First Listen : NPR

Jay Daniel's new album, Broken Knowz, comes out Nov. 25. Devin Williams/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Devin Williams/Courtesy of the artist

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Review: Jay Daniel, 'Broken Knowz'

November 17, 2016 • One of Detroit dance music's freshest talents carries on the city's legacy of electronic funk, while finding new ways to reinvigorate it.

Review: Gillian Welch, 'Boots No. 1 The Official Revival Bootleg'

Gillian Welch, pictured here with partner Dave Rawlings, will release a new album, Boots No. 1 The Official Revival Bootleg, on Nov. 25. Henry Diltz/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Henry Diltz/Courtesy of the artist

Review

Review: Gillian Welch, 'Boots No. 1 The Official Revival Bootleg'

November 17, 2016 • Welch and partner David Rawlings sift through their musical archives and select 21 tracks that document their early- to mid-'90s rise, before they emerged as leaders of an ascendant Americana scene.

Review: Highly Suspect, 'The Boy Who Died Wolf'

Highly Suspect's new album, The Boy Who Died Wolf, comes out Nov. 18. Megan Donohue/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Megan Donohue/Courtesy of the artist

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Review: Highly Suspect, 'The Boy Who Died Wolf'

November 15, 2016 • An unexpected Grammy nominee earlier this year, the Cape Cod band fine-tunes its retro-grunge attack into something far more dynamic, soulful and alluring.

Pink Martini's new album, Je Dis Oui!, comes out Nov. 18. Chris Hornbecker/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Chris Hornbecker/Courtesy of the artist

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Review: Pink Martini, 'Je Dis Oui!'

November 10, 2016 • To take in the band's ninth album is to experience a globetrotting victory lap across eight different languages, all tackled with cosmopolitan sophistication and the playfulness of pop.

D∆WN's new album, Redemption, comes out Nov. 18. Rob Daly/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Rob Daly/Courtesy of the artist

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Review: D∆WN, 'Redemption'

November 10, 2016 • As electronic dance music continues to experiment, D∆WN stands apart by making challenging pop music with soul. Redemption radiates defiance in its celebration of the self.

Review: Thee Oh Sees, 'An Odd Entrances'

Thee Oh Sees' new album, An Odd Entrances, comes out Nov. 18. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Review: Thee Oh Sees, 'An Odd Entrances'

November 10, 2016 • The prolific psych-rock band's newest album — its second in only three months — traffics in alternately jittery and hypnotic jams.

Sleigh Bells' new album, Jessica Rabbit, comes out Nov. 11. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Review: Sleigh Bells, 'Jessica Rabbit'

November 3, 2016 • The duo's fourth album is a testament to the power of a celebration gone weird, with chopped-up and resequenced hooks working as the raw material for a scathing, fragmentary kind of pop.

Review: Bob Dylan, 'The 1966 Live Recordings'

Bob Dylan's compilation album of live recordings, The 1966 Live Recordings, comes out Nov. 11. D.A. Pennabaker/Courtesy of the artist. hide caption

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D.A. Pennabaker/Courtesy of the artist.

Review

Review: Bob Dylan, 'The 1966 Live Recordings'

November 3, 2016 • During the months he spent on the road in 1966, Dylan refined a way of inhabiting and transforming his own songs that was different from anything he'd done before.

Review: Hart Valley Drifters, 'Folk Time'

Hart Valley Drifters included a very young Jerry Garcia (left) and future Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter (right). The new album, Folk Time, comes out Nov. 11. Jerald Melrose/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jerald Melrose/Courtesy of the artist