Music Features : NPR

'Paris Is Burning': A Cult Documentary Still Resonates

Performers featured in Jennie Livingston's 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning. Off White Prod./The Kobal Collection hide caption

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Off White Prod./The Kobal Collection

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'Paris Is Burning': A Cult Documentary Still Resonates

April 30, 2012 • Once a hard-to-find treasure, this documentary about the vogue ball scene in late-'80s New York City has become its own kind of legend, one that still brings together musicians and followers of all types.

Money For Arts Journalism, In Three Cities That Need It

Proposals for new arts journalism projects in Philadelphia, Charlotte, N.C. and Detroit won funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Knight Foundation. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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iStockphoto.com

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Money For Arts Journalism, In Three Cities That Need It

April 25, 2012 • Proposed projects in Charlotte, Detroit and Philadelphia won funding to expand coverage of the local arts scene by combining .

Marooned In L.A. For A Week, Coachella Bands Make Do

Ian St. Pe of the band Black Lips performs at this year's Coachella festival in Indio, Calif. Like many of the artists on the bill, the band agreed not to book other shows in Southern California within months of the event. Michael Buckner/Getty Images hide caption

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Michael Buckner/Getty Images

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Marooned In L.A. For A Week, Coachella Bands Make Do

April 24, 2012 • Playing in the massive music festival, which now spans two identical weekends, means agreeing not to book local shows in the intervening week.

Marooned In L.A. For A Week, Coachella Bands Make Do

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The Melody Records storefront in February. Tom Cole/NPR hide caption

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Tom Cole/NPR

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Eulogy For A Record Store

April 21, 2012 • On Record Store Day, one devoted shopper laments the passing of Melody Records – a full-service record store in Washington, D.C. that operated for 35 years.

Remembering Levon Helm, Drummer And Singer In The Band

Levon Helm performing with The Band in 1971. Jan Persson/Redferns hide caption

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Jan Persson/Redferns

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Remembering Levon Helm, Drummer And Singer In The Band

April 19, 2012 • Helm played superpowered, shifting backbeats, helped Bob Dylan go electric and sang some of The Band's biggest hits, including "The Weight" and "Up On Cripple Creek." He was 71 years old.

Remembering Levon Helm, Drummer And Singer In The Band

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ABC/Getty Images

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I Played On 'American Bandstand'

April 19, 2012 • A musician and longtime fan remembers making it onto American Bandstand and meeting Dick Clark.

Orbital: The '90s Revival Is On (And On)

Orbital is, from left to right, Paul and Phil Hartnoll. Courtesy of Magnum PR hide caption

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Courtesy of Magnum PR

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Orbital: The '90s Revival Is On (And On)

April 18, 2012 • Half the British dance-music duo on their new songs and the last time sounding old school was cool.

Near the end of his headlining set at the 2012 Coachella Valley Music & Arts festival, Snoop Dogg (left) performed next to a hologram of the deceased Tupac Shakur. Christopher Polk/Getty Images hide caption

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Christopher Polk/Getty Images

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How That Tupac Hologram At Coachella Worked

April 17, 2012 • A trick of light made the rapper, who has been dead for more than 15 years, the most talked about musician after the first weekend of this year's Coachella festival.

How That Tupac Hologram At Coachella Worked

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Andrew Love Of The Memphis Horns Has Died

Andrew Love (left) and Wayne Jackson pose for a studio portrait in 1965. Gilles Petard/Redferns hide caption

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Gilles Petard/Redferns

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Andrew Love Of The Memphis Horns Has Died

April 16, 2012 • The saxophonist, who paired with trumpeter Wayne Jackson to form the Memphis Horns, played on dozens of the biggest soul hits of the 1960s and '70s. He died on April 12.

Andrew Love Of The Memphis Horns Has Died

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Indian Record Label Hits The Road To Save Traditional Music

Sakar Khan with his kamancha in his home in Hamira, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. He's passed his favorite kamancha — the one he got from his father — to his son, Darra. But this one plays just fine, if he's the guy playing it. Michael Sullivan/NPR hide caption

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Michael Sullivan/NPR

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Indian Record Label Hits The Road To Save Traditional Music

April 14, 2012 • Amarrass Records is dedicated to exposing and preserving indigenous folk music before it disappears.

Indian Record Label Hits The Road To Save Traditional Music

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Kraftwerk In New York: Decades Of Influence On Display

Ralf Hutter (left) and the other members of Kraftwerk in performance at the Museum of Modern Art in New York on Tuesday. Peter Boettcher/Courtesy of MoMA hide caption

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Peter Boettcher/Courtesy of MoMA

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Kraftwerk In New York: Decades Of Influence On Display

April 13, 2012 • Four decades after their sound helped redefine popular music, the German synthesizer quartet is playing a series of eight concerts at New York's Museum of Modern Art.

Kraftwerk In New York: Decades Of Influence On Display

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15 Years After 'Titanic,' Does The Power Ballad Go On?

Celine Dion sings "My Heart Will Go On" at the 1998 Academy Awards. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

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Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

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Everybody Wants To Be A K-Pop Star

April 10, 2012 • Groups like Girls' Generation and 2NE1 have turned South Korea into a global pop hot spot. A look inside auditions at one of the country's biggest pop factories.

Everybody Wants To Be A K-Pop Star

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How To Succeed In The Music Business (By Trying Really, Really Hard)

Raka Dun (left) and Raka Rich of the Oakland, Calif., duo Los Rakas. Laura Sydell via Instagram/NPR hide caption

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Laura Sydell via Instagram/NPR

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How To Succeed In The Music Business (By Trying Really, Really Hard)

April 9, 2012 • The new reality of the music industry offers more control for musicians alongside a sometimes crushing responsibility. Sometimes, living the dream means selling your belongings to pay your rent.

How To Succeed In The Music Business (By Trying Really, Really Hard)

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Monday April 30, 2012

Wednesday April 25, 2012

Tuesday April 24, 2012

Marooned In L.A. For A Week, Coachella Bands Make Do

Saturday April 21, 2012

Thursday April 19, 2012

Remembering Levon Helm, Drummer And Singer In The Band

Wednesday April 18, 2012

Tuesday April 17, 2012

How That Tupac Hologram At Coachella Worked

Monday April 16, 2012

Andrew Love Of The Memphis Horns Has Died

Saturday April 14, 2012

Indian Record Label Hits The Road To Save Traditional Music

Friday April 13, 2012

Kraftwerk In New York: Decades Of Influence On Display

Wednesday April 11, 2012

Tuesday April 10, 2012

Everybody Wants To Be A K-Pop Star

Monday April 9, 2012

How To Succeed In The Music Business (By Trying Really, Really Hard)