Music & Culture

U2 premiered "The Blackout" from Songs Of Experience via Facebook Live.

Music & Culture

U2 Performs New Song 'The Blackout' From Its Upcoming Album 'Songs Of Experience'

3:34pm August 30, 2017

by Benjamin Naddaff-Hafrey

U2 unveils the latest from Songs of Experience -- a characteristically buoyant, but worryingly saccharine, cut of shivering guitar, bass punch and end-times reckoning.

Lesley Gore Sings of Mixed-Up Hearts asserted a teenage, feminist point of view.

Music & Culture

Forebears: The Teenage Wisdom Of 'Lesley Gore Sings Of Mixed-Up Hearts'

3:31pm August 30, 2017

by Margaret Farrell

Gore's impenetrable confidence singing emotionally complex songs humanized the image of the teen girl, adding an authoritative female teenage perspective to the Top 40.

Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile's Lotta Sea Lice comes out Oct. 13.

Music & Culture

Courtney Barnett And Kurt Vile Are Just Two Peas In A Pod, Continents Apart

2:44pm August 30, 2017

by Lars Gotrich

Watch a charming video for "Over Everything," the first single from Barnett and Vile's album-length collaboration, Lotta Sea Lice, due Oct. 13.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor's new album, Luciferian Towers, comes out Sept. 22.

Music & Culture

Godspeed You! Black Emperor's 'Undoing A Luciferian Towers' Brings A Reckoning

2:37pm August 30, 2017

by Lars Gotrich

Godspeed You! Black Emperor makes wordless music that nevertheless shouts like a street-corner prophet. The band's new album, Luciferian Towers, comes out Sept. 22.

Tank and the Bangas inside the World Cafe Performance Studio

Music & Culture

Tank And The Bangas On World Cafe

2:31pm August 30, 2017

by David Dye

The New Orleans band, who won NPR Music's 2017 Tiny Desk Contest, brings its big sound and huge heart to this interview and performance.

Music & Culture

First Listen Live: The National, 'Sleep Well Beast'

12:36pm August 30, 2017

by Suraya Mohamed

Hear the band perform explore new territory on this exclusive album premiere live in concert — Tuesday, Sept. 5 at 8 p.m. ET.

In 1980, Stevie Wonder helped campaign for Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday to become a national holiday. "I never saw it as being political," he says. "I just saw it as being the right thing to do."

Music & Culture

Stevie Wonder Reflects On Motown, God And Prince

10:35am August 30, 2017

by Sami Yenigun

The one and only Stevie Wonder talks to Stretch, Bobbito and DJ Spinna about making music at Motown Records, pushing for the creation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and missing his friend Prince.

Indie trad band Calan, whose music is featured in this week's show.

Music & Culture

The Thistle & Shamrock: More New Sounds For Summer

10:32am August 30, 2017

Hear great new sounds from the likes of Calan, Matt Tighe, Dougie MacLean and more.

Queens of the Stone Age, led by Josh Homme (center). The band's new album Villains was released August 25.

Music & Culture

Amplified And Orbital: Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme On Living In The Moment

9:53am August 30, 2017

The band's frontman and founder talks to Kelly McEvers about being "a now-ist," working with Mark Ronson and Iggy Pop and the dancey sound on the band's new record, Villains.

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Music & Culture

World Cafe: The National's Matt Berninger Reflects On Creating 'Sleep Well Beast'

9:13am August 30, 2017

The singer and lyricist reveals his secret to beating the jitters and having fun on stage, the subtexts of his band's new album and the things you miss when you don't pay attention.

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