Foxygen On World Cafe
While we anxiously wait for Foxygen’s upcoming double album release, here are four songs from the band’s album, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic.
Category: Sounds
First Listen: ‘Sweetheart 2014’
The Sweetheart compilations adhere to a simple concept in which well-liked contemporary artists cover well-liked classic love songs just in time for Valentine’s Day. This year’s participants include Fiona Apple, Vampire Weekend, Sharon Jones, Ben Harper, Jim James, Beck, Valerie June and more.
First Listen: Jeremy Messersmith, ‘Heart Murmurs’
With its subtle strings and sly infectiousness, Heart Murmurs is no less than an attempt to craft a new batch of pop standards. Whether Messersmith succeeds depends mostly on how many people are lucky enough to hear him.
First Listen: Marissa Nadler, ‘July’
On her sixth album, the Bostonian singer-songwriter gets darker and more sinister than ever before. Its title must refer to a cold, polarizing kind of July, with the frigid climes that accompany an early-February release.
First Listen: Gina Chavez, ‘Up.Rooted’
Whether she sings in English or Spanish, Chavez captures a healthy dose of American soul, country and rock music, and she could hold her own with any Mexican ranchera singer, past or present.
First Listen: CEO, ‘Wonderland’
Wonderland is, at times, superficially soothing and fun, an almost hedonistic paean. But not far beneath the surface lies something more unsettling and challenging: a statement about isolation and loneliness and a delicate search for meaning.
First Listen: Robert Ellis, ‘The Lights From The Chemical Plant’
Ellis eludes categorization within either mainstream country or Americana music by going the route of both formats’ greatest maverick craftsmen; you’ll hear Merle Haggard here along with Willie Nelson, and a bit of Rodney Crowell’s sparkle.
On ‘Hard Working Americans,’ Songs For The Ordinary Joe
Todd Snider, Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools and Duane Trucks perform in a new band that specializes in covering working-class songs.
Lafayette Gilchrist: An Old Soul, At Ease In A Modern World
On Gilchrist’s The View From Here, go-go dance beats inform his piano the same way freight-train boogie-woogie does.
Uneven But Vital, Bruce Springsteen Has ‘High Hopes’
His 18th album is a mixed-bag assortment of covers and originals brimming with undimmed eagerness.
Luscious Jackson Hits A Sweet Spot With New Children’s Album
After more than a decade apart, the ’90s band reconvened for a new album, Magic Hour. But along with it, the trio — all mothers — released a children’s album called Baby DJ. Reviewer Stefan Shepherd says Baby DJ played a role in Luscious Jackson getting back together.
Bob Boilen’s Favorite Lyrics Of 2013
Often, great words are the secret ingredient in great songs: the emotion, the insight, the connection hidden beneath the surface. All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen shares the lyrics that caught his ear this year.
Top 10 Top 40 Of 2013
At the end of a year in which pop songs were a constant, provocative part of the national conversation, NPR Music critic Ann Powers sifts through the 100 most popular songs of the year to highlight 10 pure pop pleasures worth remembering.
Top 10 Slept-On R&B Songs Of The Year
Finding new and excellent R&B is a scavenger hunt, one that winds through blogs, Tumblr and Twitter. Here are the 10 songs that didn’t make the pop charts, but should have got more love.
10 Favorite World Music Albums Of 2013
Discover 10 surprising, sophisticated and stellar albums released this year by artists around the globe, from electronica by way of Sudan to 1960s-style French/Brazilian cool.
5 Songs That Tell The Story Of R&B In 2013
2013 was a big commercial year for all things R&B and soul music. But you can’t exactly call it a banner year artistically. From throwback to eccentric to gut-wrenching, these songs suggest the state of R&B in 2013.
A Bumper Crop Of Classical Box Sets
It’s been a banner year for classical box sets. Deceptive Cadence hosts Anastasia Tsioulcas and Tom Huizenga tell us why and choose a few of their favorites.
Wade In The Water: 5 Jazz Takes On Spirituals
The songs were a byproduct of slavery in the U.S. But after being passed along by generations of African-American musicians, they were later embraced by a variety of improvisers, including Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Grant Green and John Coltrane.
William Parker’s Abstract Grooves Collected In Box Set
With six concerts spread over eight discs, Wood Flute Songs documents the bassist’s exhaustive and creative live output.
27 Years Ago, Keith Jarrett Was A One-Man Band
In 1986, the iconic jazz pianist experimented with drums, bass and electric guitar in his home studio. Decades later, he’s finally released the tapes. Reviewer Banning Eyre says that on No End, Jarrett seems to cherish rediscovering a side of his younger self.