Music & Culture

Music & Culture

Groove Master Benji Hughes Sings 'Songs In The Key Of Animals'

3:22pm January 20, 2016

by Ken Tucker

The singer-songwriter plays most of the instruments himself on his new album. Critic Ken Tucker says you can hear a love for pop music in Hughes' silly sentiments and artful arrangements.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

John Mark Nelson On Mountain Stage

2:45pm January 20, 2016

The young Minnesota folk-pop singer performs a short concert in his home state.

Kanye West at LAX in October, looking like us.

Music & Culture

A Group Of Writers Listening To Kanye, Awaiting SWISH

1:16pm January 20, 2016

by Frannie Kelley

Seven of us share our initial reactions to the songs we're receiving as some form of preamble to SWISH with each other and with you.

Music & Culture

Songs We Love: Pinkshinyultrablast, 'The Cherry Pit'

12:23pm January 20, 2016

by Lars Gotrich

The Russian shoegaze band alternates thunderous pop and astral highlife funk in a radiant video shot in its hometown of St. Petersburg.

Music & Culture

Song Premiere: Eric Bachmann, 'Mercy'

10:00am January 20, 2016

by Stephen Thompson

Reinventing himself once more, the former frontman of Archers Of Loaf and Crooked Fingers makes a clean break from his past.

Guitarist and vocalist Camila Meza led a quartet in songs from a forthcoming album, Traces.

Music & Culture

What We Loved At Winter Jazzfest 2016

9:36am January 20, 2016

by Patrick Jarenwattananon

After wading through more music than one person can possibly see, here's how six different writers (and a photographer) remember this year's edition of a glorious annual overload.

Music & Culture

World Cafe Presents: 'Side Tracks'

7:23pm January 19, 2016

World Cafe revisits sessions recorded with artists who brought their side projects along.

Comedian Jon Benjamin's new jazz record is titled Well, I Should Have...Learned How To Play Piano.

Music & Culture

Comedian Jon Benjamin's Jazz Album Is Full Of 'Real, Untapped Un-Talent'

6:30pm January 19, 2016

by NPR Staff

Best known as the lead voice on Bob's Burgers and Archer, Benjamin has no expertise in jazz music. "It's a real insult to people who try," he says of Well, I Should Have ... Learned How To Play Piano.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

Remembering Blowfly, Black Music's Filthiest Legend

5:50pm January 19, 2016

by Rob Kemp

Clarence Reid was a successful Miami singer-songwriter and producer, but his raunchy alter ego influenced rappers, gave Weird Al purpose and created a unique (and uniquely profane) musical legacy.

Music & Culture

Music Review: 'I Long To See You,' Charles Lloyd

5:12pm January 19, 2016

by Tom Moon

Tom Moon reviews the new album from 77-year-old jazz saxophonist Charles Lloyd, I Long to See You.

Queue Listen Now