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Music reviews

Song Of The Day

A Grimly Lilting Ode to Loneliness

A sense of bittersweet resignation envelops The Everybodyfields' "Lonely Anywhere" like a fog, but the song is no mere downer. The song builds at a pace that seems almost glacial, until it swells into an affecting rumination on the ways a bad relationship is worse than no relationship at all.

'Lonely Anywhere' by The Everybodyfields

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Arts & Life

Reviewed: A Biography of the 'Queen of Trumpet'

Fresh Air

Fresh Air's jazz critic reviews Mark Miller's High Hat, Trumpet, and Rhythm: The Life and Music of Valaida Snow. It's a biography of jazz singer and musician Valaida Snow, aka "Little Louis."

Reviewed: A Biography of the 'Queen of Trumpet'

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All Songs Considered

The Raveonettes, Toumani Diabate, Punch Brothers, More

On this edition of All Songs Considered: the heavy pop sounds of Danish duo The Raveonettes; a solo kora recording by Toumani Diabate and more.

The Raveonettes, Toumani Diabate, Punch Brothers, More

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Song Of The Day

Earth: The Sound of Desert-Swept Doom

In "Engine of Ruin," Earth plods through noir-Americana like outlaw jazz improvisers on their way to collect a bounty. The instrumental, desert-swept narrative sounds hauntingly evocative, but it's the thick, foreboding tone of a rusty Telecaster that links Earth's doom-laden discography.

Engine of Ruin

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Your Trusted Source For Music Reviews

These songs will change your life back to the way it was before The Shins changed it the first time. Photo Illustration: Lars Gotrich; Photos: Brandon Feagan via Flickr hide caption

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Photo Illustration: Lars Gotrich; Photos: Brandon Feagan via Flickr

Monitor Mix

Your Trusted Source For Music Reviews

The Black Crowes are lashing out at Maxim magazine for reviewing the band's new album -- apparently without actually hearing it first. Carrie Brownstein does the same to albums we really wish existed.

From Vampire Weekend, World Music with a Bite

Fresh Air

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the self-titled debut album from the band Vampire Weekend. The quartet has drawn praise — and pointed criticism — for its hooky, globally influenced pop.

From Vampire Weekend, World Music with a Bite

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Song Of The Day

Brassy Jazz with the Soul of a Child

Diane Schuur really belts out the jazz standard "September in the Rain." She takes that old chestnut about "leaves of brown" that tumble down and she heats it up, adding just the right hint of rue. Her backup, a pianist whose touch is both light and lush, is surely a George Shearing disciple.

September in the Rain

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Song Of The Day

Citay Casts Its 'Eye' on an Efficient Epic

The music of Citay brims with a casual, unforced effervescence that belies meticulous arranging. At a little over five minutes, "Eye on the Dollar" isn't epic in length, but it crams in an album's worth of twists and turns into a relatively short period.

'Eye on the Dollar' by Citay

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Janet Jackson's Big on 'Discipline'

With her new CD Discipline, Janet Jackson leads a roster of new releases from veteran stars. Carl Wilson of the Globe and Mail looks at Jackson's album, plus new records from Dolly Parton and Erykah Badu.

Janet Jackson's Big on 'Discipline'

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World Cafe

Basia Bulat: Songs for 'My Darling'

XPN

Bulat's music is infused with a sense of optimism and brightness, as well as surprising sonic versatility: Her songs incorporate piano, guitar, autoharp, banjo, ukulele, saxophone, flute, and upright bass. Her debut album is titled Oh My Darling.

Before I Knew

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The 80th Annual Academy Awards

Oscar-Winning Words of Hard-Won Hope

When Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova recorded the songs that would fill the soundtrack for the film Once, few expected that they'd find a wide audience. Now an unlikely Oscar-winner, "Falling Slowly" is a star-making showcase for Hansard and Irglova's bittersweet, beautiful music.

Falling Slowly

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Song Of The Day

Jonny Greenwood: Where Oscars Fear to Tread

"Henry Plainview," from the Radiohead guitarist's score for There Will Be Blood, is the stuff of what philosopher Edmund Burke called "the sublime": art that has the power to destroy. It's hard to imagine the film's Henry Plainview without "Henry Plainview."

Henry Plainview

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Song Of The Day

A 'Blue Morning' That's Welcoming and Warm

XPN

Kate Maki's new album, On High, is a collection of pastoral country-folk songs that soar with gentle beauty. "Blue Morning," in particular, functions as a recipe for lazy perfection, as country harmonies tumble along and a pedal steel evokes big-sky country.

'Blue Morning' by Kate Maki

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