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Phish: A Heartfelt Celebration Of Companionship
courtesy of the artist

Song Of The Day

Phish: A Heartfelt Celebration Of Companionship

The leadoff track from Phish's first studio album after a four-year breakup is the strongest, most pop-friendly song the band has ever written. In "Backwards Down the Number Line," Phish's members sound genuinely thrilled to be playing together again, as they crank out a joyful five-minute rock 'n' roll anthem.

Backwards Down The Number Line

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Highlights From 'Song Of The Day'
Cameron Wittig

New Music

Highlights From 'Song Of The Day'

NPR Music's Song of the Day features a new track every weekday, with analysis of the music, links to each artist's Web sites and, of course, a chance to hear the song itself. Here, Song of the Day editor Stephen Thompson talks about recent selections by A Hawk and a Hacksaw, John Forte and Volcano Choir.

Highlights From 'Song Of The Day'

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Brandi Shearer: In A 'Glad,' Romantic Mood
courtesy of the artist

Song Of The Day

Brandi Shearer: In A 'Glad,' Romantic Mood

Shearer's voice remains soft and gentle throughout "How Glad I Am," as her guitar strums the major chords that function as the melody's stepping stones. As the song builds in intensity, her voice gathers strength and fake strings chime in, courtesy of a keyboard. But Shearer's dark side emerges, too.

How Glad I Am

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Christina Courtin: Endlessly Effervescent
courtesy of the artist

Song Of The Day

Christina Courtin: Endlessly Effervescent

Courtin's self-titled debut is mercilessly charming, a conflation of sweet and sad that manages the neat (and difficult) trick of being absurdly bubbly without inducing tooth decay. "Foreign Country" is its best moment, a weightless bit of meringue that sounds like the happiest not-quite-love song of the year.

'Foreign Country' by Christina Courtin

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John Forte: Broken And Reborn
Fiona Aboud

Song Of The Day

John Forte: Broken And Reborn

The StyleFREE EP is the rapper-cum-singer's third solo record, and it features six songs Forte wrote while serving a prison sentence. "Breaking of a Man" is the most harrowing of the bunch: It tells the story of a man who's been devastated by his punishment, but has emerged stronger.

Breaking Of A Man

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Khaled: Out Of Exile, Finding 'Liberte'

Khaled is Algeria's best-known singer, as well as a pioneer of the music known as rai, which means "opinion." His opinions got him exiled from his native country for the past 20 years, but he recently returned as a hero. Khaled's new CD, Liberte, is a return to his roots.

Khaled: Out Of Exile, Finding 'Liberte'

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New Lost City Ramblers Look Back At 50 Years

Fresh Air

Few groups get to achieve a 50th anniversary, but the pioneering American folk trio the got to do just that this year. The release of a three-disc commemorative set by the New Lost City Ramblers was darkened, though, but the death of co-founder Mike Seeger.

New Lost City Ramblers Look Back At 50 Years

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Exclusive First Listen: Circulatory System
Kelly Ruberto

First Listen

Exclusive First Listen: Circulatory System

It took nearly eight years to make, but Circulatory System's breathtaking new album, Signal Morning, justifies the wait. The 17 new tracks, culled from hours of recorded material and meticulously pieced together in more than half a dozen different studios, are sonic wonders. Signal Morning assembles a mysterious and mesmerizing world of orchestrated chaos that offers new discoveries with each listen.

Exclusive First Listen: Circulatory System

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Song Of The Day

Volcano Choir: Angels And Experiments

More choral than volcanic, Volcano Choir finds the Milwaukee-based experimental band Collections of Colonies of Bees collaborating with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. Of all the lovely strangeness on its debut album, Unmap, its songs are never sweeter than the album-closing "Youlogy."

'Youlogy' by Volcano Choir

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Music From The Sublime To The Old Time

All Songs Considered

Music From The Sublime To The Old Time

We never thought we'd do it, but we've got a tribute to Doris Day. Nellie McKay reworks songs made popular by Day, plus New Lost City Ramblers, The Weather Station, The Big Pink and more.

Music From The Sublime To The Old Time

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A Hawk And A Hacksaw: A Worldly Bounty
Adam Faraday

Song Of The Day

A Hawk And A Hacksaw: A Worldly Bounty

A Hawk and a Hacksaw may hail from New Mexico, but it only needs a few seconds to evoke images of horn-wielding Gypsies and foggy mountain villages in "Foni tu Argile." Throughout its new album, Delivrance, the duo's devilishly tight sounds seem to emerge straight out of the Balkans.

'Foni tu Argile' by A Hawk and a Hacksaw

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Terence Blanchard: Free Will And 'Choices'

Jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard is a throwback to the socially engaged jazzman of the 1960s. Jenny Bagert hide caption

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Jenny Bagert

Terence Blanchard: Free Will And 'Choices'

Jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard is a throwback to the socially engaged jazzman of the 1960s: He's as wrapped up in politics and society as he is in scales and improvisation. His new album, Choices, ponders questions about free will and personal responsibility.

Terence Blanchard: Free Will And 'Choices'

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Mayer Hawthorne: New Detroit Soul

Mayer Hawthorne. Robert Winter hide caption

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Robert Winter

World Cafe

Mayer Hawthorne: New Detroit Soul

XPN

Calling Hawthorne "retro" would not be far off, nor would it be the first time the Detroit multi-instrumentalist and producer has heard the label. But Hawthorne's '60s- and '70s-inspired soul sound is more than just a throwback.

Mayer Hawthorne: New Detroit Soul

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The Dry Spells: Mystical, Wounded Whimsy

In The Dry Spells' "Sruti," three-part harmonies twist around each other like ivy on an oak. hide caption

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Song Of The Day

The Dry Spells: Mystical, Wounded Whimsy

The members of San Francisco's Dry Spells conjure up a magical and utterly Californian vibe on their debut disc, Too Soon for Flowers. In "Sruti," the three-woman, one-man band lets its three-part harmonies twist around each other like ivy on an oak.

Sruti

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