Essentials

Top row: The Monkees; Bottom row, left to right: Esmé Patterson, Matt The Electrician, Adia Victoria Courtesy of the artists hide caption

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All Songs Considered

New Mix: The Monkees, Esmé Patterson, Adia Victoria, Matt The Electrician, More

by Robin Hilton , Bob Boilen

May 24, 2016 • On this week's episode we've got one of the sunniest bands of all time, mesmerizing music from the Sahara and an elegy to growing old.

Hear the podcast 32:14

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All Songs Considered

Owen Isn't 'Lost,' Just Wandering

by Lars Gotrich

May 25, 2016 • After starting a band with young proteges and touring a successful American Football reunion, Mike Kinsella has a new sense of purpose on a lush, lively new album, his ninth under the name Owen.

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Hopelessness is Anohni's first solo album. It combines dance beats with a hard look at global issues. Alice O'Malley/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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All Things Considered

Anohni's 'Hopelessness' And The Power Of Speaking Out

May 23, 2016 • The former Antony And The Johnsons singer's first solo album combines dance beats with a stark look at global strife. "Raising your voice is the antidote to a sense of powerlessness," she says.

Hear the interview

Adia Victoria is a Nashville-based singer and songwriter who sounds nothing like what we think of as Nashville. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Weekend Edition Saturday

Adia Victoria Reckons With The South

by Jewly Hight

May 21, 2016 • The singer and songwriter grew up under difficult circumstances in South Carolina. Today she uses her music, and the legacy of Southern black women's music, to come to terms with the past and present.

Hear the story 6:48

Songs We Love

Handpicked by NPR Music staff and public radio hosts

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Mara Hruby, 'In The Wee Small Hours'

Picked by Erika Ramirez

The singer-songwriter faces her fears with a jazz standard about a love that once was.

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Joseph, 'White Flag'

opbmusic.org

OPB

Picked by David Christensen

The Portland sister trio make the move from quiet acoustic songs to flourishing anthems.

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Sarah Jarosz Scott Simontacchi/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Sarah Jarosz, 'House Of Mercy'

Colin Marshall/NPR

Picked by Katie Presley

The folk and bluegrass artist takes a big, bold step, writing darker, more mature material.

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First Listen

Hear upcoming albums in their entirety

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Beth Orton

Kidsticks

The singer-songwriter returns to (and expands on) the beat-driven sound that made her name.

37:31

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PUP

The Dream Is Over

The Toronto punk band sounds anthemic and unhinged on its new album's shout-along pop songs.

30:34

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iLe

ilevitable

Ileana Cabra Joglar emerges from Calle 13's shadow with the classic sounds of her solo debut.

43:20

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Big Thief

Masterpiece

Big Thief sounds warm and muscular, with moments that comfort and explode nestled closely together.

37:31

Shostakovich Under Stalin's Shadow: Symphonies Nos. 5, 8 & 9. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons, cond.

Shostakovich Symphonies Nos. 5, 8 & 9

Contrasting symphonies by Shostakovich get deluxe treatments from the Boston Symphony.

2:37:24 • Until May 27

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Tiny Desk

Robert Ellis

by Lars Gotrich

May 23, 2016 • Robert Ellis somehow finds wide-eyed wonder in heartbreak.

Watch the video 11:40

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Front Row

Explosions In The Sky In Concert

by Benjamin Naddaff-Hafrey

May 19, 2016 • If Explosions In The Sky's records are watershed moments for its fans, then the band's live shows are a Biblical flood.

Watch the video

NPR

Jazz Night In America

Leroy Jones' New Orleans Strut WBGO and Jazz At Lincoln Center

May 20, 2016 • At the Dew Drop Jazz Hall across the lake from the city, music has been performed for more than a century.

Watch the video 42:47

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May 19, 2016 • One of the hardest parts of making a song is finding the first line.

Hear the interview 38:41

All Songs Considered

Paul Simon

Paul Simon's latest album, Stranger To Stranger, is due out June 3. Myrna Suarez/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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May 10, 2016 • Music is a collaborative thing. Life is a collaborative thing. No one can do anything on the levels of greatness — and that's what we going for — by themselves.

Hear the podcast 1:05:51

Microphone Check

Gizzle

Gizzle at home in Los Angeles in April. Graham Walzer for NPR hide caption

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Lucius singer, Jess Wolfe in a scene from the band's video for the song "Gone Insane." Nathan Johnson hide caption

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All Songs Considered

The Madness Behind Making The Lucius Video, 'Gone Insane'

by Robin Hilton

May 24, 2016 • The visually twisted video for the Lucius song "Gone Insane" took more than 20,000 photos and a week to shoot.

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All Songs Considered

Need A Summer Jam? Hear Drag Sounds' Bright And Breezy 'Messy Life'

by Lars Gotrich

May 24, 2016 • Drag Sounds' debut is a chooglin', hip-shakin' rock 'n' roll record that's indebted to the swagger of The Velvet Underground and the winding guitar interplay of Television.

Hear the song

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Weekend Edition Sunday

Four Home-Schooled Sisters, One Awesome Metallica Cover

May 22, 2016 • Violin, mandolin, piano, drums and gorgeous vocal harmonies define the sound of SHEL, a band of four sisters raised in a music-minded household. They speak with NPR's Rachel Martin.

Hear the interview 8:00

Classical music fans are familiar with Robert Schumann. But they might not know that his his wife, Clara, was an accomplished composer, too. Franz Hanfstaengl/Getty Images hide caption

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Weekend Edition Sunday

'Sounds And Sweet Airs' Remembers The Forgotten Women Of Classical Music

May 22, 2016 • You may be familiar with Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann. But did you know Mendelssohn's sister Fanny and Schumman's wife Clara were accomplished composers, too?

Hear the story 7:24

Shimon the robot performs with a human colleague at Moogfest in Durham, N.C. on May 22. Mike Murphy/YouTube hide caption

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All Songs Considered

Your New Robot Overlord Turns Out To Be A Pretty Good Marimba Player

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

May 23, 2016 • Over the weekend, a four-armed robot named Shimon did something amazing: It played an improvised jazz set alongside a human bandmate at a music festival.

Watch the video

José Martinez's mariachi opera Cruzar La Cara De La Luna premiered at the Houston Grand Opera in 2010. Felix Sanchez/Houston Grand Opera hide caption

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