Jacob Ganz
[Copyright 2024 NPR]
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The Nova Scotian stalwarts attribute their longevity to a tight code of democracy and avoiding the spotlight.
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Director Nicolas Winding Refn explains how he chose the swooning electronic pop songs that underscore the emotion in his new film, about a stuntman and getaway driver whose emotional awakening is interrupted by bursts of brutal violence.
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JD Samson explains how politics and dance music can mix, even in songs without an explicit message.
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The difference between writing books and capsule reviews, web and print, and how pop is like zydeco.
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The New Yorker's classical music critic answers questions about his job and his daily routine.
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Wye Oak build songs around simple ideas that can seem opaque, but always pack an unexpected kick. Take It In could be about a fight between two people who know each other very well — in addition to being bandmates, Stack and Wasner are a couple — and bash at each other with everything they have in an effort to keep the relationship alive.
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In 1989, two members of the rock band Superchunk launched a tiny record label. Twenty years later, amid the struggles of the music industry at large, Merge has become one of the most respected and successful companies in the business.
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Last year, the band Grizzly Bear earned the acclaim of critics with Yellow House, recorded in and inspired by the childhood home of frontman Ed Droste. The Brooklyn band's songs are warm and comfortable, yet somehow strange and new.
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In Rainbows, Radiohead's first album since 2005, will appear online Oct. 10, with a specially-boxed CD/LP set to follow in December. The band is working without a label and the album will debut on the Radiohead Web site.
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Khaela Maricich isn't afraid to stretch her voice out or drop it to a low whisper in order to suit an unconventional melody, and the music tiptoes that same line. The Blow's beats stutter and pop enough to highlight the sensuality in Maricich's voice, but they're rugged enough to complement her brand of low-fidelity intimacy.