Music

This is the Kit performs a Tiny Desk Concert on Dec. 5, 2017 (Jennifer Kerrigan/NPR).

This Is The Kit: Tiny Desk Concert

by Bob Boilen

Effortless storytelling is at the heart of This Is The Kit. And the stories the band's only permanent member, Kate Stables, weaves are profound but sweet with a tone that quietly reels you in.
Pussy Riot, performing at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles, California on December 12.

Pussy Riot Plays Its First Show In America

by Eve Barlow

Led and voiced by Nadya Tolokonnikova, Pussy Riot is focused on the mainstream, through an oblique reconciliation with capitalism, in order to spread its message. The contradiction is compelling.
Allison Pierce, Year Of The Rabbit.

Stephen Thompson's Top 10 Albums Of 2017

by Stephen Thompson

It's been a year of complacency deferred and sleeping giants roused. So it's only natural that much of 2017's best music would reflect that tumult, albeit in radically different ways.
Feist's Pleasure was one of Robin Hilton's favorite albums this year.

Robin Hilton's Top 10 Albums Of 2017

by Robin Hilton

2017 was a year of chronic whiplash, not only for the ceaseless horror show of news headlines, but for the overwhelming number of great albums and songs that were released.
St. Vincent's Masseduction was one of Talia Schlanger's favorite albums this year.

10 Albums That Made 2017 Brighter

by Talia Schlanger

World Cafe's Talia Schlanger picks 10 records that made the world feel more colorful. They aren't happier records necessarily — they do infuse the grayscale of newsprint with the chroma of dreams.