KEXP: Give Riz a Raise!

Man, I bitch about KEXP a lot. Every morning I turn my lil vintage radio on when I get in the shower, and while it's default-tuned to 90.3, I always end up changing it to a hip-hop station or to KBCS (this morning, the latter was playing amazing '20s jazz!). But Wednesday nights have been where it's at for a while.

For all intents & purposes, Riz's Variety Mix is an extension of the Saturday night Expansions show he shares with Masa and Kid Hops. For folks like me, whose favorite music is from the '90s, electronic, or both, his sets are like mix tapes delivered with a kiss. They're an invitation to chill, filled with long, drawn-out ambient songs (last night, from Gas, Murcof, Mogwai, Pole); future music from dudes like Burial and Trentemoller; organic-electro from Efterklang paired with the gypsy sounds of Beirut; Grizzly Bear- Alison Krauss- and Aretha Franklin! He makes it all work, and I can't coherently explain how pleasing it is.

His obvious passion for music comes out in the obscure little bits he drops in, like a Jose Gonzales cover of Massive Attack's "Teardrop," and especially this Pocket remix of Thom Yorke singing Bjork's "Unravel." Absolutely beautiful. I'm a month late to this one, but at least I got there. Thanks Riz!

Here's Yorke singing it at the piano during one of those wacky webcasts they've been doing: