Nabihah Iqbal: KCRW Guest DJ set

Settle in for the dulcet tones, and stellar song selects of Nabihah Iqbal’s KCRW guest DJ set. The UK artist is fresh off of her first time playing in LA — a wildly successful show at the Echo in support of the exquisitely composed, reverb drenched New Wave soundscapes of her latest LP DREAMER.

A well established radio host in her own right, Iqbal takes our assignment to tell her musical life story through roughly 20 minutes of song choices and passes with flying colors. Tune in for a Jackson family deep cut, peak Oasis, Bollywood dreams, and cathartic screams via At the Drive-In.

Get the full scoop (in Iqbal’s own words) below.

Michael Jackson – “Don't Stop ‘Til You Get Enough (Original Home Demo)”

Nabihah Iqbal: Michael Jackson is my number one original musical obsession, but I'm not going to play something too familiar. I've got some of his early, early demo recordings so I'll play one of those to make it a little bit more interesting. We're starting with the original demo for “Don't stop ‘Til You Get Enough” which Michael Jackson recorded at home with his siblings doing the percussion parts on glass bottles and cutlery. And you're going to hear all of it.

Oasis – “Live Forever”

Oasis were the first band that I really got obsessed with, probably from the age of seven onwards. Their album Definitely Maybe was the first CD I ever bought. “Live Forever” is from that album, and it’s probably still my favorite Oasis track. It’s always nice to hear that one again, and reminisce about the good Oasis era. Are they ever going to talk to each other again, and get back together? Who knows?

Lata Mangeshkar – “Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya”

To be honest, my parents were not particularly musical. But I can remember watching this really old Bollywood film [with my family] called Mughal-E-Azam, and it's become one of my favorite films ever. It's a tragic love story — based on a true story. Set in the Mughal era with Akbar’s son who falls in love with a courtesan, and then obviously can't be with… She gets killed at the end.

This song is taken from the film, and it's called “Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya” which [basically] translates to “Why should I be afraid of loving?” The lyrics are really moving, and the visuals of the film are incredible.

At the Drive-In – “One Armed Scissor”

I have to pick a song from my teenage angst, grungy alternative era and I've chosen At the Drive-In with “One Armed Scissor.” I remember seeing them play live at Reading Festival in England when I was 16, and I still think it was the best weekend of my entire life to date. So it just reminded me of all of that, and this one's for all the late ‘90s, early 2000s teens who were listening to all of this stuff back in the day.