Today's Top Tune

Kit Sebastian may have formed in London, but their vibe is a cauldron of diverse genres culminating in serpentine psychedelia and Turkish funk. Come with us as we transcend into euphoria with “Hayat,” which means “life” in Arabic.

2022 was good for one of our favorites, LA duo NEIL FRANCES. They delivered their debut album, played heaps of major festivals, AND headlined sold-out shows with multi-piece bands marking them “must-see” talent. Topping it off, after one session working with hip-hop soul singer PawPaw Rod, they delivered “High,” their first stoner anthem.

KCRW Presents: Prohibition Roaring 20’s NYE featuring Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Neil Frances as DJ, open bar, theatrical burlesque, and KCRW DJ Tyler Boogie Boudreaux @ Union Station

Over the past few years, singer, songwriter, and producer Cé Cicada has been fine-tuning music inspired by his love of the bass and Caribbean melodies. Based both in Los Angeles and Puerto Rico, Cicada’s “Mestiza” is a flirty, lo-fi ballad basking on a bed of beats.

Cakes Da Killa rose up through New York’s booming queer rap scene in the early 2010s. Influenced by artists like Yusef Lateef and Alice Coltrane, his sophomore album isn’t quite jazz, but makes the connection in favor of hip-hop beats, with “Sip of My Sip” featuring Sevndeep as a prime example.

As the year winds down, we take a look at our lives and start thinking about what we’d like to change in order to make New Year’s resolutions. So when you are ready, turn to Berlin-based Albertine Sarges, who faces her nicotine demons via “Hold On,” a self-confessional song with great advice on the four Ds of craving: “drink water, delay, distract, and damn it, keep breathing!”

You might recognize the sound of Senegalese musician Baaba Maal as the voice of Wakanda in the “Black Panther” films, but his transcendent work has graced these airwaves for the last 40 years. Let’s listen to the powerful new track, “Yerimayo Celebration,” preceding a new album by Maal coming in March.

And while we are at it, check out the last time Baaba Maal came to KCRW in 2009.

Supershy, the electronic project from innovative producer Tom Misch, recently dropped “Don’t Let Go,” a jaunty mix of classic French house and head-spinning 303 synth lines that lands somewhere between Daft Punk and Hot Chip. Get happy!

“Best New Artist” at the Latin Grammys this year went to Mexican indie star Silvana Estrada, and with good reason. A break-out year for this rising talent has included releasing her debut album “Marchita” and sold-out shows across the US. Check out the simplicity and beauty of “Carta.” And don’t forget to RSVP tomorrow night when we unveil KCRW’s “Best of 2022” lists at our virtual event!

Let’s welcome newcomers Pearl & The Oysters, who settled in Los Angeles in 2020 full of hope for the future of their band. Once here, they found themselves in a huge city-turned-ghost town, and their only avenue of escape was a mental one. “Pacific Avenue” is their way of sharing what they experienced.

Gifted guitarist-songwriter Sunny War has been hard at work on a new album due out early next year, and it comes stacked with features to look forward to: Jim James, Allison Russell, and The School Zone Children’s Choir, to name a few. Melding raucous rock with gritty blues, War says “No Reason” is about, “the internal struggle that all people face just trying to be the best version of themselves. And the guilt that you feel when you’re not being the best version of yourself.”