Nine years and going strong!  I'm pleased to present another show comprised of some choice cuts from the previous year.  As before, I personally picked out the artists and songs, but I got some more input from fans via the Local Lounge Facebook page.  The show featured ten songs and was just shy of an hour in length.  The criteria I used to qualify "The Best" was rather nebulous, I must admit.  But I factor in several aspects, including the quality of songwriting and performance, originality, and general buzz factor, in addition to specific suggestions from fans.  Also, I strive to represent a wide variety of sounds and genres, from quirky indie styles to funky soulful goodness to mainstream pop.  I have no qualms about featuring a raw singer-songwriter one week and a contemporary jazz combo another.  What I want is good, original local music, with at least some melodic appeal, performed by musicians who are active in the music scene covered by our broadcast area, namely Spokane/Post Falls/Coeur d'Alene and surrounding environs.  And I want to do so in a way that provides a valuable and novel resource to those musicians, with on-line photos, videos, and a sound quality that far surpasses any other local artist radio feature!  No more getting the whole band to huddle around a single mic, I make sure everything is properly captured and mixed.  Plus, I leave the chit-chat to the musicians, in keeping with our "jockless" format.  The only exception is this yearly show in which I talk some more, but I still leave it to the artists most of the time.


Here is The Best of the 103.1 KCDA Local Lounge 2010 show as high-quality, streaming audio, with the artists and songs listed.  You can click the date after each song title to go to that artist's corresponding article and listen to their entire show, see photos, and check out their video, too.


LISTEN to Part 1 (26:01)
featuring:
  1. Jesi B and the All Rites: "Revolution Comin'" (Jan 24th)
  2. Tyrone Wells: "Sink or Swim" (Mar 28th)
  3. Mark Ward: "Distant Highway (The Kickdrum Song)" (Aug 22nd)
  4. Mon Chéri: "Power Lines" (Mar 21st)
  5. The Toy Garden: "Seconds" (June 27th)


LISTEN to Part 2 (31:09)
featuring:
  1. Locust Street Taxi: "Stuff" (Aug 1st)
  2. Jerad Finck: "Take Me Away" (Oct 10th)
  3. Ron Greene: "Run Away" (Dec 5th)
  4. Hannah Reader: "Hnau" (Nov 7th)
  5. Terrible Buttons: "Smoke Around the Lamps" (Nov 21st)

airdate: Sunday, January 2nd, 2011 at 10 pm PST

To check out the streaming audio, all you need is Adobe Flash Player...and make sure you allow pop-ups on this page!


Of course, there were many artists that I wanted to include in this program (as did some fans), but there just wasn't any more time available in the hour.  Still, I've decided to include a lengthy list of honorable mentions, thanks in large part to their fans and our listeners.  In no particular order:
Alyse Black, Joel Howard, Midnight Cry, Janet Johnson, Dan Conrad, Steven Wylie, Matthew Winters, The Rachel Bade-McMurphy Quartet, Morgan Mallory, Faith Soltysik, La Cha-Cha, So Many Roads, Stockholm, Black Happy, and Stephanie Hatzinikolis...and probably others, too!

In 2010 we got our full stage area up and running, allowing us to bring in fully-equipped bands...amps, drums, and the rest...with a microphone on every instrument, vocalist, and drum!  Also, thanks to a hardware upgrade, the videos have improved a bit in quality.  Web-wise, the streaming audio and video are now presented in our new, integrated, Flash-based media player, giving us far greater compatibility.  We also made our station available as a live feed on any iPhone or Blackberry in the USA for free with the iheartradio app!  As you may have noticed, I did my best to enhance the "local" aspect of the Local Lounge in 2010, giving greater precedence to Spokane-area artists over regional and touring acts.  With only 51 shows available to artists each year (every week, not counting THIS show), it simply makes sense to focus on the core of our scene, geographically speaking.  In 2011, you can expect more of the same, plus some videos (mainly the full-band productions) to be available in the 720p HD video standard!

The 103.1 KCDA Local Lounge has been my pride and joy since about summer/fall of 2007.  Before me, Stella Mar ran the show since about 2005.  Sam Hill kicked off the whole idea in 2002 along with the current format of 103.1 KCDA, formerly known as "Mix 103.1"...anyone remember those days?  Anyway, I LOVE the Spokane music scene and am dedicated to giving artists a chance to shine...thanks for listening, the show will go on!

Have an awesome 2011,
~Matt Loi
103.1 KCDA Local Lounge producer


The 103.1 KCDA Local Lounge is proudly sponsored by Mark's Guitar Shop!

Find them at 918 W Garland Ave, Spokane, WA 99205.
You can also call them toll-free at 1-866-219-8500.

The 103.1 KCDA Local Lounge is produced by Matt Loi.


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