Music & Culture

Music & Culture

The Weeknd sets attendance records during weekend performances in London

5:50am July 17, 2023

by Steve Inskeep

The Weeknd set attendance records during recent concerts in London, performing for 160,000 fans on July 7-8. It's a welcome win since many agreed that his show "The Idol" was not worth idolizing.

Concert goers dancing at the Silent Disco dance party at Lincoln Center, New York City on Saturday, July 1, 2023. Haptic suits designed for the deaf community were provided by Music: Not Impossible.

Vibrating haptic suits give deaf people a new way to feel live music

5:13am July 17, 2023

by Jennifer Vanasco

To celebrate Disability Pride Month, Music: Not Impossible brought vibrating haptic suits to a Lincoln Center dance party.

Music & Culture

GWAR: Tiny Desk Concert

5:00am July 17, 2023

by Lars Gotrich

For nearly four decades, the band has terrorized planet Earth with its raucous stage shows, raunchy metal songs and grotesque satire. GWAR finally came to destroy the Tiny Desk, once and for all.

Jane Birkin, British actress, singer and French icon, dies at 76

4:53pm July 16, 2023

by Emma Bowman

The London-born star, whose British accent and natural style charmed her adopted country of France, died on Sunday. Her fame rivals the Hermès luxury handbags named after her.

Local economies are getting a boost from Taylor Swift and Beyoncé concerts

11:55am July 16, 2023

by Sacha Pfeiffer

NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer asks economist Mara Klaunig about the economic effects on local communities of concerts like Taylor Swift's or Beyoncé's.

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Music & Culture

Varsha's Tiny Desk Contest is inspired by the Hindu goddess Durga

8:20am July 16, 2023

by Sacha Pfeiffer

Musician Varsha Krishnamoorthy shares the inspiration behind her Tiny Desk Contest submission, "Woman."

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Visual artist Paul Lewin created this work for Toshi Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon's musical setting of Parable of the Sower.

Octavia Butler wrote a 'Parable' that became a prophecy — now it's also an opera

3:31pm July 14, 2023

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

Octavia Butler's novel Parable of the Sower — depicting a dystopian U.S. in 2024 — was published 30 years ago. Toshi Reagon's new musical retelling explores the web of past, present and future.

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Music & Culture

Hilary Hahn, 'Sonata No. 3, Ballade'

2:16pm July 14, 2023

by Tom Huizenga

The intrepid violinist undertakes some of the most challenging solo violin music, marking the centenary of its creation by composer Eugéne Ysaÿe.

Music & Culture

Something went wrong with the vinyl pressing of Taylor Swift's new album

6:40am July 14, 2023

Swifties rejoiced when Speak Now (Taylor's Version) dropped. But instead of hearing Taylor belt out the song "Mine," some fans got "Soul Vine" by Cabaret Voltaire. Affected fans got a replacement.

Conjunto music enjoys a resurgence, bridging a divide between old and new musicians

5:16am July 14, 2023

by John Burnett

Part of Texas has its own soundtrack: conjunto music. And a new generation of musicians is taking it up. (Story aired on All Things Considered on July, 10, 2023.)