NPR Music

Listen: “Fuji-san” by Patti Smith

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 15:08:01 -0400

I Just Deleted All My Music

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:24:02 -0400

I just deleted over 25,000 songs from my iTunes library. I am going to trust in the cloud, where my library now lives. I’m a bit scared, but I backed everything up, took a deep breath and stepped into the future.

—All Songs Considered’s Bob Boilen takes the leap

What is it about Brandi Carlile’s voice that gets right...

Thu, 31 May 2012 18:29:43 -0400

What is it about Brandi Carlile’s voice that gets right inside you? The power? Her range? It may be the way she can crack open a note.

Hear Brandi Carlile give a performance in NPR’s Studio 4A.

17 Songs For Being 17: I’ve always been a little obsessed...

Thu, 31 May 2012 17:22:00 -0400

17 Songs For Being 17: I’ve always been a little obsessed about musicians’ obsession with the age of 17. For nostalgic and literary purposes, it’s the perfect age: tumultuous, dramatic and hopeful. Or, at the very least, that’s how we remember it. Songwriters use 17 to caution bright youth (Stevie Nicks, Jimmy Eat World, the Sound of Music), muse on naïveté (Saint Etienne, the underrated Marina and the Diamonds) and, well, to lust after underage girls (Sleepy Kitty’s zonked-out cover of The Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There” and, uh, Winger). Hope y’all enjoy the mix. — Lars

npr: If you want to join us, you’ll need a ticket. They’re...

Thu, 31 May 2012 16:11:16 -0400

npr:

If you want to join us, you’ll need a ticket. They’re free. Just visit one of these reservation links here: The ‘All Songs Considered’ Summer Tour: RSVP Now : All Songs Considered Blog

Space is limited, so make your plans now!

You should skip the BBQ and hit up Prince's Hot Chicken in Nashville.

Thu, 31 May 2012 16:04:00 -0400

My love for Prince’s Hot Chicken is expressed in my Twitter avatar. It’s all about the spicy, grease-soaked white bread and pickles afterward. My goodness.

Metal is catharsis, metal is flooring it to “Love Me Like...

Thu, 31 May 2012 15:57:45 -0400

Metal is catharsis, metal is flooring it to “Love Me Like a Reptile” on an open highway, metal is a flailing mosh pit-punch to the eye (and the killer shiner afterward) and, when in the throng of tens or thousands of headbangers, metal is where I find my brothers and sisters, horns up and ready to scream bloody gore. — Lars Gotrich

Meet four people who headbanged and high-fived at Maryland Deathfest.

Your Tumblr host is going on a two-week vacation! I’m...

Thu, 31 May 2012 15:51:39 -0400

Your Tumblr host is going on a two-week vacation! I’m driving cross-country from Washington, D.C., to the Bay Area with a friend, hitting up awesome BBQ joints throughout the South (suggestions for Nashville, Little Rock and Amarillo?), buying trucker hats in gas stations, and generally listening to lots of road trip-y music.

But you’re in good hands. Amy and Eleanor will take over ye olde Tumblr while I’m away. (Expect more Beyonce and Prince reblogs, as if there weren’t enough already.) But before I go, I’ll post a Tumblr-only goodie because you guys rule so much. — Lars

Neil Young and Crazy Horse have a new record coming out Tuesday....

Thu, 31 May 2012 15:14:58 -0400

Neil Young and Crazy Horse have a new record coming out Tuesday. Americana is blistering guitar romp through the classic American songbook, from the 1800s to doo-wop and beyond. Well today we we have a 40 minute film created by Bernard Shakey (Young’s alias) filled with the music from Americana and visuals by Shepard Fairy.

Watch Americana now.

Want to download a new Dan Deacon song?

Thu, 31 May 2012 13:11:50 -0400

Want to download a new Dan Deacon song?:

It’s really good.

wnyc: Building a better Soundcheck:...

Thu, 31 May 2012 12:33:03 -0400

wnyc:

Building a better Soundcheck: SoundcheckWorkshop.org

Looking forward to your adventures!

mtvhive: Staten Island = Wu-Tang. deedelara: NYC mapped out by...

Thu, 31 May 2012 11:14:57 -0400

mtvhive:

Staten Island = Wu-Tang.

deedelara:

NYC mapped out by the birthplace of rappers.

via Very Small Array

“Wu-Tang slang is that New York City crack.”

With a gifted backing band on hand to help flesh out three songs...

Thu, 31 May 2012 11:12:34 -0400

With a gifted backing band on hand to help flesh out three songs from Adventures in Your Own Backyard, watch Patrick Watson conduct a swirl of interlocking loveliness that still finds room for surprises, from a singing saw to a microphone that makes his voice sound as if it’s bouncing off some faraway satellite.

"The subtlest move can be the grandest gesture, you know, because the audience is so focused in on..."

Thu, 31 May 2012 09:06:46 -0400

“The subtlest move can be the grandest gesture, you know, because the audience is so focused in on you and what you’re saying, what you’re sharing with them, what you’re revealing about yourself and about them, too.”

- Cabaret singer Maude Maggart describes the Oak Room’s uniquely intimate space, which will not reopen after renovations.

Kendrick [Lamar] — he probably brings out the most ladies. Jay...

Wed, 30 May 2012 18:03:53 -0400

Kendrick [Lamar] — he probably brings out the most ladies. Jay Rock brings out the gangsters, the neighborhoods. [Schoolboy] Q and Ab-Soul, they have a similar thing because they have the whole weed culture and the druggies. So that’s four different groups. And when they come together all those fanbases intertwine. So it makes everything bigger.

Frannie Kelley explores how four L.A. rappers revitalized the Wu-Tang group method.

nprfreshair: On today’s Fresh Air: remembering Doc Watson. You...

Wed, 30 May 2012 17:17:49 -0400

nprfreshair:

On today’s Fresh Air: remembering Doc Watson. You can download his interviews on Fresh Air in 1988 and 1989 right here.

mtvhive: Want. Type II High Bias… Oak?

Wed, 30 May 2012 17:02:43 -0400

mtvhive:

Want.

Type II High Bias… Oak?

Ron Swanson says, “You look like you need a dance...

Wed, 30 May 2012 16:43:47 -0400

Ron Swanson says, “You look like you need a dance break.” He would know. Get some movement from All Songs Considered as they recap the music they loved at Detroit’s Electronic Music Festival, plus the parties, the after-parties and the after-after-parties.

Just following up on the Daniel Johnston tiny desk concert. Loads of us would like to see it.

Wed, 30 May 2012 15:38:55 -0400

I’ve been told we’ll put up Daniel Johnston’s Tiny Desk Concert the second week of June. Stay tuned!

Watch Father John Misty get inspired by a David Lynch photo (who...

Wed, 30 May 2012 15:27:19 -0400

Watch Father John Misty get inspired by a David Lynch photo (who doesn’t?) and shimmy his way through “Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings” on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic.