Art: Getty, KCRW, LACMA

At any given time in Los Angeles, there are exactly 10,741 things to do. Now weeding through this is a pain in the you know where. I was struck last night by just how many things LA.com lists to do every day of the week in their Club Nights Guide. LA.com is one of the best LA guides.

One thing beside LA.com that is totally essential in LA is KCRW.

KCRW, a community service of Santa Monica College, is Southern California’s leading National Public Radio affiliate, featuring an eclectic mix of music, news, information and cultural programming. The station boasts one of the nation’s largest arrays of locally- produced, nationally-distributed talk program content. KCRW.com extends the station’s profile globally, with three streams featuring web-exclusive content: KCRWMusic.com, KCRWWorldnews.com, and the live station simulcast, as well as an extensive list of podcasts. The non-commercial broadcast signal reaches 550,000 listeners weekly and is supported by 55,000 member/subscribers.

KCRW is a recognized tastemaker for new music from around the world, with trendsetting hosts such as Music Director Nic Harcourt, who features live in-studio sessions and interviews with established and emerging artists on Morning Becomes Eclectic and the nationally syndicated Sounds Eclectic; music supervisor and electronica music champion Jason Bentley (The Matrix series) with Metropolis; indie and alternative rock on The Open Road with music supervisor Gary Calamar (Six Feet Under). Other programs include nu-soul and funk on Chocolate City with Garth Trinidad; Nocturna with Raul Campos features dance rhythms and Latin beats;  New Ground with Chris Douridas spotlights the latest singer-songwriters and music in all genres; and more.

Not only is KCRW amazing as far as programming with such shows as Morning Becomes Eclectic with legend Nic Harcourt, which often features live in studio performances from artists around the world, but they have tons of amazing programing all hours of the day that does include NPR news.

They are a base for the arts in LA, especially the music scene. They sponsor endless numbers of concerts with Nic himself often introducing bands at venues such as the Hollywood Bowl.

Also, if you become a member, you get to be apart of their ticket giveaways. They give free concert tickets to the events they sponsor only to members on a first come first serve basis. I just grabbed a pair of tickets to see The Fiery Furnaces a few minutes ago. Saved me $50. Become a member if you can give any amount. It doesn’t take much to join and you get tons of free CDs they make from in studios guest performances along with Fringe Benefits to tons of LA businesses and entries into their contests for things like iPods, Apple Laptops, even Hybrid Lexus SUVs.

Check out their website and take a listen. You’ll be hooked really fast. It’s 89.9FM in LA and for other areas surrounding LA, check the wiki link at the bottom of the blog.

Things going on this week:

Fridays off the 405 at the Getty Center.

Enjoy music and evening views of the city, tour the galleries, and revel in the end of the workweek in a casual and spontaneous atmosphere at our monthly Fridays Off the 405 series, a music happening curated by culture magazine Flavorpill.

Fridays Off the 405 features free live music and a cash bar from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. The galleries will be open until 9:00 p.m. as well so you can admire the atmospheric landscapes in From Caspar David Friedrich to Gerhard Richter: German Paintings from Dresden and travel back to the ’70s and ’80s with the photographs in Public Faces/Private Spaces: Recent Acquisitions.

October 20: Home Video and Fauna Flash

Date: Friday, October 20, 2006
Time: 6:00–9:00 p.m.
Location: Getty Center, Museum Courtyard
Admission: Free; no reservations required.

I’ve been wanting to check out a Friday off the 405 all summer. I’m going so going this Friday. The views from up there are amazing. It’s a great escape and gets you above the LA smog line.

Getty Center looking south… Pacific is to the right.

The Getty looking west.

Click Here to see a view of downtown LA from the Getty. and Here to view the 405 from the Getty.

It’s really a great place. Admission is free, just pay $8 for parking. They often have free concerts and films in the theater they have there. (tickets through their website) They also have several restaurants there from a white table cloth one that overlooks the Pacific to lunch counter grab something to go type places. There’s tons of outdoor seating and gardens. They also have a HUGE research center for scholars with texts from all over the world. There’s also the Malibu Getty villa, but that’s another blog.

Also just to throw this in while I’m talking about museums, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s current exhibit is “Breaking the Mode” which features Contemporary Fashion from the Permanent Collection. I’ve heard it’s grand just another thing on my list of things to do. Runs until Jan 7, 2007.

Links:

KCRW on Wikipedia
The Getty Center
The Getty on Wiki

PS. John Cameron Mitchell is on the cover of LA Weekly this week with his film Shortbus! Get a copy! http://laweekly.com/