Music Reviews

Music & Culture

Newly unearthed 1974 session by Clifford Jordan is a striking, one-of-a-kind album

11:19am July 20, 2023

by Kevin Whitehead

The tenor sax player came up in Chicago and toured in the '60s with Charles Mingus, Max Roach and Randy Weston. Jordan's forgotten album, Drink Plenty of Water, mixes singers with a small ensemble.

Queue Listen Now

The weathered but hopeful The Ballad of Darren is Blur's ninth album, and third since singer Damon Albarn launched his mega-collaborative project Gorillaz.

Music & Culture

Blur's 'Ballad' to bittersweet midlife

5:00am July 20, 2023

by Matthew Perpetua

On The Ballad of Darren, the band's ninth album (and a surprise after years away), Damon Albarn and company understand the key to aging gracefully is noticing the things your younger self never could.

Highlight tracks from Palehound's new album

5:06pm July 16, 2023

by Marissa Lorusso

NPR music contributor Marissa Lorusso reviews Eye on the Bat, the latest album from indie band Palehound.

There are big rock riffs on Eye on the Bat, but El Kempner also stretches the sound of Palehound to new places.

Music & Culture

You can feel Palehound's songs in your gut

5:00am July 13, 2023

by Marissa Lorusso

El Kempner turns the force of their wiry indie rock toward collapse, yet the visceral palette of Eye on the Bat has an unexpectedly joyful quality.

Prolific drummer Brian Blade leads his enduring Fellowship Band on the newly released Kings Highway.

Music & Culture

Brian Blade the bandleader returns for a ride down 'Kings Highway'

5:00am July 13, 2023

by Nate Chinen

Recorded in 2018 but only now seeing daylight, it's the prolific drummer's first release in years at the head of his expressive and enduring Fellowship Band.

Music & Culture

Mingus' 'Changes' is a mixed bag: Some brilliant music, then a hero's tragic fate

2:23pm July 10, 2023

by Kevin Whitehead

In 1973, composer and bass virtuoso Charles Mingus signed his last recording contract with Atlantic; he'd stay with the label till his death in 1979. A new box set collects his music from that era.

Queue Listen Now

Kim Petras, the 30-year-old German-born pop singer, is currently in the process of figuring out where she wants to be in the pop music echelon.

Music & Culture

The misplaced promise of Kim Petras

4:59pm July 08, 2023

by Reanna Cruz

With her debut album 'Feed the Beast,' the rising pop star is still in the process of figuring out where she wants to be in the pop music echelon.

Music & Culture

Janelle Monáe explores masculine and feminine energies on 'The Age of Pleasure'

1:05pm July 04, 2023

by Terry Gross

Monáe has been releasing albums that mix R&B, pop and rap since 2007 — this is her first since 2018. Ken Tucker reviews the new album, then we listen back to our 2020 interview with the artist.

Queue Listen Now

Peso Pluma's GÃ©nesis fully delivers in all of its gun-slinging, bass-slapping glory.

Music & Culture

On Peso Pluma's 'Génesis,' the rising star holds fast to the sound of his ancestors

5:00am June 30, 2023

by Anamaria Artemisa Sayre

The Mexican artist just made it official: this summer you can hit the club and get down to your grandparent's favorite dance music.

Lucinda Williams' Stories From a Rock n Roll Heart is out June 30.

Music & Culture

On her new album, Lucinda Williams asserts her legacy as a great American rock star

10:27am June 29, 2023

by Dylan Tupper Rupert

On the singer-songwriter's 16th studio album Stories From a Rock n Roll Heart, Williams is at her most emotionally uncompromising and astute.