Music

March 17, 2023 - 12:00pm

The Lilies of the Midwest celebrated St. Patrick's Day with Irish dances.

Bono and The Edge: Tiny Desk Concert

March 17, 2023 - 11:00am

It's hard to overstate the kindness and good-natured humor Bono and The Edge brought to the Tiny Desk. When they first arrived at the NPR Music offices, Bono spoke on an imaginary phone, "The talent's here! The talent's coming through," poking fun at their own fame, while carrying The Edge's...

Strange Ranger, 'Rain So Hard'

March 17, 2023 - 10:20am

The more that the members of Strange Ranger dress like the cast of Trainspotting, the more its music sounds like it would have appeared on the 1996 movie's soundtrack. Since relocating from Portland, Ore., to New York City and Philly surrounding the release of 2019's Remembering the Rockets, the...

Sofia Kourtesis, 'Madres'

March 17, 2023 - 9:47am

Dancing can be a strangely solitary experience — bodies gathered but moving independently from one another, eyes closed and minds drifting. Sofia Kourtesis, an electronic musician born in Peru and residing in Berlin, strives to bring a more collective meaning through her pulsing house tracks. She sings in Spanish...

Robert Smith of The Cure convinces Ticketmaster to give partial refunds, lower fees

March 17, 2023 - 8:41am

One cure — or a treatment, at least — for high Ticketmaster fees turns out to be The Cure frontman Robert Smith, who said he was "sickened" by the charges and announced Thursday that Ticketmaster will offer partial refunds and lower fees for The Cure tickets moving forward....

Despite what some people think, Jann Arden's hit TV series 'Jann' is not a reality show

March 17, 2023 - 6:00am

The iconic Canadian singer/songwriter/author Jann Arden talks about her new career as a TV sitcom star and her latest book, "If I Knew Then: Finding wisdom in failure and power in aging."

For pianist Dan Tepfer, improvisation is the mother of Bach's Inventions

March 17, 2023 - 4:15am

In the early 1720s, Johann Sebastian Bach composed a set of Two-Part Inventions to help his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, learn to play the keyboard.

Now, 300 years later, jazz pianist and composer Dan Tepfer has extracted the framework and narrative from these deceptively simple exercises...

Listen Live from the SXSW Radio Day Stage

March 16, 2023 - 10:35am

Public radio favorites Thee Sacred Souls, Aoife Nessa Frances, Hermanos Gutiérrez and Debby Friday are set to perform live on the SXSW Radio Day Stage on Friday, March 17. The entire concert is audio streaming through NPR Live Sessions.

Special thanks to the public radio...

Louder Than A Riot: Season 2

March 16, 2023 - 4:17am

How the double standard became hip-hop's standard

March 16, 2023 5:17 AM ET
Sidney Madden Rodney Carmichael

Megan broke a rule.

It's a rule built into the hierarchy of rap, a rule that explains why men remain at the top and women in...

Bobby Caldwell, singer of 'What You Won't Do for Love,' dies at 71

March 16, 2023 - 12:49am

Bobby Caldwell, a soulful R&B singer and songwriter who had a major hit in 1978 with "What You Won't Do for Love" and a voice and musical style adored by generations of his fellow artists, has died, his wife said Wednesday.

Mary Caldwell told The Associated Press that...

Tianna Esperanza's uphill climb to conquering 'Terror'

March 15, 2023 - 4:11am

"When I was first listening to [your music]," Morning Edition host Leila Fadel tells singer-songwriter Tianna Esperanza, "I was more listening to just the music, before the lyrics really set into my head – this sort of sweet track, like a renaissance-style music. And then you hear what you're saying."...

Andrew Combs: Tiny Desk Concert

March 15, 2023 - 4:00am

The concept of our Tiny Desk is to capture artists up close and personal, a design that couldn't be a better fit for Andrew Combs' recent music. He and his band loaded in the standard drums, bass, guitar and keys — even a saxophone or two — behind the...

Turner Williams Jr., 'Droplet'

March 14, 2023 - 3:51pm

"Droplet," the opening track from Turner Williams Jr.'s Briars on a Dewdrop, plays like a field recording from a parallel world, yet there's something familiar in how its shimmering harp-like tones dart around the core six-note motif. Williams performs primarily with indigenous deep-folk stringed instruments, which he modifies and soaks...

For Sampa The Great, there's no place like home

March 14, 2023 - 10:39am

There's no place like home. You know that feeling: When you've been away from home for a long time and you finally get back, it's like taking a big exhale. You can put your bags down. Hug your family. Be your true self. That's what Sampa The Great does...

Róisín Murphy, 'CooCool'

March 14, 2023 - 10:23am

I remember the exact moment I stopped thinking of Róisín Murphy as a merely "good" musician and began to view her as genuinely heroic. At the height of lockdown, the Irish singer posted a live performance of her single "Murphy's Law" to YouTube. The song is about small...

Eluvium, 'Void Manifest'

March 14, 2023 - 8:02am

Matthew Robert Cooper, the composer who records under the name Eluvium, has spent much of the last 20 years crafting head-filling ambient music — the kind of stuff that can both flood your brain and help clarify your thoughts. Though consistently beautiful, his work never settles on a single...

La pregunta que llevó a una mujer a crear el primer archivo de reguetón puertorriqueño

March 14, 2023 - 8:00am

Radio Ambulante es un podcast en español de NPR que narra las historias de América Latina.

Para Patricia Velázquez el reguetón no es solo un género musical: es una máquina del tiempo.

La canción "Gata celosa'' siempre tiene una forma de transportarla a la casa de su...

A tough question led one woman to create the first Puerto Rican reggaeton archive

March 14, 2023 - 8:00am

Radio Ambulante is NPR's Spanish-language longform podcast that tells uniquely Latin American stories.

For Patricia Velázquez, reggaeton isn't just a musical genre — it's a time machine.

The song "Gata Celosa'' always has a way of transporting her back to her abuela's home when she would...

The Oscar for 'Naatu Naatu' fans the impossible dreams of India's musicians

March 13, 2023 - 3:52pm

"Do you know naatu? If you don't, you're about to!"

That's how Bollywood star Deepika Padukone introduced the energetic live performance of the foot-tapping Oscar-nominated song "Naatu Naatu" from the global blockbuster movie RRR at the live ceremony on Sunday night.

"Naatu Naatu" means "raw" or "rustic" in...

For Puerto Rico's Villano Antillano, femininity is a shield — and a superpower

March 13, 2023 - 3:36pm

Villano Antillano opens her debut LP, La Sustancia X, by casting a spell. "Prende las velas, repite el mantra," she sings — "Light the candles, repeat the mantra."

But this isn't the start of a soft, tranquil meditation. It's the beginning of a party fueled by sex, drugs, love...

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Lilies of the Midwest

Bono and The Edge: Tiny Desk Concert

Strange Ranger, 'Rain So Hard'

Sofia Kourtesis, 'Madres'

Robert Smith of The Cure convinces Ticketmaster to give partial refunds, lower fees

Despite what some people think, Jann Arden's hit TV series 'Jann' is not a reality show

For pianist Dan Tepfer, improvisation is the mother of Bach's Inventions

Listen Live from the SXSW Radio Day Stage

Louder Than A Riot: Season 2

How the double standard became hip-hop's standard

Bobby Caldwell, singer of 'What You Won't Do for Love,' dies at 71

Tianna Esperanza's uphill climb to conquering 'Terror'

Andrew Combs: Tiny Desk Concert

Turner Williams Jr., 'Droplet'

For Sampa The Great, there's no place like home

Róisín Murphy, 'CooCool'

Eluvium, 'Void Manifest'

La pregunta que llevó a una mujer a crear el primer archivo de reguetón puertorriqueño

A tough question led one woman to create the first Puerto Rican reggaeton archive

The Oscar for 'Naatu Naatu' fans the impossible dreams of India's musicians

For Puerto Rico's Villano Antillano, femininity is a shield — and a superpower

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How the double standard became hip-hop's standard

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