Party at our place! This week’s 5 Songs to Hear are featured selections from another great year of Live From KCRW in-studio sessions, part of our annual music wrap-up: KCRW’s Best of 2024. Kicking off with this sexy-cool groover from DJ and producer Barry Can’t Swim. Since his hotly anticipated full-length debut in 2023, BCS (government name withheld) has been firmly rooted on dance and electronic playlists at poolsides and on dance floors around the world. Feels good!
French-Chilean singer and musician Ana Tijoux brought the heat to our studios this year, offering up a live performance of this club-ready track that blends hip-hop bars into latin-pop production. An evolving artist, Tijoux first knew stardom as a member of hip-hop group Makiza, but found her solo footing on the fertile and colorful grounds of Latin pop through the 2010s. Not long after gracing us with her live flow, she released her first new album in nine years: Vida is out now and awaiting your ears.
Eric Burton, singer and songwriter for Austin psych-soul duo Black Pumas (2019’s pick for KCRW’s Best New Artist) only needs 30 seconds to make you say damn. That’s when he hits the first of many mind-boggling notes in this epic live performance of "More Than a Love Song," one of the band’s many singles that have enjoyed repeat spins on our air. Burton’s epic lead vocals are only the beginning: hit play for irresistible tuneage from guitarist and producer Adrian Quesada and the Pumas’ assembly of groovers.
Manchester four-piece Porij enjoyed plenty of air on KCRW this year thanks to the strength of their debut album, Teething. Click play on this live performance of their drum ‘n’ bass-infused dance single, which loses absolutely none of its electronically-informed gusto in the live format. We continue to predict even more great things for Porij — for now, get into their Live From session via this high BPM track.
Especially since 2021, when her excellent single "Cheers" found itself in heavy rotation our air, Faye Webster has won us over with her distinctive vocal style (lovingly described as “muppet-like” in this very newsletter), penchant for minor chords, and east-side sensibilities. Lean in to her live performance of this sweet love song about being so stuck on somebody that you forget about everything else.
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