Music

Music & Culture

First Listen: Original Broadway Cast Recording, 'Bright Star'

10:18am April 21, 2016

by Stephen Thompson

Edie Brickell and Steve Martin team up again, this time to compose a Broadway musical about star-crossed couples in North Carolina during the first half of the 20th century.

Music & Culture

Songs We Love: Sara Watkins, 'Move Me'

10:00am April 21, 2016

by Ann Powers

Best known for her work with Nickel Creek, Watkins explores a pop palette in her solo career. In "Move Me," she tugs zealously at a lyrical trope, giving it new life and meaning.

Lera Lynn's new album, Resistor, comes out April 29.

Music & Culture

First Listen: Lera Lynn, 'Resistor'

7:00am April 21, 2016

by Jewly Hight

The singer, a veteran of TV's True Detective, uses sensual minimalism to get at emotional truths. Hers is the sort of wistful awareness that gets under your skin.

Kanye West and Jay Z onstage at Tidal's March 2015 launch event in New York.

Music & Culture

Kanye West And The Streaming Arms Race

7:53pm April 20, 2016

by NPR Staff

West said his latest album would only ever be available on Tidal. Now that fans can hear it on other streaming services, he faces a lawsuit alleging he "tricked" people into signing up.

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Pop singer Sara Bareilles (right) shares a moment with Jessie Mueller, star of the new Broadway musical Waitress, for which Bareilles wrote the score.

Music & Culture

Can Pop Musicals Bring New Audiences To Broadway?

4:00pm April 20, 2016

by Jeff Lunden

It's not just Hamilton: Some of the season's biggest shows feature original pop scores, including two written by real-life pop stars Sara Bareilles and Duncan Sheik.

Mac McCaughan & Laura Ballance, Merge Records co-founders.

Music & Culture

Sense Of Place North Carolina: Merge Records

3:27pm April 20, 2016

Co-founders Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan discuss their label's rise.

Mac McCaughan (left) and the Non-Believers.

Music & Culture

Sense Of Place North Carolina: Mac McCaughan

3:16pm April 20, 2016

Hear the Superchunk and Portastatic leader perform material from his first solo album under his own name.

Music & Culture

Henry Threadgill Doubles Up On 'Old Locks And Irregular Verbs'

1:26pm April 20, 2016

by Kevin Whitehead

The Pulitzer Prize-winning composer doesn't play on his new jazz album, but critic Kevin Whitehead says Old Locks and Irregular Verbs is nevertheless a perfect introduction to Threadgill's voice.

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A still from Luke Bell's "Sometimes" video.

Music & Culture

Got A Broken Heart? Hit The Karaoke Bar With Luke Bell's 'Sometimes'

10:30am April 20, 2016

by Lars Gotrich

The country singer's VHS-quality video gathers friends in a bar to laugh and forget the pain.

Music & Culture

Songs We Love: T-Rextasy, 'Gap Yr Boiz'

9:40am April 20, 2016

by Marissa Lorusso

With a quick wit and a feminist punk ethos, T-Rextasy offers a perfect anthem for anyone who finds joy in hate-reading travel blogs and punching up at privilege.