Music Features

Robyn performs at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in 2011.

Music & Culture

Alone Together: Robyn's 'Dancing On My Own' Opens The Corners Of Community

12:31pm June 10, 2019

by Sam Sanders

The magic of Robyn's millennial anthem is its bait and switch: It's a fun, energetic dance song about being lonely and heartbroken. And yet, the minute you hear it, you instantly feel less alone.

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Wu-Tang Clan is set to be the first hip-hop group to headline at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium.

Music & Culture

Wu-Tang Clan Set To Make History As First Hip-Hop Act To Headline Ryman Auditorium

6:03pm June 08, 2019

by Chas Sisk

Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, nicknamed "The Mother Church of Country Music," has never hosted a hip-hop show. After 125 years, Wu-Tang Clan will be the first rap act to headline at the venue.

Judy Wexler's fifth album, Crowded Heart, is out now.

Music & Culture

'Something To Hold': Why This Self-Produced Jazz Singer Made A Physical CD In 2019

11:23am June 08, 2019

by Susan Stamberg

Los Angeles-based jazz vocalist Judy Wexler recently released her fifth album, Crowded Heart. Why, in the age of streaming, did she choose to release it solely as a CD?

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Tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who died in 2007, is the subject of a new documentary film, directed by Ron Howard.

Music & Culture

Pavarotti Documentary Misses All The Right Notes

8:28am June 07, 2019

by Tom Huizenga

Ron Howard's new Pavarotti film fails to make us feel much for its subject, and does little to bolster the magical, complicated art called opera.

One More Scoop Of Vanilla: A New Proposal Looks To Loosen Radio Ownership Rules

6:00am June 07, 2019

by Marissa Moss

A proposed change could see more radio stations ending up in the hands of fewer executives, which would have a homogenizing effect on radio dials around the U.S. The thing is, that's already happened.

Origins, the debut album by 14- and 11-year-old siblings Giri (left) and Uma Peters, is a set of traditional folk and blues songs that puts the duo's intention to spotlight the black musical traditions that shaped and spread the tunes.

Music & Culture

Giri And Uma Peters Are Picking Prodigies On A Mission

2:39pm June 06, 2019

by Jewly Hight

The 14- and 11-year-old siblings, who just released a debut album of folk and blues songs, know that highlighting the real diversity of the music's roots makes room for more voices in the present.

Raveena's debut album, Lucid, is comforting but nuanced, balancing cultures old and new by mashing up contemporary R&B with traditions from the South Asian diaspora.

Music & Culture

Make Room For Raveena

4:41pm June 05, 2019

by Sidney Madden

On her debut album, Lucid, the 25-year-old singer mashes up contemporary R&B with traditions from the South Asian diaspora. "I just think there's room for more stories."

García's new album Candela is the sparkling finale in a trilogy of albums with Dominican-influenced sounds.

Music & Culture

Vicente García: A Pop-Fusion Star On A Mission To Stay Authentic

11:58am June 05, 2019

by Marisa Arbona-Ruiz

The higher the Dominican singer-songwriter's star rises, the tighter he grips his artistic freedom. The new Candela caps a trio of albums connecting dots between bachata, merengue, trap, pop and more.

Music & Culture

Searching For Disco's Cro-Magnon

6:00am June 04, 2019

by Jason Heller

A writer thinks he's found disco's progenitor, but none of the experts agree with him, or each other — and the end result is beside the point.

Roky Erickson cemented his rock immortality with the 13th Floor Elevators song "You're Gonna Miss Me" and, through a career interrupted by struggles with schizophrenia, he made music that caught the ear of the mainstream while remaining tantalizingly out

Music & Culture

We're Gonna Miss Him: Roky Erickson Brought Soulfulness To Psychedelia

8:27am June 02, 2019

by Jason Heller

Through a career that spanned six decades, the psychedelic pioneer captivated the rock establishment while remaining at an arm's length from the mainstream.