Review: Ratatat, ‘Magnifique’
These are rock instrumentals that needn’t overcompensate for their lack of words. They don’t strain to be heard or scramble to stand out, but instead convey coolness that seems effortless.
Tag: NPR
Review: ‘Nina Revisited… A Tribute To Nina Simone’
The tribute, which strives to update Simone’s ability to capture the hope and rage of the ’60s for a contemporary audience, features six songs performed by Ms. Lauryn Hill.
Oddisee: Tiny Desk Concert
The charismatic Brooklyn-via-D.C.-area rapper creates just the right amount of space in his music. Here, he performs three songs live in the NPR Music offices.
Review: Miguel, ‘Wildheart’
His third album manages to capture an emotional precinct, an impression of a complex city going through changes and a man working to define real intimacy in the midst of so much tarnished beauty.
Review: Joy Williams, ‘VENUS’
VENUS is the chronicle and result of Williams breaking free of her past projects. Formerly half of The Civil Wars, Williams explores a more adventurous pop sound on her first solo album.
Review: Neil Young + Promise Of The Real, ‘The Monsanto Years’
These taut, righteously furious, stone-simple songs fit together under a catchall concept about companies wielding extraordinary influence over our quality of life.
Review: Matt Pond PA, ‘The State Of Gold’
The band’s 10th album sounds at home among its many predecessors, satisfyingly reconciled between Matt Pond PA’s restless drive and its rustic roots.
Review: The Velvet Teen, ‘All Is Illusory’
The band has always had a flair for the sonically dramatic. On its first album in nine years, there’s a euphoric energy that never really lets go.
First Listen: Vince Staples, ‘Summertime ’06’
The Long Beach rapper can be that villain you root for, but he’s even better at showing us the complex, varied pieces that make up a real man.
First Watch: Beauty Pill, ‘Steven & Tiwonge’
The D.C. band’s emotional song, inspired by the story of a real-life couple, gets an abstract, mood-driven video to evoke feelings of anxiety and distress.
Review: Bully, ‘Feels Like’
Sweet and fizzy, barbed and aggressive, these are speeding-with-the-windows-down songs. But they also feel true to the life of the charismatic ball of nerves at their core.
Review: Desaparecidos, ‘Payola’
Conor Oberst’s agitated, political punk band returns with its first album in 13 years — just in time to respond to a new generation of outrage-inducing headlines.
Review: Meg Baird, ‘Don’t Weigh Down The Light’
The Philly singer, once of the psych-folk band Espers, makes Sunday-morning music that sets her celestial voice against dreamy electric guitar.
Review: Wolf Alice, ‘My Love Is Cool’
Five years and three EPs after its inception, Wolf Alice’s origin story is starting to look less like whimsy and more like self-fulfilling prophecy.
First Listen: Son Lux, ‘Bones’
Thanks in part to Ryan Lott’s expanding roster of collaborators, Bones is the sound of restless, forward-thinking musicians as they search for something new.
First Listen: Leon Bridges, ‘Coming Home’
A young singer who works in the mode of classic soul, Leon Bridges’ songs are made with deep respect and bottomless affection, and his studied appropriations are so detailed that they come alive.
Apple’s New Music Streaming Service Under Antitrust Scrutiny
Investigators want to know if music companies are colluding with subscription services such as Apple Music to squeeze out free, ad-supported streaming.
Ornette Coleman, Jazz Iconoclast, Dies At 85
The American jazz saxophonist and composer who liberated jazz from conventional harmony, tonality, structure and expectation, died Thursday of cardiac arrest in Manhattan at age 85.
Apple Announces Music Streaming Service
The tech giant, whose iTunes store is the recording industry’s largest retailer, finally unveiled its streaming service, which will cost $9.99 a month for unlimited access to music.
First Listen: Sarah Cracknell, ‘Red Kite’
Saint Etienne’s urbane singer goes to the country on her first solo album since 1997. Based in quirky orchestration and folk-flecked acoustic instruments, it’s unerringly melodic throughout.