First Listen: Tristen, 'Sneaker Waves'
Nashville indie-rock star Tristen Gaspadarek bears quietly lacerating witness to vulnerability on her infectious third album.
Music
Songs We Love: Matthew Dear, 'Modafinil Blues'
Matthew Dear's first release since 2012's Beams is a pulsing goth-pop jewel that pulls the best elements of new wave — all the sex, melancholy and sly humor — and saunters off into the darkness.
First Listen: Sarah Jaffe, 'Bad Baby'
The versatile Texas singer-songwriter mixes spiky synth-pop with softer, slower-burning reflections on the way human beings interact.
First Listen: Public Service Broadcasting, 'Every Valley'
The U.K. band uses interviews, newsreels, propaganda films and its own stormy instrumental music to craft a fun-but-powerful statement about industry and automation.
The National Reflects On Hopelessness And Defeat With New Song, 'Guilty Party'
The band's upcoming full-length, Sleep Well Beast is shaping up to be the best album the band has done.
Guest DJ Raul Midón's Eclectic Influences Make Perfect Sense
The multi-instrumentalist and vocalist blends jazz, Latin music and soul seamlessly on his new album, Bad Ass And Blind. His musical touchpoints range from Paco de Lucía to Mercedes Sosa.
The Thistle & Shamrock: Dream Time
There's more to this roots-music business than high-energy dance tunes. Kick back with some soothing voices and some free-spirited instrumentals.
Cultural Appropriation Is, In Fact, Indefensible
Recently, the New York Times published an essay defending cultural appropriation as necessary engagement. But that's a simplistic, misguided way of looking at appropriation, which causes real harm.
Kevin Morby On World Cafe
While making City Music, Morby looked to Lou Reed's legacy for the confidence to experiment. He tells World Cafe about the album and the role New York has played in his story.
Sean Rowe On Mountain Stage
Hear the blues-folk musician's soulful, gravelly thunder return to Mountain Stage at the Culture Center Theater in West Virginia.