An excellent document of the best of the early 1990's
08/31/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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."
A benchmark for live to radio compilations
Seano | Down Under | 04/28/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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."
Awesome
John Grunwell | Washington, D.C. | 11/08/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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!!!"
Live Air
PHILIP S WOLF | SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA. USA | 11/11/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is a CD of 15 tracks of artists performing live on air to a two track DAT. One track contains overdubs, the rest features the musicians huddled around a couple of microphones, almost all of this music is acoustic.
The broadcasting station is KCRW, independent public radio for most of Southern California. The show is called: "Morning Becomes Electric", a very proper title. This is great radio, and it transfers to CD as an alternative to just about every other form of art, that you have been forced to undergo...this is a different experience for the ears...this is a pleasure.
With the exception of a couple performances that are a little harsh and disturbed, this is an easy flow, as if one artist finishes and another right by their side begins to play. And the artists? Well, with: Beck, Tori Amos, Lindsey Buckingham, X, Los Lobos, John Cale, Natalie Merchant and a spoken word prelude by Leonard Cohen, many different paths are explored herein over these 64 minutes.
Beck is weird, Los Lobos is cool as a night frog, Lindsey's nylon strings are outta-tune, Tori Amos & John Cale sound a world apart from each other on the exact same piano, Evan & Juliana are hangin' with their Drug Buddy, and Mark Isham sounds like Miles Davis chopped down his family tree!
The sound quality of this disc is as good as it gets, the performances are right in front of you from start to finish. This CD has been produced with great care and is well thought out. No, I don't care for every single song on this but, what I don't find pleasing might be your personal favorite. Some of this music may be of your past, but for me, most of this material is brand spankin' new to my ears.
This is one of the most unique discs that I have listened to in ages. Right here, on this disc...is my kind of radio!
4.5 Stars!!!"
Natalie Merchant "Rare On Air"
Avril V. Gerlog | California (born in London) | 10/12/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Natalie Merchant sings like an angel and this album is so cool