Jason Bentley (born July 27, 1970) is an American radio

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. On December 1, 2008, Bentley replaced Nic Harcourt as the host of ''

Morning Becomes Eclectic ''Morning Becomes Eclectic'' (MBE) is a three-hour adult album alternative radio program first aired in 1977 and broadcast live every weekday from KCRW in Santa Monica, California. The show's name is a play on the Eugene O'Neill trilogy of plays, ...

'' and as Music Director for KCRW. Previously he had hosted two radio programs: ''Afterhours'' on KROQ-FM, and ''Metropolis'' on KCRW, the latter for 16 years until November 28, 2008. Bentley and KCRW revived Metropolis in 2013; the show currently airs Saturdays in the 8PM to 10 PM slot. Bentley's family moved from Boston's

Jamaica Plain Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood of in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Settled by Puritans seeking farmland to the south, it was originally part of the former Town of Roxbury, now also a part of the City of Boston. The commun ...

neighborhood to

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...

when he was 13. Jason began his career at KCRW as a phone volunteer in July 1988. Jason later attended

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

and worked as a DJ at their college station

KXLU KXLU (88.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting out of Loyola Marymount University in southwest Los Angeles, California. It was first on the air in 1957, and in 2007, celebrated its 50th anniversary. It is a non-commercial college radio statio ...

. He was recruited by former KCRW Music Director

Chris Douridas Chris Douridas (born September 20, 1962) is an American popular DJ and musical tastemaker at Santa Monica, California's radio station KCRW, where he hosts a two-hour program showcasing progressive new music. He is also a filmmaker, actor, televis ...

after a softball game between the two stations in 1991 and he began working at KCRW on-air starting in the summer of 1992. In 1995 Bentley co-founded the influential Los Angeles club night "bossa:nova" with Bruno Guez, and George Ghiz. The club began life as an extension of the record label Quango Music Group, an imprint on Island Records, and hosted many well-known DJs from around the world, including Daft Punk,

Groove Armada Groove Armada are an English electronic music duo, composed of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay. They achieved chart success with their singles "At the River", " I See You Baby" and " Superstylin'". The duo have released nine studio albums, four of w ...

, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Lazy Dog, and

Gilles Peterson Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a French broadcaster, DJ, and record label owner. He founded the influential labels Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud, and started his current label Brow ...

. Bentley remained a part of the regular "bossa:nova" night until the end of its run in 2008. In 2004, Bentley was part of a group that successfully lobbied the

Recording Academy The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...

to add a Best Electronic/Dance Album category to the Grammy Awards. Bentley collaborated with other artists on remixes, such as '' Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell'' by The Flaming Lips. He also coordinated music for all three Matrix films, as well as '' The Animatrix'', Matrix

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

titles and the film '' Tron:Legacy''. Other films that include his music credits include '' City of Industry'', '' The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury'', '' Green Street Hooligans'', ''Shooting Gallery'', and '' DOA: Dead or Alive''. In the video game field, he has worked on ''

Full Spectrum Warrior ''Full Spectrum Warrior'' is a real-time tactics video game developed by Pandemic Studios and published by THQ for Xbox, Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 2. A sequel titled '' Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers'' was later released. Gameplay ...

'', '' Destroy All Humans!'', and '' The Matrix: Path of Neo''. Bentley appeared on Season 5 of ''

Top Chef Masters ''Top Chef Masters'' is an American reality competition series that aired on the cable television network Bravo, and premiered June 10, 2009. It is a spinoff of Bravo's hit show ''Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition te ...

'' as a judge of the Quickfire competition held in Episode 4. On June 13, 2019, Bentley announced that he is relinquishing his duties as KCRW's Music Director and host of ''Morning Becomes Eclectic'' after 10 years on August 30 (2019), but will continue hosting the station's mix show ''Metropolis'' on Saturday nights."Jason Bentley To Step Down As KCRW MD/Morning Becomes Eclectic Host"
from Radio Insight (June 13, 2019)

References

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External links

Conversation with Jason Bentley and Danger Mouse – June 21, 2006
*
KCRW's ''Metropolis'' webpage

Early 1990s Jason Bentley Mixed Tapes

Jason Bentley at KCRW.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, Jason 1970 births American radio DJs Living people Loyola Marymount University alumni