NPR Music

Kanye's 'Yeezus' Packs A Bite

Oliver Wang — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:42:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuhl6Ji5zHM

Samberg, Taccone And Schaffer: Three's Not A Lonley Island

editor — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:30:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKQ6nINAeq8

Distinctive Voices: Three Must-Hear Violin Albums

Tom Huizenga — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:03:00 +0000

The violin, though centuries old, remains a popular yet remarkably unwieldy instrument. Just squeezing the contraption between your chin and shoulder, then raising your bow arm to the proper height, is enough to induce a pinched nerve. Yet every day countless numbers of people try to make the instrument sing.

Three of the most distinctive violinists have released new albums. Viktoria Mullova continues her exploration of music by J.S.

Billy Bragg: Tiny Desk Concert

Bob Boilen — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:13:00 +0000

OK Go helped us move the Tiny Desk from our old building to NPR's new headquarters, and The National performed the first full new-building Tiny Desk Concert we posted to the site, but Billy Bragg gave us the first full Tiny Desk Concert we

Don't Kill Your Idols: J. Cole Looks For His Place In Hip-Hop

Ann Powers — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:55:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AjD7nKiUQ4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-vQ_VsTkn0

The Beatles' Defining Moment (Hint: It's Not 'Sgt. Pepper')

NPR Staff — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 09:59:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S25hE4kc0mk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_SXiLWOK0U

Terence Blanchard Turns A Tragic Champion Into An Opera Hero

editor — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 20:43:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVQd7H28xts

Songwriters' Group Calls Pandora's Radio Station Buy A Stunt

Laura Sydell — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 09:28:00 +0000

This week, the Internet radio broadcaster Pandora made what seems like a backward move — technologically speaking. Pandora purchased a local radio station in Rapid City, S.D. The company says it's aiming to get the more favorable royalty rates given to terrestrial broadcasters, but the move has songwriters and composers up in arms.

Blake Morgan is an independent musician whose "Better Angels" was among a number of his songs that got some 28,000 plays on Pandora.

NO BS! Brass Band: Tiny Desk Concert

editor — Sat, 15 Jun 2013 09:26:00 +0000

Just southeast of the Virginia Commonwealth University campus in Richmond, Va., lies a compact neighborhood called Oregon Hill. Historically, it's been a (white) working-class part of town, affordable for students and various bohemian types. Recording engineer Lance Koehler was drawn to the place when he moved to Richmond from New Orleans; it's where he eventually found a two-story garage and converted it into his own recording studio and home. It didn't take him long to start doing business across the Richmond music map: Koehler is good at his job, and he's affordable.

Playing Mozart — On Mozart's Violin

editor — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 19:31:00 +0000

The violin and viola that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played himself are in the United States for the first time ever. The instruments come out of storage only about once a year at the Salzburg Mozarteum in Austria. The rest of the time, they're kept under serious lockup.