Viking's Choice: Pinkish Black, 'Bottom Of The Morning'
Pinkish Black swings moods like none other. The nine-minute "Bottom Of The Morning" runs through a woozy left-hand boogie, leading to a doomy, fuzzed-out denouement.
Music
Music Review: 'Children Of The Light,' Children Of The Light
Children of the Light is two-thirds of the iconic Wayne Shorter Quartet. On their new self-titled album, Michelle Mercer says the trio's lively group improv is like a family dinner where everyone's talking at once yet somehow everyone's being heard.
Marlon James Becomes First Jamaican To Win Man Booker Prize
NPR's Audie Cornish talks to James, whose novel, A Brief History Of Seven Killings, won the Man Booker Prize Tuesday. The novel is an epic reimagining of the assassination attempt on Bob Marley.
An Under-The-Radar Musician Slips Into The Spotlight With 'Oh My Goodness'
Veteran songwriter Donnie Fritts has mixed blues, rock, soul and country throughout his long and winding career. Ken Tucker says Fritts' new solo album showcases the musician's "shrewd ruminations."
An Unexpected Revival For A Beloved Russian Poet
Singer Iris Dement's new album is based on the work of the late Anna Akhmatova, whose spare, insightful lines addressed the ambiguities of love and the tumult of Soviet times.
Grace Jones: 'I'm A Bit Split Personality'
The gender-bending musician and supermodel discusses how her past and her personality inform her new book, I'll Never Write My Memoirs.
Elvis Costello: 'There Is No Absolute Right And Wrong About Music'
Throughout his memoir, Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, Costello grapples with parallels to his father's life. "In the end, music was playing in the room when my father left this earth," he says.
Songs We Love: Judith Hill, 'Angel In The Dark'
20 Feet From Stardom no more — the soul singer-songwriter captures the feeling of journeying through the unmerciful rain of boulders to make it to the top of the mountain.
'Tomeka Reid Quartet' Offers A Tightly Synchronized Mix Of Cello And Guitar
Cellist Tomeka Reid was headed toward a career as a classical musician, but was drawn to jazz. Critic Kevin Whitehead says her band's new album, The Tomeka Reid Quartet, has good chemistry all around.
Death And The Iron Maiden
A year after his diagnosis with cancer, the lead singer of Iron Maiden talks about recovery, mortality and the band's 16th album, The Book of Souls.