Music

A scene from Noura Mint Seymali's video for "Na Sane."

Music & Culture

Songs We Love: Noura Mint Seymali, 'Na Sane'

9:25am August 31, 2016

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

The vocalist from Mauritania intertwines heritage and innovation in the first song from her new album, Arbina. The video gives audiences abroad a glimpse of her homeland in all its melancholy beauty.

Check Out This 1999 Profile Of The Late, Great Juan Gabriel

7:20pm August 30, 2016

by Leah Donnella

Juan Gabriel stayed true to his roots, even when it wasn't easy. This Los Angeles Times piece takes a look at why that was.

River Whyless' latest album is We All The Light.

Music & Culture

For River Whyless, Songwriting Is 'A Good Way To Wash The Soul'

4:31pm August 30, 2016

by NPR Staff

Ari Shapiro chats with the North Carolina folk band about some of the personal stories behind its album We All the Light.

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Music & Culture

Viking's Choice: Slow Mass, 'Bruce Lee'

2:00pm August 30, 2016

by Lars Gotrich

The Chicago band exists somewhere between Hoover's post-hardcore heft and Braid's weird hooks.

Single-belled baritones and euphoniums line the ceiling of the V&E Simonetti Historic Tuba Collection to make room for the bigger instruments on the floor and walls.

A Museum With Nearly 300 Brass Horns: You've Gotta See It Tuba-lieve It

1:57pm August 30, 2016

by NPR Staff

Vincent Simonetti started playing tuba in high school in the 1950s. It was love at first puff. Now he and his wife, Ethel, have filled a house in Durham, N.C., with tubas for the public to tour.

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Music & Culture

Oh Pep! On World Cafe

12:45pm August 30, 2016

Hear the Melbourne duo perform three songs from its debut full-length, Stadium Cake.

Music & Culture

Parker Millsap On Mountain Stage

12:42pm August 30, 2016

Hear a live set of songs from the Oklahoma native's apocalyptic new album, The Very Last Day.

When Tara Thompson started writing songs, she didn't invoke her country superstar cousin, Loretta Lynn. "I wanted to do it myself," she says.

Music & Culture

Nashville's New Country Cousin

11:45am August 30, 2016

by Jewly Hight

Tara Thompson comes from a long line of women who find humor in life's messier situations, including distant relative Loretta Lynn.

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Music & Culture

Songs We Love: Martha Wainwright, 'Around The Bend'

10:00am August 30, 2016

by Ann Powers

"I'm trying to not be so revealing," Wainwright says of the song, an air that evokes both Kate Bush and lounge singers. "I've written a lot of songs that were so personal they got me into trouble."

A scene from a Sleigh Bells video for the song "It's Just Us Now."

Music & Culture

See A Raging Sleigh Bells Video For The New Song 'It's Just Us Now'

9:28am August 30, 2016

by Robin Hilton

The new video from the Brooklyn noise duo throbs with rage and fiery defiance. The song is from the band's upcoming full-length, Jessica Rabbit, due out in November.