What Makes A Comedy Funnier? Music With A Straight Face
When tapped to write the score for the Ghostbusters reboot, composer Theodore Shapiro knew the trick to getting laughs: a soundtrack of serious music.
Music & Culture
#NPRreads: Turn Up The Volume This Weekend With These 3 Great Reads
Correspondents, editors and producers from our newsroom share the pieces that have kept them reading, using the #NPRreads hashtag. Each weekend, we highlight some of the best stories.
July 12, 1979: 'The Night Disco Died' — Or Didn't
One muggy Thursday, 50,000 rowdy rock fans packed Chicago's Comiskey Park to see disc jockey Steve Dahl blow up a crate of disco records. That evening's stunt helped birth a new musical movement.
Music Review: 'Wildflower,' The Avalanches
Will Hermes reviews a second album by The Avalanches that was 16 years in the making called Wildflower.
John Prine To Release New Duets Album, 'For Better, Or Worse'
The sequel to 1999's album of vintage country duets, In Spite Of Ourselves, will be out Sept. 30. Hear Prine sing the opening song, "Who's Gonna Take The Garbage Out," with Iris DeMent.
Alabama Shakes' Brittany Howard On Small-Town Life, Big-Time Music
Howard was raised on her father's junkyard in the small town of Athens, Ala. "It was a really interesting way to grow up," she tells Fresh Air. Originally broadcast Jan. 28, 2016.
All Songs +1: My Cell Phone Rights At Shows Vs. Yours
We asked what listeners think about new technology that can disable their phone cameras during concerts. The results surprised us. Hear Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton discuss this divisive issue.
Across the Blue Ridge #29 - Youngsters tearing up the old time and bluegrass world
Coast to coast and around the world, there's a new crop of musicians storming the roots music world with loads of enthusiasm, great skills, and the sort of down home informality and humility that m
Carla Bley And Steve Swallow On Piano Jazz
Bley and Swallow join host Marian McPartland for trio renditions of Carla Bley originals.
First Listen: Sango And Dave B, 'Tomorrow'
The two — one the face of a new-age quiet storm entity and the other a low-key rapper making small, but steady, waves at home — are convincing. Seattle has something to say.