Music Features : NPR

You've Got A Friend: Ed Sheeran's second album, X, released this week, sets out to prove that the "friend zone" doesn't have to be toxic. Ben Watts/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Ben Watts/Courtesy of the artist

He'll Be There For You

June 26, 2014 • On his new album, X, rising singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran turns the at times troubling idea of the "friend zone" into something safe and sustaining.

Darkness Comes Alive: The Paradox Of Lana Del Rey

Elizabeth Grant, better known by her stage name, Lana Del Rey. Neil Krug/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Neil Krug/Courtesy of the artist

Darkness Comes Alive: The Paradox Of Lana Del Rey

June 20, 2014 • Despite the fact that critics have dismissed her, Lana Del Rey's music — and her message of complicated love that approaches addiction — is more sophisticated than you might think.

Who Can I Be Now? How David Bowie Spent 1974

David Bowie in September of 1974 onstage in Los Angeles. Terry O'Neill/Getty Images hide caption

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Terry O'Neill/Getty Images

Who Can I Be Now? How David Bowie Spent 1974

June 15, 2014 • To say that '74 was a year of change and challenge for David Bowie and his fans is an understatement as extreme as the lurid outfits he'd worn as his just-abandoned alter ego, Ziggy Stardust.

Casey Kasem, An Iconic Voice Of American Radio

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Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Casey Kasem, An Iconic Voice Of American Radio

June 15, 2014 • There was a time when you didn't know what the No. 1 song in America was until Casey Kasem said so. The listener had an emotional relationship with the American Top 40 host for four decades.

Casey Kasem, An Iconic Voice Of American Radio

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A Rational Conversation: Album Trailers, Really?

A still from the album trailer for Daft Punk's Random Access Memories. Courtesy of Columbia Records hide caption

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Courtesy of Columbia Records

A Rational Conversation: Album Trailers, Really?

June 3, 2014 • Amy Phillips, who runs Pitchfork News, debates whether trailers are cheap promotional pieces or creative outlets for artists.

D'Angelo with Nelson George (left) onstage at the Brooklyn Museum Wednesday night. Drew Gurian/Red Bull Content Pool hide caption

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Drew Gurian/Red Bull Content Pool

D'Angelo: 'I'm Trying To Go Deep'

May 23, 2014 • In a conversation with author Nelson George at the Brooklyn Museum, the elusive singer and songwriter spoke on his idols, his process and his teenage years, and hinted at a new album.

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The Long Shadow Of Tom Warrior, Metal's Dark Innovator

Throughout his career, Thomas Gabriel Fischer has hinted that he makes his best music under bleak circumstances. Ester Segarra/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Ester Segarra/Courtesy of the artist

The Long Shadow Of Tom Warrior, Metal's Dark Innovator

May 21, 2014 • With his bands Celtic Frost and Triptykon, Thomas Gabriel Fischer has spent the last 30 years twisting heavy metal to match his own dark side.

A Rational Conversation: How Deep Is The Disco Revival?

Giorgio Moroder performs at HARD Day Of The Dead in Los Angeles in November 2013. Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images hide caption

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Gabriel Olsen/Getty Images

A Rational Conversation: How Deep Is The Disco Revival?

May 14, 2014 • The sound made famous by legends like Giorgio Moroder is showing up on Grammy-winning pop albums and major-label remixes, but is the renewed attention on disco anything more than nostalgia?

Tori Amos on stage in Glasgow, three days before the release of her 14th studio album, Unrepentant Geraldines. Ross Gilmore/Redferns via Getty Images hide caption

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Ross Gilmore/Redferns via Getty Images

Why Tori Amos Connects

May 13, 2014 • Tori Amos fans understand her music in elemental terms. To celebrate Unrepentant Geraldines, her excellent new album, we asked five of them to pinpoint the elements that make her so unmistakable.

Todd Terje: Supreme Leisure On The Dancefloor

Todd Terje in Oslo. Sigurd Fandango/Courtesy of Pitch Perfect PR hide caption

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Sigurd Fandango/Courtesy of Pitch Perfect PR

Todd Terje: Supreme Leisure On The Dancefloor

May 9, 2014 • The producer grew up in a rural town in the south of Norway. He gave astrophysics a try but his DJ career took off, and now he produces underground hits year after year.

Todd Terje: Supreme Leisure On The Dancefloor

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Well Into Spring, 'Frozen' Soundtrack Keeps The Charts Cool

Singer Idina Menzel (center) and Frozen songwriters Bobby Lopez (left) and Kristen Anderson-Lopez pose with gold records in February. Since then, the movie's soundtrack has sold over 1.5 million more copies. Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney hide caption

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Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney

The Record

Well Into Spring, 'Frozen' Soundtrack Keeps The Charts Cool

May 9, 2014 • The soundtrack to Disney's Frozen has been the biggest-selling album of 2014, topping the Billboard album chart for 13 weeks.

Well Into Spring, 'Frozen' Soundtrack Keeps The Charts Cool

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The album cover for Lily Allen's Sheezus goes after multiple targets, including Kanye West (in the album's title) and Queen Elizabeth II (the corgis). Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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The Record

Is It Worth It To Work It?

May 8, 2014 • Iggy Azalea, Lily Allen and Sky Ferreira may not have much in common as musicians, but all three have recently drawn fire for appropriating masculine African-American imagery.

Unheard Bounty On Mobb Deep's First Album In Eight Years

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Courtesy of We Get Press

Review

The Record

Unheard Bounty On Mobb Deep's First Album In Eight Years

May 5, 2014 • After an eight year absence, the release of a new Mobb Deep album would be notable enough, but it's the bonus disc of previously unheard sessions for The Infamous that send this package over the top.

These New Puritans: 'You Have To Be Meticulous'

These New Puritans, from left: Elisa Rodrigues, Thomas Hein, Jack Barnett, George Barnett. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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The Record

These New Puritans: 'You Have To Be Meticulous'

May 2, 2014 • "I don't have the attention span for music that apes itself," says Jack Barnett, leader of the British band These New Puritans. His group has fine-tuned its sound by remaining open to many influences.

Nas in 1994, the year Illmatic was released. Danny Clinch/Courtesy of Sony Legacy hide caption

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Danny Clinch/Courtesy of Sony Legacy

The Record

'Illmatic': The Making Of A Classic

May 1, 2014 • This summer Nas is traveling the world performing his debut album in full. The crowds that are coming out to see him are turning up because the 20-year-old record is an acknowledged classic.

'Illmatic': The Making Of A Classic

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Thursday June 26, 2014

Friday June 20, 2014

Sunday June 15, 2014

Casey Kasem, An Iconic Voice Of American Radio

Tuesday June 3, 2014

Friday May 23, 2014

Listen: D'Angelo In Conversation With Nelson George

Wednesday May 21, 2014

Wednesday May 14, 2014

Tuesday May 13, 2014

Friday May 9, 2014

Todd Terje: Supreme Leisure On The Dancefloor

Well Into Spring, 'Frozen' Soundtrack Keeps The Charts Cool

Thursday May 8, 2014

Monday May 5, 2014

Review

Friday May 2, 2014

Thursday May 1, 2014

'Illmatic': The Making Of A Classic