Music News

Van Morrison live at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on May 19, 1973 in Santa Monica, Calif.

Music & Culture

All The Way Live Or Else: The Perfection Of Van Morrison's 'It's Too Late'

11:09pm June 22, 2016

by Michaelangelo Matos

Van Morrison's It's Too Late To Stop Now was released at the height of his powers. A newly expanded version of the album helps make the case that it's among the rock era's best live albums.

Maren Morris, one of Nashville's rising stars, performs at Nissan Stadium on the opening night of the 2016 CMA Festival.

Music & Culture

Fans, Family And The Freakin' Weekend: What's Next In Nashville

1:25pm June 21, 2016

Ann Powers and Jewly Hight, NPR Music's team in Nashville, dive deep into the country music industry's biggest annual party and report back on what's in store for the genre in the coming year.

Music & Culture

Toronto Benefits From Being Drake's Hometown

7:29am June 21, 2016

Drake often gives Toronto props — mentioning streets and neighborhoods in songs. The Toronto Star estimates that the rapper has given the city $3 billion worth of free advertising.

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Timothy Laughlin (Aaron Blake, left) meets Hawkins Fuller (Joseph Lattanzi) in Cincinnati Opera's world premiere production of Fellow Travelers, based on the novel by Thomas Mallon.

Music & Culture

A New Opera Illuminates The 'Lavender Scare,' A Little-Explored Era In Queer History

8:21am June 18, 2016

by Naomi Lewin

Fellow Travelers is based on Thomas Mallon's historical novel of the same name. It takes place during the McCarthy 1950s, when intense scrutiny fell not only on suspected communists but gays as well.

Music & Culture

Chord Change Shifts 'Morning Edition' Theme To Passionate Tango Music

6:11am June 17, 2016

Steve Inskeep and Renee Montagne share a version of the Morning Edition theme with a tango flavor, arranged by a classical composer and local public radio host.

The Los Angeles producer and DJ Dâm-Funk's entry in the DJ-Kicks series of mixes, released last month, revives a hypnotic, synth-based early-1980s variant of funk known as "boogie."

Music & Culture

Dâm-Funk's Time Machine Boogie

9:38pm June 14, 2016

by Andy Beta

A new album by the L.A.-based producer and DJ rescues a vintage style of D.I.Y. synth-based funk from slipping through history's cracks.

Soprano Andriana Chuchman and tenor Sean Panikkar in a scene from Shalimar the Clown.

Music & Culture

Salman Rushdie's 'Shalimar The Clown' Is Now An Opera

8:27am June 11, 2016

by Willis Arnold

Rushdie's tale of love and revenge has made its way to the stage. It premieres tonight at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Broods' new song, "Heartlines," is out now.

Music & Culture

Lorde Co-Writes A New Song: Hear 'Heartlines', By Broods

5:13pm June 10, 2016

by Sophie Kemp

Hear the electro-pop track, which was co-written by Lorde and her fellow New Zealanders in Broods.

DJ Bambona, also known as Xiomara Marie, at Maracuyeah's fifth anniversary party in Washington, D.C.

Music & Culture

In Maracuyeah's DJ Sets, A Home Away From Home

6:28pm June 09, 2016

by Anne Hoffman

The DJ collective from D.C. recently celebrated five years of dance parties. Their Latino-influenced sets aim to conjure a sense of home for all listeners, no matter where home might be.

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Music & Culture

Teen Listener Presents His Version Of The 'Morning Edition' Theme

5:59am June 09, 2016

The theme submitted by 16-year-old Curtis Sun of Cincinnati, Ohio, has an ethereal, ambient feel and looks back to the 35th anniversary celebration of Morning Edition.