New Mix: Better Oblivion Community Center, Bellows, Duster & More

On this edition of All Songs Considered I'm joined by Marissa Lorusso, our Tiny Desk Contest leader and also a critical contributor to NPR Music's Turning the Tables project.

Marissa plays music from the '90s San Jose trio, Duster. They're getting back together, but not before a boxed set of their storied past comes out. Marissa is also a fan of Bellows, the music of Oliver Kalb, who we also know from the band Gabby's World (formerly Eskimeaux and O). And we hear music from Heather Woods Broderick, a songwriter and singer we've featured not only for her own music but for being a stage and studio partner with Sharon Van Etten. I play music from Tiny Desk Contest entrant Jackie Mendoza who performs a stripped-down, more focused remake of the song she submitted to our contest called "De Lejos" about loving from afar. We also hear great trance guitar from a Tuareg musician from the Saharan region. It's a recording he made in Detroit after a chance meeting with a producer who shared his love of ZZ Top's Tres Hombres record.

But first, I open the show with my current favorite album of 2019, one that came out as huge surprise just last week, by Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers. They call their project Better Oblivion Community Center. -- Bob Boilen

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