First Listen archive
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: Pig Destroyer, 'Book Burner'
October 14, 2012 – Book Burner is meticulously tailor-made for destruction, with a thirst for blood and riffs.
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: Jason Lytle, 'Dept. Of Disappearance'
October 7, 2012 – The former Grandaddy singer's songs are as sweet as they are comical; as intimate as they are epic.
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: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, 'The Heist'
September 30, 2012 – The Heist, a new album from the versatile Seattle duo, has layers of humor, emotion and hooks.
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.
Read First Listen: Beth Orton, 'Sugaring Season'
September 23, 2012 – Ornate but not wispy, these songs aren't merely pretty; they also convey power that builds subtly.
Read First Listen: Cecilia Bartoli, 'Mission'
September 23, 2012 – The celebrated mezzo unearths music from a mysterious composer who doubled as a diplomat.