Stephen Thompson : NPR

Stephen Thompson Stephen Thompson is a host, writer and reviewer for NPR Music and Pop Culture Happy Hour. He appears frequently on All Songs Considered and NPR newsmagazines.

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Stephen Thompson

Monday March 29, 2010

Wye Oak performs a Tiny Desk Concert. May-Ying Lam/NPR hide caption

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May-Ying Lam/NPR

Tiny Desk

Wye Oak: Tiny Desk Concert

March 29, 2010 • The Baltimore duo didn't have to travel far to liven up a day at the NPR Music offices. Wye Oak's four-song Tiny Desk Concert draws two songs from a new EP called My Neighbor/My Creator, another from 2007's If Children and an as-yet-unreleased song called "Civilian."

Sunday March 28, 2010

First Listen: Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings

Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings. Laura Hanifin hide caption

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Laura Hanifin

First Listen

First Listen: Sharon Jones And The Dap-Kings

March 28, 2010 • As a studio artist, Sharon Jones tends to let white-knuckle showmanship give way to slick, polished proficiency. Jones and her Dap-Kings spend their new album, I Learned the Hard Way, presiding over a string of confident and universally appealing soul ballads. Hear the record in its entirety here until its release on April 6.

Saturday March 20, 2010

Sharon Van Etten Sits On A Couch And Sings

Sharon Van Etten. Stephen Thompson hide caption

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Stephen Thompson

All Songs Considered

Sharon Van Etten Sits On A Couch And Sings

March 20, 2010 • I met up with Van Etten Friday morning and asked her to give us a quick exclusive performance. She sat on a couch at the Driskill Hotel, illuminated by a nearby lamp, and sang one of my favorite songs of 2009: "Much More Than That."

Friday March 19, 2010

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Go See Wye Oak Again

Wye Oak at Cedar Street Courtyard. Shantel Mitchell/NPR hide caption

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Shantel Mitchell/NPR

All Songs Considered

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Go See Wye Oak Again

March 19, 2010 • The best feeling SXSW is capable of generating — and, if I may hyperbolize, one of the best feelings life is capable of generating — is the sensation that comes with falling in love with a band at first sight.

A lovely nature song, Shearwater's "Hidden Lakes" is as graceful and vulnerable as the world it describes. courtesy of the artist hide caption

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courtesy of the artist

Review

Song Of The Day

Shearwater: Grandiose And Delicate

March 19, 2010 • Shearwater makes epic, artful, bracing rock out of unlikely ingredients. The resulting concoctions are known to explode into bellowing catharsis, courtesy of singer Jonathan Meiburg and his crack band. But Shearwater's most blistering moments coexist nicely with the portentously brooding, fearlessly serious likes of "Hidden Lakes," from The Golden Archipelago.

'Hidden Lakes' by Shearwater

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Thursday March 18, 2010

Local Natives: Lost Love In A Lighthearted Romp

Local Natives' "Airplanes" quickly unfolds as a jaunty wonder, as it hurtles along with something resembling school spirit. courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Review

Song Of The Day

Local Natives: Lost Love In A Lighthearted Romp

March 18, 2010 • Local Natives' "Airplanes" takes about four seconds to announce itself as the lighthearted romp it is; that's about how long it takes for the band to start booing its own piano player. As if reminding itself to perk up, "Airplanes" quickly self-corrects into a jaunty wonder, as its pleading chorus ("I want you back") hurtles along with something resembling school spirit.

'Airplanes' by Local Natives

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Wednesday March 17, 2010

Alex Chilton, Musician And Producer, Dies At 59

Big Star. Mike O'Brien hide caption

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Mike O'Brien

All Songs Considered

Alex Chilton, Musician And Producer, Dies At 59

March 17, 2010 • Some sad news in the midst of South by Southwest's opening night: Big Star frontman Alex Chilton has died. Chilton, 59, died at a New Orleans hospital Wednesday after collapsing earlier in the day.

All Songs Considered

The Worst Thing That Could Possibly Happen Is...

March 17, 2010 • So here's my challenge to you, dear readers: When I take the stage tonight to introduce the bands, what is the worst thing that could possibly happen during my adventure in public speaking?

It took 35 years for the world to discover Death's bold, surprising rock 'n' roll. Left to right: David, Bobby and Dannis Hackney. Tammy Hackney hide caption

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Tammy Hackney

Music Interviews

Death: A '70s Rock Trailblazer, Reborn

March 17, 2010 • An African-American rock group surrounded by soul music, Death had a tough time finding an audience in 1970s Detroit as its own sound shifted from funk and soul to hard rock. It took until last year for the world to discover Death's bold, surprising rock 'n' roll.

Death: A '70s Rock Trailblazer, Reborn

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Sunday March 14, 2010

She and Him's Volume Two is the audio equivalent of a spring breeze that wafts in at a perfect time. Taea Thale hide caption

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Taea Thale

First Listen

First Listen: She And Him, 'Volume Two'

March 14, 2010 • M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel's second collaboration as She and Him is more confection than confessional, but it's a kind-natured one. Hear the timelessly sunny pop of Volume Two in its entirety, a week prior to its release.

Monday March 8, 2010

Exclusive First Listen: The White Stripes Live

A scene from the documentary White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights. Autumn de Wilde/Woodshed Films hide caption

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Autumn de Wilde/Woodshed Films

First Listen

Exclusive First Listen: The White Stripes Live

March 8, 2010 • Shedding nuance and between-song banter almost entirely, the live album Under Great White Northern Lights bursts with redlined intensity, as the Whites barrel through a decade-spanning assortment of newer songs and older fan favorites. Hear the record in its entirety here until its release on March 16.

Thursday March 4, 2010

Peter Gabriel takes Bon Iver's "Flume" and locates its breathtaking grandiosity. Nadav Kander hide caption

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Nadav Kander

Review

Song Of The Day

Peter Gabriel: Renewed And Redeemed

March 4, 2010 • Remarkably, Gabriel unlocks a new dimension of Bon Iver's "Flume." Where Justin Vernon spent an entire album looking inward, Gabriel takes one of its most unassuming gems and locates its grandiosity. For all its plaintive, slow-motion searching, Gabriel's take builds into something ambitious and bold and, well, breathtaking.

'Flume' by Peter Gabriel

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