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

First Listen

Hear upcoming albums in their entirety

Sunday

First Listen: M. Ward, 'A Wasteland Companion'

M. Ward's seventh album, A Wasteland Companion, comes out April 10. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: M. Ward, 'A Wasteland Companion'

M. Ward writes for beat-up transistor radios, as if he were sending his songs hurtling backward through time and space. His seventh solo album, out April 10, mostly marks the singer's welcome return to the dusty shadows.

Hear 'A Wasteland Companion' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Bear In Heaven, 'I Love You, It's Cool'

Bear In Heaven's new album, I Love You, It's Cool, comes out April 3. Shawn Brackbill/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Shawn Brackbill/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Bear In Heaven, 'I Love You, It's Cool'

Bear in Heaven's songs are sweet, simple and charmingly buzzy, with each whirring synth wrapped around a core of pure pop.

Hear 'I Love You, It's Cool' In Its Entirety

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Review: High On Fire, 'De Vermis Mysteriis'

High on Fire's new album, De Vermis Mysteriis, comes out April 3. T. Couture hide caption

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T. Couture

Review: High On Fire, 'De Vermis Mysteriis'

The no-nonsense stoner metal band offers up another skull-bashing, marvelously Lovecraft-ian album.

Listen To 'De Vermis Mysteriis' In Its Entirety

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Sunday

First Listen: Gift of Gab, 'The Next Logical Progression'

Gift of Gab's new album, The Next Logical Progression, comes out March 27. Jeff Gentner/Getty Images hide caption

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Jeff Gentner/Getty Images

First Listen: Gift of Gab, 'The Next Logical Progression'

Gab's stories are not all unicorns and rainbows, but they do go down easy.

Listen to 'The Next Logical Progression' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: THEESatisfaction, 'Awe Naturale'

THEESatisfaction's new album, Awe Naturale, comes out March 27. David Belisle/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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David Belisle/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: THEESatisfaction, 'Awe Naturale'

The Seattle hip-hop duo of Stasia Irons and Catherine Harris-White breathe fire without ire on their first official album, a 30-minute séance three years in the making.

Hear 'awE naturalE' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Mati Zundel, 'Amazonico Gravitante'

Mati Zundel's new album Amazonico Gravitante comes out March 20. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Mati Zundel, 'Amazonico Gravitante'

Argentine producer/songwriter Mati Zundel creates a finely sculpted mix of cumbia, indigenous music and pounding electronica.

Hear 'Amazonico Gravitante' In Its Entirety

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Sunday

First Listen: Lost In The Trees, 'A Church That Fits Our Needs'

Lost In The Trees' new album, A Church That Fits Our Needs, comes out March 20. Annalee Harkins/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Annalee Harkins/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Lost In The Trees, 'A Church That Fits Our Needs'

The North Carolina folk orchestra comes to terms with a personal tragedy and weaves bittersweet melody out of melancholy.

Listen to 'A Church That Fits Our Needs' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Esperanza Spalding, 'Radio Music Society'

Esperanza Spalding's new album, Radio Music Society, comes out March 20. Sandrine Lee hide caption

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Sandrine Lee

First Listen: Esperanza Spalding, 'Radio Music Society'

The virtuoso singing bassist, the surprise Best New Artist at the 2011 Grammys, has founded a sort of club. Its mission is to investigate the many mysteries of the "pop song," with jazz musicians, cheerful vocals and scare quotes.

Hear 'Radio Music Society' In Its Entirety

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Monday

First Listen: Original Cast Recording, 'Once'

The original cast recording of Once comes out March 13. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Original Cast Recording, 'Once'

As a recapitulation and reinterpretation of a musical romance, the cast recording of Broadway's Once adaptation is enormously satisfying — lyrical and lush, lively and heartbreaking and humane.

Hear 'Once' In Its Entirety

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Sunday

First Listen: Tanlines, 'Mixed Emotions'

Tanlines' first album, Mixed Emotions, comes out March 20. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Tanlines, 'Mixed Emotions'

Tanlines' greatest strengths lie in the duo's ability to create sounds and beats that feel old and new all at once.

Hear 'Mixed Emotions' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Krzysztof Penderecki And Jonny Greenwood

Jonny Greenwood, AUKSO Chamber Orchestra conductor Marek Mos and Krzysztof Penderecki, on stage after a 2011 concert. Marcin Olivia Soto hide caption

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Marcin Olivia Soto

First Listen: Krzysztof Penderecki And Jonny Greenwood

Hear the music Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood wrote in response to one of his own favorite composers, the 79-year-old Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki — both full of noise, chaos and energy.

Hear 'Krzysztof Penderecki And Jonny Greenwood' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Vijay Iyer Trio, 'Accelerando'

Vijay Iyer Trio's new album, Accelerando, comes out March 13. Jimmy Katz hide caption

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Jimmy Katz

First Listen: Vijay Iyer Trio, 'Accelerando'

Here's a record of heavy grooves in flux, of instruments at extremes, of the legacy of Michael Jackson and Flying Lotus and Duke Ellington. In other words, it's the sound of movement: "This album is in the lineage of American creative music based on dance rhythms," the pianist writes.

Listen To 'Accelerando' In Its Entirety

Tonight's concert will begin at 7 p.m. ET.

Sunday

First Listen: Andrew Bird, 'Break It Yourself'

Andrew Bird's new album, Break It Yourself, comes out March 6. Cameron Wittig/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Cameron Wittig/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Andrew Bird, 'Break It Yourself'

Coming from an artist who's become a model of sunny consistency over the course of a dozen albums, Break It Yourself is a quiet, careful grower. Give it time, though, and it blooms into something beautiful.

Listen To 'Break It Yourself' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: The Magnetic Fields, 'Love At The Bottom Of The Sea'

The Magnetic Fields' new album, Love at the Bottom of the Sea, comes out March 6. Marcelo Krasilcic/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Marcelo Krasilcic/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: The Magnetic Fields, 'Love At The Bottom Of The Sea'

If a prevailing concept runs through Love at the Bottom of the Sea, it's the rejection of grandiosity or self-importance. These 15 songs are slight by design, but there's a world of wit in their brevity.

Hear 'Love At The Bottom Of The Sea' In Its Entirety

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