A killer Eddie Van Halen solo has an air of rawness and immediacy, but what made the late pyrotechnic guitarist iconic was his ability to balance spontaneity with carefully-honed precision.
The links between hip-hop and the prison system are on display in laws and lyrics stretching back decades. If you're caught between these two American institutions, it might look like a trap.
Great Scott, the gritty little club in Boston's Allston neighborhood, will not reopen after the pandemic. This oral history dives into the club's 44-year-long legacy.
"I need to build a new world around this music." Bartees Strange speaks to NPR Music about the people and places that made Live Forever, his debut album.
From humble beginnings, The Teaches of Peaches has spent 20 years seeping into the mainstream, widening pop's window for abrasive sounds and NSFW sexual expression.
This year's Tiny Desk Contest attracted plenty of talent, including standout entrant Mama Haze, aka California songwriter Meaghan Maples. Her song "On Your Side" was written during a time of healing.
In 1965, two young fans heard the jazz giant play at a San Francisco club and had a religious epiphany. Their church is an idiosyncratic and joyful blend of devotion to the divine — and to jazz.