Music Features

Music & Culture

Brooklyn Rider's Nicholas Cords On Beethoven, Gratitude And The Power Of Creativity

10:00am April 08, 2020

by Nicholas Cords

In Our Daily Breather, we ask writers and artists to recommend ways to find calm in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Nicholas Cords is finding solace in a thankful musical sentiment from Beethoven.

Music & Culture

John Prine's Songs Saw The Whole Of Us

10:05pm April 07, 2020

by Ann Powers

The music of this quintessential Nashville songwriter and lifelong independent spirit makes room for the wide range of emotions that careen through people as they stumble and dance through life.

9th Wonder breaks down three beats he composed that all went into a single song from Kendrick Lamar's Pulitzer-winning album, "DAMN."

Music & Culture

9th Wonder Breaks Down His Beats For Kendrick Lamar's "Duckworth."

12:55pm April 07, 2020

Watch hip-hop producer 9th Wonder break down the three beats he composed that all went into a single song from Kendrick Lamar's Pulitzer-winning album, "DAMN."

Kendrick Lamar performs at the 2017 Coachella festival. Though his 2015 album To Pimp A Butterfly wore its jazz influence on its sleeve, 2017's DAMN. displays Lamar's deep investment in the way jazz can evolve.

Music & Culture

Kendrick Lamar Thinks Like A Jazz Musician

12:40pm April 07, 2020

by Marcus J. Moore

The rapper behind the Pulitzer Prize-winning album DAMN. helps hip-hop evolve by tapping into the restless spirit of jazz, a trait on display in the shifting song "DUCKWORTH.," produced by 9th Wonder.

M. Ward has been finding pause in the music of jazz luminary McCoy Tyner.

Music & Culture

Our Daily Breather: M. Ward Recommends Listening To McCoy Tyner

10:00am April 07, 2020

by M. Ward

In Our Daily Breather, we ask writers and artists to recommend ways to find calm and comfort in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. M. Ward has been listening to the music of McCoy Tyner.

Music & Culture

In The Midst Of Chaos, Channy Leaneagh Of Poliça Is Doing The Next Right Thing

10:00am April 06, 2020

by Channy Leaneagh

In Our Daily Breather, we ask writers and artists to recommend ways to find calm and comfort in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. For Channy Leaneagh, that means moving slowly and thoughtfully.

With everyone holed up at home, the sonic character of our cities and neighborhoods seems to be constantly shifting underfoot.

Music & Culture

All Ears: Listening In Isolation

6:00am April 06, 2020

by Ruth Saxelby

Since self-isolating, writer Ruth Saxelby is noticing sounds sticking out where they used to blend and music doing some surprising work amidst the hush.

Bill Withers, photographed here in 2006, was an artist more concerned with writing stories about humanity's pain than landing a pop hit.

Music & Culture

Bill Withers' Legacy Is So Much Deeper Than The Hits We All Know

1:29pm April 04, 2020

by Mark Anthony Neal

Generations of listeners have celebrated the signature songs of the artist who died this week at 81. But Withers' greater catalog reveals a man who stuck to his beliefs in the face of the pop machine.

In his "Toosie Slide" video, a masked and gloved Drake social-distances in style.

Music & Culture

Drake, Quarantined In Style, Makes Social Isolation A Public Spectacle

3:10pm April 03, 2020

by Ann Powers

The hip-hop star's "Toosie Slide" video, an opulent take on social distancing shot in his Toronto penthouse, is at once obvious and sneakily profound.

Music & Culture

Roberta Flack On The Calming Power Of Rainer Maria Rilke

10:00am April 03, 2020

by Roberta Flack

In Our Daily Breather, we ask writers and artists to recommend ways to find calm and comfort in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Roberta Flack recommends music and the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke.