Music

Taylor Swift's new album is titled 1989.

Music & Culture

'Anything That Connects': A Conversation With Taylor Swift

6:43pm November 12, 2014

by NPR Staff

Just shy of 25, Swift's been in the music industry nearly half her life. In an extended interview with NPR's Melissa Block, she addresses what's changed in music, media, feminism and her own career.

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Music & Culture

Bob Dylan's 'Basement Tapes' Formed A Legend

2:31pm November 12, 2014

by Ed Ward

During a hiatus, some tapes surfaced of new songs Bob Dylan been writing: the infamous Basement Tapes. These songs have been collected in a box set.

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'Concert For Valor' Honors Veterans' Contributions

6:24pm November 11, 2014

by Jasmine Garsd

Tens of thousands of people will be on the National Mall Tuesday night for a Veterans Day event called "The Concert for Valor."

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Music & Culture

Oliver Lake: New Music Grounded In Old Truths

4:50pm November 11, 2014

by Kevin Whitehead

Since the 1970s, Lake has led numerous bands of his own, including an occasional big band, and an organ quartet. That organ group is one to watch.

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George Clinton's Musical Life, From The Barbershop To Hip-Hop

4:27pm November 11, 2014

by NPR Staff

NPR's Renee Montagne talks to the funk legend about his new memoir, Brothas Be, Yo Like George, Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard on You?

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Tacheles, a squat in the central district of Mitte, 1990. Spots like this one often became clubs or art spaces in the years following German reunification.

Music & Culture

In Berlin, A Beat That Bloomed From Rubble

10:03am November 11, 2014

by Esme Nicholson

Today Berlin is a techno hot spot. The scene has its roots in the fall of the Berlin Wall, when young people from East and West got together in abandoned buildings to dance and celebrate together.

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Music & Culture

Accordionist Interprets French Waltz Tradition In 'Musette Explosion'

1:58pm November 10, 2014

Will Holshouser has played all kinds of music on the accordion, including Cajun, avant garde jazz and indie rock. He joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross in her studio to play features from his new album.

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Bette Midler's new album, a tribute to girl groups, is titled It's The Girls.

Music & Culture

Bette Midler Takes On Girl Groups, From The Andrews Sisters To TLC

10:25am November 10, 2014

by NPR Staff

Midler has delighted in listening to girl groups since she was a kid. On a new album, she takes a crack at her favorites — from the tight harmonies of The Andrews Sisters to the slow groove of TLC.

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Robert Lee Watt was a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic for more than three decades.

'The Black Horn': Blowing Past Classical Music's Color Barriers

9:44am November 10, 2014

by NPR Staff

Robert Lee Watt, the first black French horn player to join a major U.S. symphony, spent 37 years with the LA Philharmonic. He faced a lot of resistance along the way, as his new memoir recounts.

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Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Reaches Labor Deal With Musicians

4:03pm November 09, 2014

by Scott Neuman

The Grammy award-winning ensemble will open the first concert of its 70th anniversary season with Beethoven's ninth symphony, the "Ode to Joy."