Rare on Air, Vol. 1 [LIVE]

KCRW Rare On Air (Series), Various Artists - Alternative

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 26, 1994)
• Original Release Date: April 26, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Mammoth / Pgd
• ASIN: B000004AVY
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #135,173 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent document of the best of the early 1990's, August 31, 2000

By A Customer

Rare On Air Vol 1. is the first in a series of 5 live compilation cd's from southern california's KCRW. "Morning Becomes Eclectic" hosted by Chris Douridas was possibly the greatest music radio show of it's time in all of the U.S. On any given morning from 9am to noon, live performers from the likes of Beck to Joni Mitchell to Patti Smith show up to turn in intimate and often startlingly great performances. This first edition is the best so far and features excellent songs by John Cale, Michael Penn, and Tori Amos. After Douridas left the station for a new job at Dreamworks, the morning show fell flat with new DJ Nic Harcourt. Some say it's picking up steam again and luckily the whole world can tune in via the internet. The first 3 in the series are all worthwile and this particular addition shows why KCRW is a groundbreaking music radio station.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome, November 8, 2004

By	John Grunwell (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought this collection some ten years ago, and it has aged very, very well. The performances are great, and there's a real cohesion in them in terms of production. Whoever produced the CD really loves music, and must have made many mix tapes in his/her life, because it has the ebb and flow of a really excellent mix tape, with shifting moods and styles. I enjoy quite a bit of it, but the highlights for me are Lucinda Williams' cover of a Nick Drake song, the David Wilcox song, and the Peter Himmelman song, which also features an *amazing*, beautiful, lyrical guitar solo coming straight from the heart. In fact, "Always in Disguise" is really my favorite song overall from this collection. BUY IT TODAY!!!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A benchmark for live to radio compilations, April 28, 2004

By	Seano (Down Under) - See all my reviews

This compilation is, at the time of writing, the best part of ten years old. And, in my humble opinion, it has never been bettered. Production quality is first rate, performances are almost flawless and the mix of music is spot on. You and yours can't fail to be sucked in by this one. John Cale's first poem blending seemlessly into Tori Amos doing 'Silent all these years', Beck's 'Mexico' is hilarious and wry even after all this time, The Modern's just don't want to end and you won't want them to, Lindsay Buckingham comes up with a magnificent arrangement for an old Fleetwood Mac tune (since copied badly by The Dixie Chicks) and a just wonderful ode to Chet Baker to finish. This is a CD that makes much of modern chill out laughable and shows what can be acheived by a group of people who really love music. It is a primer for the rest of the Rare on Air series and a great place to begin. Grab this while it is still in print.