Music

Mother is the solo debut of Natalie Maines, former Dixie Chicks frontwoman.

Music & Culture

Natalie Maines On Motherhood, Eddie Vedder And Leaving Country Music

6:22pm May 02, 2013

by NPR Staff

A decade after the Dixie Chicks' frontwoman came out against the Iraq War — the response to which brought the band's career to a halt — Maines returns with her solo debut, Mother.

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Music & Culture

Mick Fleetwood On Fleetwood Mac: 'It Would Make A Great Play'

10:51am May 01, 2013

by NPR Staff

Stream the band's new EP, and hear the drummer and founding member's thoughts on longevity, epitaphs and iTunes.

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Ceramic Dog is Marc Ribot, Ches Smith and Shahzad Ismaily.

Music & Culture

Marc Ribot Isn't Trying To Comfort Anyone

8:01pm April 30, 2013

by Robert Christgau

Marc Ribot has spent nearly three decades as a guitarist on the margins. Critic Robert Christgau explains why Ribot's new hard-rock album with Ceramic Dog ranks among his most daring pieces of music.

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Iron and Wine's new album is titled Ghost on Ghost.

Music & Culture

Iron And Wine: Words Like Seedlings

5:48pm April 29, 2013

by NPR Staff

Sam Beam says he isn't "worried about people understanding exactly what's happening" in any given song. In this interview, he discusses the "exposed, vulnerable place" described in "Caught in the Briars," as well as the themes that run through Ghost on Ghost, Iron and Wine's new album.

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Cellist Janos Starker with one of his classes at Indiana University. He said he was "put on this earth to be a teacher."

Music & Culture

Remembering Janos Starker, The Cellist 'Born To Be A Teacher'

5:48pm April 29, 2013

by Sara Wittmeyer

Although renowned as a soloist and Grammy winner, the famed cellist devoted much of his life to teaching students at Indiana University. Starker died Sunday at age 88.

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Music & Culture

Life After Sweet Honey, A Founding Member Moves On

2:04pm April 29, 2013

Since 1973, the legendary female a capella group Sweet Honey in the Rock has created music deep in the tradition of the African-American community. After almost 35 years with the group, Ysaye Barnwell, whose voice occupied the bottom register of the group's harmony, plans to retire.

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The Miami group Tiempo Libre combines hip-hop, R&B, rock and pan-Latin sounds to create a distinctive version of Cuban party music known as timba.

Music & Culture

New Cuban Sounds Rooted In Tradition From 'Global Village'

6:38pm April 28, 2013

by NPR Staff

World music DJ Betto Arcos returns to weekends on All Things Considered to share what he's been spinning on Global Village, the show he hosts on KPFK in Los Angeles.

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Karl Hyde's debut solo album is titled Edgeland.

Music & Culture

Karl Hyde, Underworld Music Maker, Surfaces

6:20pm April 27, 2013

by NPR Staff

Hyde is one-half of the English electronic dance duo Underworld. On his solo debut, Edgeland, the musician and composer takes a turn for the personal — even addressing a near-death experience from his own life.

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The Chapin Sisters' new tribute album is titled A Date With the Everly Brothers.

Music & Culture

Singing Sisters Reconsider The Everly Brothers

3:57pm April 27, 2013

by NPR Staff

The Chapin Sisters were once a trio. When one member left to start a family, the remaining sisters looked to another sibling duo for inspiration.

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Frank Sinatra's "The Coffee Song" makes light of a perceived Brazilian coffee glut.

Music & Culture

Jittery Jams: 10 Songs For Coffee Lovers

2:46am April 26, 2013

by Stephen Thompson

With the Beastie Boys taking their "sugar with coffee and cream," Carly Simon finding "clouds in my coffee," and countless singers using black coffee as a metaphor for a life in need of a swift kick, it was actually tough to narrow a caffeinated playlist down to just 10 selections.

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