Music & Culture

Recording artist Meek Mill is seen on April 2 at a Philadelphia gathering to push for changes to Pennsylvania's probation system.

'Wake-Up Call' About A Broken System: New Study Shows Failings Of Probation, Parole

4:22pm June 18, 2019

by Carrie Johnson

The nationwide analysis has concluded that probation and parole violations amount to nearly half of admissions to state prisons. The majority of those violations were minor infractions.

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Music & Culture

Willie Nelson's Voice And Spirit Remain Strong On 'Ride Me Back Home'

2:34pm June 18, 2019

by Ken Tucker

The 86-year-old country star reflects on the passage of time on his new album. Ride Me Back Home is a lively, restless collection that contains solid new material and a keen sense of self-scholarship.

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Masayuki Takayanagi on the cover of April is the cruellest month, a blasted 1975 session now available on vinyl for the first time.

Music & Culture

Viking's Choice: Japanese Free Jazz, Psychedelic Hardcore, Doomy Drone

2:26pm June 18, 2019

by Lars Gotrich

Our Viking's Choice column has been a safe space (or a festering wound, depending on whom you ask) for metal, punk, drone and all sorts of "weird" and/or "loud" music. Check out the latest playlist.

World Cafe, produced by WXPN in Philadelphia.

Music & Culture

The World Cafe Playlist

11:13am June 18, 2019

by Bruce Warren

Listen to the songs featured on public radio's most popular music show.

Music & Culture

Meet Orville Peck, A Man With A Fringed Mask Who Sings Like Elvis

6:35am June 18, 2019

by Peter Granitz

Emerging country musician Orville Peck, who is gay, only appears in public in a cowboy hat and mask, and his voice has earned favorable comparisons to Roy Orbison, Chris Isaak and Elvis Presley.

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Idles plays a Tiny Desk Concert on May 13, 2019 (Claire Harbage/NPR).

Music & Culture

Idles: Tiny Desk Concert

5:00am June 18, 2019

by Bob Boilen

The British madmen brought fury, cathartic rage and deep thoughts to the Tiny Desk for one of the loudest, most raucous performances in memory.

Clockwise from upper left: Billie Eilish, Maggie Rogers, Nilüfer Yanya, Better Oblivion Community Center, Lil Nas X

Music & Culture

Poll Results: Your Favorite New Artists Of 2019 (So Far)

5:00am June 18, 2019

On this week's All Songs Considered we share NPR Music listeners' picks for the top new artists from the first half of the year.

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"Everything's new to me, with purity and innocence," Carlos Santana says. "It's all in how your heart perceives things."

Music & Culture

For Santana, 'Africa Speaks' Album Is About 'Manifesting Divine Voodoo'

7:12pm June 17, 2019

Carlos Santana speaks with NPR's Ari Shapiro about his latest album Africa Speaks and explains how to maintain a constant thirst for music discovery.

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Music & Culture

Saxophonist Stan Getz Delivers A Barrelful Of Tenor On 'Getz At The Gate'

1:55pm June 17, 2019

by Kevin Whitehead

There's nothing dated about a new 2-disc album that revisits Getz's 1961 nightclub recording at New York's Village Gate. Listening to it now, it's hard to overstate what a terrific tenor he was.

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Music & Culture

Bob Boilen's Playlist

12:24pm June 17, 2019

by Bob Boilen

What the creator of NPR Music's All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts is listening to right now.