First Listen: Girlpool, 'What Chaos Is Imaginary'
The ever-evolving duo's meditative, expansive new album showcases a restless desire for growth in songs that tackle thorny and complex realities.
Music Reviews
First Listen: Mandolin Orange, 'Tides Of A Teardrop'
The North Carolina folk-pop duo dispenses maximum comfort in songs engineered to settle worried minds, slow the blood and lend an empathetic ear.
'Ask Dr. Ruth,' And 'Late Night' Expected To Be Sundance Favorites
NPR's David Greene talks to Kenneth Turan, film critic for the Los Angeles Times, about the most-anticipated films for the 2019 Sundance Film Festival.
First Listen: Emily King, 'Scenery'
On her new album, King has further honed her '80s-colored pop, rock and R&B sound. What's changed is the scenery.
Revisiting The Pioneering Composer Florence Price
A new recording spotlights the tenacious composer, who was the first African-American woman to have her work performed by a major symphony orchestra.
First Listen: Sneaks, 'Highway Hypnosis'
Sneaks has both the punk spirit and pop sense to carve out her own path in music. Highway Hypnosis is simply the sound of her revving the engine.
First Listen: Lula Wiles, 'What Will We Do'
The Berklee-educated trio of Isa Burke, Eleanor Buckland and Mali Obomsawin deftly mine the particulars of their individual lives into a rousing, modernist adaptation of Americana music.
First Listen: Leyla McCalla, 'The Capitalist Blues'
On her bustling third album, the former Carolina Chocolate Drops member maps her vision of the Afro-Caribbean diaspora while gently taking Anglocentricism (and capitalism) down a notch.
First Listen: DAWN, 'new breed'
DAWN waves a flag for the weirdness of black girls while once again asserting herself as a musical chameleon capable of an elegantly executed audible middle finger.
2 New Albums Confirm Thelonious Monk's Genius As A Composer
Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews two new interpretations of Monk's complete works: Monk's Dreams, by pianist Frank Kimbrough, and Work, by guitarist Miles Okazaki.