First Listen archive
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: 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: Lord Huron, 'Lonesome Dreams'
September 30, 2012 – Lonesome Dreams mixes the beachy lightness of summer with the bittersweet plaintiveness of autumn.
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: 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.
Read First Listen: Miguel, 'Kaleidoscope Dream'
September 23, 2012 – The singer gleefully smashes together R&B, pop and rock to make love songs about the early days.
Read First Listen: Efterklang, 'Piramida'
September 16, 2012 – The Danish band explores a lost world, literally, and captures its sounds in the pursuit of beauty.
Read First Listen: Sera Cahoone, 'Deer Creek Canyon'
September 16, 2012 – Hers is a voice of honeyed reassurance; of comfort and grace in the face of life's wearying churn.