Today's Top Tune

Today's Top Tune

By KCRWMusic
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Today's Top Tune episodes

  • Big Freedia: ‘Take My Hand’

    Morning Becomes Eclectic recently enjoyed the company of Queen of New Orleans bounce Big Freedia for a Guest Selector set during SXSW 2025. We even had the pleasure of WORLD PREMIERING “Take My Hand.” The track features a sample from famed gospel preacher & pastor Dr. C.J. Johnson for a hands in the air, floor stomping, gospel-dance track. It’s a prelude to a new album due in June, which BF told us is “a vibrant and uplifting non-denominational record that blends bounce, gospel, soul, and R&B in a way that only Big Freedia can.”  

    5 min
  • Pachyman: ‘Hard To Part’ (Clean Edit)

    Puerto Rico-born, LA-based multi-instrumentalist and one man band, Pachyman is set to release his fifth album  Another Place  on May 23. Building on his love of dub reggae by morphing it ever further into mind bending sonics, Pachy Garcia goes hard on “Hard To Part,” an almost Lynchian funk-filled jam. 

    5 min
  • Ludovico Einaudi: ‘Punta Bianca’

    Italian pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi released  the sublime album The Summer Portraits earlier in the year. Einaudi, the most streamed classical artist of our times, found inspiration for this one via memories triggered by the warmth of the sun during summer holidays filled with friends and family; capturing the essence of his recollections on the celestial solo piano piece “Punta Bianca.” 

    6 min
  • CocoRosie: ‘Cut Stitch Scar’

    Freak folk/art rocking sister duo Bianca and Sierra Casady make up CocoRosie. For the past twenty years the siblings have been at the forefront translating the love, difficulties, and ecstasy of sisterhood into wildly theatrical original music. Their eighth studio album, Little Death Wishes, encapsulates not only their relationship, but the generational hardship of women and their shattered realities. Hear these themes capsulized on the song “Cut Stitch Scar.” 

    8 min
  • Valerie June: ‘Endless Tree’

    Renaissance goddess Valerie June is an enormously gifted songwriter and artist. Her craft is so powerful that it not only connects us to her songs, it connects us to one another. “Endless Tree” is no exception. “As we see so much divisiveness and polarization in the world, this song asks listeners if they are ready for a more harmonious and peaceful planet? June ponders. “If what we focus on is what manifests, then although we don’t always agree with each other, might it still be possible to respect our differences and grow together vs. creating wars? Trees have a secret language that connects them to each other.  Without plants and trees, we couldn’t breathe. What can we learn from plants as teachers?”

    5 min
  • Japanese Breakfast: ‘Picture Window’

    We always look forward to new music from best-selling author and singer-songwriter Michelle Zauner  (aka Japanese Breakfast). Her latest LP,  For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women), is set to be another classic., Produced by Grammy Award-winning guitar guru Blake Mills, this album examines a darker palette than its antecedent, Jubilee.  

    4 min
  • Tamino: ‘Willow’

    Have you met Tamino? We recently premiered his latest, “Willow,” on Morning Becomes Eclectic, a song of release and renewal from his album Every Dawn’s a Mountain — written in his new home of New York City. “The paradox of the willow is that when it dies and loses all its vines, its trunk gets to see the sun,” Tamino explains. “In other words, its heart gets a new life. The tree no longer weeps and finally finds solace in the glow of the sun.” Let’s give it a whirl. 

    6 min
  • When Saints Go Machine: ‘Co-Star’

    Copenhagen-based When Saints Go Machine are an ever-changing electronic trio that have carved out their own sonic niche in Nordic music. But on their new single “Co-Star,”they have turned off their machines to amplify a new direction. The title track unveils a colorful, organic pop universe to immerse yourself in. 

    5 min
  • Lydia Clapperton: 'Espace de paix’

    Canadian composer and pianist Lydia Clapperton shares an ode to spring from her new album, des semis et une marguerite, or seedlings and a daisy. We’ve plucked ‘espace de paix’ as Today’s Top Tune, a refreshing, expressive, and evocative piece that will make your garden bloom. “This composition is an invitation to enter our inner space of gratitude,” shares Clapperton. “A garden made of peaceful and generous relationships. From peace comes joy, and a taste of the beautiful intensity of life.”

     

    5 min
  • duendita: ‘baby teeth’

    NYC-based artist duendita’s new project, a strong desire to survive, is out today. It’s ten tracks birthed and inspired by travels to Berlin and the music scene they fell into there. Today we share “baby teeth,” a song duendita says “celebrates the joy of healing from the darkest experiences. It's a piano/vocal banger about feeling safe and strong." At the end of "baby teeth," there’s  a sample of nine vocalists, singing in harmony as a choir… all recorded in duendita's bedroom: "It was so special." 

    4 min

About Today's Top Tune

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A free weekday download of standout songs, including advance releases, exclusive live tracks recorded at KCRW, remixes, and an introduction to new artists on our radar.

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