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

First Listen

Hear upcoming albums in their entirety

Tuesday

First Listen: Kevin Saunderson, 'KMS 25th Anniversary Classics'

Detroit producer Kevin Saunderson was part of techno's first wave in the 1980s. Lars Borges hide caption

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Lars Borges

First Listen: Kevin Saunderson, 'KMS 25th Anniversary Classics'

Saunderson was one of the originators of Detroit techno in the mid-1980s, and he hasn't stopped since. Listen to a selection of tracks from his record label's four-disc retrospective.

First Listen: Kevin Saunderson, 'KMS 25th Anniversary Classics'

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Sunday

First Listen: Beachwood Sparks, 'The Tarnished Gold'

Beachwood Sparks' first album in 11 years, The Tarnished Gold, comes out June 26. Jim Goodrich/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jim Goodrich/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Beachwood Sparks, 'The Tarnished Gold'

The charming L.A. band recently reassembled after a lengthy hiatus, yet its first full-length album since 2001 still meets at that misty midpoint between '70s singer-songwriter pop and harmony-intensive Americana, with a light dusting of psychedelia to enhance the dreamlike effect.

First Listen: Henry Threadgill Zooid, 'Tomorrow Sunny / The Revelry, Spp'

Tomorrow Sunny / The Revelry, Spp, the new album by Henry Threadgill's Zooid, comes out June 26. Nhumi Threadgill hide caption

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Nhumi Threadgill

First Listen: Henry Threadgill Zooid, 'Tomorrow Sunny / The Revelry, Spp'

A zooid is an organism that functions independently within a larger organism — a sensible metaphor for an improvising band which has operated under an original system of mutable, multi-directional grooves for a dozen years now. Hear the group's new album.

Hear 'Tomorrow Sunny / The Revelry, Spp' In Its Entirety

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Sunday

First Listen: Fiona Apple, 'The Idler Wheel...'

Fiona Apple's new album, out June 19, is titled The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do. Dan Monick hide caption

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Dan Monick

First Listen: Fiona Apple, 'The Idler Wheel...'

On her first album in seven years, Apple explores difficult emotions in unexpected ways: by saying no to simple beauty and instead expressing the urges and insecurities that more accommodating artists tend to avoid.

Hear 'The Idler Wheel...' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Glen Hansard, 'Rhythm And Repose'

Glen Hansard's new album, Rhythm and Repose, comes out June 19. Conor Masterson hide caption

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Conor Masterson

First Listen: Glen Hansard, 'Rhythm And Repose'

A gentle, breezy bummer, Rhythm and Repose is the Frames and Swell Season singer's quietest record yet. To put it mildly, it spends more time in repose than it spends enslaved by the rhythm.

Hear 'Rhythm And Repose' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Ravi Coltrane, 'Spirit Fiction'

Ravi Coltrane's new album, Spirit Fiction, comes out June 19. Deborah Feingold/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Deborah Feingold/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Ravi Coltrane, 'Spirit Fiction'

He took a snapshot of his long-running quartet mid-experiment. Then he thought he'd record a completely different band on a different set of tunes. The result is Ravi Coltrane's sixth studio album, the latest progress report from the saxophonist.

Hear 'Spirit Fiction' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Neneh Cherry And The Thing, 'The Cherry Thing'

Neneh Cherry and The Thing's new album, The Cherry Thing, comes out June 19. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Neneh Cherry And The Thing, 'The Cherry Thing'

A global pop star of the late '80s and '90s returns by collaborating with the Scandinavian free-jazz trio, which took its name from her stepfather. As you might expect, the results are wild, homemade and raw — and somehow, they make a lot of sense.

Hear 'The Cherry Thing' In Its Entirety

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Sunday

First Listen: The Tallest Man On Earth, 'There's No Leaving Now'

The Tallest Man on Earth's new album, There's No Leaving Now, comes out June 12. Julia Mard hide caption

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Julia Mard

First Listen: The Tallest Man On Earth, 'There's No Leaving Now'

Constructed from the simplest and boldest of ingredients, Kristian Matsson's music maintains a capacity for bounciness, poignancy, propulsion and grace.

Hear 'There's No Leaving Now' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Hot Chip, 'In Our Heads'

Hot Chip's new album, In Our Heads, comes out June 12. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Hot Chip, 'In Our Heads'

The British electronic quintet continues to move its obsession with the varieties of the dance-music experience toward feelings of sincerity and romance.

Hear 'In Our Heads' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Bobby Womack, 'The Bravest Man In The Universe'

Bobby Womack's new album, The Bravest Man in the Universe, comes out June 12. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: Bobby Womack, 'The Bravest Man In The Universe'

The soul legend's new album-length collaboration with Damon Albarn is an assertion of intelligence and power, full of blood, sweat and salty vinegar.

Hear 'The Bravest Man In The Universe' In Its Entirety

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Sunday

First Listen: Japandroids, 'Celebration Rock'

Japandroids' new album, Celebration Rock, comes out June 5. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

First Listen: Japandroids, 'Celebration Rock'

Celebration Rock is the sound of a band streamlining its boundless energy in an effort to craft the awesomest possible moment, in the moment, only to top it seconds later.

Hear 'Celebration Rock' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Big K.R.I.T., 'Live From The Underground'

Big K.R.I.T. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: Big K.R.I.T., 'Live From The Underground'

Live From the Underground, out June 5, is a personal album by a rapper who's prepared, focused, well-versed. K.R.I.T. has gotten this far under his own power, and with his new record, he's primed to go much farther.

Hear 'Live From The Underground' In Its Entirety

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First Listen: Kelly Hogan, 'I Like To Keep Myself In Pain'

Kelly Hogan's new album, I Like to Keep Myself in Pain, comes out June 5. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: Kelly Hogan, 'I Like To Keep Myself In Pain'

The singer and prolific go-to collaborator steps into the spotlight for the first time in 11 years, recording songs written just for her by M. Ward, Andrew Bird, Stephin Merritt, Vic Chesnutt, Robyn Hitchcock, and more.

Hear 'I Like To Keep Myself In Pain'

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First Listen: Liars, 'WIXIW'

Liars' new album, WIXIW, comes out June 5. Zen Sekizawa hide caption

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Zen Sekizawa

First Listen: Liars, 'WIXIW'

Angus Andrews and his band defy expectations with every new album. On their sixth record, WIXIW (pronounced "wish you"), they enlisted help from Mute Records founder Daniel Miller to shape their most electronic art-rock record to date.

Hear 'WIXIW' In Its Entirety

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Sunday

First Listen: Regina Spektor, 'What We Saw From The Cheap Seats'

Regina Spektor's new album, What We Saw From the Cheap Seats, comes out May 29. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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First Listen: Regina Spektor, 'What We Saw From The Cheap Seats'

Spektor has a remarkable gift for gut-level connection, and for drawing a straight line from her idea-packed head to thousands of bleeding hearts. On her new album, even her weirdest moments come in service of warmth that's as kind and necessary as an old friend.

Hear 'What We Saw From The Cheap Seats'

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