Music Reviews : NPR

Top Shelf: 2019 Tiny Desk Contest Entries Our Judges Loved

Clockwise from top left: Lauren Weintraub, King Hoodie, Bandits On The Run, The Collection, Grayson Erhard, Blessing Offor. YouTube hide caption

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Top Shelf: 2019 Tiny Desk Contest Entries Our Judges Loved

May 22, 2019 • An incredibly strong pool of artists entered this year's Tiny Desk Contest. And though there's just one winner, there were so many more entries our judges loved.

For Charly Bliss, Bad Relationships And Growing Pains Commingle With Crystal Synths

Young Enough, the latest album from Charly Bliss, is out now. Ebru Yildiz/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Ebru Yildiz/Courtesy of the artist

For Charly Bliss, Bad Relationships And Growing Pains Commingle With Crystal Synths

May 20, 2019 • Young Enough, the latest album from Charly Bliss, was born out of growing pains and toxic relationships.

For Charly Bliss, Bad Relationships And Growing Pains Commingle With Crystal Synths

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First Listen: Justin Townes Earle, 'The Saint Of Lost Causes'

Justin Townes Earle's The Saint of Lost Causes comes out May 24. Joshua Black Wilkins/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Joshua Black Wilkins/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Justin Townes Earle, 'The Saint Of Lost Causes'

May 16, 2019 • Cradled in his homespun warmth, Justin Townes Earle's husky drawl feels like the darkness before the dawn.

Saint of Lost Causes

49:30

First Listen: Petrol Girls, 'Cut & Stitch'

Petrol Girls' Cut & Stitch comes out May 24. Martyna Wisniewska/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Martyna Wisniewska/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Petrol Girls, 'Cut & Stitch'

May 16, 2019 • These are songs that rip through time, across borders and into psyches with feminist post-hardcore that engages at it rampages.

Cut & Stitch

39:48

First Listen: Mavis Staples, 'We Get By'

Mavis Staples' We Get By comes out May 24. Myriam Santos/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Myriam Santos/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Mavis Staples, 'We Get By'

May 16, 2019 • Mavis Staples is a living embodiment of gospel music's place in the civil rights movement, but she's no static symbol of the past.

We Get By

36:52

Sebadoh's Act Surprised comes out May 24. Justin Pizzoferrato/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Justin Pizzoferrato/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Sebadoh, 'Act Surprised'

May 16, 2019 • The band kicks off its fourth decade with a string of spiky, aggressive three-minute rock songs whose jagged edges hide a throbbing heart.

Act Surprised

44:51

'Tres Palabras,' Four Songs: Our Favorite Latin Songs This Week

Legendary Cuban vocalist Omara Portuondo is on our playlist this week. Jati Lindsay/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jati Lindsay/Courtesy of the artist

'Tres Palabras,' Four Songs: Our Favorite Latin Songs This Week

May 9, 2019 • This week's Alt.Latino playlist additions feature the latest Latin pop hits and a timeless performer who paved the way over 60 years ago.

First Listen: Brad Mehldau, 'Finding Gabriel'

Brad Mehldau's Finding Gabriel comes out May 17. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: Brad Mehldau, 'Finding Gabriel'

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May 9, 2019 • The jazz pianist's swing-for-the-fences opus references Old Testament prophets and collides retro-futurist synthesizers with horns and strings.

Finding Gabriel

55:33

First Listen: Lucette, 'Deluxe Hotel Room'

Lucette's Deluxe Hotel Room comes out May 17. Fairlight Hubbard/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Fairlight Hubbard/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Lucette, 'Deluxe Hotel Room'

May 9, 2019 • Lucette avoids strummed guitars in favor of spartan digital sounds on her new album produced by Sturgill Simpson.

Deluxe Hotel Room

28:22

First Listen: Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram, 'Kingfish'

Christone "Kingfish" Kingfish's new album, Kingfish, comes out May 17. Rory Doyle/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Rory Doyle/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram, 'Kingfish'

May 9, 2019 • The 20-year-old guitar phenom understands the blues as a lifeline, a malleable language, a way of being in the world.

Kingfish

51:17

Wynton Marsalis Imagines Buddy Bolden's Jazz On-Screen: 'He Was Bringing Fire'

Gary Carr stars as Charles "Buddy" Bolden in the jazz biopic Bolden: Where The Music Began, in theaters Friday. Fred Norris/Courtesy of King Bolden LLC hide caption

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Fred Norris/Courtesy of King Bolden LLC

Wynton Marsalis Imagines Buddy Bolden's Jazz On-Screen: 'He Was Bringing Fire'

May 2, 2019 • Decorated jazz composer Wynton Marsalis talks about creating music inspired by an artist he's never heard play, Charles "Buddy" Bolden, for the film Bolden.

Wynton Marsalis Imagines Buddy Bolden's Jazz On-Screen: 'He Was Bringing Fire'

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A.A. Bondy's 'Enderness' Searches For New Ways To Sing The Blues

A.A. Bondy's Enderness comes out May 10. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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A.A. Bondy's 'Enderness' Searches For New Ways To Sing The Blues

May 2, 2019 • A.A. Bondy channels his eternal weariness into evocative blurs of languid, hypnotic sound.

Herbie Hancock Aims Jazz Day All-Star Concert Towards A World In 'Turmoil'

The singer Lizz Wright, performing during the International Jazz Day 2019 All-Star Global Concert at Hamer Hall on April 30, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. Graham Denholm/Getty Images for Herbie Hancock hide caption

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Graham Denholm/Getty Images for Herbie Hancock

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Herbie Hancock Aims Jazz Day All-Star Concert Towards A World In 'Turmoil'

May 1, 2019 • In Melbourne for its eighth iteration, the All-Star Global Concert brought together marquee names in jazz around a concert program of international, but borderless, collaboration.

Heather Woods Broderick Paints A Portrait Of Solitude With 'Invitation'

Heather Woods Broderick's Invitation is out now. Whit Hassett/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Whit Hassett/Courtesy of the artist

Heather Woods Broderick Paints A Portrait Of Solitude With 'Invitation'

April 30, 2019 • When Broderick moved from Brooklyn to rural Oregon, she encountered a sense of isolation and impermanence. Her latest album, Invitation, is a portrait of that upheaval.

Heather Woods Broderick Paints A Portrait Of Solitude With 'Invitation'

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