KCRW Show Falls Short of an Eclectic Evening

The first concert produced by KCRW-FM, Friday’s “A Sounds Eclectic Evening” at the Wiltern Theatre bore the influential public station’s stamp as clearly as its call letters decorated the red-light-topped radio tower on stage. The four-hour station fund-raiser offered a sampling of acts featured on the popular show “Morning Becomes Eclectic.”

Eclectic? Well, some groused that the lineup--Sparklehorse, Badly Drawn Boy, Pete Yorn, Elliott Smith, Shelby Lynne and Ozomatli--tipped in favor of mid-tempo, country-and folk-influenced music. But in fact the approximately 30-minute sets mixed genteel artfulness, straight-ahead rock, offbeat twang and multi-culti grooves.

Indeed, although both English eccentric Badly Drawn Boy (a.k.a. Damon Gough) and American singer-songwriter Smith played intimate acoustic sets featuring new material, their approaches varied greatly. Smith sat, strummed and sang in the usual fashion. But the annoyingly random Gough only performed a couple actual songs between insulting Osama bin Laden and previewing tunes written for the movie “About a Boy” by singing along to recorded music played on a portable cassette machine and over the PA.

The high-energy Ozomatli injected some very necessary color into the proceedings with its danceable stew of Latin, funk, hip-hop and rock. Lynne’s earthy, similarly energetic performance fused country, rock and R&B;, putting the spotlight on tunes from her new album, “Love, Shelby.” But the material paled next to her powerful voice, which shifted at will from a honeyed purr to a belting wail.

Lynne’s music was as straightforward as Sparklehorse’s strange folk was bent. Led by singer-songwriter Mark Linkous, the group blended Neil Young-esque cracked vocals, airy string arrangements, and post-punk driving buzz on keyboards, vibes, cello, violin and guitar. Selections from the current “It’s a Wonderful Life” and other works made for the evening’s most atmospheric turn.

Out of place amid all this personality was the generic pop-rock of Pete Yorn and his band, who opened with part of Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City” and played David Bowie’s “China Girl” but didn’t offer even remotely memorable originals.