Various Artists - KCRW: Sounds Eclectic 3

Genre indie-rock Publisher Palm Pictures External Links Official Site KCRW Palm Pictures

Thanks to the myriad options available to listeners to discover new music and the brutal homogenization of its playlists, radio is less a taste-maker than it once was. Los Angeles public radio station KCRW is something of a preserve in a radio spectrum clear-cut by corporate acquisition, partly because of its alternative and indie-rock show "Morning Becomes Eclectic." Sounds Eclectic 3 is the third collection of the live in-studio performances "Morning Becomes Eclectic" specializes in.

Live records are in some sense a sleight of hand because listening to them is, by definition, not experiencing the artist live with the intimacy and immediacy that sharing a space provides, yet neither is it hearing a studio recording engineered and produced for private listening. Where's the attraction, then? Perhaps it's in things like spontaneity, virtuosity, the narrative of a set's progression, an insight into the personas of the artists, the reaction of the audience: a taste of being there, being part of something. But then what of the in-studio live broadcast? Can such a small-scale audience-less performance be revelatory, or even interesting?

"None of the songs included on this compilation have been re-recorded, remixed, or overdubbed," the Sounds Eclectic 3 liner notes declare. It may be surprising, then, how similar many of the tracks sound to their album versions. The Polyphonic Spree's everything-but-the-kitchen-sink choral smorgasbord "It's The Sun" differs only in the addition of a few yelps. While Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips avoids echoing the album version by stripping "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, Pt. 1" to its bare bones, singing accompanied only by piano and sparse backing vocals, the couple of artists who follow him don't have that option. Damien Rice's "The Blower's Daughter" retains the troubadour acoustic guitar + vocals template of the album version and widens the dynamic range to just short of histrionic. Following it is "Flying High" by Jem, on which only guitar string scrapings demonstrate that it's live, and then Paul Weller's bouncy "Amongst Butterflies".

Radiohead perform "Go To Sleep" without a drummer or bassist but with electric guitar, a wise choice since the song's essence lies as much in Johnny's scrappy noises as in Thom's voice. With Kinky's "Mirando de Lado" it's back to sounds-like-the-album territory, which in this case is a welcome return for the orchestral stabs and synth swipes of the most danceable number on the disc. Interpol intercede with a carbon copy of "Untitled," the first track from Turn On The Bright Lights, and then Franz Ferdinand wrap things up with the plugged-in portion of the compilation with their hit "Take Me Out." Alone among tracks on this compilation, it comes across as more than the album version rather than less by chugging along at a more energetic tempo and presenting a harder take on the hits that form the bridge.

Sarah McLachlan, accompanied only by herself on piano, sings "Answer" with the second strongest voice on the album, topped only by Steve Earle's closer "Jerusalem," which blasts harmonica and provides an upbeat ending after McLachlan's downtempo offering and the lip-smack and string-scrape showcase that is Iron & Wine's precious cover of "Waitin' For A Superman" by The Flaming Lips.

If none of the performances on Sounds Eclectic 3 sound phoned-in, neither do they reveal anything more of themselves or their performers beyond what is available on their studio offerings. Even if you're a "Morning Becomes Eclectic" loyal listener, this won't necessarily be the disc for you because nothing of the show appears on it. Each track exists in a void; there is no banter or chit-chat with Nic Harcourt, the show's host. In such a context, listened to on the radio in the car or at work, the performances could at least serve as a reward for listeners, but lined up on a disc they don't offer much. Sounds Eclectic 3 serves more as a record of something that took place than as a glimpse into the event itself.