First Listen: Helen Sung, 'Sung With Words'
The pianist merges jazz and poetry together to make a multi-movement work that explores themes of the human condition.
Music & Culture
Mitski Is The 21st Century's Poet Laureate Of Young Adulthood
Confessional and funny, boastful and self-deprecating, poetic and profane all at once, Mitski's songwriting captures the experience of youth in the 21st century.
First Listen: Richard Thompson, '13 Rivers'
Richard Thompson struggles with his emotional demons by creating some of his most searing and soaring guitar work.
First Listen: Low, 'Double Negative'
The static-scarred loops that open Double Negative portend another subtle reinvention: This is the sound of beauty as it's distorted to the point of disintegration.
Aaron Lee Tasjan Employs 'A Little More Empathy' And A Lot More Freedom In New Music
Tasjan got a scholarship to study jazz at Berklee then co-founded a glam rock band in New York before landing in the Nashville singer-songwriter scene.
Paul Simon Says 'I'm Finished' Writing Music
In this candid conversation, the singer reveals he hasn't felt compelled to write a new song in years, talks about the desire to better know himself and reflects on the very meaning of life itself.
Steve Coleman Offers Looped And Layered Music On 'Live At The Village Vanguard'
The alto saxophonist's new record with his band Five Elements is a two-disc set, in which most pieces are played twice, in differing elastic versions.
Pill's Slimeball Punk Gorges On Sickly Sweet 'Fruit'
The Brooklyn band today announces its second album, Soft Hell, with a hyper-saturated eye-feast for "Fruit." We don't recommend viewing before lunch.
Kalbells: Tiny Desk Concert
The band makes life-affirming music that singer Kalmia Traver created over the past few years, filled with the triumph of being cancer free.
Wayne Kramer On World Cafe
As an innovator of punk 10 years before the genre had a name, Wayne Kramer has seen some things. His new autobiography is no fairy tale, though there is something magical about it.