The Afterglows, 'Sea of Hate'
You can almost hear a sly grin as The Afterglows' sea of hate swells with piano, hand claps and a reverb-heavy guitar solo, undercutting that misty-eyed sweetness with a slight sneer.
Music
Lennie Tristano's private stash of recordings reveal a trove of free improvisations
Despite the poor sound quality, Tristano's newly unearthed Personal Recordings from 1946-1970 are fascinating. Free jazz can be rambunctious, but these musicians step and listen carefully.
Jake Blount, 'The Man Was Burning'
On "The Man Was Burning," Blount spans the centuries to create an apocalypse for now.
Buffalo Nichols: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
The blues singer plays a solo Tiny Desk home concert from a spare, dimly lit Austin office building.
Spoon's latest album trades electronic instrumentation for raw rock and roll
Britt Daniel of Spoon tells NPR's Ailsa Chang that the band kept the blueprint simple for their 10th album: make a great rock and roll record.
Leon Bridges and Khruangbin, 'Doris'
The two Lone Star State artists join forces once again on the EP Texas Moon, which begins with a slow and heavy song that breathes sensuality (with an emphasis on the "B" in R&B).
Maude Latour, 'Headphones'
Maude Latour says she's sick of love songs, so the indie-pop singer wrote something that focuses on herself and nobody else.
Prison choirs sing in a reboot of Beethoven's opera about unjust incarceration
A New York City opera company created an updated version of Fidelio for the Black Lives Matter era. The performance features singers who are incarcerated in real life.
Black Voices in American Music: The Playlist
Some of the first truly American music was created by Black voices. In this playlist, pianist Lara Downes offers a broad range of songs that speak to the irrepressible, irresistible sound of hope.
Big Thief spreads its bets
For a new long-player of an album, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You, the four members of Big Thief decided to let the spaces they were recording in help shape the record's creative direction.