First Listen: Daughn Gibson, ‘Carnation’
On his surprising, complex third album, Gibson outlines dark and alluring tales of horror and despair, human struggle and eternal regret.
Tag: NPR
Songs We Love: Vince Staples, ‘Senorita’
The 21-year-old Long Beach native continues to establish himself as one of West Coast rap’s most important voices with his new single “Senorita.”
History Runs Through Daniel Bachman’s Guitar
The acoustic guitarist’s “Song For The Setting Sun II” boldly leaps around a sunlit room in Stratford Hall, home to four generations of Virginia’s Lee family.
Someday We’ll All Be Free: 100 Hours Of Soulful Protest Music
R&B music with a message isn’t a recent or strictly American phenomenon. Jason King explores the theme of protest music with an eclectic mix of soulful songs about resistance and revolution.
First Listen: Joshua Redman & The Bad Plus, ‘The Bad Plus Joshua Redman’
The rangy, prolific jazz trio teams up with the tenor-sax great for a journey into the murky, terrifying, thrilling unknown.
First Listen: Los Hijos De La Montaña, ‘Los Hijos De La Montaña’
Y La Bamba’s lead singer teams up with the head of the thrilling neo-mambo band Sergio Mendoza Y La Orkesta. The result is somehow even greater than the sum of its parts.
First Listen: Shana Cleveland & The Sandcastles, ‘Oh Man, Cover The Ground’
Best known as the guitarist and singer for Seattle girl-group/surf-rock hybrid La Luz, Cleveland has made a delicate and inward-facing solo debut.
First Listen: Unknown Mortal Orchestra, ‘Multi-Love’
Inspired by a complex relationship in his past, frontman Ruban Nielson makes his sweetest, catchiest, most impeccably crafted music yet.
B.B. King, Legendary Blues Guitarist, Dies At 89
The great bluesman was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and toured relentlessly his whole life, wringing peerless emotion out of every note he played.
Join Bandwidth For NPR Music’s ‘Songs We Love’ Live
NPR Music is putting its “Songs We Love” series in front of a live audience. On May 21 at NPR’s Studio 1,…
Tiny Music Royalties Add Up, Unexpectedly
The Internet is full of music, but not all of it generates income for composers and songwriters. Services that specialize in “micro-licensing” are helping to fix that.
First Listen: J*Davey, ‘POMP’
The duo returns from a three-year hiatus with a plan to reclaim its spot among R&B’s avant-garde. POMP, as its title implies, is intended to be a big deal, and it accomplishes that goal.
First Listen: Circuit Des Yeux, ‘In Plain Speech’
Until now, Circuit des Yeux has been a singular entity. But Haley Fohr refocuses the intensity of past records in full-band arrangements that glide even as they exude delirious urgency.
First Listen: Jim O’Rourke, ‘Simple Songs’
The musician and producer has seemed to make a game of setting out challenges that can be solved, bested and subverted in surprising ways.
First Listen: Faith No More, ‘Sol Invictus’
The band’s first album in 18 years sounds lean and to the point, and it doesn’t let up. Along the way, playfulness and aggression intermingle to the point where it’s hard to tell them apart.
First Listen: The Milk Carton Kids, ‘Monterey’
The duo’s sound feels lighter and looser than ever, sacrificing the tiniest bit of pristineness for a much-needed note of softly scuffed-up grace.
First Listen: Daniel Bachman, ‘River’
The guitarist, an outstanding young purveyor of a form called American Primitive, finds new levels of sharpness and confidence in River‘s seven masterful songs.
First Listen: Holly Herndon, ‘Platform’
Platform draws drama out of changes in speed and texture and many little parts that work together to make a sort of musical machine.
Review: Patrick Watson, ‘Love Songs For Robots’
The Montreal singer-songwriter’s brain seems to overflow with wise and exacting ways to reflect on the way hearts work.
Review: Tyondai Braxton, ‘HIVE1’
What sets the Battles mastermind’s new album apart is its playfulness — the feeling that experimenting with sound is a joyful game rather than an academic exercise.