First Listen archive
Read First Listen: Jozef Van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch, 'The Mystery Of Heaven'
November 4, 2012 – Van Wissem plays the lute; Jarmusch is a filmmaker. Together, they make a rich, cinematic sound.
Read First Listen: Holly Herndon, 'Movement'
November 4, 2012 – Herndon renders 1s and 0s in ways that feel as personal and internal as heartbeats on her debut.
Read First Listen: Bomba Estéreo, 'Elegancia Tropical'
October 28, 2012 – The celebrated Colombian band returns with a surprisingly nuanced and textured collection of songs.
Read First Listen: Charles Mingus, 'The Jazz Workshop Concerts, 1964-65'
October 21, 2012 – A box set of live recordings, some previously unreleased, shows a jazz great turning life into art.
Read First Listen: Café Tacvba, 'El Objeto Antes Llamado Disco'
October 18, 2012 – Two decades into Café Tacvba's career, the band still sounds as humble and refreshing as ever.
Read First Listen: Bat For Lashes, 'The Haunted Man'
October 14, 2012 – For all its dark overtones, Natasha Khan's music lets rays of hope and joy leak out of every shadow.
Read First Listen: Sinkane, 'Mars'
October 14, 2012 – Throughout Mars, Ahmed Gallab finds consistency in experimentation, and focus in the freewheeling.
Read First Listen: Titus Andronicus, 'Local Business'
October 14, 2012 – For three albums now, the band has charged forward, waving its baggage like a battlefield pennant.
Read First Listen: 'REWORK_Philip Glass Remixed'
October 7, 2012 – Celebrate Glass' 75th birthday with inventive remixes by Beck, Dan Deacon, Tyondai Braxton and more.
Read First Listen: Martha Wainwright, 'Come Home To Mama'
October 7, 2012 – Loss, hope and rebirth flow through the veins of Wainwright's first studio album since 2008.
Read First Listen: Tame Impala, 'Lonerism'
September 30, 2012 – The Australian band makes alienation and introversion sound both alluring and, ironically, inviting.
Read First Listen: Freelance Whales, 'Diluvia'
September 30, 2012 – Diluvia's songs sound worked-over and impeccable, yet ultimately land in a place of unfettered joy.
Read First Listen: Lord Huron, 'Lonesome Dreams'
September 30, 2012 – Lonesome Dreams mixes the beachy lightness of summer with the bittersweet plaintiveness of autumn.
Read First Listen: Ultraísta, 'Ultraísta'
September 26, 2012 – Producer Nigel Godrich's new project takes its inspiration from a surreal variation on minimalism.
Read First Listen: Flying Lotus, 'Until The Quiet Comes'
September 23, 2012 – The producer's new album beats with a heart unique to its creator: adventurous but never muddled.