When I moved to Los Angeles from New York City ten years ago, there were many things that impressed me. The regal rows of long-legged palms in Beverly Hills. The psychedelic light towers at LAX. The foot stopping sweet scent of jasmine and wisteria blooms after a good February rain. But what topped the city sundae for me was the incredible music emanating from the city’s public radio. I hadn’t heard un-canned music on the airwaves since my high school days listening to Souxsie Sioux on the original WDRE, which unfortunately picked up every spec of static possible on its way from Long Island to my house in New Jersey. Turning the dial down below 90.0 here in Los Angeles unleashes a euphoric mix of music stylings. KCRW (89.9) is surely the ring master with a tent (they say it’s actually a basement) of passionate and progressive disc jockey talents like Garth Trinidad, Liza Richardson, Jason Bentley and Henry Rollins. Other independent and inspiring stations are KCUI (88.9) and my favorite daytime news alternative KCSN (88.5), which launched 100% music programming this past spring and kindly granted my husband and me set of tickets to Arcade Fire a week ago. Winning a radio contest without employing the redial button on your phone ~ a bucket list bonus no matter where you live.
© Jennifer Dowd
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