Music Interviews

"I want you to feel uncomfortable," Bambu says. "It's how I walk in the world every day."

Music & Culture

Bambu: 'My Music Is Here To Push People To Organize'

6:33pm May 20, 2017

The Filipino-American rapper and activist discusses how gang life and poverty shaped his youth in 1990s Los Angeles and how he draws on those experiences in his uncompromising music.

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BJ Leiderman is the composer of the theme music for Weekend Edition and other public-radio programs.

Music & Culture

BJ Leiderman: 'I'm The Luckiest Composer On The Planet'

8:28am May 20, 2017

He's behind the theme music for public-radio programs like Morning Edition and Marketplace. Now, Leiderman finally has an album of his own: BJ, which features Béla Fleck on several tracks.

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Music & Culture

The Story Of Aldous Harding's 'Party,' Track By Track

11:13am May 19, 2017

by Andrew Flanagan

The New Zealand singer and songwriter digs into the motivations and inspirations inside her brilliant new record, Party.

Music & Culture

Goldfrapp On World Cafe

6:00am May 19, 2017

by Talia Schlanger

The duo's latest release is visceral dance music — an album you feel in your body before you process in your brain.

The "magical" music during the opening credits of Twin Peaks, originally broadcast in 1990, sets the tone for the cult classic.

Music & Culture

Composer Angelo Badalamenti, Master Of Mood, Returns To 'Twin Peaks'

6:52pm May 18, 2017

by Tim Greiving

His sound has helped define David Lynch's work since Blue Velvet and was an essential character in the original Twin Peaks. Now, Badalamenti and Lynch are reuniting for the show's revival.

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Father John Misty inside the World Cafe performance studio.

Music & Culture

Father John Misty On World Cafe

6:00am May 18, 2017

by Talia Schlanger

Josh Tillman's latest, Pure Comedy, is skeptical, surreal and sardonic, but also loving, generous and funny. He performs and discusses the Pentecostal upbringing that he defined himself against.

Music & Culture

Guest DJ: Café Tacvba, Mexico's Musical Philosophers

1:58pm May 17, 2017

by Felix Contreras

To celebrate its new album, Jei Beibi, the iconic Mexican band visits Alt.Latino to play guest DJ — and talk about everything but the album.

Tanya Tagaq's most recent album is Retribution.

Music & Culture

Tanya Tagaq On World Cafe

6:00am May 17, 2017

by Talia Schlanger

The breathtaking vocalist explains how she's brought her own interpretation of Inuit throat singing together with punk and electronica.

Matthew Logan Vasquez's new solo album is Does What He Wants.

Music & Culture

Matthew Logan Vasquez On World Cafe

1:26pm May 16, 2017

by David Dye

You can't tell the Delta Spirit frontman what to do in this session, featuring songs from his latest solo album.

The late musician and spiritual leader Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda, in an undated photograph taken at her ashram in Agoura, Calif.

Music & Culture

All Songs +1: Alice Coltrane's Astonishing 'Ecstatic Music'

12:08pm May 15, 2017

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

Saxophonist, composer and bandleader Ravi Coltrane — son of John and Alice Coltrane — talks about the music his mother made after she withdrew from her professional career and founded an ashram.

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