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World Cafe WXPN in Philadelphia and host Raina Douris present interviews and performances with today's essential and emerging artists.

World Cafe

Essential and Emerging Artists
Del McCoury was there at the beginning of the bluegrass movement

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Nashville Sessions

Del McCoury was there at the beginning of the bluegrass movement

XPN

For this new album, Almost Proud, quarantine gave Del McCoury the time and space to dig through a box of collected music to find some gems to record.

Del McCoury on World Cafe

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alt-J has always had a knack for making the unconventional sound appealing

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Studio Sessions

alt-J has always had a knack for making the unconventional sound appealing

XPN

A well-deserved break — and building their own studio — was the spark the group needed to make 'The Dream,' their most adventurous album yet.

alt-J on World Cafe

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Live from the National Museum of African American Music: Amythyst Kiah

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Sandlin Gaither/Courtesy of the artist

WC30

Live from the National Museum of African American Music: Amythyst Kiah

XPN

Amythyst Kiah's debut solo album, Wary + Strange, with its unusual combination of roots influences and alternative sounds, features the Grammy-nominated song, "Black Myself."

OLD

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Beach House's latest album embraces maximalism in both size and sound

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Studio Sessions

Beach House's latest album embraces maximalism in both size and sound

XPN

Once Twice Melody was released in four chapters over the course of several months and embraces maximalism in both size and sound.

Beach House on World Cafe

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Get swept away in Spiritualized's latest album, 'Everything Was Beautiful'

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Studio Sessions

Get swept away in Spiritualized's latest album, 'Everything Was Beautiful'

XPN

In this session, Jason Pierce of Spiritualized talks about their latest album, Everything Was Beautiful, how it grew and changed in unexpected ways as he worked on it, and how he let himself get lost in the process.

Spiritualized on World Cafe

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PUP stays honest and true to their roots in 'The Unraveling of PupTheBand'

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Studio Sessions

PUP stays honest and true to their roots in 'The Unraveling of PupTheBand'

XPN

PUP is an acronym for Pathetic Use of Potential ... which has proven to be untrue as they've seen a lot of success over the last decade.

PUP on World Cafe

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Judy Collins shares live stories on 'Spellbound'

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Studio Sessions

Judy Collins shares live stories on 'Spellbound'

XPN

In our conversation, Judy shares some of those stories, talks about her songwriting process and the advice she's gotten from some of her very well-known songwriter friends.

Judy Collins on World Cafe

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Hear Magdalena Bay perform a dreamy mini-concert for World Cafe

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WC30

Hear Magdalena Bay perform a dreamy mini-concert for World Cafe

XPN

The duo makes dreamy electro-pop that nods in the direction of Charli XCX.

Magdalena Bay on World Cafe

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'Local Valley' was José González's opportunity to explore — to take more chances

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World Cafe Words and Music from WXPN

'Local Valley' was José González's opportunity to explore — to take more chances

XPN

González's classical guitar sound and dreamscape vocals are still there, but there's more layers, more percussion, more synthy sounds and more forward momentum.

José González on World Cafe

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Old Crow Medicine Show on how Nashville has changed since the mid-'90s

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Nashville Sessions

Old Crow Medicine Show on how Nashville has changed since the mid-'90s

XPN

Ahead of their time in igniting interest in the String Band tradition, Old Crow Medicine Show was also ahead of the curve, landing in Nashville in the mid-'90s, well before it was declared the It City.

Old Crow Medicine Show on World Cafe

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Yard Act's latest is a 'knowingly hypocritical snapshot' of the times we live in

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Studio Sessions

Yard Act's latest is a 'knowingly hypocritical snapshot' of the times we live in

XPN

'The Overload' released in January on Island Records and quickly made a splash, debuting at No. 2 on the UK albums chart. Hear a live performance.

Yard Act no World Cafe

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