Music Features : NPR

Update: Suit Over Ornette Coleman's 'New Vocabulary' Dismissed

Saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption

Courtesy of the artist

The Record

Update: Suit Over Ornette Coleman's 'New Vocabulary' Dismissed

May 27, 2015 • The son of the titanic 85-year-old jazz saxophonist and composer says two much younger musicians had no right to release a recording with Ornette Coleman.

ABBA's Essential, Influential Melancholy

The members of ABBA (from left): Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson at Waterloo station in London in 1974, the year the group won the Eurovision contest with the song "Waterloo." John Downing/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

John Downing/Getty Images

The Record

ABBA's Essential, Influential Melancholy

May 23, 2015 • A defense of the monumental, enduring, deceptively complex Swedish pop quartet, and the underlying emotion that has helped its hooks connect with fans for generations.

Rickie Lee Jones Embraces 'The Big Invisible'

Rickie Lee Jones' new album, The Other Side of Desire, will be out on June 23. David McClister/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption

David McClister/Courtesy of the artist

The Record

Rickie Lee Jones Embraces 'The Big Invisible'

May 21, 2015 • Rickie Lee Jones talks about a song from her new album, The Other Side Of Desire, along with New Orleans, Fats Domino, courage, proof of God's existence, Guardians of the Galaxy and creation itself.

Rickie Lee Jones Embraces 'The Big Invisible'

Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/408303553/408499287" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

B.B. King performs at the Newport Jazz Festival at Yankee Stadium in 1972 (the festival temporarily relocated to New York in the 1970s). David Redfern/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

David Redfern/Getty Images

The Record

B.B. King And The Majesty Of The Blues

May 16, 2015 • The legendary blues guitarist and singer, who died on Thursday, was the most recognizable and accessible icon of a sound that was in flux.

Shakey Graves, Lucinda Williams And Sturgill Simpson Lead Americana Awards Nominees

Shakey Graves performs at the Americana Music Association Showcase at Gatsby's during SXSW 2014 in Austin, TX. Erika Goldring/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption

Erika Goldring/Courtesy of the artist

The Record

Shakey Graves, Lucinda Williams And Sturgill Simpson Lead Americana Awards Nominees

May 14, 2015 • All three musicians picked up three nominations, including album and song of the year. The awards will be presented on Sept. 16 in Nashville.

Iris DeMent To Release New Album, 'The Trackless Woods'

Iris DeMent recorded The Trackless Woods at her home in Iowa. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption

Courtesy of the artist

The Record

Iris DeMent To Release New Album, 'The Trackless Woods'

May 14, 2015 • For her new album, out August 7, DeMent set the words of Russian poet Anna Akhmatova to new music. Hear a song from the album now.

Iris DeMent To Release New Album, 'The Trackless Woods'

2:35

Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/406720247/406726512" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Songwriters And Streaming Services Battle Over Decades-Old Decree

Neil Portnow (left), president and CEO of The Recording Academy, talks with Lee Thomas Miller, head of the Nashville Songwriters Association International, at a music licensing hearing in 2014. Paul Morigi/WireImage for NARAS hide caption

toggle caption

Paul Morigi/WireImage for NARAS

The Record

Songwriters And Streaming Services Battle Over Decades-Old Decree

May 7, 2015 • The Department of Justice is exploring big changes to the music publishing business for the first time since World War II.

Songwriters And Streaming Services Battle Over Decades-Old Decree

Listen · 5:37 5:37

Transcript

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/404700847/404859325" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

In Search Of Intensity, Musicians Turn To Adrian Utley

Musician and producer Adrian Utley in his studio in Bristol, U.K., in 2013. Adam Gasson/Guitarist Magazine/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Adam Gasson/Guitarist Magazine/Getty Images

The Record

In Search Of Intensity, Musicians Turn To Adrian Utley

May 6, 2015 • The Bristol, U.K.-based producer and member of Portishead has become a go-to collaborator for dark, uncompromising rock, with credits on recent albums by Torres, Marianne Faithfull and Perfume Genius.

'It Crackles With Life': Beauty Pill Returns

"It feels alive and it feels electric and it feels like it has color," Chad Clark says of Beauty Pill Describes Things As They Are. Jon Pack/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption

Jon Pack/Courtesy of the artist

The Record

'It Crackles With Life': Beauty Pill Returns

April 26, 2015 • A virus caused Chad Clark's heart to tear with every beat, giving him a 22 percent chance to live. Eleven years after Beauty Pill's debut LP, he and his band come back resilient.

'It Crackles With Life': Beauty Pill Returns

Listen · 12:17 12:17

Transcript

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/401470798/402413175" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Waka Flocka Flame reading resumes at Webster Hall in New York City April 20. Polina Yamshchikov for NPR hide caption

toggle caption

Polina Yamshchikov for NPR

The Record

Waka Flocka Flame Is Hiring

April 24, 2015 • The rapper isn't using a headhunter. He's interviewing applicants for the position of fulltime blunt roller himself.

Solving The Vinyl Comeback's Big Problem, One Antique Machine At A Time

One of the record presses on the floor at the Quality Record Pressings plant in Salina, Kan. Courtesy of Acoustic Sounds hide caption

toggle caption

Courtesy of Acoustic Sounds

The Record

Solving The Vinyl Comeback's Big Problem, One Antique Machine At A Time

April 17, 2015 • What's getting in the way of the much touted resurgence of vinyl albums? There are very few functioning record presses, and nobody's making new ones.

Solving The Vinyl Comeback's Big Problem, One Antique Machine At A Time

Listen · 5:31 5:31

Transcript

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/400364697/409210312" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Mac McCaughan And Waxahatchee In Conversation

Superchunk frontman and Merge Records co-founder Mac McCaughan (left) will put out his first album under his own name next month. Katie Crutchfield just put out her third album as Waxahatchee on Merge. Lissa Gotwals/Jesse Riggins/Courtesy of Merge Records hide caption

toggle caption

Lissa Gotwals/Jesse Riggins/Courtesy of Merge Records

The Record

Mac McCaughan And Waxahatchee In Conversation

April 15, 2015 • Songwriter Katie Crutchfield and her boss, Merge Records' Mac McCaughan (who has a new solo album) talk about motivation, listening to their own music and the differences between DIY in 1994 and 2015.

José González On Finding Light In A Comforting Darkness

"There's always a light at the end of the tunnel" José González says of the songs on his album, Vestiges & Claws, released earlier this year. Malin Johansson/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption

Malin Johansson/Courtesy of the artist