Music

Peter Gabriel's 2010 covers album Scratch My Back is complemented this year by a multi-artist tribute album, And I'll Scratch Yours.

Music & Culture

Peter Gabriel's Favorite Artists Remake His Music From 'Scratch'

9:06pm January 07, 2014

by Will Hermes

On the 2010 album Scratch My Back, Gabriel covered songs by the musicians he loves. For the follow-up, he invited those artists — who include Arcade Fire, Randy Newman, David Byrne, Regina Spektor, Lou Reed, Bon Iver and more — to cover his own material.

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Music & Culture

Fiennes Brings Dickens To 'Perfect' Life In 'Invisible Woman'

9:35am January 07, 2014

by Kenneth Turan

The works of Charles Dickens have been made into literally hundreds of films and TV episodes, but almost nothing has been done with the great author's life, until now. Our reviewer says The Invisible Woman is an exceptional film about love, longing and regret.

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The Everly Brothers, Phil (left) and Don, perform in 2004 in London.

Phil Everly: Harmony To His Brother's Melody

7:59pm January 04, 2014

by Sam Sanders

The Everly Brothers influenced an entire generation of popular musicians. Don's voice usually handled the melody, but Phil gave the higher accompanying harmony to that melody, which defined the brothers' sound. Phil Everly died Friday from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 74.

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Label for Warren Smith's "Ubangi Stomp" on Sun Records.

Music & Culture

When Memphis Made A Move On Nashville's Country Monopoly

5:31pm January 02, 2014

by Ed Ward

A new nine-hour box set, titled Sun Country Box: 1950-1959, collects Sun Records' country output.

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Music & Culture

World's Most Popular Film Industry Turns 100

11:30am December 21, 2013

Bright colors, intricate dance sequences, melodramatic plots and great music are hallmarks of India's movie industry, which got its start 100 years ago. NPR's Scott Simon explores the Indian cinema with Rajinder Dudrah, aka Doc. Bollywood.

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Michele Rosewoman (bottom right) is joined by batá percussionists in performance with her New Yor-Uba Ensemble in 2013.

Music & Culture

Michele Rosewoman Goes Back To Afro-Cuban Jazz's Future

3:57pm December 18, 2013

by Kevin Whitehead

You could look at Rosewoman's New Yor-Uba band as reuniting cousins who've drifted apart: jazz and folkloric Cuban music with its own family ties to the slave coast of West Africa.

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Rosanne Cash, seen here in 1956 with her dad Johnny, is one of many musicians featured in Oxford American magazine's winter issue on the music of Tennessee.

Music & Culture

What Makes Tennessee's Music So Very Special?

12:31am December 18, 2013

by NPR Staff

Oxford American magazine has a few answers, not to mention one killer Tennessee mixtape. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with editor Roger Hodge and music editor Rick Clark about assembling the magazine's new issue on the music of Tennessee and its companion two-CD sampler.

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Some Steinway company representatives and employees — like Wally Boot, pictured here — have been working for the company for decades. Boot is the last person to touch every piano that leaves the factory in Queens, N.Y.

Music & Culture

New Owner Promises Handmade Steinways For Years To Come

12:30am December 18, 2013

by Jeff Lunden

When billionaire John Paulson first bought Steinway & Sons, it struck fear in the hearts of musicians. Would Steinway's famously handcrafted pianos be changed, for the sake of efficiency?

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Music & Culture

Ken Tucker's Top 10 Albums Of 2013

12:21am December 18, 2013

by Ken Tucker

Jason Isbell's Southeastern, Kanye West's Yeezus and an assortment of remarkable women dominated the Fresh Air critic's year in listening.

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Music & Culture

Country Music Legend Ray Price Dies At 87

8:06pm December 16, 2013

by Blake Farmer

Country music singer and songwriter Ray Price died Monday at the age of 87 at his ranch in Texas. Price was a Grammy Award Winner and who had more than 100 country hits in his decades-long career. A 1996 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, he was credited with pioneering a shuffle beat and walking bass line that became standard in Texas dance halls.

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