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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.
Washington, DC - May 03, 2016: Stephen Thompson CREDIT: Matt Roth
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Stephen Thompson

Thursday

Tuesday

First Listen: Moby, 'Innocents'

Moby's new album, Innocents, comes out Oct. 1. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen

First Listen: Moby, 'Innocents'

More than 30 years into a try-it-all career that began in punk and has since worked its way through countless iterations of dance music — Innocents feels like the work of an artist who's been liberated to pursue beauty and emotion in as many forms as he can muster.

First Listen: Moby, 'Innocents'

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Thursday

Monday

Shovels & Rope: Tiny Desk Concert

Shovels and Rope plays a Tiny Desk Concert in June 2013. Chloe Coleman/NPR hide caption

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Tiny Desk

Shovels & Rope: Tiny Desk Concert

The husband-and-wife duo mixes rowdy folk-rock and rootsy ballads, with the help of a canine friend. Watch Shovels & Rope perform live in the NPR Music offices.

Shovels & Rope: Tiny Desk Concert

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Sunday

First Listen: Chvrches, 'The Bones Of What You Believe'

Chvrches' new album, The Bones of What You Believe, comes out Sept. 24. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen

First Listen: Chvrches, 'The Bones Of What You Believe'

The Glaswegians' debut showcases a band that bridges styles and eras on the strength of its own charisma. Though it can be ominous, even aggressive, Chvrches' electro-pop songs maintain a disarming fizziness.

Chvrches, 'The Bones Of What You Believe'

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Friday

Pop Culture Happy Hour: Requested Reboots And 'Duck Dynasty'
NPR

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Pop Culture Happy Hour: Requested Reboots And 'Duck Dynasty'

Inspired by the trailer for a forthcoming RoboCop reboot, the gang discusses movie franchises that could stand to be revisited. Then, it's on to the A&E reality TV sensation Duck Dynasty, as well as a new round of What's Making Us Happy this week.

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Thursday

Tuesday

The 1975: Tiny Desk Concert

The 1975 performs a Tiny Desk Concert in June 2013. Hayley Bartels/Hayley Bartels/NPR hide caption

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Hayley Bartels/Hayley Bartels/NPR

Tiny Desk

The 1975: Tiny Desk Concert

The 1975 knows its way around bigness, but in stripping his band's sound down to fit the intimate confines of the Tiny Desk, Matthew Healy doesn't hesitate to transform both his songs and himself.

The 1975: Tiny Desk Concert

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Sunday

First Listen: San Fermin, 'San Fermin'

San Fermin's self-titled debut comes out Sept. 17. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen

First Listen: San Fermin, 'San Fermin'

Three singers' voices swap out and intertwine throughout the Brooklyn band's ambitious, evocative debut. The album sets their contributions against orchestral arrangements that sweep and swell with a pitch-perfect mix of forcefulness and delicacy.

San Fermin, 'San Fermin'

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First Listen: Sebadoh, 'Defend Yourself'

Sebadoh's new album, Defend Yourself, comes out Sept. 17. Bryan Zimmerman/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Bryan Zimmerman/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen

First Listen: Sebadoh, 'Defend Yourself'

The band's first album since 1999 once again mixes unlikely sensibilities: miserablism made vital by gritty forcefulness, scabrousness harnessed in the pursuit of beauty. Even as singer Lou Barlow offers up clear-eyed postmortems of a wrecked marriage, Defend Yourself exudes the live-wire energy of musicians brought back from the brink.

Sebadoh, 'Defend Yourself'

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First Listen: Grouplove, 'Spreading Rumours'

Grouplove's new album, Spreading Rumours, comes out Sept. 17. Pamela Littky/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Pamela Littky/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen

First Listen: Grouplove, 'Spreading Rumours'

The candy-coated craftsmanship and joy on display throughout Spreading Rumours makes the record ludicrously easy to love — a welcome dose of summertime from the L.A. pop-rock band, just in time for fall.

Grouplove, 'Spreading Rumours'

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Friday

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Blue Jasmine' And A Summer Movie Postmortem
NPR

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Blue Jasmine' And A Summer Movie Postmortem

The gang looks back on a divisive summer full of loud robot-on-robot movies, and discusses where Woody Allen's latest film fits into his complicated legacy. Plus, of course, an assortment of happy-making things.

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Thursday