Music Features : NPR

Local Groove Does Good: The Story Of Trip-Hop's Rise From Bristol

The Wild Bunch — soon-to-be Massive Attack — at the Dug Out Club in Bristol. Photo by Beezer hide caption

toggle caption

Local Groove Does Good: The Story Of Trip-Hop's Rise From Bristol

January 31, 2012 • Two decades ago, the city of Bristol, England, produced many of the most important names in the genre known (unwillingly) as trip-hop.

Lana Del Rey. Nicole Nodland/Courtesy of Universal Music Group hide caption

toggle caption

Nicole Nodland/Courtesy of Universal Music Group

Lana Del Rey: Just Another Pop Star

January 30, 2012 • Like other controversial musicians in the past year, the singer-songwriter hit an already partially exposed common nerve and set off a mass discussion about issues that go far beyond her product.

Lana Del Rey: Just Another Pop Star

Listen · 5:47 5:47

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/146088800/146100135" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

For Eager Fans, Small Labels Roll Out All-Access Plans

Stones Throw is one of a handful of indie labels to make its new releases available to fans on a subscription basis. Courtesy of Stones Throw Records hide caption

toggle caption

Courtesy of Stones Throw Records

For Eager Fans, Small Labels Roll Out All-Access Plans

January 27, 2012 • For a monthly fee, you can get an MP3 of every single new recording put out by the Stones Throw label.

How To Fix 'American Idol': Ditch The Auditions

American Idol hopeful Magic Cyclops auditions in Aspen, Colo. Michael Becker/FOX hide caption

toggle caption

Michael Becker/FOX

How To Fix 'American Idol': Ditch The Auditions

January 27, 2012 • A modest proposal for reinvigorating the struggling, but still-relevant, singing competition.

Chimes of Freedom - Album Art

Loving Bob Dylan's Throwaways

January 25, 2012 • A new compilation of 75 covers, made for Amnesty International, highlights the hidden value in Dylan's less-than-iconic songs.

Bram van der Kolk, Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann and Kim Schmitz, also known as Kim Dotcom, (from left to right) are remanded in custody in New Zealand on Friday. David Rowland/EPA /Landov hide caption

toggle caption

David Rowland/EPA /Landov

The Record

Four Views On Megaupload

January 20, 2012 • In the wake of the site's shutdown, many questions about its legal and illicit uses remain.

Four Views On Megaupload

Listen · 4:02 4:02

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/145533482/145532513" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Still Chasing The Dream: 'American Idol' Eleven Years In

It's All Good: American Idol judges (from left) Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez and Randy Jackson have led the show into an era that favors love over scorn. Michael Becker/FOX hide caption

toggle caption

Michael Becker/FOX

The Record

Still Chasing The Dream: 'American Idol' Eleven Years In

January 20, 2012 • The star-making singing contest still shows us what pop means to a huge number of Americans.

Courtesy of Megaupload.

The Record

Megaupload Shut Down By The FBI

January 19, 2012 • An indictment charges the file-sharing site with copyright infringement, racketeering and money laundering.

Megaupload Shut Down By The FBI

Listen · 4:19 4:19

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/145474712/145500291" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Johnny Otis, Rhythm And Blues Pioneer, Has Died

Band leader Johnny Otis poses for a portrait in surrounded by "The Jelly Roll" records in 1947.

Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images

The Record

Johnny Otis, Rhythm And Blues Pioneer, Has Died

January 19, 2012 • The bandleader, radio and TV host and composer who wrote "Willie And The Hand Jive" also discovered many of R&B's greatest voices. Otis died Tuesday in his Los Angeles home.

Johnny Otis, Rhythm And Blues Pioneer, Has Died

Listen · 2:53 2:53

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/145466792/145473334" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

Bruce Springsteen's New Wave Of Social Protest

Bruce Springsteen's latest album, Wrecking Ball, will be released March 6 on Columbia Records. Danny Clinch/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption

Danny Clinch/Courtesy of the artist

The Record

Bruce Springsteen's New Wave Of Social Protest

January 19, 2012 • The first sample of the rocker's new album, Wrecking Ball, features soaring new wave sounds and cutting political commentary.

Songwriter and bandleader Jimmy Castor in a photo taken during the Jimmy Castor Bunch era. Castor began his career as a doo-wop singer, later picked up the saxophone and had his greatest success in the 1970s as the leader of a funk group. David Reed/Redferns/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

David Reed/Redferns/Getty Images

The Record

Jimmy Castor, Funk Bandleader, Has Died

January 17, 2012 • He and his group, the Jimmy Castor Bunch, recorded a string of R&B hits in the 1970s.

Are 140-Character Reviews The Future Of Music Criticism?

Spin Reviews' Twitter feed on Friday, Jan. 13, 2012. Mito Habe-Evans/NPR hide caption

toggle caption

Mito Habe-Evans/NPR

The Record

Are 140-Character Reviews The Future Of Music Criticism?

January 13, 2012 • This week, alternative rock's bible, SPIN magazine, announced that it would eliminate the standard short album review from the magazine. In 2012 the magazine's writers will assess 1,500 albums, each via a single post on Twitter.

Fact-Checking Drake: Does Toronto Really Love Him?

Drake poses on the red carpet at the 2011 Juno Awards (Canada's Grammys) in Toronto, flanked by two members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Jag Gundu/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Jag Gundu/Getty Images