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

Tuesday May 25, 2010

'American Idol' Talking Points: Boredom, Judging, And Selling Your Organs

Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze will battle it out this week for the American Idol crown. Mark Davis/Fox hide caption

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Mark Davis/Fox

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'American Idol' Talking Points: Boredom, Judging, And Selling Your Organs

May 25, 2010 • We're almost to the end of American Idol, so we look once more at the contestants that are, the ones that were, and the ones that we only sort of remember might have been.

Tuesday May 18, 2010

Laura Gibson And Ethan Rose: Ethereal And Unpredictable

The overall effect of Laura Gibson and Ethan Rose's "Younger" is akin to being let in on someone's gauzily lovely dream. courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Review

Song Of The Day

Laura Gibson And Ethan Rose: Ethereal And Unpredictable

May 18, 2010 • Pretty and engaging, "Younger" is nearly seven minutes of loose, improvisational, drawn-out wistfulness; the overall effect is akin to being let in on someone's gauzily lovely dream. Ruminating sweetly on flight, youth, fantasy, horses and wordless conversations, Gibson pines vaguely against a soothing instrumental backdrop.

'Younger' by Laura Gibson and Ethan Rose

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May-Ying Lam/NPR

Tiny Desk

Phoenix: Tiny Desk Concert

May 18, 2010 • The band's instantly recognizable hits such as "1901" and "Lisztomania" were stripped down and reassembled as sweetly shambling acoustic numbers.

Audio Only: Phoenix's Tiny Desk Concert

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Sunday May 16, 2010

First Listen: Bettye LaVette, 'Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook'

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Carol Friedman

First Listen

First Listen: Bettye LaVette, 'Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook'

May 16, 2010 • A late-blooming belter with an eternal and authoritative voice, LaVette is unafraid to reinvent classic songs that might have otherwise seemed untouchable. Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook will stream here in its entirety until its release on May 25.

Sunday May 2, 2010

First Listen: The Dead Weather, 'Sea Of Cowards'

Sea of Cowards is The Dead Weather's second album. Courtesy of artist hide caption

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First Listen

First Listen: The Dead Weather, 'Sea Of Cowards'

May 2, 2010 • The sophomore album from Jack White's supergroup is no sterile product of endless studio tinkering: At 35 minutes, it's a blistering and compact slab of thunderous, bluesy hard rock. Born out of aggression more than invention, it's an appropriately barbed and consistently sturdy addition to White's rapidly expanding canon. Hear Sea of Cowards in its entirety for the week leading up to its May 11 release.

First Listen: The National, 'High Violet'

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First Listen

First Listen: The National, 'High Violet'

May 2, 2010 • High Violet, The National's fifth album, roughs up the glimmering beauty of its divine 2007 predecessor, Boxer. But the new record still achieves the balance that's made the band so widely beloved: It locates the sweet spot between majesty and mopery, catharsis and wallowing, soaring grace and wounded confessionals. Hear High Violet in its entirety until its release on May 11.

Thursday April 29, 2010

If 2010 has produced a slab of summer-friendly rock candy more inviting than "Go Do," it has yet to reveal itself. courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Review

Song Of The Day

Jonsi: Five Minutes Of Unfettered Joy

April 29, 2010 • Recording as the leader of a side project he calls Jonsi, Jon Thor Birgisson is like a benevolent, motivational-speaking gnome who coos inspirational phrases in the year's most propulsive, sweet-natured call to arms.

'Go Do' by Jonsi

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Sunday April 25, 2010

First Listen: The New Pornographers, 'Together'

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Jason Creps

First Listen

First Listen: The New Pornographers, 'Together'

April 25, 2010 • As much as they vary in tone, each song on Together still exudes a familiar sort of fizzy urgency, complete with hairpin turns, weird bits of wordplay, hooks piled atop hooks and layers of vocal harmonies that make each song sound as if it's shellacked in sunshine. Together will stream here in its entirety until its release on May 4.

Tuesday April 20, 2010

"Easy to Love," from Ivan and Alyosha's debut EP, is a sweetly booming ode to love as a feat of endurance. Jenny Jimenez hide caption

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Jenny Jimenez

Review

Song Of The Day

Ivan And Alyosha: Love For The Lovable

April 20, 2010 • There's more to "Easy to Love" than mere likeability. A propulsive, sweetly booming ode to love as a feat of endurance, the song lays out a matter-of-fact guide to surviving hard times before it even gets to its simple but irresistible chorus.

'Easy to Love' by Ivan and Alyosha

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Friday April 16, 2010

Anais Mitchell's folk opera Hadestown enlists the services of Bon Iver's Justin Vernon as Orpheus. courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Review

Song Of The Day

Anais Mitchell: A Greek Tragedy In Song

April 16, 2010 • Mitchell's folk opera Hadestown enlists the services of Bon Iver's Justin Vernon as the legendary Greek hero Orpheus. In "If It's True," Vernon's tone of resignation, denial and doubt reflects a complicated swirl of emotions.

'If It's True' by Anais Mitchell with Justin Vernon

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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

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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

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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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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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