Hip-Hop Collective Doomtree On Getting Seven Artists In One Room
The Minneapolis rap crew is back with the album All Hands. NPR’s Arun Rath speaks with members Dessa and P.O.S.
Tag: NPR
Dengue Fever: Retro Pop, Cambodian Style
Brothers Ethan and Zac Holtzman formed Dengue Fever in the late ’90s, inspired by 1960s Cambodian psych-rock. Rachel Martin speaks with them and singer Chhom Nimol about their album, The Deepest Lake.
AraabMuzik: ‘I Have So Much Music, It Doesn’t Make Sense’
The Rhode Island-born producer and DJ tells the story of the father/son talk he once had with Cam’ron, delineates EDM and hip-hop and calls out the whole music industry for being flaky.
Sleater-Kinney’s Deleted Scenes
The beloved punk trio is back after nearly a decade away. Hear a few candid thoughts from the members about singing, live performance and having famous fans.
First Listen: Jessica Pratt, ‘On Your Own Love Again’
With little more than a weary sigh, the singer flips the banal into the magical; she makes listeners wonder about the circumstances she describes.
First Listen: Amason, ‘Sky City’
Never locked to one mood, these vibrant, polished songs convey the spirit of a variety show in concert. But on Sky City, they replicate the intimacy and care of a great mixtape.
First Listen: The Lone Bellow, ‘Then Came The Morning’
The Brooklyn band’s music has always had a larger-than-life flamboyance about it. But on Then Came The Morning, it’s elevated by nuance that ventures frequently and welcomely into grace.
Pop Zeus & Wyatt Blair, ‘I’ve Never Been More Alive’
Hear a posthumous pop song by Pop Zeus’ Mikey Hodges, an underground musician who died in a December motorcycle crash.
Daniel Lanois: Tiny Desk Concert
The producer presides over an all-instrumental, free-form trio with drummer Brian Blade and bassist Jim Wilson. Lanois never says a word, but he sculpts some serious, hypnotic sounds.
First Listen: Belle And Sebastian, ‘Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance’
The Glaswegian folk-pop band’s ninth album feels light on its feet, but without sacrificing the thoughtful, careful precision for which Stuart Murdoch and his collaborators are known.
First Listen: Until The Ribbon Breaks, ‘A Lesson Unlearnt’
The cinematic full-length debut from British producer Pete Lawrie-Winfield moves from spare piano and voice to moments that simulate the sound of smoldering rubble in a post-apocalyptic world.
First Listen: Viet Cong, ‘Viet Cong’
The band’s frigid, deafening, brutalist post-punk nods toward experimentalism. A massive production, Viet Cong’s self-titled debut culminates in a furious bonfire of rage and release.
First Listen: Sleater-Kinney, ‘No Cities To Love’
The rock trio’s first album since 2005 sounds as fresh and vital as a debut, but also as nuanced and skillful as the work of three players with a decade-long, inimitable rapport betwixt them.
First Listen: Red Baraat, ‘Gaadi Of Truth’
Along with the brass band’s Punjabi roots, you’re likely to hear ’70s-style D.C. go-go beats, hip-hop, funk, trance-inducing South Asian Qawwali sounds and traces of South American cumbia.
opbmusic Presents: Angel Olsen
Olsen showcases her impressively agile voice before an enthralled audience at the Pickathon 2014 Woods Stage. Watch her perform “Stars.”
With Downloads In Decline, Can iTunes Adapt?
Digital downloads of iTunes fell sharply in 2014, as consumers abandoned Apple’s music store in favor of cheap, easy-to-use subscription services.
First Listen: Kat Dahlia, ‘My Garden’
The Cuban-American singer-songwriter’s debut is filled with the fire that comes from being in an abusive relationship. She’s been in love, hurt, scared and angry — but she’s nobody’s fool.
First Listen: Dan Mangan + Blacksmith, ‘Club Meds’
On the Vancouver songwriter’s fourth album, he plays with abrupt changes of tone and texture. Carefully conceived instrumental passages expand upon — and sometimes upend — his lyrics.
First Listen: Anonymous 4, ‘1865’
The beloved vocal quartet says goodbye with an all-American album that suits our troubled times. These Civil War and Reconstruction songs help us reflect on what divides us and binds us together.
Starting 2015 On The Right Foot: An Alt.Latino Dance Mix
Let’s start the year right! NPR’s Otis Hart stops by to spin some hot new Latin electronic dance music.