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Wooden Wand Would Like To Buy You A 'Mexican Coke'

"When I first started writing songs, I used my music as a vehicle for words, because that's what my childhood songwriting heroes seemed to do." James Toth wrote the music first for Clipper Ship. Leah Toth/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Leah Toth/Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

Wooden Wand Would Like To Buy You A 'Mexican Coke'

Wooden Wand's new album, Clipper Ship, flips James Toth's songwriting process: music first, lyrics second. It's produced genteel, impressionistic music that can stand on its own.

Half Waif's 'Frost Burn' Reckons With Retreat

Half Waif's new EP, form/a, comes out Feb. 24. Landon Speers/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Landon Speers/Courtesy of the artist

Songs We Love

Half Waif's 'Frost Burn' Reckons With Retreat

In a shimmering slice of indie pop, Nandi Rose Plunkett reflects on the idea that our geography cannot change our history; we carry our demons with us wherever we go.

04Frost Burn

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    Song
    Frost Burn
    Album
    form/a
    Artist
    Half Waif
    Label
    Cascine
    Released
    2017

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Sonder's 'Searchin' And Evolving '90s R&B

Sonder's new EP, Into, is out now. Markpeaced/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Markpeaced/Courtesy of the artist

Songs We Love

Sonder's 'Searchin' And Evolving '90s R&B

The trio builds on the elements that defined late '90s R&B by incorporating bare drum patterns and simple harmonies into a riskier song progression.

06Searchin

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    Song
    Searchin
    Album
    Into
    Artist
    Sonder
    Label
    Sonder
    Released
    2017

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Listening To The Monkees With Fresh Ears, 50 Years Later

Fresh Air

Rock historian missed the "Prefab Four" the first time they came along. Listening now, he finds that the Monkees' best songs have held up, mostly because they used top-notch songwriting talent.

Listening To The Monkees With Fresh Ears, 50 Years Later

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The Dove & The Wolf's Hopeful 'Seven Days' Gets Gorgeous Video

A still from The Dove & The Wolf's "Seven Days" video. YouTube hide caption

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YouTube

Songs We Love

The Dove & The Wolf's Hopeful 'Seven Days' Gets Gorgeous Video

XPN

Not long after Paloma Gil and Lou Hayat returned home to Paris, the Bataclan theater was attacked. In the video, a dancer improvises to the shimmering "Seven Days" in an empty warehouse.

01Seven Days

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    Song
    Seven Days
    Album
    I Don't Know What To Feel
    Artist
    The Dove & The Wolf
    Label
    Fat Possum Records
    Released
    2017

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Nnamdi Ogbonnaya's New Song Is Your 2017 Cheer Squad

Nnamdi Ogbonnaya's new album, DROOL, comes out March 3. Johnny Fabrizio/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Johnny Fabrizio/Courtesy of the artist

Songs We Love

Nnamdi Ogbonnaya's New Song Is Your 2017 Cheer Squad

Mal Devisa and JD AKA ThrashKitten join the Chicago multi-instrumentalist for the extraterrestrial "dOn't turn me Off," a song dripping with positivity.

05dOn't turn me Off (feat. JD AKA ThrashKitten & Mal Devisa)

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    Song
    dOn't turn me Off (feat. JD AKA ThrashKitten & Mal Devisa)
    Album
    DROOL
    Artist
    Nnamdi Ogbonnaya
    Label
    Father/Daughter Records
    Released
    2017

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A Club Performance From 1960s Detroit Holds One Key To Motown's Success

Dennis Coffey's live recordings offer insight into the success of Motown. Michael Ochs Archives/Courtesy Resonance Records hide caption

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Michael Ochs Archives/Courtesy Resonance Records

A Club Performance From 1960s Detroit Holds One Key To Motown's Success

Though Motown's hits were recorded in a studio, newly discovered live recordings of session guitarist Dennis Coffey make the case that the label's iconic sound was forged in Detroit's nightclub scene.

A Club Performance From 1960s Detroit Holds One Key To Motown's Success

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BassDrumBone Marks 40 Years Of Playing Together With 'The Long Road'

Fresh Air

Trombonist Ray Anderson, bassist Mark Helias and drummer Gerry Hemingway first played together as a trio in 1977. Critic Kevin Whitehead says their new double album proves they can still deliver.

BassDrumBone Marks 40 Years Of Playing Together With 'The Long Road'

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Hear Charlie Worsham's Melancholy And Cutting 'Beginning Of Things'

Charlie Worsham's new album, Beginning Of Things, comes out April 21. Allister Ann/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Allister Ann/Courtesy of the artist

Songs We Love

Hear Charlie Worsham's Melancholy And Cutting 'Beginning Of Things'

The first single from the country singer's new album is a condemnation of one man's irresponsible habits — yet one that still retains compassion for him and the women who survive in his wake.

01The Beginning Of Things

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    Song
    The Beginning Of Things
    Album
    The Beginning Of Things
    Artist
    Charlie Worsham
    Released
    1969

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Tall Friend's 'Termites' Is For All The (Gross) Lovers

Tall Friend's new EP, Tawl Friend, comes out Jan. 27. Lora Mathis/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Lora Mathis/Courtesy of the artist

Songs We Love

Tall Friend's 'Termites' Is For All The (Gross) Lovers

The Philadelphia band gets at the heart of youthful romance with peculiar — and, frankly, gross — scientific specificity.

01Termites

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    Song
    Termites
    Album
    Tawl Friend
    Artist
    Tall Friend
    Label
    Exploding In Sound
    Released
    2017

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Charles Lloyd, Lucinda Williams Cover Bob Dylan's 'Masters Of War'

Charles Lloyd (left) and Lucinda Williams recorded a live version of "Masters Of War" at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, Calif., on Nov. 28, 2016. Erik Jacobs, Ebru Yildiz for NPR hide caption

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Erik Jacobs, Ebru Yildiz for NPR

Songs We Love

Charles Lloyd, Lucinda Williams Cover Bob Dylan's 'Masters Of War'

WBGO

Bob Dylan's song is a blunt object, liturgical in its cadence and damning in its censure. The saxophonist and singer tackle it with grace and a small but useful tension.

Becca Stevens Gives 'Queen Mab' A Nightmarish Reading

Becca Stevens' new album, Regina, comes out March 24. Shervin Lainez/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Shervin Lainez/Courtesy of the artist

Songs We Love

Becca Stevens Gives 'Queen Mab' A Nightmarish Reading

XPN

With lyrics lifted from Mercutio's speech in Romeo And Juliet, Stevens tangles beauty with terror in a way that would give Shakespeare the shivers.

05Queen Mab

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    Song
    Queen Mab
    Album
    Regina
    Artist
    Becca Stevens
    Label
    GroundUP
    Released
    2017

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