Music

Mixing Colours is Roger and Brian Eno's first release as a duo.

Music & Culture

Roger And Brian Eno's First Album Together Comes At The Perfect Time

4:22pm March 31, 2020

by Tom Moon

Brothers Brian and Roger Eno have spent decades making music separately, but Mixing Colours is their first release as a duo. Tom Moon writes that its ambient calm offers sanctuary for these times.

Dolly Parton will read children's books on a video stream once a week, drawing titles from her Imagination Library. She's seen here performing in Nashville, Tenn., in January.

Dolly Parton Will Read Bedtime Stories To Kids Online Every Week

3:12pm March 31, 2020

by Bill Chappell

"Dolly hopes this series of stories will provide comfort and reassurance to coping kids and families during the shelter-in-place mandates," the Imagination Library said.

Instead of touring to promote his new album Naked Garden, Lukas Nelson is at home on his father Willie Nelson's ranch. "We're playing a lot of chess and dominoes. And we're writing music," he says.

Music & Culture

Lukas Nelson On Staying Home And Focusing On The Music

2:28pm March 31, 2020

NPR's David Greene talks to Lukas Nelson about a new album, hunkering down with family, silver linings and focusing on what's important in life.

Queue Listen Now

Dua Lipa's "Good in Bed" is one of the best songs of March.

Music & Culture

NPR Music's Top 20 Songs Of March

1:59pm March 31, 2020

Dua Lipa gave us a disco bop, Code Orange glitched its way through an industrial-metal anthem and Kelsea Ballerini offered a thoughtful country ballad about a divided America.

Whether Just Blaze is tapping out sampled drums or utilizing live drummers in the studio, his ability to harness energy is what makes his beats so dynamic.

Music & Culture

Just Blaze Unpacks His Samples for Beyoncé And Jay-Z

1:32pm March 31, 2020

Whether Just Blaze is tapping out sampled drums or utilizing live drummers in the studio, his ability to harness energy is what makes his beats so dynamic.

Music & Culture

NPR Music's Top 10 (OK, 11) Albums Of March

1:17pm March 31, 2020

Music affords an escape, takes us back in time to reflect on the present, mirrors our aches and joys and offers serenity. These albums were gifts during difficult times.

Idles plays a Tiny Desk Concert on May 13, 2019 (Claire Harbage/NPR).

Music & Culture

The Best-Sounding Tiny Desk Concerts, Vol. 2

1:00pm March 31, 2020

by Josh Rogosin

Josh Rogosin has recorded over 600 Tiny Desk concerts and, of course, has countless favorites. But which sound the best? Well, here they are, according to the guy mixing the performances.

Questlove, The Roots' drummer and Tonight Show bandleader, says fellow producer Just Blaze's talent is both inspiring and infuriating.

Music & Culture

'I Hate You, Man': Questlove On Just Blaze's Maddening Genius

12:35pm March 31, 2020

by Questlove

The Roots drummer and Tonight Show bandleader picks apart exactly why fellow producer Just Blaze's talent for finding and flipping samples in unexpected combinations is both inspiring and infuriating.

Hanif Abdurraqib and a Bundt cake he made.

Music & Culture

Our Daily Breather: Hanif Abdurraqib On Finding Comfort In Baking

10:02am March 31, 2020

by Hanif Abdurraqib

In Our Daily Breather, we ask writers and artists how to find calm and comfort in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. Writer Hanif Abdurraqib recommends baking Bundt cakes — and lots of other things.

Opera singer Plácido Domingo, shown here speaking in Spain last July, said earlier this month that he tested positive for the coronavirus.

Famed Opera Singer Plácido Domingo Hospitalized Due To COVID-19 Complications

4:19pm March 30, 2020

by Brakkton Booker

Domingo's reported hospitalization comes days after he posted a message on Facebook saying it was his "moral obligation" to reveal he tested positive for the disease caused by the coronavirus.