When The Undertones sang "Teenage Kicks" amid Derry's barricades, they weren't avoiding reality—they were demanding one worth living in. How the everyday yearnings of Northern Irish youth became a revolutionary statement in a world that expected them to choose sides or die trying.
That scrappy Knitting Factory on Houston Street planted seeds for two decades of tribute concerts that have raised millions for music education. Dorf's persistent courtship of Smith finally bears fruit as an inspiring lineup of performers gathers on March 26 to reinterpret her revolutionary catalog.
As Sherwood returns to Dub Syndicate's multitrack tapes a decade after Scott's tragic passing, he uncovers new artifacts within familiar terrain—the resurrected albums documenting how the partnership of two sonic architects continues to cut through space and time.
After decades as guitarist with Camper Van Beethoven and Monks of Doom, Lisher embraced "the beginner's mind" through piano lessons and software manuals. His latest album 'Underwater Detection Method' documents this creative rebirth.
Operating in self-imposed exile, Colin Self turned night into studio and meditation into medium, emerging with 'r∞L4nGc'—an album that speaks in secret tongues to commune with departed souls.
Shobhakar's musical awakening began in the most unlikely circumstances — a metal kid in a Slayer t-shirt seated among India's musical elite. Now the Mumbai musician's double-neck guitar carries him from headbanging teen to microtonal master on his new album 'Liquid Reality.'
Veteran Portland musician James Cook transforms camping trips into heartfelt songs on his album 'Waiting For The Moon' and embarks on a musical quest through the wilderness with his National Tenor Resonator guitar.
In advance of our live discussion and Q&A with authors Howie Singer and Bill Rosenblatt, we bring you this preview from their chapter on the vinyl revolution and how the transition from 78s to vinyl LPs dramatically changed the consumer music experience.
This week's essential listening includes a military drummer's debut, a memory-seeking Scot, an Australian trumpeter's electronic-classical fusion, and a Belgian's Vietnamese audio travelogue. Each creates its own climate regardless of the calendar.
When The Undertones sang "Teenage Kicks" amid Derry's barricades, they weren't avoiding reality—they were demanding one worth living in. How the everyday yearnings of Northern Irish youth became a revolutionary statement in a world that expected them to choose sides or die trying.
Mondo 2000 founder R.U. Sirius unpacks Bowie's remarkable evolution from hippie fellow traveler to critical observer, tracking the artist's fifty-year dialogue with American counterculture.
From Tupac's fear of reincarnation to Buddhist concepts of suffering, Kendrick Lamar weaves together hip-hop history and religious philosophy to examine what it means to return to life eternally — and whether such return might be the Devil's own prison.
In 1984, Rubén Blades wrote four stories of everyday people who vanished without explanation. Four decades and countless covers later, their ghostly presence still echoes through Latin American music, memory, and consciousness.
In "Watch The Party Die," Kendrick grapples with his calling as a musical prophet, torn between peaceful Christian ideals and the violent justice he feels compelled to deliver.
The Grammy-nominated composer and New England Conservatory faculty member unites Turkish mehter bands with American jazz, revealing centuries-old connections between two musical traditions. Soon, he will present these connections on stage at Boston's Jordan Hall.
The co-founder of string quartet ETHEL discusses Carnegie Hall, Ron Carter, and why classical music needs to shed its sacred robes and return to its role as cultural glue. Her journey through New York City's musical landscape mirrors the evolution of contemporary classical music itself.
As Spotlight On marks its fifth year, we revisit 2021's remarkable guests, including James Felice (Felice Brothers), Jack Casady (Hot Tuna), and Gerald Casale (DEVO), whose stories of resilience and reinvention defined a transformative year.
On his sophomore album 'Silêncio,' the São Paulo producer decodes nature's symphonies through vintage gear and collaborates with Brazilian legend Arthur Verocai, creating a psychedelic meditation on what happens when we finally stop to listen.
The Australian guitarist and Polish percussionist reveal how their shared obsession with minimal sources and maximum sound led to 'Dog's Light,' an unorthodox album that erases the lines between composition and improvisation.
A conversation with the renowned flutist about her latest album, 'What Times Are These,' and the creative process of reimagining verses from Adrienne Rich, Tracy K. Smith, and others through contemporary jazz.
A cosmic journey through the latest, most compelling underground releases reveals unexpected collaborations and sonic discoveries, including Wolf Eyes meeting Anthony Braxton and Animal Collective's Geologist transforming Instagram clips into experimental gold.
At the five-year mark, we revisit our most-listened-to episodes from 2020, featuring Joe Satriani speaking candidly from his home studio, Jorma and Vanessa Kaukonen re-imagining music community, and eight other stories that set the blueprint for the hundreds that followed.
From her roots in country music to her embrace of avant-garde experimentation, Susan Alcorn transformed the pedal steel guitar into a voice of revolution and possibility. Her passing leaves behind a legacy that changed how we think about the instrument's role in modern music.
Most musicians choose between art and commerce, but this Swiss trumpeter refused. For six decades, Franco Ambrosetti ran a manufacturing empire while performing alongside jazz legends from Dexter Gordon to Geri Allen.
Born in Tel Aviv and shaped by Brazilian choro, Anat Cohen has turned the clarinet into an instrument of possibility. Whether leading her acclaimed Tentet or exploring intimate spaces with Quartetinho, she creates music where different cultures dance together in perfect time.
The innovative partnership of Nicoletta Favari and Christopher Salvito blends piano, percussion, and custom electronics into a musical language that bridges the gap between human expression and machine logic. Their latest album 'Argot' speaks in tongues both ancient and digital.