this fear it moves in me so slowly to let love go, to let you go.”

Frankly, Audrey & The Deer is better listened to than read about. For people like me (i.e., the musically uninclined), Mariana is able to express through song what I cannot (and wish I could!). I promise you that you won’t regret checkin’ her out and maybe even buying her $5 EP on her website if you dig her as much as I do: http://audreyandthedeer.com/.

Great audience response tonight. Thanks for joining me!

Hour 1:

• Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag – James Brown
• Why Can’t We Be Friends – War
• Uptight (Everything’s Alright) – Stevie Wonder
• Yearning for Your Love – The Gap Band
• Oogum Boogum – Brenton Wood
• Where Did Our Love Go? – The Supremes
• Everyday People – Sly & the Family Stone
• Keep On Truckin’ – Eddie Kendricks
• I Heard It Through the Grapevine – Marvin Gaye
• My Girl – The Temptations
• Killing Me Softly – Roberta Flack
• The Makings of You (Live) – Curtis Mayfield

Hour 2:

• Oh Honey – Delegation
• You Really Got a Hold On Me – Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
• A Song for You – Donny Hathaway
• Unchained Melody – The Righteous Brothers
• Be Thankful for What You’ve Got – William DeVaughn
• Close the Door – Teddy Pendergrass
• I Want You Back – The Jackson 5
• Ribbon in the Sky – Stevie Wonder
• Smiling Faces Sometimes – The Undisputed Truth
• Ain’t No Sunshine – Bill Withers
• I’m Still In Love You – Al Green
• Serpentine Fire – Earth, Wind & Fire
• Always and Forever – Heatwave
• Samba Pa Ti – Santana

*Italics denote listener requests.

Don’t forget to listen this Sunday!

Seven years and seventy-five drafts later, Derek Cienfrance’s Blue Valentine was finally released to the public at certain independent-film-friendly theaters for our viewing pleasure. The film exposes the relationship of a married couple by interweaving their present deteriorating state with flashbacks from their more happy beginnings as a couple.

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Revisiting music is always an interesting experience for me. Even if I’m not really listening to it, I’m just thinking about it, a plethora of thoughts, memories, experiences, feelings, forgotten objects even – appear into my head. It’s a consuming experience; especially in lecture. Often times, a pandemonium of images, and emotions breaks through and the connection between me in this music, extends far beyond current reality as my subconscious, which somehow as no perception of time, takes me back to parts of my life where these songs had their greatest presence and efficacy. I then have to invent the fact that I was yawning too much when the girl sitting next to me in lecture asks me if I’m ok as somehow something got in my eye and tears happen to stream down my face…. But that’s only the beginning; once I get to actually listening to the ‘old’ music, my old body resonates – all the way down to my soul. I remember things as if I was there. So, in lieu of such a recent experience, I have compiled a list of music/songs/whatever that can causeMy Nostalgia:

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Thats right win tickets to Tennis and Lord Huron at the echo Feb. 4th. All you have to do is listen to Between the Covers with Jack and Jessica this Sunday Jan 30th from 6-8pm and call in when we announce the give away.

This Sunday, Bennie and the Jams will be giving away two free tickets to see Tennis and Lord Huron at the Echo on February 4th. It’s going to be a dreamy, indie-tastic show, and we want you to be there! Listen in this Sunday (1/30) from 4-6PM to find out how to win!

Tennis’ debut album Cape Dory on Amazon.

Lord Huron’s Bandcamp page.

UCLA Radio News Anchor Isabel Angell sat down with USAC General Representative Matt Spring this past Tuesday.

In part 1, Matt talks a little about his position within USAC and previews a few initiatives and resources his office has put together for students.

In part 2, Matt talks a little about the budget cuts and what students can do.

So I recently had a conversation about romantic music – and more specifically its effect on the listener and it really invoked some introspection, thought, and a heck of a lot of listening to romantic music while studying for my Math midterm. Quite distracting, yet Infectiously Infatuating! I do enjoy Romance, in books, in poems, in movies – but in Music – I LOVE romance. However I have interesting songs that I feel are Romantic, so feel free to add your choices to the list: (more…)

Listen to The Morning Show at Night THIS WEDNESAY, JANUARY 26^TH,from 8-10pm to win tickets to CHECK YO PONYTAIL 2 featuring Yelewolf and Das Racist on February 1^st at the Echoplex.

On February 1^st IHEARTCOMIX, Media Contender, and LA RECORD present CHECK YO PONYAIL 2 with performances by Yelawolf, Craze, Das Racist, 87 Stick Up Kids, Freak City, and Franki Chan at the Echoplex.

Yelawolf is a hip-hop artist from Gadsden, Alabama and currently signed to Eminem’s Shady Records. He has featured in tracks by Bizarre, Big Boi, and Paul Wall. His most recent hit, “I Just Wanna Party” features Gucci Mane and his debut album Radioactive is scheduled to be released in March. Website HipHopDX named Yelewolf “Rising Star of the Year” in 2010.

Das Racist, a rap group based in Brooklyn, will also be performing. Das Racist is most known for their humor, obscure references, and unconventional style. Their mix tapes “Shut Up, Dude” and ”Sit Down Man” have garnered high praise from Spin magazine, Pitchfork Media, and Rolling Stone.

Also performing is Craze, 87 Stick Up Kids, Freak City, and Franki Chan.

In 2000, Anjunabeats was the band moniker of Jono Grant and Paavo Siljamaki until Tony McGuinnes joined in to complete the trio that is Above & Beyond. A decade after its founding, the name Anjunabeats has transformed itself to more than just a label name; It has become synonymous throughout the trance scene as one of the most well respected and innovative electronic dance music labels. And as the label opens its doors to the future, the two disc “10 Years of Anjunabeats” compilation pays tribute to the ten tracks that have catapulted the label to fame as well as giving them a fresh new look with 2011 remixes to usher in another ten years of exceptional dance music.

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1. No Doubt – Open The Gate (3:40)

2. H2O – What Happened? (3:02)

3. Murder City Devils – Rum To Whiskey (3:08)

4. Los Fabulosos Cadillacs – Raggapunkypartyrebelde (3:34)

5. The Vandals – Happy Birthday To Me (2:10)

6. The White Stripes – I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself (2:46)

7. Minutemen – If Reagan Played Disco (1:20)

8. The Skatalites – Rude Boy Dreams (3:52)

9. Sublime – Roots Of Creation (demo) (4:25)

10. Alkaline Trio – Dine, Dine, My Darling (2:58)

11. Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland – Thursday – Ever Fallen In Love? (Buzzcocks) (2:52)

12. The Rocketz – Killing (2:43)

13. Mos Def – Rock N Roll (5:02)

14. Channel 3 – I Didn’t Know (4:51)

15. Aloe Blacc – I Need A Dollar (4:03)

16. Aloe Blacc – Femme Fatale (The Velvet Underground) (3:53)

17. 88 Fingers Louie – Summer Photos (3:12)

18. The Aggrolites – Reggae Hit L.A. (3:06)

This Sunday evening, tune into Between the Covers with Jack and Jessica from 6-8 PM. Martin Diller, drummer from the band Man in Space, will be in studio with us to discuss their recently released self titled debut EP.

From Man In Space’s Facebook Page:

Oakland, California based band Man In Space was formed about a year ago by six high school friends. Half of the members are also in the band Dizzy Balloon, and all are currently pursuing music academically, from masters, to majors, minors and concentrations. The sound is the result of their diverse collective musical knowledge condensed into a pop-rock format. It’s what the Talking Heads would sound like if they had studied classical harmony, discovered hip-hop and samplers and listened to too much Pink Floyd and Radiohead. The music is distinct in its use of heavily layered synths, a tight rhythm section, guitar virtuosity, and melodic vocals. Jonny Flannes, Raphael Peterson, brothers Louie and Martin Diller, Jules Leyhe and Peter Labberton play multiple instruments in live performances to cover the varied instrumentation found on the band’s self-titled debut EP. Man in Space has received very positive press and reviews in less than a year after its inception, selling out headlining shows all over the Bay Area in the past year.

To listen to Man in Space’s music, visit their bandcamp.