Janelle Monáe performs at the Greek Theatre on June 28 in Los Angeles, California. Kevin Winter/Getty Images hide caption

Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats. Brantley Gutierrez/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Some of the albums featured on World Cafe's Best of 2017 Playlist. Courtesy of the artists hide caption

Father John Misty (left), Sylvan Esso (top right), and The War On Drugs (bottom right) are 3 of the man World Cafe guests that are nominated for a Grammy Award this year. WXPN hide caption

Ryan Adams performs live at the World Cafe 25th anniversary concert in Philadelphia. Joe Del Tufo/WXPN hide caption

Sylvan Esso performed back-to-back sold-out shows at Union Transfer in Philadelphia, Pa., in May. Jeremy Zimmerman/WXPN hide caption

Laura Marling performs live for KCRW. Rachel Reynolds/KCRW hide caption

Laura Marling's new album is Semper Femina. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Hurray For The Riff Raff's latest album, The Navigator, comes out today. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Laura Marling Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Valerie June's new song "Shakedown" is KXT's pick for this month's Heavy Rotation. Danny Clinch/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Clockwise from upper left: Laura Marling, Sam Phillips, Bed., Peals Courtesy of the artists hide caption

Laura Marling performs live in The Current's studios. Leah Garaas/The Current hide caption

Laura Marling. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

"It was the first time I was aware of how strange humanity has got," Laura Marling says of living in L.A., "and that we live in such close proximity to one another. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Sufjan Stevens' album Carrie & Lowell is out this week. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Laura Marling's new album, Short Movie, comes out March 24. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

Torres performed a late-night South X Lullaby on our final night at SXSW. Mito Habe-Evans/NPR hide caption