First Listen Enjoy select, upcoming albums, in their entirety.

First Listen

Hear upcoming albums in their entirety

Saturday February 27, 2010

Frightened Rabbit. courtesy of the artist hide caption

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courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Frightened Rabbit

February 27, 2010 • The Scottish band Frightened Rabbit knows what it's like to want to be left alone: Its terrific new album, The Winter of Mixed Drinks, spends a lot of time examining the pursuit of solitude in a world fraught with distraction, obligation, unrequited desire and romantic dysfunction. Hear the album in its entirety until its release on March 9.

Tuesday February 23, 2010

Joanna Newsom. Annabel Mehran hide caption

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Annabel Mehran

First Listen: Joanna Newsom

February 23, 2010 • Some make music because they want to, but Newsom sounds like she makes music because she has to: She possesses the sort of artistic bravado that could only come from inner passion. She's just released her latest vision: A work called Have One on Me, it's two hours long, it fills three discs, it hardly has a hook or a hit, and you simply must hear it.

Tuesday February 16, 2010

Matthew Cooper, also known as Eluvium. Noel Javier hide caption

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Noel Javier

Exclusive First Listen: Eluvium

February 16, 2010 • Eluvium is the wind-swept music of Matthew Cooper, whose work evokes a sort of dream state, somewhere between lying down in bed and falling asleep. Cooper has been creating beautiful sound-worlds for the past seven years, but with Similes, Eluvium has taken some radical shifts. Hear the album here in its entirety for the week leading up to its release on Feb. 23.

Sunday February 14, 2010

Exclusive First Listen: Clem Snide

February 14, 2010 • The Meat of Life, one of the wry, unpredictable Nashville band's most adult records, is as thought-provoking as it is engagingly catchy. Clem Snide's seventh album will stream at NPR Music in its entirety until its release on Feb. 23.

First Listen: Rafal Blechacz Plays Chopin

Pianist Rafal Blechacz, at 24, has a strong feel for the music of Chopin. Felix Broede/Deutsche Grammophon hide caption

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Felix Broede/Deutsche Grammophon

First Listen: Rafal Blechacz Plays Chopin

GBH News

February 14, 2010 • In 2005, the young Rafal Blechacz was the first Pole to win the coveted Chopin Prize since 1975. Now, thrust into the spotlight with a handsome recording contract, he has recorded the two Piano Concertos by Chopin. Hear them in their entirety.

Monday February 8, 2010

Local Natives. Kyle Johnson hide caption

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Kyle Johnson

Exclusive First Listen: Local Natives

February 8, 2010 • Right from the start, it's clear that Gorilla Manor is a special album. The harmonies grab hold immediately, but there's also a gentleness to the singing. These aren't knockout vocals, but they're sweet, and they serve Local Natives' swaying, graceful songs just right. Hear Gorilla Manor in its entirety for the week leading up to its release.

Sunday February 7, 2010

Shearwater. Amy V. Cooper hide caption

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Amy V. Cooper

Exclusive First Listen: Shearwater

February 7, 2010 • Shearwater's delicate, dramatic new album, The Golden Archipelago, wasn't built for earbuds or tinny car stereos: This is immersive, artful music, meant to be examined in-depth from every angle. The album will stream at NPR Music in its entirety for the two weeks leading up to its release on Feb. 23.

Monday February 1, 2010

The title of Lionel Loueke's new album, Mwaliko, is Swahili for "invitation." Jimmy Katz hide caption

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Jimmy Katz

Exclusive First Listen: Lionel Loueke

February 1, 2010 • Loueke is a jazz guitarist and vocalist. But if you've never heard him, his music sounds nothing like the work of the crooning strummer that description conjures. Hear his new album of spare yet intimate duos and trios, Mwaliko, in its entirety prior to its commercial release on Feb. 9.

Phantogram. courtesy of the artist hide caption

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courtesy of the artist

Exclusive First Listen: Phantogram

February 1, 2010 • Phantogram is a Saratoga Springs, N.Y., duo: Sarah Barthel plays keyboards and sings, while Josh Carter plays guitar. These folks have been friends since junior high — about a dozen years ago — and the chemistry is undeniable. Hear Eyelid Movies, the duo's new album of mysterious and danceable pop music, in its entirety.

Sunday January 31, 2010

Heligoland marks the return of the pioneering trip-hop duo Massive Attack after a seven-year absence. Hamish Brown hide caption

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Hamish Brown

Review

Massive Attack, 'Heligoland'

January 31, 2010 • With the release Heligoland, the legendary electronic and trip-hop pioneers re-establish themselves with resounding fanfare, composing a dark, challenging work that sounds both diverse and focused

Thursday January 28, 2010

Review: The Knife, 'Tomorrow, In A Year'

Something beautiful happens in the midst of The Knife's 90-minute electro-opera, based on Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species: The music itself evolves as the album progresses. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Review: The Knife, 'Tomorrow, In A Year'

January 28, 2010 • Something beautiful happens in the midst of The Knife's electro-opera, based on Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species: The music itself evolves as the album progresses.

Monday January 25, 2010

Review

First Listen: Midlake's 'The Courage Of Others'

January 25, 2010 • This is one deep, dark, beautiful record. Midlake has been working on The Courage of Others for a few years now, even scrapping it all entirely at one point. The band stopped touring in 2007, in part, to make this album — and now, for the first time in almost three years, it's finally ready. A gentle masterwork, it's available here in its entirety for the week leading up to its release on Feb. 2.

Hear Midlake's 'Courage Of Others'

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Tuesday January 19, 2010

Beach House's Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand. Jason Nocito hide caption

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Jason Nocito

First Listen: Beach House, 'Teen Dream'

January 19, 2010 • Composing concise progressions and arrangements on which to build their sound, Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand display an affection for intricate '60s-style songcraft and '80s-style synth-pop.

Monday January 18, 2010

First Listen: Charlotte Gainsbourg, 'IRM'

As the daughter of French pop artists Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, Charlotte Gainsbourg has found success as an actress, as well as a singer and songwriter. Paul Jasmin hide caption

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Paul Jasmin

Review

First Listen: Charlotte Gainsbourg, 'IRM'

January 18, 2010 • The daughter of French pop artist Serge Gainsbourg and actress Jane Birkin has found success as an actress, as well as a singer and songwriter. Her latest record, IRM, finds her enlisting Beck.

Sunday January 17, 2010

Review

First Listen: Corinne Bailey Rae, 'The Sea'

WFUV

January 17, 2010 • Four years ago, the glamorous neo-soul singer broke through from the U.K. to the U.S. charts with "Put Your Records On," and suddenly she was everywhere. In the time since, she's lost her husband and mourned for two years. Rae is about to release a new album called The Sea — available for streaming in its entirety here until its release on Jan. 26.

First Listen

Saturday February 27, 2010

First Listen: Frightened Rabbit

Tuesday February 23, 2010

First Listen: Joanna Newsom

Tuesday February 16, 2010

Exclusive First Listen: Eluvium

Sunday February 14, 2010

Exclusive First Listen: Clem Snide

Chopin At 200

First Listen: Rafal Blechacz Plays Chopin

GBH News

Monday February 8, 2010

Exclusive First Listen: Local Natives

Sunday February 7, 2010

Exclusive First Listen: Shearwater

Monday February 1, 2010

Exclusive First Listen: Lionel Loueke

Exclusive First Listen: Phantogram

Sunday January 31, 2010

Review

Massive Attack, 'Heligoland'

Thursday January 28, 2010

Review: The Knife, 'Tomorrow, In A Year'

Monday January 25, 2010

Review

First Listen: Midlake's 'The Courage Of Others'

Hear Midlake's 'Courage Of Others'

Tuesday January 19, 2010

First Listen: Beach House, 'Teen Dream'

Monday January 18, 2010

Review

First Listen: Charlotte Gainsbourg, 'IRM'

Sunday January 17, 2010

Review

First Listen: Corinne Bailey Rae, 'The Sea'

WFUV

Listen To Corinne Bailey Rae's 'The Sea'