- The latest album from the New York-based rock band Wild Pink was made in the midst of singer John Ross’ cancer diagnosis. Confronted with life's fragility, Ross wrote a beautiful set of songs that function like a work of slow cinema, asking the listener to lean in, pay attention and find providence in small details.
- Twenty years ago, Bob Boilen was working as the director of All Things Considered when Sigur Rós released its album ( ). Bob often played tracks from that album between news segments; he says it felt like “the perfect antidote to the daily news.” The album has recently been remastered, and Bob played "Untitled #7 (Jacobs Studio Sessions),” from that new version, on All Songs Considered this week, along with new music from Samia, Okaidja Afroso and more.
- Singer-songwriters Katie Crutchfield — who writes and performs as Waxahatchee — and Jess Williamson have released a new duo album as Plains. On it, the two songwriters combine the wry wisdom of their solo songwriting with a classic country sound they’ve both long wanted to explore.
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- The recipients of the MacArthur Fellowship receive unrestricted grants of $800,000 for their "exceptional creativity" and "promise." This year, three musicians received the award: electronic musician Ikue Mori; jazz cellist Tomeka Reid and Martha Gonzalez, a scholar and the lead singer of Quetzal.
- This week on the NPR Classical playlist, a dozen young pianists you should know: mercurial Katia Buniatishvili and Lucas Debargue; brainy Igor Levit and Víkingur Ólafsson; powerhouse Daniil Trifonov and lyrical Beatrice Rana.
- This week, our friends at KUTX in Austin shared a pop-up performance by Lido Pimienta, backstage at ACL Fest, and Jazz Night in America shared a live concert capture of a performance by BADBADNOTGOOD.
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The final week of our Latinx Heritage Month celebration at the Tiny Desk included some powerful performances. Dominican rapper Tokischa reworked her songs in a melange of Latin American and Caribbean genres, foregrounding her celebration of unfiltered expression. And Puerto Rican rapper Farruko adapted his signature flow for a far more intimate setting — plus, he sat down with Alt.Latino to talk about how a religious transformation led him to retire his partying persona. |
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| Listen to your local NPR station. |
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