First Listen: Skatebård, ‘CDIII’
Clocking in at 80 minutes, CDIII finds Skatebård having copious fun with dance-music tropes across its 11 tracks, as the producer mixes heavy beat programming with lighter touches.
Tag: NPR
Review: Dexter Story, ‘Wondem’
What happens when a veteran L.A. soul and jazz instrumentalist discovers the music of Ethiopia? The answer: a world of influence and possibility.
Review: Neon Indian, ‘VEGA INTL. Night School’
On the band’s new album, old and new technologies come together in a sly but seemingly sincere way, with throwback results that keep the prospect of a party in mind.
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah: Tiny Desk Concert
Artists don’t usually tell long, rambling stories for us. They don’t usually name their tunes “Ku Klux Police Department.” The trumpeter presents his jazz-hybridized “stretch music” in performance.
First Listen: Small Black, ‘Best Blues’
It’s a testament to Small Black’s knack for pop architecture that the synth-pop band can comment on human folly and loss while still sounding breezy.
First Listen: Chris Walla, ‘Tape Loops’
After 17 years in Death Cab For Cutie, Walla has a solo album full of ambient, hand-crafted, subtly enveloping instrumental music.
Deqn Sue: Tiny Desk Concert
The witty, powerful, heartfelt performer came so close to winning NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert Contest, we just had to see her play in person.
Review: Protomartyr, ‘The Agent Intellect’
The Detroit post-punk band’s third album simmers, ponders and haunts while dripping venom. The Agent Intellect represents a huge step, both upward and inward.
First Listen: St. Germain, ‘St. Germain’
The bestselling French DJ and producer returns with his first album in 15 years, aided by the great guitarist Guimba Kouyate.
First Listen: Saintseneca, ‘Such Things’
The Ohio band spends its new album shoehorning deep, dark ideas into pocket-sized pop-rock anthems. Every word and sound feels thoughtfully wrought, but Such Things also exudes freewheeling joy.
Marian McLaughlin Explains ‘Spirit House’ Track By Track
The guitarist offers commentary on each song from her new album, which you can hear in its entirety.
Joan Shelley: Tiny Desk Concert
As technology rules the sound of the day, it’s good to be reminded how powerfully a single voice can transmit deep emotion.
Review: Born Ruffians, ‘Ruff’
These are urgent, churning songs that sound like they needed to happen. They feel like gurglings from some nervous and squirmy place deep inside that had to be placated or purged.
First Listen: Wavves, ‘V’
As the leader of Wavves, Nathan Williams has spent five albums grafting big emotions onto a restless runaround of energetic pop-punk and stoner fuzz.
Review: Autre Ne Veut, ‘Age Of Transparency’
Arthur Ashin draws on R&B tropes in his music, but rather than soundtrack a romantic moment, the songs instead voice the anxious thoughts that surround love.
Review: Childbirth, ‘Women’s Rights’
Seattle trio is the face of young, brash, punk feminism, making serious light of what it means to be a woman in the modern world
First Listen: Deafheaven, ‘New Bermuda’
After the crossover success of 2013’s Sunbather, New Bermuda is a resounding rebuttal to complacency. Entrenched in dark and decidedly classic metal moves, it’s got a seeking spirit that rages.
First Listen: Eagles Of Death Metal, ‘Zipper Down’
Josh Homme and Jesse Hughes’ new album may have taken seven years to make, but it still sounds as if they’d jumped out of a plane and recorded it on the way down.
Review: Chvrches, ‘Every Open Eye’
The Scottish pop band has fun on Every Open Eye, but its disco ball is tiled with galvanized steel. The whole album fizzes with jolting, unapologetic electricity.
First Listen: Underachievers, ‘Evermore: The Art Of Duality’
The Flatbush, Brooklyn rap duo explores the concept of opposites, both complementary and contradictory, on their sophomore album.