Music

"It was always difficult for us to find the time to stop writing new songs and look at old songs," Welch says. The 20th anniversary of her debut gave them that opportunity this year.

More love songs should sound like a vintage Dodge Charger slamming into a brick wall. In "The King's Wig," the Sacramento noise-punk band channels the chaotic scuzz of Spazz with ramming speed.

New Orleans' Queen of Bounce teaches us that your oddest qualities might be the things that make you the most fabulous

Jazz critic Francis Davis says veteran musicians — particularly Wadada Leo Smith and Henry Threadgill — are making some of the most adventurous music of their careers.

Liz Harris' new 7" is a muted meditation that sighs with stark melancholy, "My head hurts."

Feeling a little jingle belled out? Here's your musical stocking stuffer — plus a holiday bedtime story.

These are the albums that the longtime World Cafe host turned to the most this year. Some may surprise you.

Bonet grew up in a house full of musical instruments, but she didn't commit to becoming a songwriter and performer until her mid-20s. She joins NPR to talk about her journey back.