Music & Culture

Morning News Brief: North Korea Anniversary, Turkey Referendum

7:44am April 14, 2017

North Korea marks its founder's birthday. Turkish voters go to the polls for a draft constitution. Ishaan Tharoor of The Washington Post joins the conversation. Kendrick Lamar releases a new album.

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Clyde and Gracie Lawrence perform together in the soulful pop band Lawrence.

Music & Culture

Siblings Gracie And Clyde Lawrence On Touring And The Meaning Of Home

6:20pm April 13, 2017

The brother and sister have been performing together since they were toddlers, but touring across the country in the soul-pop band Lawrence gave them a new understanding of their relationship.

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Tionne 'T-Boz' Watkins (left) and Rozonda 'Chilli' Thomas' final album as TLC comes out June 30.

Music & Culture

Call The '90s: TLC Goes 'Way Back' On Its New Single

5:02pm April 13, 2017

by Lars Gotrich

That bopping beat, that thick and wobbly synth bass, those voices — TLC is back.

Cynthia Nixon plays Emily Dickinson in Terence Davies' new film A Quiet Passion. "I think she was afraid of life," Davies says. "Like a lot of geniuses, she had — skin missing. And that makes you very, very vulnerable."

New Film Celebrates Emily Dickinson's Poetry And 'Quiet Passion'

4:57pm April 13, 2017

by Lynn Neary

Many people find fascination in Dickinson's mysterious, reclusive life. But British film director Terence Davies says it was her poetry, more than her personal life, that drew him in.

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Charlie Worsham's new album, Beginning Of Things, comes out April 21.

Music & Culture

First Listen: Charlie Worsham, 'Beginning Of Things'

4:49pm April 13, 2017

by Ann Powers

With his wry, subtle wit intact, the Nashville mainstay embraces great playing, sophisticated lyricism and the insight that comes from being the guy in the room who sits back and takes it all in.

Jeff Tweedy's new album, Together At Last, comes out June 23.

Music & Culture

Jeff Tweedy Revisits His Catalog On New Album, Shares Acoustic 'Laminated Cat'

2:09pm April 13, 2017

by Lars Gotrich

Jeff Tweedy strips down Wilco, Loose Fur and Golden Smog songs on Together At Last.

Pan Sonic (Mika Vainio, left and Ilpo Vaisanen) performing in Greenpoint, Brooklyn on May 12, 2000. Vainio died aged 51 on April 13, 2017.

Music & Culture

Mika Vainio, Founder Of Pan Sonic And Electronic Auteur, Dies At 53

1:25pm April 13, 2017

by Andrew Flanagan

The Finnish electronic music experimentalist was widely influential for his patient explorations of aggression and shadow.

Music & Culture

Father John Misty, 'Ballad Of The Dying Man' (Live)

1:00pm April 13, 2017

by Jason Bentley

Armed with Pure Comedy's biting cultural observations, Josh Tillman stopped by KCRW's studios for a surprisingly tender performance.

"Ronnie Spector's flawless performance of 'Be My Baby' influenced me since I first heard my family sing along on long road trips from NYC to Florida," Alynda Segarra says. "The song is perfect."

Music & Culture

Songs We Love: Hurray For The Riff Raff, 'Be My Baby'

12:54pm April 13, 2017

by Alison Fensterstock

Alynda Segarra takes her love of The Ronettes' lust-drenched rock 'n' roll Rosetta stone one step further and re-creates the trio's iconic 1965 TV performance.

Valgeir Sigurðsson's new album, Dissonance, comes out April 21.

Music & Culture

First Listen: Valgeir Sigurðsson, 'Dissonance'

11:51am April 13, 2017

by Tom Huizenga

Hear music both bleak and magisterial by an Icelandic composer and engineer who wields darkness into a singularly mesmerizing art.