Accessibility links
Music Reviews Music reviews of new albums in pop, rock, folk, jazz, blues, classical, world, and hip-hop.

Music Reviews

Festival Au Desert: Music Of Peace Not Silenced By War

Tartit performs at the Festival au Desert. Chris Nolan/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Chris Nolan/Courtesy of the artist

Festival Au Desert: Music Of Peace Not Silenced By War

For a dozen years, a music festival that highlights the music of Africa has been held near Timbuktu, Mali. This year, a nationalist uprising and ongoing battles made the Festival au Desert impossible. A new recording from the most recent event helps fans continue to celebrate the music.

Festival Au Desert: Music Of Peace Not Silenced By War

Listen · 6:24
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/184218825/187269234" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Darius Rucker: Busted Hearts And Pickup Trucks

Darius Rucker's new album is titled True Believers. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of the artist

Darius Rucker: Busted Hearts And Pickup Trucks

Rucker is a rock star, courtesy of his years as leader of Hootie and the Blowfish. But on his new country album, you hear the guy who still lives in and loves his home state of South Carolina, right down to its sweet tea and kudzu.

Darius Rucker: Busted Hearts And Pickup Trucks

Listen · 4:07
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/186883117/186948375" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Vampire Weekend Comes Of Age In 'The City'

Vampire Weekend (left to right: Chris Tomson, Chris Baio, Rostam Batmanglij, Ezra Koenig) met while they were all students at Columbia University. Alex John Beck /XL Recordings hide caption

toggle caption
Alex John Beck /XL Recordings

Vampire Weekend Comes Of Age In 'The City'

The band just released its third album, Modern Vampires of the City. Chief lyricist and singer Ezra Koenig has described it as the third part of a trilogy about maturing. As part of that process, the album finds sustenance invoking Desmond Dekker and The Rolling Stones.

Vampire Weekend Comes Of Age In 'The City'

Listen · 7:08
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/186078516/186895248" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Kobo Town: A Haunted 'Jukebox' Filled With Caribbean Sounds

The Toronto band Kobo Town plays a mix of old-school calypso, ska and West Indian styles. Paul Wright/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Paul Wright/Courtesy of the artist

Kobo Town: A Haunted 'Jukebox' Filled With Caribbean Sounds

The Toronto band plays a mix of old-school calypso, ska and West Indian styles. But its new album, Jumbie in the Jukebox, doesn't so much revive classic genres as reinvent them for a new time.

Kobo Town: A Haunted 'Jukebox' Filled With Caribbean Sounds

Listen · 4:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/186058045/186506536" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Daft Punk: Accessing Electronic Music's Humanity

Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter are the two men behind Daft Punk. David Black/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
David Black/Courtesy of the artist

Daft Punk: Accessing Electronic Music's Humanity

Fresh Air

Random Access Memories finds the French duo changing its music-making process in an effort to make its songs sound more human. To that end, Daft Punk enlists guest stars such as Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers.

Daft Punk: Accessing Electronic Music's Humanity

Listen · 7:50
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/185839045/186008376" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Pat Metheny And John Zorn: A Vivid Sound World

Best known for bright, accessible modern jazz, Pat Metheny takes on an experimental composer's work with the new Tap: John Zorn's Book of Angels, Vol. 20. Jimmy Katz/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Jimmy Katz/Courtesy of the artist

Pat Metheny And John Zorn: A Vivid Sound World

The two artists are known opposites in the world of instrumental music. On Metheny's latest, the jazz guitarist wrings an unexpectedly visual listening experience from Zorn's knotty compositions.

Pat Metheny And John Zorn: A Vivid Sound World

Listen · 5:01
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/185824573/185839219" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Aesop Rock And Kimya Dawson Showcase Their Strengths

The Uncluded features Aesop Rock and Kimya Dawson. Chrissy Piper/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Chrissy Piper/Courtesy of the artist

Aesop Rock And Kimya Dawson Showcase Their Strengths

As The Uncluded, the two cancel each other's weaknesses — Dawson gains heft, while Aesop Rock lightens up. Critic Robert Christgau says the collaborative album is almost like two halves of a whole.

Aesop Rock And Kimya Dawson Showcase Their Strengths

Listen · 4:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/183924031/185603260" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Sarah Vaughan: A New Box Set Revels In Glorious Imperfections

Sarah Vaughan performs during the International Jazz Festival of Nice in southeast France in July 1984. Raph Gatti/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Raph Gatti/AFP/Getty Images

Sarah Vaughan: A New Box Set Revels In Glorious Imperfections

Fresh Air

Divine: The Jazz Albums, 1954-1958 packs four CDs with Vaughan's music, recorded live or in the studio with bands big and small. Two live albums from Chicago nightclubs are standouts, partly when a performance threatens to slide off the rails.

Sarah Vaughan: A New Box Set Revels In Glorious Imperfections

Listen · 8:27
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/179869404/185547892" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Jerry Lee Lewis: Live, Singing As If Life Depended On It

Jerry Lee Lewis shot to fame in the 1950s with hits such as "A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and "Great Balls of Fire." Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of the artist

Jerry Lee Lewis: Live, Singing As If Life Depended On It

Fresh Air

In 1958, Lewis suffered a precipitous decline in popularity when people learned that his new wife was not only 13, but also his cousin. Nobody would touch his records. Then, in 1963, he signed a deal with Smash and it looked like things were getting better.

Jerry Lee Lewis: Live, Singing As If Life Depended On It

Listen · 9:16
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/182022948/184754773" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
100 Years Of Woody Herman: The Early Bloomer Who Kept Blooming

American jazz musician Woody Herman rehearses in London during a tour of England. Keystone/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Keystone/Getty Images

100 Years Of Woody Herman: The Early Bloomer Who Kept Blooming

In a career that ran from the 1930s into the 1980s, and included work in big bands and rock 'n' roll, the clarinetist, saxophonist and bandleader changed to reflect the times. Herman would have turned 100 on May 16.

100 Years Of Woody Herman: The Early Bloomer Who Kept Blooming

Listen · 8:07
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/179864519/184479031" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Laura Mvula's Velvet 'Moon' Is A Revelation

Laura Mvula's debut is ambitiously confident, as if she and her band had perfected their sound years ago. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of the artist

Laura Mvula's Velvet 'Moon' Is A Revelation

Mvula's debut is ambitiously distinct and confident, as if she and her band had perfected their sound years ago but only now decided to share it with everyone else.

Laura Mvula's Velvet 'Moon' Is A Revelation

Listen · 5:17
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/184189010/184261880" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Bing Crosby: From The Vaults, Surprising Breadth

A batch of reissues and archival releases from Bing Crosby's own vaults is getting a high-profile relaunch. Above, Crosby circa 1956. Courtesy of Universal Music hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of Universal Music

Bing Crosby: From The Vaults, Surprising Breadth

Fresh Air

Four albums of reissues and archival recordings from Crosby's own vaults are getting a high-profile release; they demonstrate that his influence on modern singing is so huge, we barely notice it anymore. He could sing anything from Latin to Hawaiian to The Great American Songbook.

Bing Crosby: From The Vaults, Surprising Breadth

Listen · 8:15
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/176954778/183644929" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
On Two New R&B Albums, An Old Soul Sound That Glows

Charles Bradley was signed by Daptone Records partly because of a James Brown act he used to perform. His new album is Victim of Love. Darren Bastecky/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Darren Bastecky/Courtesy of the artist

On Two New R&B Albums, An Old Soul Sound That Glows

New York's Charles Bradley and London's James Hunter Six both mix inspiration and replication.

On Two New R&B Albums, An Old Soul Sound That Glows

Listen · 4:20
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/182310396/182337904" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Natalie Maines: A Country-Music Rebel Rocks On Her Own

Natalie Maines, former singer for the Dixie Chicks, placed the group at the center of controversy in 2003, when she publicly criticized George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq. Danny Clinch/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Danny Clinch/Courtesy of the artist

Natalie Maines: A Country-Music Rebel Rocks On Her Own

Fresh Air

On Mother, Maines' first solo record, the singer moves beyond the music that propelled her to fame as a member of the Dixie Chicks. It features an assortment of pop and rock covers, including a reworking of the Pink Floyd song that lends the album its title.

Natalie Maines: A Country-Music Rebel Rocks On Her Own

Listen · 8:15
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/181985940/182241288" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Pistol Annies: Plain Truths, Sharp Humor, Three-Part Harmony

Miranda Lambert, Angaleena Presley and Ashely Monroe, country stars in their own right, form the trio Pistol Annies. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of the artist

Pistol Annies: Plain Truths, Sharp Humor, Three-Part Harmony

The latest album from the trio of Miranda Lambert, Angaleena Presley and Ashley Monroe unites three distinct perspectives from some of the strongest voices in country music.

Pistol Annies: Plain Truths, Sharp Humor, Three-Part Harmony

Listen · 4:33
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/181931285/182023493" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript