Episodes
After 12 years, pianist Awadagin Pratt rediscovers his sweet spot
August 28, 2023 10:27Absent from the recording studio for more than a decade, the restless musician has commissioned six composers for his new album. (Image credit: Rob Davidson/Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
'Verdi Choruses' showcases the impressive variety of a master's choral music
August 27, 2023 10:09Verdi imagined each of his operas painted with a different tincture. Conductor Riccardo Chailly puts together an exciting new album of Verdi's choruses, from his best known to his most obscure. * This article was originally published here
Wayne Shorter, From Here to Eternity
August 26, 2023 10:21Nearly six months after his death, a tribute concert and a documentary attempt to capture the spirit of the perpetually exploring saxophonist and composer. (Image credit: Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images) * This article was originally published here
Becca Mancari fights for their existence with an expanded pop palette
August 25, 2023 10:24On Left Hand, Mancari positions themselves in the eye of sonic storms to communicate emotional truths with startling clarity. (Image credit: Sophia Matinazad/Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
'They Live In My Head' is as vital any album the Bush Tetras have ever made
August 22, 2023 10:21Bush Tetras formed in NYC in 1979, at the height of the punk era. Decades later, the band brings a sustained energy to a new album, an urgency to get things said and to make some different sounds. * This article was originally published here
Jazz pianist Sonny Clark gets first-class treatment on a new box set collection
August 17, 2023 10:21Clark recorded nine sessions with the prestigious Blue Note label between 1957 and '61. A new set featuring his work as band leader for the label showcases his crisp, tuneful creativity. * This article was originally published here
From NPR's 'Alt Latino,' a review of Karol G's 'Manana Sera Bonito: Bichota Season'
August 15, 2023 10:24NPR's Alt Latino host Anamaria Sayre reviews Colombian singer Karol G's second album of the year, Manana Sera Bonito: Bichota Season. * This article was originally published here
MeShell Ndegeocello shows off her range and experience on 'Omnichord'
August 11, 2023 10:06Ndegeocello has combined soul, funk, pop, hip-hop and jazz to create a unique body of work over the course of her more than 30-year career. Now in her 50s, her latest album is The Omnichord Real Book. * This article was originally published here
2 Live Crew fought the law with its album, 'As Nasty As They Wanna Be'
August 10, 2023 10:25In 1989, 2 Live Crew's As Nasty As They Wanna Be became the first album declared legally obscene, and the group's legal battles set a precedent for the rappers that followed. (Image credit: Raymond Boyd / Contributor/Getty Images / Michael Ochs Archives) * This article was originally published here
Eric B. & Rakim change the flow of rap with 'Paid in Full'
August 04, 2023 10:15With their 1987 debut album Paid in Full, Eric B. & Rakim introduced internal rhyme schemes to rap, and changed the flow of hip-hop forever. (Image credit: David Corio / Contributor/Getty Images) * This article was originally published here
Jessy Lanza's bubbly house music dwells in the moment
August 03, 2023 10:26On her new album, the electronic artist's hooks are bigger and her palette is brighter, but the void is ever-present. (Image credit: Trent Tomlinson/Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
Joni Mitchell's return 'At Newport' reconfigures her legacy
July 28, 2023 10:15The surprise performance at the Newport Folk Festival, now released as an album, is another exciting evolution in Joni Mitchell's notoriously chameleonic career. (Image credit: Nina Westervelt/Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
The Clientele, reliably dreamy for decades, tears up its delicate formula
July 27, 2023 10:13The long-running British band introduces drum-and-bass-tinged breakbeats, strings and dub production to its delicate indie pop. (Image credit: Andy Willsher/Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
Newly unearthed 1974 session by Clifford Jordan is a striking, one-of-a-kind album
July 21, 2023 10:12The tenor sax player came up in Chicago and toured in the '60s with Charles Mingus, Max Roach and Randy Weston. Jordan's forgotten album, Drink Plenty of Water, mixes singers with a small ensemble. * This article was originally published here
Blur's 'Ballad' to bittersweet midlife
July 20, 2023 10:28On The Ballad of Darren, the band's ninth album (and a surprise after years away), Damon Albarn and company understand the key to aging gracefully is noticing the things your younger self never could. (Image credit: Reuben Bastienne-Lewis/Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
Highlight tracks from Palehound's new album
July 18, 2023 10:24NPR music contributor Marissa Lorusso reviews Eye on the Bat, the latest album from indie band Palehound. * This article was originally published here
You can feel Palehound's songs in your gut
July 14, 2023 10:30El Kempner turns the force of their wiry indie rock toward collapse, yet the visceral palette of Eye on the Bat has an unexpectedly joyful quality. (Image credit: Tonje Thilesen/Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
Brian Blade the bandleader returns for a ride down 'Kings Highway'
July 13, 2023 10:27Recorded in 2018 but only now seeing daylight, it's the prolific drummer's first release in years at the head of his expressive and enduring Fellowship Band. (Image credit: Mimi Chakarova/Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
Mingus' 'Changes' is a mixed bag: Some brilliant music, then a hero's tragic fate
July 13, 2023 04:22In 1973, composer and bass virtuoso Charles Mingus signed his last recording contract with Atlantic; he'd stay with the label till his death in 1979. A new box set collects his music from that era. * This article was originally published here
The misplaced promise of Kim Petras
July 07, 2023 10:12With her debut album 'Feed the Beast,' the rising pop star is still in the process of figuring out where she wants to be in the pop music echelon. (Image credit: Luke Gilford) * This article was originally published here
Janelle Monáe explores masculine and feminine energies on 'The Age of Pleasure'
July 05, 2023 10:09Monáe has been releasing albums that mix R&B, pop and rap since 2007 — this is her first since 2018. Ken Tucker reviews the new album, then we listen back to our 2020 interview with the artist. * This article was originally published here
On her new album, Lucinda Williams asserts her legacy as a great American rock star
July 01, 2023 10:27On the singer-songwriter's 16th studio album Stories From a Rock n Roll Heart, Williams is at her most emotionally uncompromising and astute. (Image credit: Danny Clinch) * This article was originally published here
On Peso Pluma's 'Génesis,' the rising star holds fast to the sound of his ancestors
June 30, 2023 10:09The Mexican artist just made it official: this summer you can hit the club and get down to your grandparent's favorite dance music. (Image credit: Arenovski) * This article was originally published here
From soil to stars, the new Aizuri Quartet album offers a space to think
June 29, 2023 10:21The band's sophomore album, Earthdrawn Skies, connects the dots in wildly diverse music spanning eight centuries. (Image credit: Shervin Lainez/Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
On 'Time Ain't Accidental,' Jess Williamson is heartbroken, but open to love
June 27, 2023 10:21On the record's 11 songs of vividly detailed, windswept alt-country, Williamson's reeling from the aftermath of a breakup, driving on country highways and finding new love. (Image credit: Jackie Lee Young/Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
Peso Pluma opens up his book of 'Genesis'
June 26, 2023 10:24ENTER TEASER * This article was originally published here
One of pop music's unreliable narrators offers discomfort. (But can you trust him?)
June 25, 2023 10:24Four decades into his career, Lloyd Cole's On Pain finds this purveyor of guitar pop still exploring that hazy space where people question themselves and make excuses or promises they might not keep. (Image credit: Mark Dellas/Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
Here's the deal with King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
June 24, 2023 10:18How did an Australian band with no hits, modest media coverage and a ridiculous name find a massive audience? The group's metal-forward new album is a perfect example of how it weaponizes niche. (Image credit: Jason Galea/Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
Composer and saxophonist Henry Threadgill has a new album and a new book
June 23, 2023 10:12Threadgill's autobiography, written with Brent Hayes Edwards is called Easily Slip into Another World. His album, The Other One, is a three-movement composition written for a 12-piece ensemble. * This article was originally published here
Gunna's poised songs of rehabilitation
June 22, 2023 10:21a Gift and a Curse is the Atlanta rapper's most personable and purposeful album, one interrogating the values of the justice system, rap media and the court of public opinion with artful clarity. (Image credit: Paras Griffin/Getty Images) * This article was originally published here
Janelle Monáe's 'The Age of Pleasure' album is exactly that
June 20, 2023 10:30Monáe has been releasing albums that mix R&B, pop and rap since 2007 — this is the artist's first since 2018. In recent years, Monáe has appeared in the films Moonlight, Hidden Figures and Glass Onion. * This article was originally published here
Meshell Ndegeocello opens the lid on her self-contained world
June 18, 2023 10:18The artist's first album as a lead for Blue Note grew from a jarring realignment in her personal life. On The Omnichord Real Book, she finds ways to embrace jazz without taking on its baggage. (Image credit: Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
Where to start with country music weirdos Souled American? The end
June 17, 2023 10:15Out of print, odd and obscure, Souled American's esoteric take on country music is now available digitally for the first time. We asked composer Sarah Hennies to pick a place to begin. (Image credit: Jeff Hamand/Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
On a new Sigur Rós album, warmth and light push through the darkness
June 16, 2023 10:24ÁTTA, the band's first album in 10 years, sports an orchestra of strings, high-flying vocalism and its signature bittersweet melodies. (Image credit: Tim Dunk/Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
Nu metal never died — it just took a Memorrhage to remember
June 15, 2023 10:09Musician Garry Brents has been a prolific creator of extreme metal for years, but his latest project returns to his first love, '90s nu metal, through a dystopian lens. (Image credit: Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
On the easy-going 'Joy'all,' Jenny Lewis defiantly preaches the pursuit of happiness
June 12, 2023 10:09With a new home in Nashville, the singer-songwriter's fifth solo album is a laid-back affair full of zen-like wisdom that lands as guidance for a generation. (Image credit: Bobbi Rich) * This article was originally published here
Aja Monet's debut album fuses art and advocacy, poet and performer
June 11, 2023 10:24The poet's first recording with a band, when the poems do what they do, lends an emphatic new authority to her words, which she delivers with a hypnotist's composure. (Image credit: Fanny Chu/Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
With 'Fountain Baby,' Amaarae redefines herself as a pop auteur
June 10, 2023 10:15By training her eyes on multiple targets, the singer challenges listeners to widen their points of view, compelling them to place her in spaces she's found belonging, not where she's been assigned. (Image credit: Josh Croll) * This article was originally published here
Foo Fighters' 'But Here We Are' is heavy, in every sense of the word
June 03, 2023 10:15These songs ache with loss, even as they explode in full-bore rock mayhem, and that loss extends beyond the deaths of loved ones. (Image credit: Scarlet Page/Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
A new CD set captures the 'Greatest Moments' of opera star Renée Fleming
May 28, 2023 10:21This set features excerpts from most of Flemming's 26 roles at the NYC Met. Fleming's studio recordings have always captured her lovely voice; these live recordings prove her magic on the stage. * This article was originally published here
Wolf Eyes still mirrors and mutates reality
May 27, 2023 10:27Dreams in Splattered Lines refines the long-running noise band's approach to cinematic horror: still gross and grueling, but painted in thicker strokes of neon gloom. (Image credit: Disciples ) * This article was originally published here
Shirley Collins is an English folk song's bridge between now and then
May 26, 2023 10:24On Archangel Hill, memories of the English countryside, Collins' family and friends are embedded in each song, just out of reach for the listener but vivid as sunshine in her mind. (Image credit: Domino Recording Co.) * This article was originally published here
Kaytranada and Aminé come full circle
May 25, 2023 10:27Kaytranada and Aminé are two artists who have had to surmount a bit of outsider's anxiety. Their new collaborative album, KAYTRAMINÉ, finds them comfortable — with themselves and each other. (Image credit: Lucas Creighton) * This article was originally published here
On 'Gag Order,' Kesha gets intensely personal
May 23, 2023 10:27Listening to Kesha's new album, Gag Order, you can't help but think about all she's been through in the past 10 years. * This article was originally published here
It's time to get on the billy woods bandwagon
May 20, 2023 10:12A longtime hero of the underground rap scene for his worldly, wily lyrics that are erudite and streetwise, billy woods has made his clearest, most engaging album yet with Maps. (Image credit: B.A. Stubbs/Courtesy of the artist) * This article was originally published here
Brandy Clark is playing for keeps this time
May 19, 2023 10:15Produced by Brandi Carlile, the eponymous 11-song collection offers snapshots of Brandy Clark the person, not Brandy Clark the pen-for-hire. (Image credit: Warner Records) * This article was originally published here
At 25, Pernice Brothers' debut throws even brighter sparks — and darker shadows
May 18, 2023 10:03Threadbare demos on a new reissue of 1998's Overcome by Happiness illuminate Joe Pernice's songwriting paradox: Brill Building pop woven from homespun scruff, sarcastic but always sure-footed. (Image credit: New West Records) * This article was originally published here
Review: 'Bolero Apocalíptico' by Monsieur Periné
May 16, 2023 10:09Bolero Apocaliptico from Colombian duo Monsieur Perine, their first album in five years, shows signs of artists who are comfortable with their musical path and are expanding on it. * This article was originally published here
Jeromes Dream knits feedback into the tangled seams of 'The Gray In Between'
May 15, 2023 10:33The band recaptures a shredded tension on its second new album after a two-decade hiatus: You feel the crushing effects of the world upon humanity, and the occasional glimpse of beauty. (Image credit: Iodine Recordings) * This article was originally published here
Beyoncé's 'Renaissance' tour remixes her archive for an intergalactic future
May 14, 2023 10:03After releasing no accompanying videos, last night in Stockholm Beyoncé finally unveiled Renaissance's visual universe. (Image credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Parkwood) * This article was originally published here