Music & Culture

Music & Culture

Songs We Love: Ane Brun, 'You Lit My Fire'

11:42am January 11, 2016

by Katie Presley

Norwegian singer-songwriter says her new single and video is "an homage...to early women's rights activists, neglected or underestimated when we praise our heroes and heroines through history."

Hear two tracks by DJ Cam in this week's mix.

Music & Culture

Metropolis: 1/9/15

10:37am January 11, 2016

Hear tracks by DJ Cam, Basement Jaxx and more in a two-hour EDM mix spun by KCRW's Jason Bentley.

Music & Culture

British Musician David Bowie Dies After Battling Cancer

9:07am January 11, 2016

David Bowie died Sunday at age 69. David Greene talks to Simon Warner, author and lecturer at the University of Leeds, about Bowie's contribution to music and pop culture.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

David Bowie Dies At 69

3:06am January 11, 2016

by NPR Staff and Wires

Singer David Bowie has died after a long battle with cancer, according to a representative for the musician.

Eva Salina's new album is called Lema Lema: Eva Salina Sings Saban Bajramovic.

Music & Culture

Eva Salina's Love For Balkan Music Is Lifelong — And Accidental

12:48pm January 10, 2016

by NPR Staff

The singer has Dutch and Jewish roots and hails from a quiet California beach town — but musically, she's traveled a path far afield from her upbringing.

Queue Listen Now

X-Ray Audio: The Strange Story of Soviet Music on the Bone explores a curious bootlegging practice that arose in Cold War Russia.

Bones And Grooves: The Weird Secret History Of Soviet X-Ray Music

9:29am January 10, 2016

by NPR Staff

In Cold War Russia, getting your hands on an American rock record was close to impossible. But a few bootleggers found a way to hide their contraband in the last place anyone would think to look.

Queue Listen Now

The Brothers Nazaroff is five klezmer musicians from three continents, brought together by a love of the curious 1954 recording Jewish Freilach Songs.

Music & Culture

60 Years Later, A Wild, Baffling Recording Finds A Modern Spark

1:14pm January 09, 2016

by Jon Kalish

In 1954, Folkways Records released an album that sold so poorly, the royalties to date total less than a thousand dollars. Today, five of the top names in klezmer have gathered to recreate it.

Queue Listen Now

Jamie Masefield made a name for himself leading the Jazz Mandolin Project. When the life of a working musician started to wear on him, the Vermont native became a certified dry stone mason.

Music & Culture

A Jazzman Turned Builder Says That In Both Fields, The Good Stuff's Made To Last

12:03pm January 09, 2016

by Angela Evancie

James Masefield has been improvising on the jazz mandolin for decades, including a release on Blue Note Records. Some years back, his eclectic creativity brought him to an unexpected second career.

Queue Listen Now

The new album of British singer David Bowie, entitled Blackstar (stylised as *), is displayed during the exhibition "David Bowie is", at the museum shop of the Groninger Museum in The Netherlands.

Music & Culture

Music Review: 'Blackstar,' David Bowie

8:04am January 09, 2016

by Will Hermes

Music critic Will Hermes reviews the new album from David Bowie which is being called Blackstar.

Queue Listen Now

Music & Culture

Across The Blue Ridge - Episode 2 (Roots of Bluegrass Music in North Carolina)

3:49pm January 08, 2016

by Paul Brown

This week's Across the Blue Ridge explores roots of bluegrass in North Carolina old-time music – specifically that of the groundbreaking banjo player Charlie Poole.

Queue Listen Now