Radio jock Eric J. Lawrence schools you in the wee hours. Wee!

KCRW disc jockey Eric J. Lawrence—whom I profiled here—is moving his 12 a.m.-3 a.m. time slot from Monday/Tuesday to Sunday/Monday. It's a subtle shift, but I think a beneficial one, at least for me, as I stay up late more often on Sundays than I do on Mondays. Whatever your sleeping habits, you can check out Lawrence's most excellent show on www.kcrw.com, where it's archived.

As I stated in my Sprawl of Sound column, I think Lawrence is consistently the most interesting programmer among KCRW's talented roster. His depth and breadth of knowledge are astounding and his taste impeccable. Every show is a pleasurable education. You should check him out.

University of California Irvine's radio station, KUCI 88.9FM, is in the midst of its annual fund drive (it runs through May 10). This student/volunteer-run, listener-supported source of unconventionally excellent music and commentary won the Weekly's Best Radio Station last year. Here's what we said about it:

KUCI... really has no competition on OC airwaves. For its diversity of programming, desire to broadcast music that doesn’t even get considered by 99.7 percent of its competitors, and, uh, let’s say idiosyncratic on-air personalities, KUCI towers over its rivals. The station’s DJs may not have the smoothest, most well-modulated deliveries nor always stay on message, and they occasionally allow some DEAD AIR, but they’re certainly passionate about the music they’re playing or the issues they’re discussing, and it makes a helluva difference if you’ve had it up to hear with cookie-cutter corporate radio.

Eclecticism and obscurity are most college radio stations’ lifeblood, and this applies to KUCI. A scan through the schedule reveals shows devoted to left-field global music, jazz, reggae, blues, hip-hop, girl bands, Latin, various underground beat-centric styles, electronic music, local punk rock, underground metal, witty unconventional news commentary, progressive public affairs, tons of rock in its myriad styles, and much more. You may not like everything KUCI airs, but if you possess an open mind and a three-digit IQ, you’ll enjoy a lot of it. If nothing else, you have to admire the sheer unpredictability of the whole enterprise in a medium dominated by companies where the bean counters declared decisive victory decades ago.

To make a tax-deductible donation, you can call 949.824.5824 or go to KUCI's site. Premiums are available for contributions $35 and up.

The Fall: Lawrence's—and John Peel's—favorite band.

In this week’s Sprawl of Sound, I feature KCRW DJ/librarian Eric J. Lawrence. As is often the case, there was not enough space in the print version of the paper to run the entire interview. However, I think that this one is interesting enough to publish in full on the generous expanses of the intraweb. So here it is, Q&A-style.

What are your criteria for determining what you play on any given show? Do you strive for a balance of old and new songs, a fair representation of many genres? Are the shows dictated purely by your whims or are they meticulously planned?

I'm particular about incorporating a high percentage of older songs into my show. Too often, I feel the music industry is hyper-focused on promoting only the newest of the new. But I like to organize my show in the same way my own musical discoveries develop: by hearing something new (or new to me) that I like and working both vertically, with finding similar-sounding artists, and horizontally, by tracking down older artists who might have influenced this new thing. The word 'eclectic' is an important touchstone for us here at KCRW, and I like to make sure that I keep as chronologically eclectic as I do with genre. Frankly, more so.

My shows are hardly meticulously planned—if they were, I'd be happy not to slog the couple hundred CDs I bring with me every week, just in case I might need something obscure on a whim. But I usually go in knowing a lot of what I'm going to play that night, whether they are from newly acquired items or songs related to a theme I'm going to play with on that show.

Do you view your show mainly as an outlet to expose music that doesn't receive attention by other KCRW programs?

My show is not meant to be a venue for exclusively unheard music. I'm perfectly happy to 'play the hits,' if they strike me as good songs. I do like to champion unfamiliar music, but that can simply mean something that hasn't been heard on the radio in a while—something 'off the radar,' as it were. [I]t's all about context. Hearing the latest single from Gnarls Barkley next to a game-show theme from the '70s allows you to hear both songs in a different light.

But I admit I started dabbling in radio during my college days at UCLA, when the so-called genre of 'alternative music' had just broken out. For us at KLA, the UCLA student-run radio station where I worked as DJ, music director for two years, and General Manager my final year, that meant playing things that were true alternatives to what you were going to hear on commercial radio. I continue to be motivated by this 'alternative' spirit, and however alternative KCRW is to other stations (and it truly is), I aim for my show to be somewhat of an 'alternative' even within KCRW's own diverse programming.

Local musician/DJ/rekkid collecta übermensch John Basil (a.k.a. Heru Avenger) has a "pop"-oriented podcast up over in this dusty corner of the 1nterw3b.

Odds are you haven't heard most of these odd ditties from the man's deeper-than-hell crates. I'm listening to it now and it's hitting my sweet spot from all sorts of crazy angles.

Extraordinarily popular Santa Monica-based radio station KCRW 89.9 FM is introducing a new cutting-edge media player that, its publicist claims, “will empower online listeners to make KCRW their own.” (Does that mean we have to make the coffee, too?)

KCRW’s Director of New Media, Anil Dewan, explains that “The player allows [listeners] to access playlists, subscribe to podcasts, embed content on blogs, buy a CD from an artist or a book of the author being interviewed, and share links to their favorite programs with friends.” Rumors that, for a nominal fee, a KCRW intern will come to your home and alphabetize your CDs and LPs have not been confirmed. Yet.

But, seriously, this upgrade looks like it will be very beneficial. You can preview the media player here.

View the complete press release after the jump.

Soup of the Day program host Gorgeous Jeff graciously asked me to join him in the KUCI studio tonight at around 7; he'll be interviewing me about my job and having me spin a few tunes for all the good, discerning folks who listen to his outstanding show. I'll be playing tracks off some of my favorite releases of 2007. I hope you can tune in.

KUCI is located at 88.9FM and www.kuci.org. Gorgeous Jeff's on the air Mondays 6-8 p.m. The station's number: (949) 824-5824.

Chuck D: Give this man a Classic Rap radio program, stat!

Way back in 1991, I made a prediction that the airwaves would be saturated with Classic Rap Radio by the late '90s/early '00s. That sparkling future obviously hasn't come to pass. Although there are a few such stations on the 'Net (here and here) and the odd show devoted to it on terrestrial radio, not much '80s/'90s rap gets excavated for public appreciation (see this blogger's take on the subject).

It seems like the time is way overdue for such a format, but hip-hop — at least mainstream/major-label hip-hop — is notorious for not paying proper respect to its history and being much more concerned about what's HAWT RIGHT NOW and drilling a small handful of songs into your memory banks with nauseating frequency.

It would be easy to find plenty of DJs who could competently program such a niche medium, but the catch is to convince the bean counters there's a demand/market for old-school/Golden Age hip-hop. Considering that so many radio stations are fueled by nostalgia, Classic Rap seems like a surefire winner, as the genre has nearly 30 years of catalog from which to draw. (You could also do special segments just spotlighting the major sources of samples for hip-hop classics.)

Get people like Chuck D, MC Serch, the Ego Trip dudes, Dante Carfagna, DJ Shadow, Kool Keith, Steinski, Coldcut and Biz Markie to host some shows and you're in serious (or Sirius, if you dig satellite radio) business. I think this format has amazing potential. Who has the vision and financial wherewithal to execute it?