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First Listen

Enjoy previews of select, upcoming albums, in their entirety.

Recent First Listen

Regina Spektor's new album, What We Saw From the Cheap Seats, comes out May 29.

May 20, 2012 Spektor is an oddball sentimentalist whose words summon universal feelings of love, hope and desire.

ListenPlaylist

Saint Etienne's new album, Words and Music by Saint Etienne, comes out May 29.

May 20, 2012 The long-running band's new album is full of unabashed electronic odes to pop's gravitational pull.

ListenPlaylist

The Walkmen's new album, Heaven, comes out May 29.

May 20, 2012 Heaven sounds big even as the band finds more and more comfort in performing at a whisper.

ListenPlaylist

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros' new album, Here, comes out May 29.

May 20, 2012 Here finds singer Alex Ebert and company ruminating on and celebrating the aftermath of salvation.

ListenPlaylist

Hilary Hahn and Hauschka's new album, Silfra, comes out May 22.

May 13, 2012 Hear what happens when a star violinist meets a piano full of marbles, duct tape and more surprises.

Mount Eerie's new album, Clear Moon, comes out May 22.

May 13, 2012 A hypnotic album, Clear Moon finds common ground in experimental folk and ambient black metal.

Kimbra.

May 13, 2012 The New Zealander's debut is a booming and spangly concoction, as smartly crafted as it is sleek.

Beach House's new album, Bloom, comes out May 15.

May 6, 2012 Bloom highlights the band's subtle evolution through precise refinements to its dreamy pop songs.

All Songs Considered

Get your skull goblets out: Bob Boilen previews some of the bands at this year's Maryland Deathfest.

It's Gonna Get Sweaty: A Maryland Deathfest Preview

Get your skull goblets out: Bob Boilen previews some of the bands at this year's Maryland Deathfest.

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The decades-old group incorporates classics, Dixieland, jazz and Broadway into its repertoire.

Canadian Brass: Spiking The Recital With Humor

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After years of struggling in New York, the folk group left everything behind and settled in Denver.

The Lumineers: Chasing Big Dreams Out West

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<em></em>Once the poet laureate of his Alberta hometown, Rollie Pemberton is three albums into a rap career.

Cadence Weapon: A Poet Hones A Musical Personality

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Big K.R.I.T.: Big Heart, Thick Drawl

Female-soul backup and defiant pride are also part of the Mississippi rapper's appeal.

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