Featured Videos
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Title Tracks Live At WAMU
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Thaylobleu Live At WAMU
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More Humans Live At WAMU 88.5
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Laney Jones And The Spirits Live At The Wilderness Bureau
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Mount Moriah Live At The Wilderness Bureau
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Sun Club Live At The Wilderness Bureau
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Watch: Two Inch Astronaut Detonates At WAMU 88.5
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Bayonne Live At The Wilderness Bureau
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Possessed By Paul James Live At WAMU
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Mellow Diamond Live At The Wilderness Bureau
Near and Far
Review: Muddy Magnolias, ‘Broken People’
Call Muddy Magnolias rock, soul or even country: The huge, soulful, uplifting voices of Jessy Wilson and Kallie North will fill whatever space opens up to them.
Review: Swet Shop Boys, ‘Cashmere’
Rappers Heems and Riz MC (the latter an actor known for his starring role in HBO’s The Night Of) address South Asian identity with insight, poignancy and infectious humor.
First Listen Live: Drive-By Truckers, ‘American Band’
Filmed live at OPB in Portland, Ore., the long-running rock group tackles social and political issues with firebrand zeal. Watch Drive-By Truckers perform American Band in its entirety.
Fire And Strength: D.C. Singer Akua Allrich Gears Up For Another Simone/Makeba Tribute
D.C. singer Akua Allrich has been performing annual tributes to Nina Simone and Miriam Makeba for eight years, but with…
Common: Tiny Desk Concert At The White House
It was an offer we couldn’t pass up: The veteran rapper fronting an all-star band at the White House, for the very first Tiny Desk Concert to take place outside NPR’s offices.
Songs Cycles: Jenny Hval On The Importance Of Uncertainty
“It can be really tough to be bold,” says the Norwegian art-pop singer of her approach to performance. On her sixth album, Blood Bitch, she aims to balance provocation and complexity.
Hear Solange’s Bold And Beautiful ‘A Seat At The Table’
Solange calls her new album “a project on identity, empowerment, independence, grief and healing.” It’s a floating melange of R&B, bold in its quiet and understated sounds, bolder in its message.
Review: Helado Negro, ‘Private Energy’
The latest album by musician Roberto Lange mixes his unmistakable keyboard sounds with stripped-down dance beats and lyrics waiting to be assigned a narrative from your own life.
First Listen: Conor Oberst, ‘Ruminations’
Oberst’s distinctive warble is set against a spare patchwork of acoustic guitar, piano and the occasional harmonica, drawing most of the attention to his dark, personal words.
Review: Brent Cobb, ‘Shine On Rainy Day’
On his first full-length album, the young country singer-songwriter imaginatively teases out the subtle textures of small-town life.
Review: Phish, ‘Big Boat’
The band’s 13th album feels like a tonal sequel to 2014’s terrific Fuego, thanks to a balanced ear for Phish’s on-stage exuberance and sonic cohesion.
Review: Shovels & Rope, ‘Little Seeds’
Parenthood gives the husband-and-wife Americana duo the will to rock on an album that’s informed by both birth and death.
D.C.’s Fat Trel Covers ‘Broccoli,’ Because Why Not
The chipper, profane rap hit “Broccoli” by D.R.A.M. and Lil Yachty has spawned a steady stream of remixes. That blocky…
Sun Machines Are Back With An Interstellar Tale That Any Teleworker Can Relate To
Greg Gendron is no stranger to feeling like a kind of isolated, home-sick astronaut. He’s been a submariner with the Navy; he also spent a good five years in a foreign land — Japan. So it probably makes perfect sense that his duo, Sun Machines, revolves around the concept of space travel, in all its excitement and weirdness.
1966 Vs. 1971: When ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ Became ‘Rock,’ And What We Lost
Two books about two crucial years in the story of rock and roll, taken together, reveal how the genre shrank to become the playground of white men with guitars.
Review: Pixies, ‘Head Carrier’
The inspired Head Carrier reaffirms all the spark, wit and weirdness, tempered by the occasional burst of emotional rawness, that made people fall in love with the Pixies in the first place.
Review: Drive-By Truckers, ‘American Band’
American Band, the long-running rock band’s 11th album, lives up to its name in how it digests, understands and challenges the notions of what it means to be American.
Review: Jenny Hval, ‘Blood Bitch’
On her sixth album, the Norwegian singer Jenny Hval aims for impact, surrounding her vulnerable voice with spiky, disarming instrumentation that bolsters the intensity and intimacy of her songs.
Review: Bob Weir, ‘Blue Mountain’
On this long-awaited solo album, the Grateful Dead veteran showcases his songwriting gifts with the aid of collaborators such as Josh Ritter and The National’s Bryce and Aaron Dessner.
Review: John Prine, ‘For Better, Or Worse’
On the cusp of his 70th birthday, the revered singer-songwriter sets down his pen to explore country classics with some stellar duet partners.