Los Angeles based NPR station KCRW has long hosted a popular morning music show called "Morning Becomes Eclectic," attracting both critical and commercial favorites to its studios for interviews and live performances. Host Nic Harcourt celebrated his first anniversary on the job by teaming up with Mammoth Records and releasing a compilation of the best performances from the past year.

For the most part, Harcourt and company did a good job selecting the tracks for this compilation. That's not to say this disc is perfect - far from it. For one thing, the clunkers are placed in the track order in a manner that makes it impossible for me to listen to the disc all the way through (more on this later). More importantly, "eclectic" suggests diversity, and this collection is too overloaded with world-weary singer-songwriters (PJ Harvey, Joe Henry) and oddball pop acts (Buffalo Girls, Pink Martini) to come close to achieving that status. The only nod to hip-hop/dance styles isn't too bad, especially when one of the "Freestylers" highlights the essential live nature of the recording by shouting out to LA's morning commuters, but it is sorely out of place among the rest of the cuts. Similarly, the disc could have used a jolt of rock and roll to help get through the slower parts.

That being said, there are a number of outstanding cuts and artists represented on "Morning Becomes Eclectic," from "Lyle Lovett" to "PJ Harvey" doing a stunning rendition of "Is This Desire." Even one of those oddball pop acts strikes a good note with the final track, "Que Sera Sera," by "Pink Martini." It sounds like a bedtime lullaby from the "Nightmare On Elm Street" film series, what with a mother sidestepping the eternal childhood question of "What will I be when I grow up?" by equivocating, "Que Sera Sera/Whatever will be, will be," set to a creepy soundtrack.

The best sequence of songs comes early on, beginning with "John Martyn's" down and dirty, Tom Waits-esque blues number, "Glory Box." That's followed by a typically non-linear bit of horn-enhanced pop malarkey from "Cake," with its rendition of "Is This Love?" Once again, the listener is reminded of the disc's live qualities by a mid-song shout. This time, it's front man "John McCrea" telling someone to "Adjust The guitars!" The final gem in this trio comes courtesy of "Joe Henry" performing "Monkey," a song originally found on one of 1999s best albums, "Fuse." Perfectly highlighting Henry's askew lyrical takes on all too common situations, and his highly compelling voice, it's my favorite track on the disc.

It's not the first time music from "Morning Becomes Eclectic" has been compiled and released on CD - four previous discs of material were put out under the moniker "Rare On Air." It won't be the last time, either, as Mammoth has plans to make a series of releases out of "Morning Becomes Eclectic," offerings. If this collection is any indication, you may be finding these discs in CD collections for years to come.