First Listen

Monday January 19, 2009

Review

Exclusive First Listen: Bruce Springsteen

January 19, 2009 • Springsteen's return to pop production, and the E Street Band, on his 2007 album Magic left the singer wanting more. Immediately after the disc's completion, he decided to keep writing and recording. In the first week after Magic, he wrote several songs that form the beginning of Working on a Dream, streaming now in its entirety on NPR Music.

Monday January 12, 2009

Review

First Listen: Animal Collective

January 12, 2009 • On Animal Collective's latest album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, the group delivers a sonic super nova of tribal rhythms, pulsing synths, and shimmering vocals, mashed together in a stew of strangely infectious noise. Hear the entire album, streaming on NPR Music.

Review

Exclusive First Listen: M. Ward's 'Hold Time'

January 12, 2009 • Although M. Ward's latest album, Hold Time, won't be released until Feb. 17, listeners can hear the entire album here on NPR Music as an exclusive preview. Hold Time is a gorgeously produced mix of finger-picked guitars, upright bass and shuffling rhythms, all tied together by Ward's achy voice.

Tuesday December 23, 2008

Exclusive First Listen: Andrew Bird's 'Noble Beast'

December 23, 2008 • Bird is a classically trained violinist and former swing-jazz musician whose sonic palette includes a quirky mix of Gypsy ballads, jazz, folk and whistled melodies. It's a sound that leaves critics swooning and fans giddy with the kind of devotion normally reserved for pop idols. On Jan. 20, 2009, the singer will release his fifth full-length studio album. Hear Noble Beast in its entirety here, exclusively on NPR Music.

Monday November 24, 2008

First Listen: Neil Young's 'Sugar Mountain: Live At Canterbury House 1968'

November 24, 2008 • Neil Young was just a few days shy of his 23rd birthday when he took the stage at the Canterbury House in Ann Arbor, Mich., for what would become a legendary performance. It was 1968, and Young was about to release his self-titled debut solo album. His old band, Buffalo Springfield, had split up six months earlier, and few people even knew who Young was. But to his own surprise, Young drew a sold-out audience. Now, 40 years later, the recording of that performance is finally being made available. Hear it here in its entirety.

Tuesday November 18, 2008

Review

First Listen: 'Electric Arguments' From Paul McCartney And Youth As The Fireman

November 18, 2008 • When The Fireman released its 1993 debut (the instrumental dance and electronica mix Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest), the band's identity was a mystery. U.K. music magazine Melody Maker eventually exposed it as a duo featuring the bassist and producer known as Youth and, to everyone's surprise, Paul McCartney. Now, a decade after releasing its last album, The Fireman is back with a new studio album. Hear Electric Arguments in an exclusive sneak preview of the entire album.

Tuesday September 30, 2008

Review

First Listen: Bob Dylan's 'Tell Tale Signs'

September 30, 2008 • Hear an exclusive sneak preview of the entire two-disc album Tell Tale Signs, the latest volume in Bob Dylan's "bootleg" series. Widely regarded as America's greatest living songwriter, Dylan has written and recorded some of the most influential and acclaimed music of the past century.