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"content": "\u003cp>If you’ve danced to an Afrobeat-heavy pop song, dipped hummus, sipped coconut water, participated in a Desi-inspired \u003ca href=\"http://www.browngirlmagazine.com/2013/04/color-run-controversy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">color run\u003c/a> or sported a henna tattoo, then you’ve Columbused something.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6976820/columbusing-discovering-things-for-white-pe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Columbusing\u003c/a> is when you “discover” something that’s existed forever. Just that it’s existed outside your own culture, nationality, race or even, say, your neighborhood. Bonus points if you tell all your friends about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why not? In our immigrant-rich cities, the whole world is at our doorsteps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes, though, Columbusing can feel icky. When is cultural appropriation a healthy byproduct of globalization and when is it a problem?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>All The Rage\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buzzfeed Food published an article asking, “Have you heard about \u003ca href=\"http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelysanders/hand-pies-are-the-best-and-cutest-pies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the new kind of pie\u003c/a> that’s \u003cem>all the rage\u003c/em> lately?” It’s a hand pie, a little foldover pie that you can fit in your hand. They have flaky crusts and can be sweet or savory. You know, exactly like an empanada, a Latin American culinary staple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On face value, it seems stupid to get worked up over an empanada. I mean, it’s just a pastry, right? But “discovering” empanadas on Pinterest and calling them “hand pies” strips empanadas of their cultural context. To all the people who grew up eating empanadas, it can feel like theft.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Feeling Overlooked\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to our culinary traditions, Latinos are used to feeling robbed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Latino activists spoke out in May when Chipotle announced plans to print original stories by famous writers on its paper goods and \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/05/24/314865085/why-chipotle-is-accused-of-contributing-to-a-culture-of-invisibility\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">failed to include\u003c/a> any Mexican-Americans or Latinos on the roster. The American-owned chain can profit from Mexican culture while overlooking the harsh reality of how Latinos have been treated in this country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Cinco de Mayo, chef Anthony Bourdain \u003ca href=\"http://anthonybourdain.tumblr.com/post/84641290831/under-the-volcano\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">asked why Americans love Mexican food\u003c/a>, drugs, alcohol and cheap labor but ignore the violence that happens across the border. “Despite our ridiculously hypocritical attitudes towards immigration,” writes Bourdain, “we demand that Mexicans cook a large percentage of the food we eat, grow the ingredients we need to make that food, clean our houses, mow our lawns, wash our dishes, look after our children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s frustrating when even the staunchest anti-immigration activists \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/2013/10/tortilla_coast_dc.php\">regularly eat Mexican food\u003c/a>. It seems like a paradox to relish your fajitas while believing the line cook should get deported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138799\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/ap120309119283-b222bbb7e2bc668cfa185be8bc46c881fd1335d5.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/ap120309119283-b222bbb7e2bc668cfa185be8bc46c881fd1335d5-1440x1079.jpg\" alt=\"A man sprays colored dye on people dancing during Holi celebrations in India in 2012. Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, also heralds the coming of spring -- a detail that partiers at the Shout Color Throw might miss.\" width=\"640\" height=\"479\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138799\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/ap120309119283-b222bbb7e2bc668cfa185be8bc46c881fd1335d5-1440x1079.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/ap120309119283-b222bbb7e2bc668cfa185be8bc46c881fd1335d5-400x299.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/ap120309119283-b222bbb7e2bc668cfa185be8bc46c881fd1335d5-300x224.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A man sprays colored dye on people dancing during Holi celebrations in India in 2012. Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, also heralds the coming of spring — a detail that partiers at the Shout Color Throw might miss.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Admittedly, cultural appropriation is an integral and vital part of American history. And one day, empanadas might become as American as pizza (yes, I appreciate the irony of that statement). But the day when Latinos are considered as American as Italian-Americans, well, that feels further away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why It Hurts\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The condolence prize for being an outsider is that you can take solace in the cultural traditions that make you unique. When outsiders use tweezers to pick out the discrete parts of your culture that are worthy of their attention, it feels like a violation. Empanadas are trendy, \u003cem>cumbia\u003c/em> is trendy, but Latinas are still not trendy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Code Switch blogger Gene Demby \u003ca href=\"http://apps.npr.org/codeswitch-changing-races/\">writes\u003c/a>, “It’s much harder now to patrol the ramparts of our cultures, to distinguish between the appreciators and appropriators. Just who gets to play in which cultural sandboxes? Who gets to be the bouncer at the velvet rope?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Playing Explorer\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, there is no bouncer, but we can be careful not to Columbus other culture’s traditions. Before you make reservations at the hottest fusion restaurant or book an alternative healing therapy, ask yourself a few questions:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Who is providing this good or service for me?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Am I engaging with them in a thoughtful manner?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Am I learning about this culture?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Are people from this culture benefiting from my spending money here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Are they being hurt by my spending money here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is best to enter a new, ethnic experience with consideration, curiosity and respect. That doesn’t mean you have to act or look the part of a dour-faced anthropologist or an ultra-earnest tourist. You can go outside your comfort zone and learn about the completely different worlds that coexist within your city. 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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>If you’ve danced to an Afrobeat-heavy pop song, dipped hummus, sipped coconut water, participated in a Desi-inspired \u003ca href=\"http://www.browngirlmagazine.com/2013/04/color-run-controversy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">color run\u003c/a> or sported a henna tattoo, then you’ve Columbused something.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6976820/columbusing-discovering-things-for-white-pe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Columbusing\u003c/a> is when you “discover” something that’s existed forever. Just that it’s existed outside your own culture, nationality, race or even, say, your neighborhood. Bonus points if you tell all your friends about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why not? In our immigrant-rich cities, the whole world is at our doorsteps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes, though, Columbusing can feel icky. When is cultural appropriation a healthy byproduct of globalization and when is it a problem?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>All The Rage\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buzzfeed Food published an article asking, “Have you heard about \u003ca href=\"http://www.buzzfeed.com/rachelysanders/hand-pies-are-the-best-and-cutest-pies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the new kind of pie\u003c/a> that’s \u003cem>all the rage\u003c/em> lately?” It’s a hand pie, a little foldover pie that you can fit in your hand. They have flaky crusts and can be sweet or savory. You know, exactly like an empanada, a Latin American culinary staple.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On face value, it seems stupid to get worked up over an empanada. I mean, it’s just a pastry, right? But “discovering” empanadas on Pinterest and calling them “hand pies” strips empanadas of their cultural context. To all the people who grew up eating empanadas, it can feel like theft.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Feeling Overlooked\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to our culinary traditions, Latinos are used to feeling robbed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Latino activists spoke out in May when Chipotle announced plans to print original stories by famous writers on its paper goods and \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2014/05/24/314865085/why-chipotle-is-accused-of-contributing-to-a-culture-of-invisibility\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">failed to include\u003c/a> any Mexican-Americans or Latinos on the roster. The American-owned chain can profit from Mexican culture while overlooking the harsh reality of how Latinos have been treated in this country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Cinco de Mayo, chef Anthony Bourdain \u003ca href=\"http://anthonybourdain.tumblr.com/post/84641290831/under-the-volcano\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">asked why Americans love Mexican food\u003c/a>, drugs, alcohol and cheap labor but ignore the violence that happens across the border. “Despite our ridiculously hypocritical attitudes towards immigration,” writes Bourdain, “we demand that Mexicans cook a large percentage of the food we eat, grow the ingredients we need to make that food, clean our houses, mow our lawns, wash our dishes, look after our children.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s frustrating when even the staunchest anti-immigration activists \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/2013/10/tortilla_coast_dc.php\">regularly eat Mexican food\u003c/a>. It seems like a paradox to relish your fajitas while believing the line cook should get deported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138799\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/ap120309119283-b222bbb7e2bc668cfa185be8bc46c881fd1335d5.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/ap120309119283-b222bbb7e2bc668cfa185be8bc46c881fd1335d5-1440x1079.jpg\" alt=\"A man sprays colored dye on people dancing during Holi celebrations in India in 2012. Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, also heralds the coming of spring -- a detail that partiers at the Shout Color Throw might miss.\" width=\"640\" height=\"479\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138799\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/ap120309119283-b222bbb7e2bc668cfa185be8bc46c881fd1335d5-1440x1079.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/ap120309119283-b222bbb7e2bc668cfa185be8bc46c881fd1335d5-400x299.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/ap120309119283-b222bbb7e2bc668cfa185be8bc46c881fd1335d5-300x224.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A man sprays colored dye on people dancing during Holi celebrations in India in 2012. Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, also heralds the coming of spring — a detail that partiers at the Shout Color Throw might miss.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Admittedly, cultural appropriation is an integral and vital part of American history. And one day, empanadas might become as American as pizza (yes, I appreciate the irony of that statement). But the day when Latinos are considered as American as Italian-Americans, well, that feels further away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Why It Hurts\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The condolence prize for being an outsider is that you can take solace in the cultural traditions that make you unique. When outsiders use tweezers to pick out the discrete parts of your culture that are worthy of their attention, it feels like a violation. Empanadas are trendy, \u003cem>cumbia\u003c/em> is trendy, but Latinas are still not trendy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Code Switch blogger Gene Demby \u003ca href=\"http://apps.npr.org/codeswitch-changing-races/\">writes\u003c/a>, “It’s much harder now to patrol the ramparts of our cultures, to distinguish between the appreciators and appropriators. Just who gets to play in which cultural sandboxes? Who gets to be the bouncer at the velvet rope?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Playing Explorer\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, there is no bouncer, but we can be careful not to Columbus other culture’s traditions. Before you make reservations at the hottest fusion restaurant or book an alternative healing therapy, ask yourself a few questions:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Who is providing this good or service for me?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Am I engaging with them in a thoughtful manner?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Am I learning about this culture?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Are people from this culture benefiting from my spending money here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Are they being hurt by my spending money here?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is best to enter a new, ethnic experience with consideration, curiosity and respect. That doesn’t mean you have to act or look the part of a dour-faced anthropologist or an ultra-earnest tourist. You can go outside your comfort zone and learn about the completely different worlds that coexist within your city. 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"content": "\u003cp>Think of Melissa McCarthy playing Megan in \u003cem>Bridesmaids,\u003c/em> and you may first remember her defecating in a sink, or driving a minivan full of stolen puppies, or brazenly propositioning an air marshal. McCarthy stole the show with a talent for profanity and pratfalls, but it’s a reflective one-on-one scene playing impromptu life coach to Kristen Wiig’s character that solidified her star-making performance. For that scene, she dropped the clownish shtick for a real human moment that made Megan into a character, not just a caricature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Tammy\u003c/em>, McCarthy’s co-screenwriting debut with her husband, Ben Falcone (who directs for the first time), looks to mine that same dichotomy. McCarthy plays the title role, a slovenly small-town fast-food worker who loses her job, her car, and her husband in the first 10 minutes and spends the rest of the film trying to find some meaning in her broken life with the help of her alcoholic, pill-popping grandma Pearl (Susan Sarandon).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for the first 20 minutes or so, McCarthy and Falcone seem to have misjudged the best uses of McCarthy’s talents to epic proportions. When she turns her performance up to 11, she doesn’t just demand the spotlight; she creates her own. That allowed her to steal scenes in \u003cem>Bridesmaids,\u003c/em> or work effectively as a duo with Sandra Bullock in last year’s \u003cem>The Heat,\u003c/em> because there was the constant push and pull of her performance against other strong and contrasting ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the opening scenes of \u003cem>Tammy\u003c/em> never challenge her for ownership of center stage. As a result, it’s largely just McCarthy swearing and stumbling in a near vacuum, a one-woman standup act about falling down. The supporting characters — Falcone as her weaselly manager, Nat Faxon as her blandly philandering husband, Allison Janney as her anxious, disappointed mother — exist largely to bounce the focus back to her. Delivering a performance that screams for attention when you already have it ends up coming off as a desperate plea for laughs. That’s even more true when they go out of their way to make Tammy seem spectacularly dumb just to set up opportunities to cruelly mock her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The story requires Tammy’s life to fall apart so that we can watch her struggle to make a new one, but McCarthy and Falcone wind up also having to put their movie back together after its ill-judged start. To some extent, they do, once Tammy settles into more of an ensemble piece than star showcase. Mark Duplass is the first grounding influence on the film, just as his character, Bobby, helps to pull Tammy back from the brink. Kathy Bates, playing Pearl’s rich cousin Lenore, provides much the same kind of support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are some surprisingly true notes in unexpected places. Pearl’s alcoholism, for instance, drives much of Tammy’s need to finally grow up. While it’s the catalyst for some funny set pieces — one of the movie’s best scenes finds Tammy awkwardly holding up a fast-food joint to bail Grandma out of jail — it’s also handled with enough poignancy to avoid reducing Pearl to an old-people-behaving-badly comedy stereotype.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Tammy\u003c/em> never quite manages to find that balance between the sweet and the smartass the way \u003cem>Bridesmaids\u003c/em> did, nor does the mismatched buddy dynamic between McCarthy and Sarandon ever approach the success of \u003cem>The Heat\u003c/em>. But eventually the film does manage to find its own awkward way, with enough effective and less desperate jokes to smooth things over after the rocky start. It’s a shakier debut of McCarthy and Falcone’s efforts behind the camera than one might have hoped for, but if Tammy can turn things around, surely they can too. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Melissa+McCarthy%2C+An+Unstoppable+Force+Imperfectly+Deployed+In+%27Tammy%27&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Think of Melissa McCarthy playing Megan in \u003cem>Bridesmaids,\u003c/em> and you may first remember her defecating in a sink, or driving a minivan full of stolen puppies, or brazenly propositioning an air marshal. McCarthy stole the show with a talent for profanity and pratfalls, but it’s a reflective one-on-one scene playing impromptu life coach to Kristen Wiig’s character that solidified her star-making performance. For that scene, she dropped the clownish shtick for a real human moment that made Megan into a character, not just a caricature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Tammy\u003c/em>, McCarthy’s co-screenwriting debut with her husband, Ben Falcone (who directs for the first time), looks to mine that same dichotomy. McCarthy plays the title role, a slovenly small-town fast-food worker who loses her job, her car, and her husband in the first 10 minutes and spends the rest of the film trying to find some meaning in her broken life with the help of her alcoholic, pill-popping grandma Pearl (Susan Sarandon).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But for the first 20 minutes or so, McCarthy and Falcone seem to have misjudged the best uses of McCarthy’s talents to epic proportions. When she turns her performance up to 11, she doesn’t just demand the spotlight; she creates her own. That allowed her to steal scenes in \u003cem>Bridesmaids,\u003c/em> or work effectively as a duo with Sandra Bullock in last year’s \u003cem>The Heat,\u003c/em> because there was the constant push and pull of her performance against other strong and contrasting ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the opening scenes of \u003cem>Tammy\u003c/em> never challenge her for ownership of center stage. As a result, it’s largely just McCarthy swearing and stumbling in a near vacuum, a one-woman standup act about falling down. The supporting characters — Falcone as her weaselly manager, Nat Faxon as her blandly philandering husband, Allison Janney as her anxious, disappointed mother — exist largely to bounce the focus back to her. Delivering a performance that screams for attention when you already have it ends up coming off as a desperate plea for laughs. That’s even more true when they go out of their way to make Tammy seem spectacularly dumb just to set up opportunities to cruelly mock her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The story requires Tammy’s life to fall apart so that we can watch her struggle to make a new one, but McCarthy and Falcone wind up also having to put their movie back together after its ill-judged start. To some extent, they do, once Tammy settles into more of an ensemble piece than star showcase. Mark Duplass is the first grounding influence on the film, just as his character, Bobby, helps to pull Tammy back from the brink. Kathy Bates, playing Pearl’s rich cousin Lenore, provides much the same kind of support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are some surprisingly true notes in unexpected places. Pearl’s alcoholism, for instance, drives much of Tammy’s need to finally grow up. While it’s the catalyst for some funny set pieces — one of the movie’s best scenes finds Tammy awkwardly holding up a fast-food joint to bail Grandma out of jail — it’s also handled with enough poignancy to avoid reducing Pearl to an old-people-behaving-badly comedy stereotype.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Tammy\u003c/em> never quite manages to find that balance between the sweet and the smartass the way \u003cem>Bridesmaids\u003c/em> did, nor does the mismatched buddy dynamic between McCarthy and Sarandon ever approach the success of \u003cem>The Heat\u003c/em>. But eventually the film does manage to find its own awkward way, with enough effective and less desperate jokes to smooth things over after the rocky start. It’s a shakier debut of McCarthy and Falcone’s efforts behind the camera than one might have hoped for, but if Tammy can turn things around, surely they can too. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Melissa+McCarthy%2C+An+Unstoppable+Force+Imperfectly+Deployed+In+%27Tammy%27&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>For decades, cop dramas have depicted the South Bronx as the devil’s playground. \u003cem>Deliver Us From Evil\u003c/em> takes that idea all too literally. But then this slow-witted occult thriller takes everything literally, from the Catholic rite of exorcism to Jim Morrison’s shamanic posturing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The movie is derived from a book of the same name by former NYPD Sgt. Ralph Sarchie, who reportedly came to believe that some of the criminals he faced were literally possessed. Wisely, director and co-scripter Scott Derrickson made the on-screen Sarchie (stolidly intense Eric Bana) a skeptic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cop is a lapsed Catholic who gave up on God when he was 12, although he does believe in the power of his internal “radar” to locate the most interesting cases. He’s also, unsurprisingly, wracked with Catholic guilt. And not just about how he neglects his wife, Jen (Olivia Munn), and 6-year-old daughter, Christina (Lulu Wilson).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, the role of skeptics in movies like this is to be brutally converted to a magical worldview. Just as the job of 6-year-old daughters is to be threatened by the story’s archvillain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That fiend is introduced in a prologue set in Iraq, four years ago. During a battle, three American soldiers stumble upon the entrance to a spooky, ill-lighted subterranean chamber. Naturally, they enter, thus setting the precedent for a movie where Sarchie is forever exploring gloomy basements and other dark, ominous crypts. At one point, he even walks into an actual lion’s den.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A series of horrific, seemingly senseless crimes connect to the three Iraq War veterans, led by gaunt and grisly Santino (Sean Harris in hoodie and goth face paint). Some of Santino’s victims babble song lyrics that Sarchie recognizes. In fact, he’s started to hear the same tunes in his head. They’re by the Doors, which at least makes them more listenable than the music of, say, Cannibal Corpse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then Sarchie meets Mendoza (Edgar Ramirez), a bad-boy priest and free-range exorcist who’s too sexy for his cassock. Curiously, both he and several of Santino’s victims speak Spanish or Italian as their first language. Satanic vexation is apparently a Latin tendency, although the ultimate source of the evil, we’re told, is Babylonian. (Until now, it was not widely known that ancient Mesopotamian djinns really dug the Doors.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, viewers are treated to what seems to be the most protracted exorcism scene ever filmed. But maybe it’s merely, for all its gore and noise, the most boring. Either way, it’s time for Derrickson, who also directed \u003cem>The Exorcism of Emily Rose\u003c/em>, to master a new ritual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Christina has a scary jack-in-the-box, but by the time it starts acting up viewers have already experienced at least an hour of things jumping out at them. Stuffed with shock cuts and bloody brawls, \u003cem>Deliver Us From Evil\u003c/em> is often well edited, although its music is spliced less artfully.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TV jester Joel McHale plays Sarchie’s partner, yet the two men’s banter is some of the grimmest in exorcist/cop-drama history. (Switching Indy Jones’ “I hate snakes” to “I hate cats” does not qualify as wit.) At least the characters might have made a few cracks about the frequent downpours. The devil may have all the best tunes, but in \u003cem>Deliver Us From Evil\u003c/em>, he just can’t catch a break from the rain. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=The+Devil%27s+In+The+Derails%3A+%27Deliver+Us%2C%27+Indeed&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For decades, cop dramas have depicted the South Bronx as the devil’s playground. \u003cem>Deliver Us From Evil\u003c/em> takes that idea all too literally. But then this slow-witted occult thriller takes everything literally, from the Catholic rite of exorcism to Jim Morrison’s shamanic posturing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The movie is derived from a book of the same name by former NYPD Sgt. Ralph Sarchie, who reportedly came to believe that some of the criminals he faced were literally possessed. Wisely, director and co-scripter Scott Derrickson made the on-screen Sarchie (stolidly intense Eric Bana) a skeptic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cop is a lapsed Catholic who gave up on God when he was 12, although he does believe in the power of his internal “radar” to locate the most interesting cases. He’s also, unsurprisingly, wracked with Catholic guilt. And not just about how he neglects his wife, Jen (Olivia Munn), and 6-year-old daughter, Christina (Lulu Wilson).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of course, the role of skeptics in movies like this is to be brutally converted to a magical worldview. Just as the job of 6-year-old daughters is to be threatened by the story’s archvillain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That fiend is introduced in a prologue set in Iraq, four years ago. During a battle, three American soldiers stumble upon the entrance to a spooky, ill-lighted subterranean chamber. Naturally, they enter, thus setting the precedent for a movie where Sarchie is forever exploring gloomy basements and other dark, ominous crypts. At one point, he even walks into an actual lion’s den.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Questlove and The Roots: How a Hip-Hop Band Conquered Late Night",
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"content": "\u003cp>[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/157871570″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The not-so-secret weapon on \u003c/em>The Tonight Show\u003cem> is \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15121130/the-roots\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Roots\u003c/a>,\u003cem> a band whose success on the NBC program was so swift it even surprised a few people at NBC. The group’s drummer and leader, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, says music is a crucial part of \u003c/em>The Tonight Show,\u003cem> and he spent some time showing NPR TV critic Eric Deggans exactly why.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the first time, a hip-hop group is the house band for the most influential TV show in late night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And you can chalk up much of The Roots’ success to the relaxed perfectionism of the band’s leader, Questlove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I first meet him, he is lounging on a couch in a mixing room, deep inside \u003cem>The Tonight Show\u003c/em>‘s Rockefeller Center studios. Casually dressed in black jeans and black hoodie emblazoned with the words “legendary Roots crew,” Questlove is listening to a recording of the band rehearsing its new single, “Never.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Roots will play the song before the show’s cameras later that day; he’s huddling with the program’s engineer to show him how the band should sound. His ears seem to catch everything, including the thin tone of a wood block.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s like watching Rembrandt splash paint on a canvas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you do this now, it’s not a big deal tonight, after we perform it,” he explains. Later he dishes on how one unnamed celebrity musical guest tweaked the mix of a performance right up until the show had to broadcast the footage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not so for Questlove, who looks comfortable and in command hours before taping. It’s obvious such detail-oriented artistry has paid off well for Questlove and The Roots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Roots are the last band you might expect to take over a late night TV institution. They came together in the late 1980s and quickly emerged as critic’s favorites. But some in hip-hop saw them as quirky outsiders, at least at first, for their musicianship and brainy creativity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five years ago, when Fallon started hosting NBC’s \u003cem>Late Night,\u003c/em> he picked The Roots as his house band.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138748\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 333px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/benwatts_ahmir_01_024_15937613-f05fd87023b0e83643cc4a9c4b7b30b310a63dca.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/benwatts_ahmir_01_024_15937613-f05fd87023b0e83643cc4a9c4b7b30b310a63dca.jpg\" alt='Ahmir \"Questlove\" Thompson serves as drummer, bandleader and producer for The Roots.' width=\"333\" height=\"250\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138748\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/benwatts_ahmir_01_024_15937613-f05fd87023b0e83643cc4a9c4b7b30b310a63dca.jpg 333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/benwatts_ahmir_01_024_15937613-f05fd87023b0e83643cc4a9c4b7b30b310a63dca-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 333px) 100vw, 333px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson serves as drummer, bandleader and producer for The Roots. \u003ccite>(Ben Watts/Press Here Publicity)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But the network suits weren’t so sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The feelings at NBC were sorta like, ‘Well, we know they’re a good rap group but, what if we have [country artist] Tom T. Hall on the show? Do they have range?’ ” Questlove says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first, he says, NBC suggested a 13-week probation cycle, where they would meet to discuss the band’s performance. It was a way to quietly let the group go if things didn’t go well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And they were, like, throwing crazy stuff at us … they’d come and be like, ‘You guys got three minutes to come up with an Andrew Lloyd Webber reference.’ … That’s how the game ‘Freestylin’ with the Roots’ was invented,” Questlove says, referencing their version of a bit Johnny Carson once did with his \u003cem>Tonight Show\u003c/em> musicians called “Stump the Band.” “Once we did it, then they threw that [out, saying], ‘You guys are ours forever. Forget that 13-week meeting thing.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smart move. Because it turns out The Roots have an unexpected talent for creating great moments on camera that become viral videos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They reinvented \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/214471182/robin-thicke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Robin Thicke\u003c/a>‘s sexy, controversial hit \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOZjaqHioro&feature=kp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">“Blurred Lines” with kiddie instruments\u003c/a>. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAFQIciWsF4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">slow-jammed the news\u003c/a> with the leader of the free world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when Fallon moved up from \u003cem>Late Night\u003c/em> to take over \u003cem>The Tonight Show\u003c/em> in February, music remained at the center of the action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For starters, Jimmy is a musician … he’s a legitimate singer and guitarist,” Questlove says. “This show is really a variety show disguised as a talk show.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As we’re hanging out in the band’s tiny rehearsal studio, one of the show’s writers stops by to ask for some on-the-spot creativity. In a couple of days, \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/2011/10/14/141321799/twain-humor-award-honors-comedian-will-ferrell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Will Ferrell\u003c/a> will be a guest of the show. So will his look-alike: Chad Smith, drummer for the \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/16264182/red-hot-chili-peppers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Red Hot Chili Peppers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They want to have a drum battle. But Ferrell doesn’t really play drums.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the writer has a simple request: Could Questlove work up a simple drum solo Ferrell can pretend to play on camera?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, Questlove looks up a few drum solos on YouTube for inspiration. He sifts through clips of virtuoso solos — way too complicated for Ferrell to attempt — and even looks at a bit of his duet with \u003cem>Portlandia\u003c/em> star and \u003cem>Saturday Night Live\u003c/em> alum Fred Armisen, who actually plays drums.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then Questlove sits behind a small kit in a cramped room packed with posters, DVDs, memorabilia and even a stray Grammy award. He reaches behind his back, pulls out a snare drum from among a half-dozen sitting on the floor behind him, and tries out ideas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The result, which finally airs on \u003cem>The Tonight Show\u003c/em> two days later, makes Will Ferrell sound like Buddy Rich.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uBOtQOO70Y\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s strange to admit it, but this is kinda the job we were born for,” Questlove says, noting that some tastemakers didn’t really get it when the band announced the TV gig.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Once [the website] Gawker said ‘The Roots in this position is like watching Miles Davis busk for change in the New York subway system,’ ” he adds, smiling a little. “We wanted to be underestimated so that [we] could overexceed expectations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mission accomplished. In fact, the success of Questlove and The Roots on \u003cem>The Tonight Show\u003c/em> seems a particular tale of triumph.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The quirkiest band in hip-hop kept its cool and conquered the biggest institution in late-night TV. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Questlove+And+The+Roots%3A+How+A+Hip-Hop+Band+Conquered+Late+Night&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe width='”100%”' height='”166″'\n scrolling='no' frameborder='no'\n src='https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/157871570″&visual=true&”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false”'\n title='”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/157871570″'>\n \u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The not-so-secret weapon on \u003c/em>The Tonight Show\u003cem> is \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15121130/the-roots\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Roots\u003c/a>,\u003cem> a band whose success on the NBC program was so swift it even surprised a few people at NBC. The group’s drummer and leader, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, says music is a crucial part of \u003c/em>The Tonight Show,\u003cem> and he spent some time showing NPR TV critic Eric Deggans exactly why.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the first time, a hip-hop group is the house band for the most influential TV show in late night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And you can chalk up much of The Roots’ success to the relaxed perfectionism of the band’s leader, Questlove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I first meet him, he is lounging on a couch in a mixing room, deep inside \u003cem>The Tonight Show\u003c/em>‘s Rockefeller Center studios. Casually dressed in black jeans and black hoodie emblazoned with the words “legendary Roots crew,” Questlove is listening to a recording of the band rehearsing its new single, “Never.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Roots will play the song before the show’s cameras later that day; he’s huddling with the program’s engineer to show him how the band should sound. His ears seem to catch everything, including the thin tone of a wood block.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s like watching Rembrandt splash paint on a canvas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you do this now, it’s not a big deal tonight, after we perform it,” he explains. Later he dishes on how one unnamed celebrity musical guest tweaked the mix of a performance right up until the show had to broadcast the footage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not so for Questlove, who looks comfortable and in command hours before taping. It’s obvious such detail-oriented artistry has paid off well for Questlove and The Roots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Roots are the last band you might expect to take over a late night TV institution. They came together in the late 1980s and quickly emerged as critic’s favorites. But some in hip-hop saw them as quirky outsiders, at least at first, for their musicianship and brainy creativity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five years ago, when Fallon started hosting NBC’s \u003cem>Late Night,\u003c/em> he picked The Roots as his house band.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138748\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 333px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/benwatts_ahmir_01_024_15937613-f05fd87023b0e83643cc4a9c4b7b30b310a63dca.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/benwatts_ahmir_01_024_15937613-f05fd87023b0e83643cc4a9c4b7b30b310a63dca.jpg\" alt='Ahmir \"Questlove\" Thompson serves as drummer, bandleader and producer for The Roots.' width=\"333\" height=\"250\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138748\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/benwatts_ahmir_01_024_15937613-f05fd87023b0e83643cc4a9c4b7b30b310a63dca.jpg 333w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/07/benwatts_ahmir_01_024_15937613-f05fd87023b0e83643cc4a9c4b7b30b310a63dca-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 333px) 100vw, 333px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson serves as drummer, bandleader and producer for The Roots. \u003ccite>(Ben Watts/Press Here Publicity)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But the network suits weren’t so sure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The feelings at NBC were sorta like, ‘Well, we know they’re a good rap group but, what if we have [country artist] Tom T. Hall on the show? Do they have range?’ ” Questlove says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At first, he says, NBC suggested a 13-week probation cycle, where they would meet to discuss the band’s performance. It was a way to quietly let the group go if things didn’t go well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And they were, like, throwing crazy stuff at us … they’d come and be like, ‘You guys got three minutes to come up with an Andrew Lloyd Webber reference.’ … That’s how the game ‘Freestylin’ with the Roots’ was invented,” Questlove says, referencing their version of a bit Johnny Carson once did with his \u003cem>Tonight Show\u003c/em> musicians called “Stump the Band.” “Once we did it, then they threw that [out, saying], ‘You guys are ours forever. Forget that 13-week meeting thing.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Smart move. Because it turns out The Roots have an unexpected talent for creating great moments on camera that become viral videos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They reinvented \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/214471182/robin-thicke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Robin Thicke\u003c/a>‘s sexy, controversial hit \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOZjaqHioro&feature=kp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">“Blurred Lines” with kiddie instruments\u003c/a>. And \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAFQIciWsF4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">slow-jammed the news\u003c/a> with the leader of the free world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when Fallon moved up from \u003cem>Late Night\u003c/em> to take over \u003cem>The Tonight Show\u003c/em> in February, music remained at the center of the action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For starters, Jimmy is a musician … he’s a legitimate singer and guitarist,” Questlove says. “This show is really a variety show disguised as a talk show.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As we’re hanging out in the band’s tiny rehearsal studio, one of the show’s writers stops by to ask for some on-the-spot creativity. In a couple of days, \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/2011/10/14/141321799/twain-humor-award-honors-comedian-will-ferrell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Will Ferrell\u003c/a> will be a guest of the show. So will his look-alike: Chad Smith, drummer for the \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/16264182/red-hot-chili-peppers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Red Hot Chili Peppers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They want to have a drum battle. But Ferrell doesn’t really play drums.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the writer has a simple request: Could Questlove work up a simple drum solo Ferrell can pretend to play on camera?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First, Questlove looks up a few drum solos on YouTube for inspiration. He sifts through clips of virtuoso solos — way too complicated for Ferrell to attempt — and even looks at a bit of his duet with \u003cem>Portlandia\u003c/em> star and \u003cem>Saturday Night Live\u003c/em> alum Fred Armisen, who actually plays drums.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then Questlove sits behind a small kit in a cramped room packed with posters, DVDs, memorabilia and even a stray Grammy award. He reaches behind his back, pulls out a snare drum from among a half-dozen sitting on the floor behind him, and tries out ideas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The result, which finally airs on \u003cem>The Tonight Show\u003c/em> two days later, makes Will Ferrell sound like Buddy Rich.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/0uBOtQOO70Y'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/0uBOtQOO70Y'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>“It’s strange to admit it, but this is kinda the job we were born for,” Questlove says, noting that some tastemakers didn’t really get it when the band announced the TV gig.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Once [the website] Gawker said ‘The Roots in this position is like watching Miles Davis busk for change in the New York subway system,’ ” he adds, smiling a little. “We wanted to be underestimated so that [we] could overexceed expectations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mission accomplished. In fact, the success of Questlove and The Roots on \u003cem>The Tonight Show\u003c/em> seems a particular tale of triumph.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The quirkiest band in hip-hop kept its cool and conquered the biggest institution in late-night TV. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Questlove+And+The+Roots%3A+How+A+Hip-Hop+Band+Conquered+Late+Night&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "NPR Music's 25 Favorite Albums of 2014 (so Far)",
"headTitle": "NPR Music’s 25 Favorite Albums of 2014 (so Far) | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>At the year’s halfway point, with summer just about to flip the calendar over to side B, it’s a challenge to get a satisfying picture of the year in music, even if you’re just looking at a single genre. Consider the voices of the couple dozen obsessive listeners from NPR Music and our public radio partners who made this list, and the only thing that remains undeniably true is that great albums come out of every genre, from every corner of the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What links them together? 2014 has, in its first six months, been a wonderful year for musicians who go deep. The 25 albums on this list (presented alphabetically) all start with a sound, a vibe, a concept or crucial idea. After that, they flower in different ways. One might display the range of sounds a band leader can pull out of a few fellow musicians or the depth of emotion a singer can plumb while mapping the course of desire and heartbreak. Others offer history lessons, looking back over 20 years in the life of an American city or 200 years in the life of an instrument.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All pull you in with both hands. All of them connect us as listeners to the work done by musicians who ask for more than three minutes of our time. These ones deserve it. These are our favorite albums of the year so far.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch3>NPR Music’s 25 Favorite Albums Of 2014 (So Far)\u003c/h3>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138554\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/anatijoux_25albums_wide-625885fe4bdb167d9de441283b7f6168039fd513.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/anatijoux_25albums_wide-625885fe4bdb167d9de441283b7f6168039fd513-400x224.jpg\" alt=\"Ana Tijoux, <em>Vengo</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-10138554\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/anatijoux_25albums_wide-625885fe4bdb167d9de441283b7f6168039fd513-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/anatijoux_25albums_wide-625885fe4bdb167d9de441283b7f6168039fd513-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/anatijoux_25albums_wide-625885fe4bdb167d9de441283b7f6168039fd513-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/anatijoux_25albums_wide-625885fe4bdb167d9de441283b7f6168039fd513.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ana Tijoux, \u003cem>Vengo\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ANA TIJOUX\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>VENGO\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last few years, Chilean rapper \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/128773620/ana-tijoux\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ana Tijoux\u003c/a> has released one flawless record after another, making her one of Latin America’s most beloved rappers. Her most recent album, \u003cem>Vengo, \u003c/em>is no exception. It’s musically exhilarating while lyrically poignant, a difficult equilibrium that Latin hip-hop — a genre that tends to be very political — sometimes has trouble achieving. Tijoux walks the thin line that separates thoughtful from preachy with confidence: She’s at that sweet spot of being joyously combative, relaxed but resistant. Musically \u003cem>Vengo \u003c/em>is also quite breathtaking. While some of her colleagues wallow in derivative beats, she proves why she’s at the top of her class with a unique blend of jazz, funk and Andean rhythms. For those who don’t know her work, this is a good time to catch up. —\u003cem>Jasmine Garsd\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138555\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/angelolsen_25albums2014_wide-c255930b0b966d6ace69b05f15657eeedfe6dee9.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/angelolsen_25albums2014_wide-c255930b0b966d6ace69b05f15657eeedfe6dee9-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Angel Olsen, <em>Burn Your Fire for No Witness</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138555\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/angelolsen_25albums2014_wide-c255930b0b966d6ace69b05f15657eeedfe6dee9-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/angelolsen_25albums2014_wide-c255930b0b966d6ace69b05f15657eeedfe6dee9-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/angelolsen_25albums2014_wide-c255930b0b966d6ace69b05f15657eeedfe6dee9-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/angelolsen_25albums2014_wide-c255930b0b966d6ace69b05f15657eeedfe6dee9.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Angel Olsen, \u003cem>Burn Your Fire for No Witness\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ANGEL OLSEN\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>BURN YOUR FIRE FOR NO WITNESS\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The word “confessional” tends to get tossed around to describe singer-songwriters who reveal — and even revel in — raw, sticky emotions. But there’s a kind of submissiveness, even apology, implied by that word that doesn’t suit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/245998397/angel-olsen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Angel Olsen\u003c/a>. Whether she’s huddled over a single acoustic guitar or backed by a muscular rock band, Olsen’s voice grabs you by the collar and looks straight through you. As commanding and assertive as its title suggests, especially in naked and foreboding songs like the seven-minute “White Fire,” \u003cem>Burn Your Fire for No Witness\u003c/em> doesn’t waste a motion or a breath. Olsen’s subtle, commanding voice is the embodiment of coiled intensity: The more she seems to hold still, the harder her punches land. \u003cem>–Stephen Thompson\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138556\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/arturoofarrill_25albums2014_wide-0f29838c637784796c7c937e1f21d91691e3f946.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/arturoofarrill_25albums2014_wide-0f29838c637784796c7c937e1f21d91691e3f946-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Orchestra, Offense of the The Drum\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138556\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/arturoofarrill_25albums2014_wide-0f29838c637784796c7c937e1f21d91691e3f946-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/arturoofarrill_25albums2014_wide-0f29838c637784796c7c937e1f21d91691e3f946-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/arturoofarrill_25albums2014_wide-0f29838c637784796c7c937e1f21d91691e3f946-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/arturoofarrill_25albums2014_wide-0f29838c637784796c7c937e1f21d91691e3f946.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Orchestra, Offense of the The Drum\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ARTURO O’FARRILL & THE AFRO LATIN ORCHESTRA\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>THE OFFENSE OF THE DRUM\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s no doubt that the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, led by pianist \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/90792805/arturo-o-farrill\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arturo O’Farrill\u003c/a>, is well versed in clave and swing. But here’s a list of other things that appear on its new album: Colombian country harp; “Iko Iko” featuring a Mardi Gras Indian chief; an mesmerizing beat pattern from Vijay Iyer; an arrangement of a work by French Romantic composer \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/91146991/erik-satie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Erik Satie\u003c/a>; Nuyorican slam poetry with scratching turntables; djembe, taiko drum and at least 26 other percussion instruments. Musical hybridity is at the heart of this band; here, it assimilates any remezcla thrown at it with furious conviction. \u003cem>–Patrick Jarenwattananon\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138557\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/beck_25albums2014-3c20c823707d96ff4b69ba9f4e64dbb11ea2fedc-e1404172420161.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/beck_25albums2014-3c20c823707d96ff4b69ba9f4e64dbb11ea2fedc-e1404172420161.jpg\" alt=\"Beck, Morning Phase\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138557\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beck, \u003cem>Morning Phase\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>BECK\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>MORNING PHASE\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If we needed any proof that albums still matter in this short-attention-span world, \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15333650/beck\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Beck\u003c/a>‘s flawless twelfth album, \u003cem>Morning Phase\u003c/em>, is a triumphant testimony. From the soft swells of the orchestral opener, “Cycle,” and the first strum of his guitar, the transportive effect of this slow and beautiful sonic journey begins. Made with Beck’s composer father, David Richard Campbell, and many of the same musicians behind 2002’s \u003cem>Sea Change\u003c/em> (Beck’s beloved ode to heartbreak), \u003cem>Morning Phase \u003c/em>could be called a companion piece, but is better described as a grown-up sequel. The songs pull at the heartstrings, and instead of pulling us downward, they are ultimately about finding the light when one lets go. Whether it is in the glow of early morning or under a blue moon, \u003cem>Morning Phase\u003c/em> provides a bittersweet reminder of the temporary nature of all things, and a wiser Beck right there with us. —\u003cem>Carmel Holt, \u003ca href=\"http://www.wfuv.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WFUV\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138558\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/brianblade_25albums2014_wide-959b6f13bc89c012ce741f1fc967d0dbced58324.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/brianblade_25albums2014_wide-959b6f13bc89c012ce741f1fc967d0dbced58324-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band, Landmarks\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138558\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/brianblade_25albums2014_wide-959b6f13bc89c012ce741f1fc967d0dbced58324-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/brianblade_25albums2014_wide-959b6f13bc89c012ce741f1fc967d0dbced58324-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/brianblade_25albums2014_wide-959b6f13bc89c012ce741f1fc967d0dbced58324-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/brianblade_25albums2014_wide-959b6f13bc89c012ce741f1fc967d0dbced58324.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band, Landmarks\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>BRIAN BLADE & THE FELLOWSHIP BAND\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>LANDMARKS\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This album is led by an all-world jazz drummer but there aren’t really drum solos. It’s pastoral and tranquil when its peers are often urbane and frenetic. It feels simple — rhythmically, harmonically, structurally — in an age of complexity. So when a melody emerges, it cuts like a knife. When a saxophone reaches for that high note, the sincerity is palpable. And when the constantly simmering tension erupts, or even just hits a rolling boil, there’s a joyousness, an instant renewal of 20-year friendships, a velocity of celebration. \u003cem>–Patrick Jarenwattananon\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138559\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/davidgreilsammer_25albums2014_wide-99d25fedf34ae96ac692fd68a1866d41cca086ed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/davidgreilsammer_25albums2014_wide-99d25fedf34ae96ac692fd68a1866d41cca086ed-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"David Greilsammer, <em>Scarlatti/Cage: Sonatas</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138559\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/davidgreilsammer_25albums2014_wide-99d25fedf34ae96ac692fd68a1866d41cca086ed-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/davidgreilsammer_25albums2014_wide-99d25fedf34ae96ac692fd68a1866d41cca086ed-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/davidgreilsammer_25albums2014_wide-99d25fedf34ae96ac692fd68a1866d41cca086ed-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/davidgreilsammer_25albums2014_wide-99d25fedf34ae96ac692fd68a1866d41cca086ed.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">David Greilsammer, \u003cem>Scarlatti/Cage: Sonatas\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>DAVID GREILSAMMER\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>SCARLATTI & CAGE SONATAS\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like a crafty DJ, David Greilsammer has a knack for surprising musical juxtapositions. On the pianist’s album \u003cem>Baroque Conversations\u003c/em>, from 2012, 18th-century masters like Jean-Philippe Rameau sit cheek-by-jowl with modernists like Morton Feldman. Now Greilsammer’s back at it, swapping sonatas written 200 years apart by \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/91447657/domenico-scarlatti\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Domenico Scarlatti\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/91576532/john-cage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">John Cage\u003c/a>. For Greilsammer the two composers are kindred spirits, both “inventors of sound” — Scarlatti with his radical harmonies and rhythms inspired by flamenco and Cage with his prepared piano (into which he inserted nuts, bolts and rubber thingamabobs to create a percussion orchestra). His performance of Scarlatti’s Sonata in D minor, K.213 exquisitely dovetails into Cage’s Sonatas XIV & XV, creating a third entity — the fascinating bridge connecting the daring and the delicate in each piece (you can listen to an excerpt here). To the “inventors” Scarlatti and Cage we can add and third name — Greilsammer, whose spunk and imagination are most welcome. \u003cem>–Tom Huizenga\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138560\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/freddiegibs_wide-6831c1711a09b57dec428dce56ac65fe196642fd-e1404172525229.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/freddiegibs_wide-6831c1711a09b57dec428dce56ac65fe196642fd-e1404172525229.jpg\" alt=\"Freddie Gibs & Madlib, Pinata\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138560\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Freddie Gibs & Madlib, Pinata\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>FREDDIE GIBBS & MADLIB\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>PIÑATA\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rapper Freddie Gibbs, born and raised in Gary, Ind., met venerable producer \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15697271/madlib\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Madlib \u003c/a>in Los Angeles, and the album they made together is a complete work that straddles generations and sensibilities. The pair’s conception of gangster music sounds more like crushed velvet than velour, dramatizing the turmoil of a narrator who could be Sincere’s older son, or the grandchild of Youngblood Priest. On one song, “Robes,” Gibbs quotes 1987 \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15194292/babyface\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Babyface\u003c/a> and invites two ’90s babies to jump on. Throughout, his eye is unsparing, never more so than when it’s turned on himself. On “Broken” he begins with the Basmala and later, talking about his inherited infidelity, says “Honestly, I know I’m out here f—ing up.” Gibbs’ phrasing is virtuosic; his words sound like they’ve levitated. No guest — not \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/18171955/scarface\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Scarface\u003c/a>, not Raekwon, not \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/230494985/earl-sweatshirt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Earl\u003c/a>, not \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/228095350/danny-brown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Danny Brown\u003c/a> — outshines Gibbs over beats that are glassine and big-bodied and as real as can be. —\u003cem>Frannie Kelley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138561\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/gordonvoidwell_25albums2014_wide-7e8cd1a53eb82771aaf005332b53b8e3ffa24032-e1404172572446.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/gordonvoidwell_25albums2014_wide-7e8cd1a53eb82771aaf005332b53b8e3ffa24032-e1404172572446.jpg\" alt=\"Gordon Voidwell, BAD ETUDES\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138561\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gordon Voidwell, \u003cem>BAD ETUDES\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>GORDON VOIDWELL\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>BAD ÉTUDES\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like Frankenstein’s monster, \u003cem>BAD ÉTUDES\u003c/em> is stitched together, alive and breathing by the hand of its master, Bronx musician Gordon Voidwell. Oozing funk, pop, R&B and otherworldly inspiration, the record is filled to the brim with thoughtfully constructed modulations and manipulations — imagine a \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15394157/prince\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Prince\u003c/a> from the future who says, “To hell with all these instruments. Let me see how far I can freak a keyboard.” With his production serving as a constantly tilting landscape of audacity, Voidwell takes it a step further by altering his vocals, veering them toward femininity then back again. He throws us off and turns us on; winds us up and breaks it all down. As a whole or piece-by-piece, this album is a funky sci-fi experiment gone right. —\u003cem>Kiana Fitzgerald\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Bad Études\u003c/em> is available for purchase on \u003ca href=\"http://gordonvoidwell.bandcamp.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bandcamp\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138562\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/hurrayfortheriffraff_25albums_wide-d410e9b28c87df04d0efc66c410d286ebd2e098b.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/hurrayfortheriffraff_25albums_wide-d410e9b28c87df04d0efc66c410d286ebd2e098b-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Hurray for the Riff Raff, <em>Small Town Heroes</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138562\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/hurrayfortheriffraff_25albums_wide-d410e9b28c87df04d0efc66c410d286ebd2e098b-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/hurrayfortheriffraff_25albums_wide-d410e9b28c87df04d0efc66c410d286ebd2e098b-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/hurrayfortheriffraff_25albums_wide-d410e9b28c87df04d0efc66c410d286ebd2e098b-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/hurrayfortheriffraff_25albums_wide-d410e9b28c87df04d0efc66c410d286ebd2e098b.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hurray for the Riff Raff, \u003cem>Small Town Heroes\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>SMALL TOWN HEROES\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Considering the songs that populate \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/270950584/hurray-for-the-riff-raff\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hurray for the Riff Raff\u003c/a>‘s latest release, it makes sense that they titled the disc \u003cem>Small Town Heroes\u003c/em>. Here are the voices of battered women taking their power back; defiantly hopeful lovers; neighborhoods keeping their pride amid surging crime waves; the outlaw with the yearning heart; and of course the band on the road, longing for home. They’re songs about a city revitalizing itself, people coming into their own. Its rhythms and melodies call to mind everything from Appalachian tradition to the Mississippi Delta and the old folk-blues. Front-woman and songwriter Alynda Lee Segarra sings every lyric with a haunting, raw honesty. Where her voice doesn’t tremble like it’s shaking the rain out, it soars and bops like a determined bird flying against a breeze. \u003cem>Small Town Heroes \u003c/em>is an arresting, memorable disc from a band that’s only just getting started. \u003cem>–Kim Ruehl, \u003ca href=\"http://www.folkalley.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Folk Alley\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138563\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 639px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/jeffballardtrio_wide-445847285a240861b8014cb10f128810162dc677-e1404172957482.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/jeffballardtrio_wide-445847285a240861b8014cb10f128810162dc677-e1404172957482.jpg\" alt=\"Jeff Ballard Trio, Time's Tales\" width=\"639\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138563\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeff Ballard Trio, \u003cem>Time’s Tales\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>JEFF BALLARD TRIO\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>TIME’S TALES\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drummer Jeff Ballard had never led a recording before this one, which is amazing considering how many recordings he’s been a part of. His debut album reflects most of his divergent impulses toward the worldly and the familiar, the knotted bundles of odd-meter asymmetry and the silky-smooth groove — and does so with only three guys. It works because while his two collaborators play guitar (\u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/88982391/lionel-loueke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lionel Loueke\u003c/a>, from Benin) and sax (\u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/95471452/miguel-zen-n\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Miguel Zenón\u003c/a>, from Puerto Rico), everyone’s a percussionist at heart. That rapid fire rhythmic dialogue, and some nifty guitar noises, enables a skeleton crew to throw a street parade. \u003cem>–Patrick Jarenwattananon\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138564\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/kassemmosse_25albums2014_wide-a5625e6a032a65aea93dc61064473f6edf19b97b.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/kassemmosse_25albums2014_wide-a5625e6a032a65aea93dc61064473f6edf19b97b-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Kassem Mosse, <em>Workshop 19</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138564\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/kassemmosse_25albums2014_wide-a5625e6a032a65aea93dc61064473f6edf19b97b-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/kassemmosse_25albums2014_wide-a5625e6a032a65aea93dc61064473f6edf19b97b-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/kassemmosse_25albums2014_wide-a5625e6a032a65aea93dc61064473f6edf19b97b-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/kassemmosse_25albums2014_wide-a5625e6a032a65aea93dc61064473f6edf19b97b.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kassem Mosse, \u003cem>Workshop 19\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>KASSEM MOSSE\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>WORKSHOP 19\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a string of singles released over the better part of a decade, Leipzig’s Kassem Mosse has found the sweet spot between stripped-down production and melody-driven songwriting. Making music that’s warmer than much of the techno coming out of Germany and sparser than much of the house music coming from the States, Mosse is hailed again and again for blazing his own trail, and sucking in others under his wake. An auteur to the bone, Mosse’s debut LP showcases the flexibility of his sound. It’s murky and melancholic, ambient at times, but also made to get people up out of their seats. Once again, Kassem Mosse finds the space between expected and inaccessible. \u003cem>–Sami Yenigun\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138565\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/leonvynehall_25albums2014_wide-945e901dc484c8c80dc78c837d52418c6fe9cc26.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/leonvynehall_25albums2014_wide-945e901dc484c8c80dc78c837d52418c6fe9cc26-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Leon Vynehall, <em>Music for the Uninvited</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138565\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/leonvynehall_25albums2014_wide-945e901dc484c8c80dc78c837d52418c6fe9cc26-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/leonvynehall_25albums2014_wide-945e901dc484c8c80dc78c837d52418c6fe9cc26-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/leonvynehall_25albums2014_wide-945e901dc484c8c80dc78c837d52418c6fe9cc26-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/leonvynehall_25albums2014_wide-945e901dc484c8c80dc78c837d52418c6fe9cc26.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Leon Vynehall, \u003cem>Music for the Uninvited\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>LEON VYNEHALL\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>MUSIC FOR THE UNINVITED\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Remember what it felt like to listen to your parents’ cassettes when you were a young child? Kind of, but not really, right? We recall snippets of songs, the stack of plastic cases below the car stereo, maybe the auto-reverse click between “Darling Nikki” and “When Doves Cry.” For many of us, it’s an impressionist painting in our mind of the moment we first fell in love with music. British dance producer Leon Vynehall called on his fuzzy memories of low fidelity while writing his debut album, \u003cem>Music For The Uninvited\u003c/em>, a sample-fueled fusion of house, disco, funk and soul. He even ends each “side” of the record with that unmistakable *snap* of a play button popping back into place. It’s an old-skool labor of love by one of the most promising young minds in dance music, nostalgic and next-level at the same time. \u003cem>–Otis Hart\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138566\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/loslobos_25albums2014_wide-9db243ad5197f1ce296ae96dc0b9d72608621b47.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/loslobos_25albums2014_wide-9db243ad5197f1ce296ae96dc0b9d72608621b47-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Los Lobos, <em>Si Se Puede</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138566\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/loslobos_25albums2014_wide-9db243ad5197f1ce296ae96dc0b9d72608621b47-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/loslobos_25albums2014_wide-9db243ad5197f1ce296ae96dc0b9d72608621b47-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/loslobos_25albums2014_wide-9db243ad5197f1ce296ae96dc0b9d72608621b47-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/loslobos_25albums2014_wide-9db243ad5197f1ce296ae96dc0b9d72608621b47.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Los Lobos, \u003cem>Si Se Puede\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>LOS LOBOS\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>SI SE PUEDE!: LOS LOBOS AND FRIENDS\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over 40 years ago music played a crucial role in one of this country’s most important civil rights struggles: not in the Jim Crow South but in the agricultural fields of California, where the United Farm Workers (UFW) was organizing laborers into a union for the first time ever. Traditional Mexican \u003cem>corridos\u003c/em> were reworked to call people to march, picket and strike. The music was made by some of the workers themselves, as well as members of the UFW, and you pretty much had to be out in the fields to hear it — until 1976 when the album \u003cem>Si Se Puede\u003c/em> was released as a fundraiser for the UFW. Herb Albert donated his A&M Records studios to a group of young Chicano musicians who called themselves Los Lobos del Este de los Angeles and who gathered some of their friends to record some of the music that had become part of the farm worker movement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The band \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15221330/los-lobos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shortened its name\u003c/a> and eventually made a big noise of their own, and 38 years later, long after it had gone out print, the music was finally digitally re-released this spring to coincide with the release of a biopic about César Chávez. The themes of social justice are timeless but more so is the notion that music can indeed help change the world. We seem to have forgotten that. That’s why this music, now nearly four decades old, still matters. \u003cem>–Felix Contreras\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138567\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/majidbekkas_25albums2014_wide-735e43996c07c0d59a7e500f48d272803a722b31.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/majidbekkas_25albums2014_wide-735e43996c07c0d59a7e500f48d272803a722b31-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Majid Bekkas, <em>Al Qantara</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138567\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/majidbekkas_25albums2014_wide-735e43996c07c0d59a7e500f48d272803a722b31-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/majidbekkas_25albums2014_wide-735e43996c07c0d59a7e500f48d272803a722b31-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/majidbekkas_25albums2014_wide-735e43996c07c0d59a7e500f48d272803a722b31-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/majidbekkas_25albums2014_wide-735e43996c07c0d59a7e500f48d272803a722b31.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Majid Bekkas, \u003cem>Al Qantara\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>MAJID BEKKAS\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>AL QANTARA\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Al Qantara\u003c/em> (“The Bridge”) is a fitting title for the new album by Majid Bekkas. The native Moroccan’s home country has long been a nexus of African, Eastern and Western cultures. Bekkas is steeped in Gwana, an ancient Moroccan spiritual trance music, but on \u003cem>Al Qantara\u003c/em> he adroitly fuses the tradition with jazz and African styles. His principal tools are the oud and the guembri, a three-stringed guitar-sized instrument covered in camel skin that produces the low notes of a double bass. With his Afro-Oriental Jazz Trio, Bekkas guides a journey through traditional Moroccan tunes (“Bania”), jazz staples (Don Cherry’s “Guinea”) and his own mesmerizing creations. “Choroq,” after an extended oud introduction, gives way to Manuel Hermia’s evocative basuri (bamboo flute). When Khalid Kouhen’s Indian tabla drums kick in, the piece takes flight with a melody of sublime beauty. Hopefully \u003cem>Al Qantara\u003c/em> will bridge yet one more gap — the one between the notoriety Bekkas enjoys in Morocco and that which we hope he finds far beyond. \u003cem>–Tom Huizenga\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138568\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/mirandalambert_25albums2014_wide-1afdced0fd9712e5af2e30482dad5052d872a3a4-e1404173205726.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/mirandalambert_25albums2014_wide-1afdced0fd9712e5af2e30482dad5052d872a3a4-e1404173205726.jpg\" alt=\"Miranda Lambert, Platinum\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138568\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Miranda Lambert, \u003cem>Platinum\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>MIRANDA LAMBERT\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>PLATINUM\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15394683/miranda-lambert\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Miranda Lambert\u003c/a> likes to say in interviews that she’s no role model. And thank goodness. On her fifth studio album, country’s longtime self-aware bad girl\u003cem> \u003c/em>offers something more powerful than craziness and kerosene: a deliberately holistic portrait of 21\u003csup>st\u003c/sup>-century femininity, with room for vulnerability, regret, gentle nostalgia, hope and plenty of humor. Lambert speaks through characters who are married and independent, sexually confident and anxious about their looks, longing for home comforts and eager for the wide open road. The music ranges just as widely as Lambert’s world view, from traditional bluegrass to honky-tonk rock to the well-burnished country radio requires. Lambert herself always retains her individualistic edge. “You don’t know nothin’ about girls,” she sings, confronting stereotypes in the album’s lead track. Don’t worry, Miranda will school you. \u003cem>–Ann Powers\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138569\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/owenpallett_25albums2014_wide-caba29b13f483b3cdc8468db8fb7f40bef61cf67.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/owenpallett_25albums2014_wide-caba29b13f483b3cdc8468db8fb7f40bef61cf67-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Owen Pallett,<em> In Conflict</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138569\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/owenpallett_25albums2014_wide-caba29b13f483b3cdc8468db8fb7f40bef61cf67-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/owenpallett_25albums2014_wide-caba29b13f483b3cdc8468db8fb7f40bef61cf67-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/owenpallett_25albums2014_wide-caba29b13f483b3cdc8468db8fb7f40bef61cf67-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/owenpallett_25albums2014_wide-caba29b13f483b3cdc8468db8fb7f40bef61cf67.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Owen Pallett,\u003cem> In Conflict\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>OWEN PALLETT\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>IN CONFLICT\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once the golden boy of Canada’s now decade-long indie invasion, \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/124207024/owen-pallett\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Owen Pallett\u003c/a> made his best album by tracking the growing pains of becoming an adult: solitude, self-destruction, depression and regret cut with a confidence borne of the realization that you, you grown human person, have survived long enough to build a life made out of your own accumulated choices. Everything that made Pallett’s name is here on \u003cem>In Conflict\u003c/em>: the lonely, looped violin; lyrical details that weave soul-baring into mundane; the tense/triumphant orchestration that won him a spot as Arcade Fire’s resident classical guy (not to mention an Oscar nomination for scoring \u003cem>Her\u003c/em> last year). Any one of these would make him a tremendous talent. All of them, knit together with new authority and purpose, make him singular. \u003cem>–Jacob Ganz\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138570\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/johnadams_wide-da8e9b1a51f822449dab49d79b330922ed82f8e6-e1404173361922.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/johnadams_wide-da8e9b1a51f822449dab49d79b330922ed82f8e6-e1404173361922.jpg\" alt=\"St. Louis Symphony/Robertson, Adams: City Noir/Saxophone Concerto\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138570\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">St. Louis Symphony/Robertson, \u003cem>Adams: City Noir/Saxophone Concerto\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY/DAVID ROBERTSON, CONDUCTOR\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>ADAMS: CITY NOIR/SAXOPHONE CONCERTO\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Composer \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/14996733/john-adams\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">John Adams\u003c/a> wrote \u003cem>City Noir \u003c/em>as an homage to the City of Angels — and it is at once a cinematically scaled nod to 1940s and ’50s film scores and, especially in the first movement, an intricate bundle full of knotted melodies climbing inside each other. The saxophone concerto that accompanies \u003cem>City Noir \u003c/em>carries bebop in its DNA, and soloist Timothy McAllister is simply outstanding. Meanwhile, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and conductor David Robertson are born naturals for this music, turning in fresh, dynamic and invigorating performances. \u003cem>–Anastasia Tsioulcas\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138571\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stvincent_wide-280106ebaf80914ede6b64eb8c77f73e3472bde4.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stvincent_wide-280106ebaf80914ede6b64eb8c77f73e3472bde4-1440x808.jpg\" alt=\"St. Vincent, <em>St. Vincent</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138571\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stvincent_wide-280106ebaf80914ede6b64eb8c77f73e3472bde4-1440x808.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stvincent_wide-280106ebaf80914ede6b64eb8c77f73e3472bde4-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stvincent_wide-280106ebaf80914ede6b64eb8c77f73e3472bde4-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">St. Vincent, \u003cem>St. Vincent\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ST. VINCENT\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>ST. VINCENT\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve always thought Annie Clark’s music and guitar playing was pretty damn good — then she released her fourth \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15159199/st-vincent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">St. Vincent\u003c/a> record and I was floored. All of the qualities I’ve come to love in her music — the quirky lyrics, songs with hairpin turns and her idiosyncratic guitar playing — are here, sharper than ever. There are songs about her Jesus and her mother, about political activist Huey Newton, about running naked in the desert and the meaning of it all in this digital age. The songs are fun, sometimes funny and sonically a treat for the ears. \u003cem>–Bob Boilen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138572\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stromae_25albums_wide-af5d41726c92e7852807c8cb4306f62db4c485a8.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stromae_25albums_wide-af5d41726c92e7852807c8cb4306f62db4c485a8-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Stromae,<em> Racine Caree</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138572\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stromae_25albums_wide-af5d41726c92e7852807c8cb4306f62db4c485a8-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stromae_25albums_wide-af5d41726c92e7852807c8cb4306f62db4c485a8-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stromae_25albums_wide-af5d41726c92e7852807c8cb4306f62db4c485a8-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stromae_25albums_wide-af5d41726c92e7852807c8cb4306f62db4c485a8.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stromae,\u003cem> Racine Caree\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>STROMAE\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>RACINE CARRÉE\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s hard to pin the Belgian artist \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/2014/06/19/322933388/stromae-global-star-in-the-making-set-to-touch-down-in-the-u-s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stromae\u003c/a> down, and that’s just how he likes it: a little EDM, a little hip-hop, a little R&B, a little Eurodance, a little Congolese rumba, a little tango … and yet it all works, beautifully. One of the smartest songwriters around, Stromae navigates the shoals of modern life — from relationships and race to the financial crisis and existential concerns — with grace, humor, a wink and a teeny bit of swagger. There are so many tracks to fall in love with here — “Formidable,” “Tous Les Mêmes,” “Ave Cesaria,” “Ta Fête,” “Humain A L’Eau,” the global smash “Papaoutai” — that the whole album is an unmitigated, heavy-repeat pleasure. And his live show is, improbably, even better. \u003cem>–Anastasia Tsioulcas\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138573\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sturgillsimpson_25albums_wide-3a6fe10b2beb40c99b2fc4fa86f799ff30665e0a.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sturgillsimpson_25albums_wide-3a6fe10b2beb40c99b2fc4fa86f799ff30665e0a-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Sturgill Simpson, <em>Metamodern Sounds in Country Music</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138573\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sturgillsimpson_25albums_wide-3a6fe10b2beb40c99b2fc4fa86f799ff30665e0a-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sturgillsimpson_25albums_wide-3a6fe10b2beb40c99b2fc4fa86f799ff30665e0a-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sturgillsimpson_25albums_wide-3a6fe10b2beb40c99b2fc4fa86f799ff30665e0a-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sturgillsimpson_25albums_wide-3a6fe10b2beb40c99b2fc4fa86f799ff30665e0a.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sturgill Simpson, \u003cem>Metamodern Sounds in Country Music\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>STURGILL SIMPSON\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>METAMODERN SOUNDS IN COUNTRY MUSIC\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are people who fret about the health and purity of country music and there are those who just keep the damn stuff alive. On his second solo album, \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/323191173/sturgill-simpson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sturgill Simpson\u003c/a> pumps oxygen into familiar forms — the honky-tonk all-night drunk, the philosophical road song, the countrypolitan ballad, the gospel singalong, the trucker anthem — with the no-fuss creativity of a rebel with a cause, and a plan. The Kentucky native, now living in Nashville, set out to make songs that honored tradition but rejected easy associations: Instead of odes to girls with painted-on jeans, Simpson applies his majestic baritone to sometimes psychedelic ruminations about fate, personal agency and the Zen interconnectedness of all things. His muscular touring band keeps Simpson grounded while letting him range wide. The result is hard country with no edges made for people with big sky minds. \u003cem>–Ann Powers\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138574\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sylvanesso_wide-a91dee1a362ebdfdca117d186733594067a898ae.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sylvanesso_wide-a91dee1a362ebdfdca117d186733594067a898ae-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Sylvan Esso<em>, Sylvan Esso</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138574\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sylvanesso_wide-a91dee1a362ebdfdca117d186733594067a898ae-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sylvanesso_wide-a91dee1a362ebdfdca117d186733594067a898ae-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sylvanesso_wide-a91dee1a362ebdfdca117d186733594067a898ae-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sylvan Esso\u003cem>, Sylvan Esso\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>SYLVAN ESSO\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>SYLVAN ESSO\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An unexpected, intoxicating left-field debut, \u003cem>Sylvan Esso\u003c/em> captures the sound of two equally unlikely musicians: singer Amelia Meath, known for singing a cappella folk in Mountain Man, and producer Nick Sanborn, known for playing bass in the psychedelic roots-rock band Megafaun. Neither had hinted at anything that sounds quite like this batch of intricately crafted, emotionally resonant, strikingly catchy electro-pop songs. Music this sturdy and remix-ready doesn’t generally come from such a distinct and powerful lyrical point of view: Meath’s often hauntingly ambivalent words seize just as much attention as the multidimensional sound beds on which they’re placed. “Coffee” is the most unstoppably great song here — maybe the most unstoppably great song of the year, period — but everything else on \u003cem>Sylvan Esso\u003c/em> grabs hard, too, from the playful provocation of “Hey Mami” to the wobbly anthemic rush of “Play It Right.” \u003cem>–Stephen Thompson\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138575\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/tonibraxton_25albums_wide-d68897f8f1269034b5263ffe797bf629b34cc40d.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/tonibraxton_25albums_wide-d68897f8f1269034b5263ffe797bf629b34cc40d-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Toni Braxton & Babyface, <i>Love Marriage & Divorce</i>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138575\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/tonibraxton_25albums_wide-d68897f8f1269034b5263ffe797bf629b34cc40d-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/tonibraxton_25albums_wide-d68897f8f1269034b5263ffe797bf629b34cc40d-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/tonibraxton_25albums_wide-d68897f8f1269034b5263ffe797bf629b34cc40d-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/tonibraxton_25albums_wide-d68897f8f1269034b5263ffe797bf629b34cc40d.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Toni Braxton & Babyface, \u003ci>Love Marriage & Divorce\u003c/i>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>TONI BRAXTON & BABYFACE\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>LOVE, MARRIAGE & DIVORCE\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rich doesn’t come close to describing \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15292781/toni-braxton\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Toni Braxton\u003c/a>‘s voice. More than 20 years after \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLJPsHhcEOo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">her first duet with Babyface\u003c/a>, with the mic capturing every little thing that comes out of her mouth — every catch, every low key run, even the bitten off end of a word — she sounds at once impossible and exactly like your friend did the last time her heart got broken. There are overblown moments on \u003cem>Love, Marriage & Divorce\u003c/em>, but most of the album feels personal, and all that reverb helps to make it feel interior, even private. Babyface’s voice is tangy and refined. On “Roller Coaster” he’s punchy, using his voice like a rhythm instrument. Braxton takes liberties with the beat. Her two solo turns, “I Wish,” which is too real, and “I’d Rather Be Broke,” aren’t occasions to show off; they further the narrative. The album sticks to its story, and in the process delivers a set of mature songs masterfully detailed. —\u003cem>Frannie Kelley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138576\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/triptykon_25albums_wide-af8b802366cd06353e918bf11cc3b101c2438b9f.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/triptykon_25albums_wide-af8b802366cd06353e918bf11cc3b101c2438b9f-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Triptykon, <em>Melana Chasmata</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138576\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/triptykon_25albums_wide-af8b802366cd06353e918bf11cc3b101c2438b9f-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/triptykon_25albums_wide-af8b802366cd06353e918bf11cc3b101c2438b9f-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/triptykon_25albums_wide-af8b802366cd06353e918bf11cc3b101c2438b9f-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/triptykon_25albums_wide-af8b802366cd06353e918bf11cc3b101c2438b9f.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Triptykon, \u003cem>Melana Chasmata\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>TRIPTYKON\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>MELANA CHASMATA\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his third band in three decades, \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2014/05/21/314007649/the-long-shadow-of-tom-warrior-metals-dark-innovator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tom Warrior\u003c/a> continues to be one of metal’s most thoughtful innovators. As visionary as Warrior has been in Hellhammer and \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/325810489/celtic-frost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Celtic Frost\u003c/a>, Warrior works best in tandem with a band that locks into his dark world. Triptykon’s second album, \u003cem>Melana Chasmata\u003c/em>, is a bottomless pit where nocturnal creatures breed and kill, uncovering atmospheres and riffs still unknown. \u003cem>–Lars Gotrich\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138577\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/warondrugs_25albums_wide-60f9973e76de5dc94c418149656316f57da94b92.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/warondrugs_25albums_wide-60f9973e76de5dc94c418149656316f57da94b92-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"The War on Drugs, <em>Lost in the Dream</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138577\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/warondrugs_25albums_wide-60f9973e76de5dc94c418149656316f57da94b92-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/warondrugs_25albums_wide-60f9973e76de5dc94c418149656316f57da94b92-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/warondrugs_25albums_wide-60f9973e76de5dc94c418149656316f57da94b92-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/warondrugs_25albums_wide-60f9973e76de5dc94c418149656316f57da94b92.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The War on Drugs, \u003cem>Lost in the Dream\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>THE WAR ON DRUGS\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>LOST IN THE DREAM\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/91730305/the-war-on-drugs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The War On Drugs\u003c/a>‘ \u003cem>Lost In The Dream\u003c/em> is the sound of tomorrow’s greatest classic rock today. Lead singer and guitarist Adam Granduciel’s epic guitar playing and songwriting on album tracks like “Under The Pressure,” “In Reverse” and the seven minute “An Ocean In Between The Waves,” are infused with mesmerizing \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/14837922/bruce-springsteen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Springsteen\u003c/a>–\u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15300677/tom-petty\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Petty\u003c/a>–\u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/100863084/the-velvet-underground\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Velvet Underground\u003c/a> influences. He’s got a vocal style that brings to mind \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15193203/bob-dylan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dylan\u003c/a> circa \u003cem>Blood On The Tracks\u003c/em>. It’s possible to deduce the themes of the album by the names of the songs. “Eyes To The Wind,” “The Haunting Idle,” the title song and the slow burning “Suffering,” express matters of the heart and soul. There’s plenty of searching, longing, and questioning, set to a soundtrack of a psychedelic heartland.\u003cem> Lost In The Dream\u003c/em> is a triumphant, transcendent, classic rock album — whether or not you hear the Springsteenisms that subtly inform the record. —\u003cem>Bruce Warren, \u003ca href=\"http://www.xpn.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WXPN\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138578\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/yg_wide-7185bf9f9d7843bc629c0a6a9778f1e7df695ce3-e1404174335605.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/yg_wide-7185bf9f9d7843bc629c0a6a9778f1e7df695ce3-e1404174335605.jpg\" alt=\"YG, My Krazy Life\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138578\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">YG,\u003cem> My Krazy Life\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>YG\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>MY KRAZY LIFE\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the success of his platinum selling single “My Hitta” and \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/250250872/drake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Drake\u003c/a>-flavored “Who Do You Love,” YG released his debut album, \u003cem>My Krazy Life\u003c/em> earlier this year. \u003cem>My Krazy Life\u003c/em> has the feeling of a traditional West Coast album (skits included): You can hear \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15594870/dr-dre\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dr. Dre\u003c/a> bass lines and some Bay Area bounce slips in thanks to the production of DJ Mustard. YG is a ’90s baby straight outta Compton, the storied neighborhood that brought us rap icons \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/16853156/n-w-a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">N.W.A\u003c/a>. When the good kid from the maad city himself, \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/166009689/kendrick-lamar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kendrick Lamar\u003c/a>, meets up with his bad a$$ neighbor YG on “Really Be (Smoking N Drinking)” they sound vulnerable exposing the harsh realities of inner city life and their coping mechanisms (Kush and alcohol). \u003cem>My Krazy Life\u003c/em> is his cautionary tale about the trappings of street life — the highs, the lows and eventually redemption. \u003cem>–Cedric Shine\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>All album photos by Sarah Tilotta/NPR\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=NPR+Music%27s+25+Favorite+Albums+Of+2014+%28So+Far%29&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>At the year’s halfway point, with summer just about to flip the calendar over to side B, it’s a challenge to get a satisfying picture of the year in music, even if you’re just looking at a single genre. Consider the voices of the couple dozen obsessive listeners from NPR Music and our public radio partners who made this list, and the only thing that remains undeniably true is that great albums come out of every genre, from every corner of the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What links them together? 2014 has, in its first six months, been a wonderful year for musicians who go deep. The 25 albums on this list (presented alphabetically) all start with a sound, a vibe, a concept or crucial idea. After that, they flower in different ways. One might display the range of sounds a band leader can pull out of a few fellow musicians or the depth of emotion a singer can plumb while mapping the course of desire and heartbreak. Others offer history lessons, looking back over 20 years in the life of an American city or 200 years in the life of an instrument.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All pull you in with both hands. All of them connect us as listeners to the work done by musicians who ask for more than three minutes of our time. These ones deserve it. These are our favorite albums of the year so far.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch3>NPR Music’s 25 Favorite Albums Of 2014 (So Far)\u003c/h3>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138554\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/anatijoux_25albums_wide-625885fe4bdb167d9de441283b7f6168039fd513.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/anatijoux_25albums_wide-625885fe4bdb167d9de441283b7f6168039fd513-400x224.jpg\" alt=\"Ana Tijoux, <em>Vengo</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-10138554\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/anatijoux_25albums_wide-625885fe4bdb167d9de441283b7f6168039fd513-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/anatijoux_25albums_wide-625885fe4bdb167d9de441283b7f6168039fd513-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/anatijoux_25albums_wide-625885fe4bdb167d9de441283b7f6168039fd513-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/anatijoux_25albums_wide-625885fe4bdb167d9de441283b7f6168039fd513.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ana Tijoux, \u003cem>Vengo\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ANA TIJOUX\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>VENGO\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the last few years, Chilean rapper \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/128773620/ana-tijoux\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ana Tijoux\u003c/a> has released one flawless record after another, making her one of Latin America’s most beloved rappers. Her most recent album, \u003cem>Vengo, \u003c/em>is no exception. It’s musically exhilarating while lyrically poignant, a difficult equilibrium that Latin hip-hop — a genre that tends to be very political — sometimes has trouble achieving. Tijoux walks the thin line that separates thoughtful from preachy with confidence: She’s at that sweet spot of being joyously combative, relaxed but resistant. Musically \u003cem>Vengo \u003c/em>is also quite breathtaking. While some of her colleagues wallow in derivative beats, she proves why she’s at the top of her class with a unique blend of jazz, funk and Andean rhythms. For those who don’t know her work, this is a good time to catch up. —\u003cem>Jasmine Garsd\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138555\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/angelolsen_25albums2014_wide-c255930b0b966d6ace69b05f15657eeedfe6dee9.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/angelolsen_25albums2014_wide-c255930b0b966d6ace69b05f15657eeedfe6dee9-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Angel Olsen, <em>Burn Your Fire for No Witness</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138555\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/angelolsen_25albums2014_wide-c255930b0b966d6ace69b05f15657eeedfe6dee9-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/angelolsen_25albums2014_wide-c255930b0b966d6ace69b05f15657eeedfe6dee9-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/angelolsen_25albums2014_wide-c255930b0b966d6ace69b05f15657eeedfe6dee9-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/angelolsen_25albums2014_wide-c255930b0b966d6ace69b05f15657eeedfe6dee9.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Angel Olsen, \u003cem>Burn Your Fire for No Witness\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ANGEL OLSEN\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>BURN YOUR FIRE FOR NO WITNESS\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The word “confessional” tends to get tossed around to describe singer-songwriters who reveal — and even revel in — raw, sticky emotions. But there’s a kind of submissiveness, even apology, implied by that word that doesn’t suit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/245998397/angel-olsen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Angel Olsen\u003c/a>. Whether she’s huddled over a single acoustic guitar or backed by a muscular rock band, Olsen’s voice grabs you by the collar and looks straight through you. As commanding and assertive as its title suggests, especially in naked and foreboding songs like the seven-minute “White Fire,” \u003cem>Burn Your Fire for No Witness\u003c/em> doesn’t waste a motion or a breath. Olsen’s subtle, commanding voice is the embodiment of coiled intensity: The more she seems to hold still, the harder her punches land. \u003cem>–Stephen Thompson\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138556\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/arturoofarrill_25albums2014_wide-0f29838c637784796c7c937e1f21d91691e3f946.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/arturoofarrill_25albums2014_wide-0f29838c637784796c7c937e1f21d91691e3f946-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Arturo O'Farrill & The Afro Latin Orchestra, Offense of the The Drum\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138556\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/arturoofarrill_25albums2014_wide-0f29838c637784796c7c937e1f21d91691e3f946-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/arturoofarrill_25albums2014_wide-0f29838c637784796c7c937e1f21d91691e3f946-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/arturoofarrill_25albums2014_wide-0f29838c637784796c7c937e1f21d91691e3f946-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/arturoofarrill_25albums2014_wide-0f29838c637784796c7c937e1f21d91691e3f946.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arturo O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Orchestra, Offense of the The Drum\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ARTURO O’FARRILL & THE AFRO LATIN ORCHESTRA\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>THE OFFENSE OF THE DRUM\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s no doubt that the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, led by pianist \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/90792805/arturo-o-farrill\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arturo O’Farrill\u003c/a>, is well versed in clave and swing. But here’s a list of other things that appear on its new album: Colombian country harp; “Iko Iko” featuring a Mardi Gras Indian chief; an mesmerizing beat pattern from Vijay Iyer; an arrangement of a work by French Romantic composer \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/91146991/erik-satie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Erik Satie\u003c/a>; Nuyorican slam poetry with scratching turntables; djembe, taiko drum and at least 26 other percussion instruments. Musical hybridity is at the heart of this band; here, it assimilates any remezcla thrown at it with furious conviction. \u003cem>–Patrick Jarenwattananon\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138557\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/beck_25albums2014-3c20c823707d96ff4b69ba9f4e64dbb11ea2fedc-e1404172420161.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/beck_25albums2014-3c20c823707d96ff4b69ba9f4e64dbb11ea2fedc-e1404172420161.jpg\" alt=\"Beck, Morning Phase\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138557\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Beck, \u003cem>Morning Phase\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>BECK\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>MORNING PHASE\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If we needed any proof that albums still matter in this short-attention-span world, \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15333650/beck\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Beck\u003c/a>‘s flawless twelfth album, \u003cem>Morning Phase\u003c/em>, is a triumphant testimony. From the soft swells of the orchestral opener, “Cycle,” and the first strum of his guitar, the transportive effect of this slow and beautiful sonic journey begins. Made with Beck’s composer father, David Richard Campbell, and many of the same musicians behind 2002’s \u003cem>Sea Change\u003c/em> (Beck’s beloved ode to heartbreak), \u003cem>Morning Phase \u003c/em>could be called a companion piece, but is better described as a grown-up sequel. The songs pull at the heartstrings, and instead of pulling us downward, they are ultimately about finding the light when one lets go. Whether it is in the glow of early morning or under a blue moon, \u003cem>Morning Phase\u003c/em> provides a bittersweet reminder of the temporary nature of all things, and a wiser Beck right there with us. —\u003cem>Carmel Holt, \u003ca href=\"http://www.wfuv.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WFUV\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138558\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/brianblade_25albums2014_wide-959b6f13bc89c012ce741f1fc967d0dbced58324.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/brianblade_25albums2014_wide-959b6f13bc89c012ce741f1fc967d0dbced58324-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band, Landmarks\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138558\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/brianblade_25albums2014_wide-959b6f13bc89c012ce741f1fc967d0dbced58324-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/brianblade_25albums2014_wide-959b6f13bc89c012ce741f1fc967d0dbced58324-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/brianblade_25albums2014_wide-959b6f13bc89c012ce741f1fc967d0dbced58324-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/brianblade_25albums2014_wide-959b6f13bc89c012ce741f1fc967d0dbced58324.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band, Landmarks\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>BRIAN BLADE & THE FELLOWSHIP BAND\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>LANDMARKS\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This album is led by an all-world jazz drummer but there aren’t really drum solos. It’s pastoral and tranquil when its peers are often urbane and frenetic. It feels simple — rhythmically, harmonically, structurally — in an age of complexity. So when a melody emerges, it cuts like a knife. When a saxophone reaches for that high note, the sincerity is palpable. And when the constantly simmering tension erupts, or even just hits a rolling boil, there’s a joyousness, an instant renewal of 20-year friendships, a velocity of celebration. \u003cem>–Patrick Jarenwattananon\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138559\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/davidgreilsammer_25albums2014_wide-99d25fedf34ae96ac692fd68a1866d41cca086ed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/davidgreilsammer_25albums2014_wide-99d25fedf34ae96ac692fd68a1866d41cca086ed-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"David Greilsammer, <em>Scarlatti/Cage: Sonatas</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138559\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/davidgreilsammer_25albums2014_wide-99d25fedf34ae96ac692fd68a1866d41cca086ed-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/davidgreilsammer_25albums2014_wide-99d25fedf34ae96ac692fd68a1866d41cca086ed-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/davidgreilsammer_25albums2014_wide-99d25fedf34ae96ac692fd68a1866d41cca086ed-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/davidgreilsammer_25albums2014_wide-99d25fedf34ae96ac692fd68a1866d41cca086ed.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">David Greilsammer, \u003cem>Scarlatti/Cage: Sonatas\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>DAVID GREILSAMMER\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>SCARLATTI & CAGE SONATAS\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like a crafty DJ, David Greilsammer has a knack for surprising musical juxtapositions. On the pianist’s album \u003cem>Baroque Conversations\u003c/em>, from 2012, 18th-century masters like Jean-Philippe Rameau sit cheek-by-jowl with modernists like Morton Feldman. Now Greilsammer’s back at it, swapping sonatas written 200 years apart by \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/91447657/domenico-scarlatti\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Domenico Scarlatti\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/91576532/john-cage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">John Cage\u003c/a>. For Greilsammer the two composers are kindred spirits, both “inventors of sound” — Scarlatti with his radical harmonies and rhythms inspired by flamenco and Cage with his prepared piano (into which he inserted nuts, bolts and rubber thingamabobs to create a percussion orchestra). His performance of Scarlatti’s Sonata in D minor, K.213 exquisitely dovetails into Cage’s Sonatas XIV & XV, creating a third entity — the fascinating bridge connecting the daring and the delicate in each piece (you can listen to an excerpt here). To the “inventors” Scarlatti and Cage we can add and third name — Greilsammer, whose spunk and imagination are most welcome. \u003cem>–Tom Huizenga\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138560\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/freddiegibs_wide-6831c1711a09b57dec428dce56ac65fe196642fd-e1404172525229.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/freddiegibs_wide-6831c1711a09b57dec428dce56ac65fe196642fd-e1404172525229.jpg\" alt=\"Freddie Gibs & Madlib, Pinata\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138560\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Freddie Gibs & Madlib, Pinata\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>FREDDIE GIBBS & MADLIB\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>PIÑATA\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rapper Freddie Gibbs, born and raised in Gary, Ind., met venerable producer \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15697271/madlib\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Madlib \u003c/a>in Los Angeles, and the album they made together is a complete work that straddles generations and sensibilities. The pair’s conception of gangster music sounds more like crushed velvet than velour, dramatizing the turmoil of a narrator who could be Sincere’s older son, or the grandchild of Youngblood Priest. On one song, “Robes,” Gibbs quotes 1987 \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15194292/babyface\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Babyface\u003c/a> and invites two ’90s babies to jump on. Throughout, his eye is unsparing, never more so than when it’s turned on himself. On “Broken” he begins with the Basmala and later, talking about his inherited infidelity, says “Honestly, I know I’m out here f—ing up.” Gibbs’ phrasing is virtuosic; his words sound like they’ve levitated. No guest — not \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/18171955/scarface\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Scarface\u003c/a>, not Raekwon, not \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/230494985/earl-sweatshirt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Earl\u003c/a>, not \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/228095350/danny-brown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Danny Brown\u003c/a> — outshines Gibbs over beats that are glassine and big-bodied and as real as can be. —\u003cem>Frannie Kelley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138561\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/gordonvoidwell_25albums2014_wide-7e8cd1a53eb82771aaf005332b53b8e3ffa24032-e1404172572446.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/gordonvoidwell_25albums2014_wide-7e8cd1a53eb82771aaf005332b53b8e3ffa24032-e1404172572446.jpg\" alt=\"Gordon Voidwell, BAD ETUDES\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138561\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gordon Voidwell, \u003cem>BAD ETUDES\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>GORDON VOIDWELL\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>BAD ÉTUDES\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like Frankenstein’s monster, \u003cem>BAD ÉTUDES\u003c/em> is stitched together, alive and breathing by the hand of its master, Bronx musician Gordon Voidwell. Oozing funk, pop, R&B and otherworldly inspiration, the record is filled to the brim with thoughtfully constructed modulations and manipulations — imagine a \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15394157/prince\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Prince\u003c/a> from the future who says, “To hell with all these instruments. Let me see how far I can freak a keyboard.” With his production serving as a constantly tilting landscape of audacity, Voidwell takes it a step further by altering his vocals, veering them toward femininity then back again. He throws us off and turns us on; winds us up and breaks it all down. As a whole or piece-by-piece, this album is a funky sci-fi experiment gone right. —\u003cem>Kiana Fitzgerald\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Bad Études\u003c/em> is available for purchase on \u003ca href=\"http://gordonvoidwell.bandcamp.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bandcamp\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138562\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/hurrayfortheriffraff_25albums_wide-d410e9b28c87df04d0efc66c410d286ebd2e098b.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/hurrayfortheriffraff_25albums_wide-d410e9b28c87df04d0efc66c410d286ebd2e098b-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Hurray for the Riff Raff, <em>Small Town Heroes</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138562\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/hurrayfortheriffraff_25albums_wide-d410e9b28c87df04d0efc66c410d286ebd2e098b-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/hurrayfortheriffraff_25albums_wide-d410e9b28c87df04d0efc66c410d286ebd2e098b-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/hurrayfortheriffraff_25albums_wide-d410e9b28c87df04d0efc66c410d286ebd2e098b-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/hurrayfortheriffraff_25albums_wide-d410e9b28c87df04d0efc66c410d286ebd2e098b.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hurray for the Riff Raff, \u003cem>Small Town Heroes\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>SMALL TOWN HEROES\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Considering the songs that populate \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/270950584/hurray-for-the-riff-raff\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hurray for the Riff Raff\u003c/a>‘s latest release, it makes sense that they titled the disc \u003cem>Small Town Heroes\u003c/em>. Here are the voices of battered women taking their power back; defiantly hopeful lovers; neighborhoods keeping their pride amid surging crime waves; the outlaw with the yearning heart; and of course the band on the road, longing for home. They’re songs about a city revitalizing itself, people coming into their own. Its rhythms and melodies call to mind everything from Appalachian tradition to the Mississippi Delta and the old folk-blues. Front-woman and songwriter Alynda Lee Segarra sings every lyric with a haunting, raw honesty. Where her voice doesn’t tremble like it’s shaking the rain out, it soars and bops like a determined bird flying against a breeze. \u003cem>Small Town Heroes \u003c/em>is an arresting, memorable disc from a band that’s only just getting started. \u003cem>–Kim Ruehl, \u003ca href=\"http://www.folkalley.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Folk Alley\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138563\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 639px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/jeffballardtrio_wide-445847285a240861b8014cb10f128810162dc677-e1404172957482.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/jeffballardtrio_wide-445847285a240861b8014cb10f128810162dc677-e1404172957482.jpg\" alt=\"Jeff Ballard Trio, Time's Tales\" width=\"639\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138563\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeff Ballard Trio, \u003cem>Time’s Tales\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>JEFF BALLARD TRIO\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>TIME’S TALES\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Drummer Jeff Ballard had never led a recording before this one, which is amazing considering how many recordings he’s been a part of. His debut album reflects most of his divergent impulses toward the worldly and the familiar, the knotted bundles of odd-meter asymmetry and the silky-smooth groove — and does so with only three guys. It works because while his two collaborators play guitar (\u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/88982391/lionel-loueke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lionel Loueke\u003c/a>, from Benin) and sax (\u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/95471452/miguel-zen-n\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Miguel Zenón\u003c/a>, from Puerto Rico), everyone’s a percussionist at heart. That rapid fire rhythmic dialogue, and some nifty guitar noises, enables a skeleton crew to throw a street parade. \u003cem>–Patrick Jarenwattananon\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138564\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/kassemmosse_25albums2014_wide-a5625e6a032a65aea93dc61064473f6edf19b97b.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/kassemmosse_25albums2014_wide-a5625e6a032a65aea93dc61064473f6edf19b97b-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Kassem Mosse, <em>Workshop 19</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138564\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/kassemmosse_25albums2014_wide-a5625e6a032a65aea93dc61064473f6edf19b97b-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/kassemmosse_25albums2014_wide-a5625e6a032a65aea93dc61064473f6edf19b97b-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/kassemmosse_25albums2014_wide-a5625e6a032a65aea93dc61064473f6edf19b97b-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/kassemmosse_25albums2014_wide-a5625e6a032a65aea93dc61064473f6edf19b97b.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kassem Mosse, \u003cem>Workshop 19\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>KASSEM MOSSE\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>WORKSHOP 19\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a string of singles released over the better part of a decade, Leipzig’s Kassem Mosse has found the sweet spot between stripped-down production and melody-driven songwriting. Making music that’s warmer than much of the techno coming out of Germany and sparser than much of the house music coming from the States, Mosse is hailed again and again for blazing his own trail, and sucking in others under his wake. An auteur to the bone, Mosse’s debut LP showcases the flexibility of his sound. It’s murky and melancholic, ambient at times, but also made to get people up out of their seats. Once again, Kassem Mosse finds the space between expected and inaccessible. \u003cem>–Sami Yenigun\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138565\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/leonvynehall_25albums2014_wide-945e901dc484c8c80dc78c837d52418c6fe9cc26.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/leonvynehall_25albums2014_wide-945e901dc484c8c80dc78c837d52418c6fe9cc26-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Leon Vynehall, <em>Music for the Uninvited</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138565\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/leonvynehall_25albums2014_wide-945e901dc484c8c80dc78c837d52418c6fe9cc26-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/leonvynehall_25albums2014_wide-945e901dc484c8c80dc78c837d52418c6fe9cc26-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/leonvynehall_25albums2014_wide-945e901dc484c8c80dc78c837d52418c6fe9cc26-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/leonvynehall_25albums2014_wide-945e901dc484c8c80dc78c837d52418c6fe9cc26.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Leon Vynehall, \u003cem>Music for the Uninvited\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>LEON VYNEHALL\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>MUSIC FOR THE UNINVITED\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Remember what it felt like to listen to your parents’ cassettes when you were a young child? Kind of, but not really, right? We recall snippets of songs, the stack of plastic cases below the car stereo, maybe the auto-reverse click between “Darling Nikki” and “When Doves Cry.” For many of us, it’s an impressionist painting in our mind of the moment we first fell in love with music. British dance producer Leon Vynehall called on his fuzzy memories of low fidelity while writing his debut album, \u003cem>Music For The Uninvited\u003c/em>, a sample-fueled fusion of house, disco, funk and soul. He even ends each “side” of the record with that unmistakable *snap* of a play button popping back into place. It’s an old-skool labor of love by one of the most promising young minds in dance music, nostalgic and next-level at the same time. \u003cem>–Otis Hart\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138566\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/loslobos_25albums2014_wide-9db243ad5197f1ce296ae96dc0b9d72608621b47.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/loslobos_25albums2014_wide-9db243ad5197f1ce296ae96dc0b9d72608621b47-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Los Lobos, <em>Si Se Puede</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138566\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/loslobos_25albums2014_wide-9db243ad5197f1ce296ae96dc0b9d72608621b47-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/loslobos_25albums2014_wide-9db243ad5197f1ce296ae96dc0b9d72608621b47-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/loslobos_25albums2014_wide-9db243ad5197f1ce296ae96dc0b9d72608621b47-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/loslobos_25albums2014_wide-9db243ad5197f1ce296ae96dc0b9d72608621b47.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Los Lobos, \u003cem>Si Se Puede\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>LOS LOBOS\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>SI SE PUEDE!: LOS LOBOS AND FRIENDS\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over 40 years ago music played a crucial role in one of this country’s most important civil rights struggles: not in the Jim Crow South but in the agricultural fields of California, where the United Farm Workers (UFW) was organizing laborers into a union for the first time ever. Traditional Mexican \u003cem>corridos\u003c/em> were reworked to call people to march, picket and strike. The music was made by some of the workers themselves, as well as members of the UFW, and you pretty much had to be out in the fields to hear it — until 1976 when the album \u003cem>Si Se Puede\u003c/em> was released as a fundraiser for the UFW. Herb Albert donated his A&M Records studios to a group of young Chicano musicians who called themselves Los Lobos del Este de los Angeles and who gathered some of their friends to record some of the music that had become part of the farm worker movement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The band \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15221330/los-lobos\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shortened its name\u003c/a> and eventually made a big noise of their own, and 38 years later, long after it had gone out print, the music was finally digitally re-released this spring to coincide with the release of a biopic about César Chávez. The themes of social justice are timeless but more so is the notion that music can indeed help change the world. We seem to have forgotten that. That’s why this music, now nearly four decades old, still matters. \u003cem>–Felix Contreras\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138567\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/majidbekkas_25albums2014_wide-735e43996c07c0d59a7e500f48d272803a722b31.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/majidbekkas_25albums2014_wide-735e43996c07c0d59a7e500f48d272803a722b31-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Majid Bekkas, <em>Al Qantara</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138567\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/majidbekkas_25albums2014_wide-735e43996c07c0d59a7e500f48d272803a722b31-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/majidbekkas_25albums2014_wide-735e43996c07c0d59a7e500f48d272803a722b31-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/majidbekkas_25albums2014_wide-735e43996c07c0d59a7e500f48d272803a722b31-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/majidbekkas_25albums2014_wide-735e43996c07c0d59a7e500f48d272803a722b31.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Majid Bekkas, \u003cem>Al Qantara\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>MAJID BEKKAS\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>AL QANTARA\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Al Qantara\u003c/em> (“The Bridge”) is a fitting title for the new album by Majid Bekkas. The native Moroccan’s home country has long been a nexus of African, Eastern and Western cultures. Bekkas is steeped in Gwana, an ancient Moroccan spiritual trance music, but on \u003cem>Al Qantara\u003c/em> he adroitly fuses the tradition with jazz and African styles. His principal tools are the oud and the guembri, a three-stringed guitar-sized instrument covered in camel skin that produces the low notes of a double bass. With his Afro-Oriental Jazz Trio, Bekkas guides a journey through traditional Moroccan tunes (“Bania”), jazz staples (Don Cherry’s “Guinea”) and his own mesmerizing creations. “Choroq,” after an extended oud introduction, gives way to Manuel Hermia’s evocative basuri (bamboo flute). When Khalid Kouhen’s Indian tabla drums kick in, the piece takes flight with a melody of sublime beauty. Hopefully \u003cem>Al Qantara\u003c/em> will bridge yet one more gap — the one between the notoriety Bekkas enjoys in Morocco and that which we hope he finds far beyond. \u003cem>–Tom Huizenga\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138568\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/mirandalambert_25albums2014_wide-1afdced0fd9712e5af2e30482dad5052d872a3a4-e1404173205726.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/mirandalambert_25albums2014_wide-1afdced0fd9712e5af2e30482dad5052d872a3a4-e1404173205726.jpg\" alt=\"Miranda Lambert, Platinum\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138568\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Miranda Lambert, \u003cem>Platinum\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>MIRANDA LAMBERT\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>PLATINUM\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15394683/miranda-lambert\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Miranda Lambert\u003c/a> likes to say in interviews that she’s no role model. And thank goodness. On her fifth studio album, country’s longtime self-aware bad girl\u003cem> \u003c/em>offers something more powerful than craziness and kerosene: a deliberately holistic portrait of 21\u003csup>st\u003c/sup>-century femininity, with room for vulnerability, regret, gentle nostalgia, hope and plenty of humor. Lambert speaks through characters who are married and independent, sexually confident and anxious about their looks, longing for home comforts and eager for the wide open road. The music ranges just as widely as Lambert’s world view, from traditional bluegrass to honky-tonk rock to the well-burnished country radio requires. Lambert herself always retains her individualistic edge. “You don’t know nothin’ about girls,” she sings, confronting stereotypes in the album’s lead track. Don’t worry, Miranda will school you. \u003cem>–Ann Powers\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138569\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/owenpallett_25albums2014_wide-caba29b13f483b3cdc8468db8fb7f40bef61cf67.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/owenpallett_25albums2014_wide-caba29b13f483b3cdc8468db8fb7f40bef61cf67-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Owen Pallett,<em> In Conflict</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138569\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/owenpallett_25albums2014_wide-caba29b13f483b3cdc8468db8fb7f40bef61cf67-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/owenpallett_25albums2014_wide-caba29b13f483b3cdc8468db8fb7f40bef61cf67-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/owenpallett_25albums2014_wide-caba29b13f483b3cdc8468db8fb7f40bef61cf67-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/owenpallett_25albums2014_wide-caba29b13f483b3cdc8468db8fb7f40bef61cf67.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Owen Pallett,\u003cem> In Conflict\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>OWEN PALLETT\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>IN CONFLICT\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once the golden boy of Canada’s now decade-long indie invasion, \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/124207024/owen-pallett\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Owen Pallett\u003c/a> made his best album by tracking the growing pains of becoming an adult: solitude, self-destruction, depression and regret cut with a confidence borne of the realization that you, you grown human person, have survived long enough to build a life made out of your own accumulated choices. Everything that made Pallett’s name is here on \u003cem>In Conflict\u003c/em>: the lonely, looped violin; lyrical details that weave soul-baring into mundane; the tense/triumphant orchestration that won him a spot as Arcade Fire’s resident classical guy (not to mention an Oscar nomination for scoring \u003cem>Her\u003c/em> last year). Any one of these would make him a tremendous talent. All of them, knit together with new authority and purpose, make him singular. \u003cem>–Jacob Ganz\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138570\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/johnadams_wide-da8e9b1a51f822449dab49d79b330922ed82f8e6-e1404173361922.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/johnadams_wide-da8e9b1a51f822449dab49d79b330922ed82f8e6-e1404173361922.jpg\" alt=\"St. Louis Symphony/Robertson, Adams: City Noir/Saxophone Concerto\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138570\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">St. Louis Symphony/Robertson, \u003cem>Adams: City Noir/Saxophone Concerto\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ST. LOUIS SYMPHONY/DAVID ROBERTSON, CONDUCTOR\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>ADAMS: CITY NOIR/SAXOPHONE CONCERTO\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Composer \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/14996733/john-adams\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">John Adams\u003c/a> wrote \u003cem>City Noir \u003c/em>as an homage to the City of Angels — and it is at once a cinematically scaled nod to 1940s and ’50s film scores and, especially in the first movement, an intricate bundle full of knotted melodies climbing inside each other. The saxophone concerto that accompanies \u003cem>City Noir \u003c/em>carries bebop in its DNA, and soloist Timothy McAllister is simply outstanding. Meanwhile, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and conductor David Robertson are born naturals for this music, turning in fresh, dynamic and invigorating performances. \u003cem>–Anastasia Tsioulcas\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138571\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stvincent_wide-280106ebaf80914ede6b64eb8c77f73e3472bde4.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stvincent_wide-280106ebaf80914ede6b64eb8c77f73e3472bde4-1440x808.jpg\" alt=\"St. Vincent, <em>St. Vincent</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138571\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stvincent_wide-280106ebaf80914ede6b64eb8c77f73e3472bde4-1440x808.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stvincent_wide-280106ebaf80914ede6b64eb8c77f73e3472bde4-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stvincent_wide-280106ebaf80914ede6b64eb8c77f73e3472bde4-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">St. Vincent, \u003cem>St. Vincent\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ST. VINCENT\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>ST. VINCENT\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve always thought Annie Clark’s music and guitar playing was pretty damn good — then she released her fourth \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15159199/st-vincent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">St. Vincent\u003c/a> record and I was floored. All of the qualities I’ve come to love in her music — the quirky lyrics, songs with hairpin turns and her idiosyncratic guitar playing — are here, sharper than ever. There are songs about her Jesus and her mother, about political activist Huey Newton, about running naked in the desert and the meaning of it all in this digital age. The songs are fun, sometimes funny and sonically a treat for the ears. \u003cem>–Bob Boilen\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138572\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stromae_25albums_wide-af5d41726c92e7852807c8cb4306f62db4c485a8.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stromae_25albums_wide-af5d41726c92e7852807c8cb4306f62db4c485a8-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Stromae,<em> Racine Caree</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138572\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stromae_25albums_wide-af5d41726c92e7852807c8cb4306f62db4c485a8-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stromae_25albums_wide-af5d41726c92e7852807c8cb4306f62db4c485a8-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stromae_25albums_wide-af5d41726c92e7852807c8cb4306f62db4c485a8-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/stromae_25albums_wide-af5d41726c92e7852807c8cb4306f62db4c485a8.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Stromae,\u003cem> Racine Caree\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>STROMAE\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>RACINE CARRÉE\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s hard to pin the Belgian artist \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/2014/06/19/322933388/stromae-global-star-in-the-making-set-to-touch-down-in-the-u-s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stromae\u003c/a> down, and that’s just how he likes it: a little EDM, a little hip-hop, a little R&B, a little Eurodance, a little Congolese rumba, a little tango … and yet it all works, beautifully. One of the smartest songwriters around, Stromae navigates the shoals of modern life — from relationships and race to the financial crisis and existential concerns — with grace, humor, a wink and a teeny bit of swagger. There are so many tracks to fall in love with here — “Formidable,” “Tous Les Mêmes,” “Ave Cesaria,” “Ta Fête,” “Humain A L’Eau,” the global smash “Papaoutai” — that the whole album is an unmitigated, heavy-repeat pleasure. And his live show is, improbably, even better. \u003cem>–Anastasia Tsioulcas\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138573\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sturgillsimpson_25albums_wide-3a6fe10b2beb40c99b2fc4fa86f799ff30665e0a.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sturgillsimpson_25albums_wide-3a6fe10b2beb40c99b2fc4fa86f799ff30665e0a-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Sturgill Simpson, <em>Metamodern Sounds in Country Music</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138573\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sturgillsimpson_25albums_wide-3a6fe10b2beb40c99b2fc4fa86f799ff30665e0a-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sturgillsimpson_25albums_wide-3a6fe10b2beb40c99b2fc4fa86f799ff30665e0a-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sturgillsimpson_25albums_wide-3a6fe10b2beb40c99b2fc4fa86f799ff30665e0a-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sturgillsimpson_25albums_wide-3a6fe10b2beb40c99b2fc4fa86f799ff30665e0a.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sturgill Simpson, \u003cem>Metamodern Sounds in Country Music\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>STURGILL SIMPSON\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>METAMODERN SOUNDS IN COUNTRY MUSIC\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are people who fret about the health and purity of country music and there are those who just keep the damn stuff alive. On his second solo album, \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/323191173/sturgill-simpson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sturgill Simpson\u003c/a> pumps oxygen into familiar forms — the honky-tonk all-night drunk, the philosophical road song, the countrypolitan ballad, the gospel singalong, the trucker anthem — with the no-fuss creativity of a rebel with a cause, and a plan. The Kentucky native, now living in Nashville, set out to make songs that honored tradition but rejected easy associations: Instead of odes to girls with painted-on jeans, Simpson applies his majestic baritone to sometimes psychedelic ruminations about fate, personal agency and the Zen interconnectedness of all things. His muscular touring band keeps Simpson grounded while letting him range wide. The result is hard country with no edges made for people with big sky minds. \u003cem>–Ann Powers\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138574\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sylvanesso_wide-a91dee1a362ebdfdca117d186733594067a898ae.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sylvanesso_wide-a91dee1a362ebdfdca117d186733594067a898ae-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Sylvan Esso<em>, Sylvan Esso</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138574\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sylvanesso_wide-a91dee1a362ebdfdca117d186733594067a898ae-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sylvanesso_wide-a91dee1a362ebdfdca117d186733594067a898ae-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/sylvanesso_wide-a91dee1a362ebdfdca117d186733594067a898ae-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sylvan Esso\u003cem>, Sylvan Esso\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>SYLVAN ESSO\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>SYLVAN ESSO\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An unexpected, intoxicating left-field debut, \u003cem>Sylvan Esso\u003c/em> captures the sound of two equally unlikely musicians: singer Amelia Meath, known for singing a cappella folk in Mountain Man, and producer Nick Sanborn, known for playing bass in the psychedelic roots-rock band Megafaun. Neither had hinted at anything that sounds quite like this batch of intricately crafted, emotionally resonant, strikingly catchy electro-pop songs. Music this sturdy and remix-ready doesn’t generally come from such a distinct and powerful lyrical point of view: Meath’s often hauntingly ambivalent words seize just as much attention as the multidimensional sound beds on which they’re placed. “Coffee” is the most unstoppably great song here — maybe the most unstoppably great song of the year, period — but everything else on \u003cem>Sylvan Esso\u003c/em> grabs hard, too, from the playful provocation of “Hey Mami” to the wobbly anthemic rush of “Play It Right.” \u003cem>–Stephen Thompson\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138575\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/tonibraxton_25albums_wide-d68897f8f1269034b5263ffe797bf629b34cc40d.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/tonibraxton_25albums_wide-d68897f8f1269034b5263ffe797bf629b34cc40d-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Toni Braxton & Babyface, <i>Love Marriage & Divorce</i>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138575\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/tonibraxton_25albums_wide-d68897f8f1269034b5263ffe797bf629b34cc40d-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/tonibraxton_25albums_wide-d68897f8f1269034b5263ffe797bf629b34cc40d-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/tonibraxton_25albums_wide-d68897f8f1269034b5263ffe797bf629b34cc40d-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/tonibraxton_25albums_wide-d68897f8f1269034b5263ffe797bf629b34cc40d.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Toni Braxton & Babyface, \u003ci>Love Marriage & Divorce\u003c/i>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>TONI BRAXTON & BABYFACE\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>LOVE, MARRIAGE & DIVORCE\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rich doesn’t come close to describing \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15292781/toni-braxton\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Toni Braxton\u003c/a>‘s voice. More than 20 years after \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLJPsHhcEOo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">her first duet with Babyface\u003c/a>, with the mic capturing every little thing that comes out of her mouth — every catch, every low key run, even the bitten off end of a word — she sounds at once impossible and exactly like your friend did the last time her heart got broken. There are overblown moments on \u003cem>Love, Marriage & Divorce\u003c/em>, but most of the album feels personal, and all that reverb helps to make it feel interior, even private. Babyface’s voice is tangy and refined. On “Roller Coaster” he’s punchy, using his voice like a rhythm instrument. Braxton takes liberties with the beat. Her two solo turns, “I Wish,” which is too real, and “I’d Rather Be Broke,” aren’t occasions to show off; they further the narrative. The album sticks to its story, and in the process delivers a set of mature songs masterfully detailed. —\u003cem>Frannie Kelley\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138576\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/triptykon_25albums_wide-af8b802366cd06353e918bf11cc3b101c2438b9f.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/triptykon_25albums_wide-af8b802366cd06353e918bf11cc3b101c2438b9f-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"Triptykon, <em>Melana Chasmata</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138576\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/triptykon_25albums_wide-af8b802366cd06353e918bf11cc3b101c2438b9f-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/triptykon_25albums_wide-af8b802366cd06353e918bf11cc3b101c2438b9f-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/triptykon_25albums_wide-af8b802366cd06353e918bf11cc3b101c2438b9f-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/triptykon_25albums_wide-af8b802366cd06353e918bf11cc3b101c2438b9f.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Triptykon, \u003cem>Melana Chasmata\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>TRIPTYKON\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>MELANA CHASMATA\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his third band in three decades, \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2014/05/21/314007649/the-long-shadow-of-tom-warrior-metals-dark-innovator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tom Warrior\u003c/a> continues to be one of metal’s most thoughtful innovators. As visionary as Warrior has been in Hellhammer and \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/325810489/celtic-frost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Celtic Frost\u003c/a>, Warrior works best in tandem with a band that locks into his dark world. Triptykon’s second album, \u003cem>Melana Chasmata\u003c/em>, is a bottomless pit where nocturnal creatures breed and kill, uncovering atmospheres and riffs still unknown. \u003cem>–Lars Gotrich\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138577\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/warondrugs_25albums_wide-60f9973e76de5dc94c418149656316f57da94b92.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/warondrugs_25albums_wide-60f9973e76de5dc94c418149656316f57da94b92-1440x809.jpg\" alt=\"The War on Drugs, <em>Lost in the Dream</em>\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10138577\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/warondrugs_25albums_wide-60f9973e76de5dc94c418149656316f57da94b92-1440x809.jpg 1440w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/warondrugs_25albums_wide-60f9973e76de5dc94c418149656316f57da94b92-400x224.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/warondrugs_25albums_wide-60f9973e76de5dc94c418149656316f57da94b92-300x168.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/warondrugs_25albums_wide-60f9973e76de5dc94c418149656316f57da94b92.jpg 1597w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The War on Drugs, \u003cem>Lost in the Dream\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>THE WAR ON DRUGS\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>LOST IN THE DREAM\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/91730305/the-war-on-drugs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The War On Drugs\u003c/a>‘ \u003cem>Lost In The Dream\u003c/em> is the sound of tomorrow’s greatest classic rock today. Lead singer and guitarist Adam Granduciel’s epic guitar playing and songwriting on album tracks like “Under The Pressure,” “In Reverse” and the seven minute “An Ocean In Between The Waves,” are infused with mesmerizing \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/14837922/bruce-springsteen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Springsteen\u003c/a>–\u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15300677/tom-petty\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Petty\u003c/a>–\u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/100863084/the-velvet-underground\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Velvet Underground\u003c/a> influences. He’s got a vocal style that brings to mind \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15193203/bob-dylan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dylan\u003c/a> circa \u003cem>Blood On The Tracks\u003c/em>. It’s possible to deduce the themes of the album by the names of the songs. “Eyes To The Wind,” “The Haunting Idle,” the title song and the slow burning “Suffering,” express matters of the heart and soul. There’s plenty of searching, longing, and questioning, set to a soundtrack of a psychedelic heartland.\u003cem> Lost In The Dream\u003c/em> is a triumphant, transcendent, classic rock album — whether or not you hear the Springsteenisms that subtly inform the record. —\u003cem>Bruce Warren, \u003ca href=\"http://www.xpn.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WXPN\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138578\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/yg_wide-7185bf9f9d7843bc629c0a6a9778f1e7df695ce3-e1404174335605.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/yg_wide-7185bf9f9d7843bc629c0a6a9778f1e7df695ce3-e1404174335605.jpg\" alt=\"YG, My Krazy Life\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138578\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">YG,\u003cem> My Krazy Life\u003c/em>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>YG\u003cbr>\u003c/strong>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>MY KRAZY LIFE\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the success of his platinum selling single “My Hitta” and \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/250250872/drake\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Drake\u003c/a>-flavored “Who Do You Love,” YG released his debut album, \u003cem>My Krazy Life\u003c/em> earlier this year. \u003cem>My Krazy Life\u003c/em> has the feeling of a traditional West Coast album (skits included): You can hear \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/15594870/dr-dre\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dr. Dre\u003c/a> bass lines and some Bay Area bounce slips in thanks to the production of DJ Mustard. YG is a ’90s baby straight outta Compton, the storied neighborhood that brought us rap icons \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/16853156/n-w-a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">N.W.A\u003c/a>. When the good kid from the maad city himself, \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/artists/166009689/kendrick-lamar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kendrick Lamar\u003c/a>, meets up with his bad a$$ neighbor YG on “Really Be (Smoking N Drinking)” they sound vulnerable exposing the harsh realities of inner city life and their coping mechanisms (Kush and alcohol). \u003cem>My Krazy Life\u003c/em> is his cautionary tale about the trappings of street life — the highs, the lows and eventually redemption. \u003cem>–Cedric Shine\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>All album photos by Sarah Tilotta/NPR\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=NPR+Music%27s+25+Favorite+Albums+Of+2014+%28So+Far%29&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Behind Optimus Prime (and Eeyore), One Man's Signature Voice",
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"headTitle": "Behind Optimus Prime (and Eeyore), One Man’s Signature Voice | KQED",
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"content": "\u003caside class=\"aligncenter\">\n\u003ch4>Listen to NPR’s Arun Rath speak to voice actor Peter Cullen, the voice of Transformers’ Optimus Prime:\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/atc/2014/06/20140629_atc_behind_optimus_prime_and_eeyore_one_mans_signature_voice.mp3\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Transformers: Age of Extinction\u003c/em> has smashed its way to the \u003ca href=\"http://variety.com/2014/film/news/box-office-transformers-age-of-extinction-rules-with-100-mil-1201254336/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">No. 1 spot\u003c/a> at the box office. Director Michael Bay’s film franchise has consistently topped charts since the first film arrived in theaters in 2007.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The live-action films have embraced the latest in visual affects — but the movies have also called back to the series’ past, through the voice of Peter Cullen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cullen, 72, was the first actor to give voice to Optimus Prime — the leader of the Autobots, and the series’ metal, robotic heart — on the original \u003cem>Transformers\u003c/em> cartoon show in the 1980s. Other actors have played Optimus Prime in various iterations of \u003cem>Transformers\u003c/em> over the years, but Cullen happily returned to the role for the live-action film franchise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138542\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen.jpg\" alt=\"Voice actor Peter Cullen arrives at the premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in June 2009.\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138542\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen.jpg 500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen-400x400.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen-32x32.jpg 32w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen-64x64.jpg 64w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen-96x96.jpg 96w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen-128x128.jpg 128w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen-75x75.jpg 75w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Voice actor Peter Cullen arrives at the premiere of \u003cem>Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen\u003c/em> in June 2009. \u003ccite>(Kevin Winter/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In an interview with NPR’s Arun Rath, Cullen says playing Optimus Prime again was “like slipping into an old pair of shoes that you hid in the back of your closet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cullen got his big break as the announcer on \u003cem>The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour\u003c/em>\u003cem> \u003c/em>in the early 1970s, and famously voiced Eeyore in \u003cem>Winnie the Pooh\u003c/em>. He tells Rath that of the many\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>characters he has played over the years, a certain giant, extraterrestrial robot is still his favorite.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch3>Interview Highlights\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On when he realized he had a talent for doing voices\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I lived on a farm, and I worked the farm. And I remember the very first summer, I could imitate the cows, the calves, the chickens, the different dogs they had. And one of the greatest memories I have is, I had a full dairy barn where I would collect milk pails with my brother, Larry. I found one day that I made a loud noise and all the cows looked up to me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I did something like, “And now that I have your attention!” And they all looked up. And I walked down the center of that aisle with these cows looking at me and I said, “This is fantastic.” I must have been 8 years old … and I was the king of the cows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On landing the role of Optimus Prime in the 1980s cartoon\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I auditioned like everybody else. I was told it was a hero, and I was told it was a truck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was living with my brother Larry at the time. He had returned from service as a Marine in Vietnam, and I told him one day I was going out to audition for a truck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And he says, “A truck?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I said, “Yeah, but he’s a \u003cem>hero\u003c/em> truck.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is really good, Pete, yeah,” he said … “Well, if you’re going to be a hero, be a real hero. Don’t be a Hollywood stereotypical thing with the yelling and screaming.” He said, “Be strong enough to be gentle.” And Larry was that way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I had no idea what the script was going to be. But in effect, the lines just came out, and I just did my brother, Larry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the characters he has most enjoyed playing\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138541\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Old-TRansformers.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Old-TRansformers.jpg\" alt=\"Peter Cullen was the first actor to voice Optimus Prime, in the 1980s TV cartoon.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138541\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Old-TRansformers.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Old-TRansformers-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Old-TRansformers-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Peter Cullen was the first actor to voice Optimus Prime, in the 1980s TV cartoon. \u003ccite>(AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Well, Optimus Prime, No. 1. He’s my above-all favorite. The second one was Eeyore [from \u003cem>Winnie the Pooh\u003c/em>]. I enjoyed doing Eeyore because he was simply charming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I get an awful lot of reactions from, especially, young kids, when I go up and just say [in Eeyore’s voice], “Hello. Thanks for noticing me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And to see their faces light up, that to me is one of the great joys. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Behind+Optimus+Prime+%28And+Eeyore%29%2C+One+Man%27s+Signature+Voice&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"aligncenter\">\n\u003ch4>Listen to NPR’s Arun Rath speak to voice actor Peter Cullen, the voice of Transformers’ Optimus Prime:\u003c/h4>\n\u003cp>http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/atc/2014/06/20140629_atc_behind_optimus_prime_and_eeyore_one_mans_signature_voice.mp3\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Transformers: Age of Extinction\u003c/em> has smashed its way to the \u003ca href=\"http://variety.com/2014/film/news/box-office-transformers-age-of-extinction-rules-with-100-mil-1201254336/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">No. 1 spot\u003c/a> at the box office. Director Michael Bay’s film franchise has consistently topped charts since the first film arrived in theaters in 2007.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The live-action films have embraced the latest in visual affects — but the movies have also called back to the series’ past, through the voice of Peter Cullen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cullen, 72, was the first actor to give voice to Optimus Prime — the leader of the Autobots, and the series’ metal, robotic heart — on the original \u003cem>Transformers\u003c/em> cartoon show in the 1980s. Other actors have played Optimus Prime in various iterations of \u003cem>Transformers\u003c/em> over the years, but Cullen happily returned to the role for the live-action film franchise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138542\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 500px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen.jpg\" alt=\"Voice actor Peter Cullen arrives at the premiere of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in June 2009.\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138542\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen.jpg 500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen-400x400.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen-300x300.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen-32x32.jpg 32w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen-64x64.jpg 64w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen-96x96.jpg 96w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen-128x128.jpg 128w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/PEter-Cullen-75x75.jpg 75w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Voice actor Peter Cullen arrives at the premiere of \u003cem>Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen\u003c/em> in June 2009. \u003ccite>(Kevin Winter/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In an interview with NPR’s Arun Rath, Cullen says playing Optimus Prime again was “like slipping into an old pair of shoes that you hid in the back of your closet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cullen got his big break as the announcer on \u003cem>The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour\u003c/em>\u003cem> \u003c/em>in the early 1970s, and famously voiced Eeyore in \u003cem>Winnie the Pooh\u003c/em>. He tells Rath that of the many\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>characters he has played over the years, a certain giant, extraterrestrial robot is still his favorite.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch3>Interview Highlights\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On when he realized he had a talent for doing voices\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I lived on a farm, and I worked the farm. And I remember the very first summer, I could imitate the cows, the calves, the chickens, the different dogs they had. And one of the greatest memories I have is, I had a full dairy barn where I would collect milk pails with my brother, Larry. I found one day that I made a loud noise and all the cows looked up to me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I did something like, “And now that I have your attention!” And they all looked up. And I walked down the center of that aisle with these cows looking at me and I said, “This is fantastic.” I must have been 8 years old … and I was the king of the cows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On landing the role of Optimus Prime in the 1980s cartoon\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I auditioned like everybody else. I was told it was a hero, and I was told it was a truck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was living with my brother Larry at the time. He had returned from service as a Marine in Vietnam, and I told him one day I was going out to audition for a truck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And he says, “A truck?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I said, “Yeah, but he’s a \u003cem>hero\u003c/em> truck.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is really good, Pete, yeah,” he said … “Well, if you’re going to be a hero, be a real hero. Don’t be a Hollywood stereotypical thing with the yelling and screaming.” He said, “Be strong enough to be gentle.” And Larry was that way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I had no idea what the script was going to be. But in effect, the lines just came out, and I just did my brother, Larry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the characters he has most enjoyed playing\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138541\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Old-TRansformers.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Old-TRansformers.jpg\" alt=\"Peter Cullen was the first actor to voice Optimus Prime, in the 1980s TV cartoon.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138541\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Old-TRansformers.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Old-TRansformers-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/Old-TRansformers-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Peter Cullen was the first actor to voice Optimus Prime, in the 1980s TV cartoon. \u003ccite>(AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Well, Optimus Prime, No. 1. He’s my above-all favorite. The second one was Eeyore [from \u003cem>Winnie the Pooh\u003c/em>]. I enjoyed doing Eeyore because he was simply charming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I get an awful lot of reactions from, especially, young kids, when I go up and just say [in Eeyore’s voice], “Hello. Thanks for noticing me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And to see their faces light up, that to me is one of the great joys. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Behind+Optimus+Prime+%28And+Eeyore%29%2C+One+Man%27s+Signature+Voice&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Just before Dave Chappelle took the stage Monday as part of a sold-out series of shows at Radio City Music Hall, a song featuring a loop of LL Cool J’s famous opening line from “Mama Said Knock You Out” blasted over the sound system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Don’t call it a comeback!\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You could take it as a suggestion that Chappelle had never really gone anywhere. Or you could read it as a coy reminder that none of us should get too comfortable, because Chappelle might bounce again at any moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He stepped onto the stage wearing a black suit, taking drags from a cigarette and looking much more muscular than the lanky dude that most of us remember from the days \u003ca href=\"http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1061415,00.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he walked away from his insanely popular show\u003c/a> on Comedy Central and a reported $50 million TV deal. He said he hasn’t been doing much during his time off, and said that there are details of some of his activities that he’s not permitted to discuss. “Like the Illuminati Christmas party,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listening to his hourlong set, it was hard not to wonder about how Chappelle would have weighed in on the constellation of racial controversies and developments that have dotted our popular culture over the eight years that he’s been mostly off the radar. When he walked away from his show at the height of his fame, Chappelle had probably become America’s most influential commentator on race — riffing on its absurdity and fluidity and consequence. His odd sensibility — thoughtful, irreverent and scatological all at once — is hard to replicate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not long into his set, he recaps a fictional phone conversation he had with Paula Deen, in the aftermath of her racial controversy last summer. He toggles between the two of them, imitating Deen’s famous twang. She thinks he’s calling to offer her support after he tells her he’s also said lots of impolitic things that could get him in trouble. After she thanks him for his support, he tells her that’s not why he’s calling: He knows that she’s unemployed and he’s in search of a good cook. Then he quickly ratchets up the absurdity, adding a typically warped, Chappellian twist that I won’t do justice. Suffice it to say, it involves a profane Deen dressed up like Aunt Jemima and kicking through a door, hurling racist invective at Chappelle’s family as she serves them delicious Southern cuisine for dinner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The guy who once imagined a black President Bush making the case for invading Iraq had been publicly quiet for almost the entire administration of the first black president, for most of peak Kanye. He went radio silent for his own complicated reasons, but damn it if we didn’t miss out on some transcendent comedy in the meantime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During that self-imposed exile, a bunch of writers went searching the country for the elusive Chappelle like he was some sort of hilarious cryptid. Fans wanted to know how Chappelle — whom many thought of as a personal friend — could have ultimately been so opaque to them. How did they not \u003cem>know\u003c/em> him? What made him tick? And, you know, how’d he walk away from all that damn loot?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138495\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle2.jpg\" alt=\"Chappelle said he hadn't been doing much in his time away from the spotlight, and that he wasn't allowed to go into detail about other activities, "like [attending] the Illuminati Christmas party\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138495\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle2.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle2-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle2-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chappelle said he hadn’t been doing much in his time away from the spotlight, and that he wasn’t allowed to go into detail about other activities, “like [attending] the Illuminati Christmas party \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.believermag.com/issues/201310/?read=article_ghansah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">In a great essay that ran last year in \u003cem>The Believer\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah recounts her trip to Yellow Springs, Ohio, the small, hippie-ish town where Chappelle lived for his early life, and where he’d resettled during his hiatus from the spotlight. (The town’s motto: \u003cem>Find Yourself Here\u003c/em>.) She paints a picture of a dude trapped between the responsibilities of representing his race and the performance required by his act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ghansah spends some time with Chappelle’s mother, Yvonne Seon, a fascinating figure in her own right. (When she was younger, Seon had planned to head to the Congo to work with the independence leader Patrice Lumumba. After Lumumba’s assassination — both Belgium and the United States had wanted him dead — Seon went anyway. She went on to become a Ph.D. of African-American studies. She was also the first African-American woman to become an ordained minister in the Unitarian Universalist Church.) One area of her scholarly focus was the notion of Negritude, which Seon told Ghansah was “the process by which black people, who have been cut off from and made to learn to know themselves again, come to accept themselves, and begin to believe in (i.e. to value) themselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was the ideological stew in which Chappelle was raised, and it clearly informed a lot of his art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Race — and specifically the idea of sliding in and out of different racial identities — has been a staple of Chappelle’s comedy. Remember\u003ca href=\"http://www.cc.com/video-clips/7nnosh/chappelle-s-show--frontline----clayton-bigsby-pt--1---uncensored\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Clayton Bigsby, the blind white supremacist who doesn’t know he’s black\u003c/a>? That skit is based on a story from his real-life grandfather, a blind and very fair-skinned black man who didn’t know that some young black kids who were talking about roughing up a white guy on the bus — and he agreed with the impulse — were in fact talking about \u003cem>him\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Radio City Music Hall show, he delivers an aside about his own mixed heritage — his mother, Seon, is half-white — as well as his mixed-race family. (Chappelle’s wife is Asian-American, and he has joked that his kids somehow turned out Puerto Rican.) “I know it doesn’t look like it … but if I grew out my hair, y’all would think you were at \u003ca href=\"http://ionenewsone.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/katt-williams-unretired.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a Katt Williams\u003c/a> concert,” he joked. “Just long, flowing, good hair.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While race is a major fascination of Chappelle’s comedy, he has often struggled with the burden of that megaphone. Ghansah again:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\n\u003cp>“But Chappelle, like Kanye West, grew up in a home where black activism and black leftist thought were the languages of the household. No wonder, then, that both Chappelle and West have wrestled so bitterly and publicly with their sense of responsibility to and also their failure to meet those same obligations. ‘It’s a dilemma,’ Chappelle told Kevin Powell. ‘It’s something that is unique to us. White people, white artists, are allowed to be individuals. But we always have this greater struggle that we at least have to keep in mind somewhere.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Chappelle has famously cited that pressure as a key reason he walked away from his show and dropped off the map. He’d written a sketch with a jigaboo character, and was unsettled by the way a white member of the crew laughed during the taping. “That concerned me,” \u003ca href=\"http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Chappelles-Story\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he told Oprah way back in 2006\u003c/a>. “I don’t want black people to be disappointed in me for putting that [message] out there. … It’s a complete moral dilemma.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just like Ghansah, \u003cem>The\u003c/em> \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>‘ Jason Zinoman went to Yellow Springs in \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Searching-Dave-Chappelle-Kindle-Single-ebook/dp/B00EK5ICLA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">his own search to figure out where Chappelle had gone and why\u003c/a>. Zinoman situates Chappelle in a larger tradition of black comedy, and underscores a concern that has long dogged black comics who achieved a certain prominence. Chappelle — who started his standup career at the ridiculously young age of 14 — was often pulled between performing in clubs that catered to black audiences and those that catered to mixed audiences. (Again: the idea of racial fluidity.) Chappelle had a really good showing doing a swaggery, more performative version of his early act on \u003cem>Def Comedy Jam,\u003c/em> the ribald show from the early ’90s that put a bunch of future stars like Bernie Mac and Chris Tucker on the map. But he didn’t want to be pigeonholed, and didn’t want to propagate the notion that that raucous style was the only way black folks could be funny. (Again: the idea of social responsibility.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, while most people saw Chappelle as the heir to the mantle of Richard Pryor — profane, subversive, topical — Zinoman posits that Chappelle’s approach is somewhere in the sweet spot between Pryor and the more conservative Bill Cosby, who has talked a lot about black folks’ responsibility to represent their race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Pryor-Cosby juxtaposition is often as heated and oversimplified as the Malcolm-Martin one, but it makes sense when you think about Chappelle. Both Pryor and Cosby are on the shortlist for the greatest comedians of all time. You could see echoes of \u003cem>both\u003c/em> in Chappelle’s routine at Radio City this week. Like Cosby, there were long, detailed stories about family life; they were punctuated by sharp, Pryor-esque detours into weirdness and debauchery. Chappelle tells a joke about how his wife treats him like a mischievous child, and, before she heads to bed each night, pleads with him not to eat the lunch she’s packed for their kids. Sounds like a Cosby joke, right? Then he talks about how he can’t help but murk all those perfectly wrapped sandwiches lying around the house after he’s smoked up in the middle of night. That’s \u003cem>all\u003c/em> Pryor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138494\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle3.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle3.jpg\" alt=\"Dave Chappelle sold out the first five shows at his Radio City Music Hall minutes after the tickets became available. So he added more dates, where he would also be joined by musical guests including Nas, The Roots, and Erykah Badu.\" width=\"800\" height=\"466\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138494\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle3.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle3-400x233.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle3-300x174.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dave Chappelle sold out the first five shows at his Radio City Music Hall minutes after the tickets became available. So he added more dates, where he would also be joined by musical guests including Nas, The Roots, and Erykah Badu. \u003ccite>(Kainaz Amaria/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The crowd spilled out onto Broadway after the show, all electric and sated. We wondered whether this was the beginning of a re-emergence that might endure, or whether the Radio City shows were just a valedictory. It’s not like his reputation needs burnishing; he’s already a legend. And it’s not like he needs the money. This was fun and funny, but it might not ever happen again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the exits, employees handed out black T-shirts emblazoned with Chappelle’s visage. The front read: \u003cem>Dave Chappelle; Radio City Music Hall\u003c/em>. The back read: \u003cem>I WAS THERE …\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=The+Elusive+Dave+Chappelle+Re-Emerges%2C+But+For+How+Long%3F+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Just before Dave Chappelle took the stage Monday as part of a sold-out series of shows at Radio City Music Hall, a song featuring a loop of LL Cool J’s famous opening line from “Mama Said Knock You Out” blasted over the sound system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Don’t call it a comeback!\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You could take it as a suggestion that Chappelle had never really gone anywhere. Or you could read it as a coy reminder that none of us should get too comfortable, because Chappelle might bounce again at any moment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He stepped onto the stage wearing a black suit, taking drags from a cigarette and looking much more muscular than the lanky dude that most of us remember from the days \u003ca href=\"http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1061415,00.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he walked away from his insanely popular show\u003c/a> on Comedy Central and a reported $50 million TV deal. He said he hasn’t been doing much during his time off, and said that there are details of some of his activities that he’s not permitted to discuss. “Like the Illuminati Christmas party,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listening to his hourlong set, it was hard not to wonder about how Chappelle would have weighed in on the constellation of racial controversies and developments that have dotted our popular culture over the eight years that he’s been mostly off the radar. When he walked away from his show at the height of his fame, Chappelle had probably become America’s most influential commentator on race — riffing on its absurdity and fluidity and consequence. His odd sensibility — thoughtful, irreverent and scatological all at once — is hard to replicate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not long into his set, he recaps a fictional phone conversation he had with Paula Deen, in the aftermath of her racial controversy last summer. He toggles between the two of them, imitating Deen’s famous twang. She thinks he’s calling to offer her support after he tells her he’s also said lots of impolitic things that could get him in trouble. After she thanks him for his support, he tells her that’s not why he’s calling: He knows that she’s unemployed and he’s in search of a good cook. Then he quickly ratchets up the absurdity, adding a typically warped, Chappellian twist that I won’t do justice. Suffice it to say, it involves a profane Deen dressed up like Aunt Jemima and kicking through a door, hurling racist invective at Chappelle’s family as she serves them delicious Southern cuisine for dinner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The guy who once imagined a black President Bush making the case for invading Iraq had been publicly quiet for almost the entire administration of the first black president, for most of peak Kanye. He went radio silent for his own complicated reasons, but damn it if we didn’t miss out on some transcendent comedy in the meantime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During that self-imposed exile, a bunch of writers went searching the country for the elusive Chappelle like he was some sort of hilarious cryptid. Fans wanted to know how Chappelle — whom many thought of as a personal friend — could have ultimately been so opaque to them. How did they not \u003cem>know\u003c/em> him? What made him tick? And, you know, how’d he walk away from all that damn loot?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138495\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle2.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle2.jpg\" alt=\"Chappelle said he hadn't been doing much in his time away from the spotlight, and that he wasn't allowed to go into detail about other activities, "like [attending] the Illuminati Christmas party\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138495\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle2.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle2-400x225.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle2-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Chappelle said he hadn’t been doing much in his time away from the spotlight, and that he wasn’t allowed to go into detail about other activities, “like [attending] the Illuminati Christmas party \u003ccite>(Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.believermag.com/issues/201310/?read=article_ghansah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">In a great essay that ran last year in \u003cem>The Believer\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah recounts her trip to Yellow Springs, Ohio, the small, hippie-ish town where Chappelle lived for his early life, and where he’d resettled during his hiatus from the spotlight. (The town’s motto: \u003cem>Find Yourself Here\u003c/em>.) She paints a picture of a dude trapped between the responsibilities of representing his race and the performance required by his act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ghansah spends some time with Chappelle’s mother, Yvonne Seon, a fascinating figure in her own right. (When she was younger, Seon had planned to head to the Congo to work with the independence leader Patrice Lumumba. After Lumumba’s assassination — both Belgium and the United States had wanted him dead — Seon went anyway. She went on to become a Ph.D. of African-American studies. She was also the first African-American woman to become an ordained minister in the Unitarian Universalist Church.) One area of her scholarly focus was the notion of Negritude, which Seon told Ghansah was “the process by which black people, who have been cut off from and made to learn to know themselves again, come to accept themselves, and begin to believe in (i.e. to value) themselves.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was the ideological stew in which Chappelle was raised, and it clearly informed a lot of his art.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Race — and specifically the idea of sliding in and out of different racial identities — has been a staple of Chappelle’s comedy. Remember\u003ca href=\"http://www.cc.com/video-clips/7nnosh/chappelle-s-show--frontline----clayton-bigsby-pt--1---uncensored\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> Clayton Bigsby, the blind white supremacist who doesn’t know he’s black\u003c/a>? That skit is based on a story from his real-life grandfather, a blind and very fair-skinned black man who didn’t know that some young black kids who were talking about roughing up a white guy on the bus — and he agreed with the impulse — were in fact talking about \u003cem>him\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the Radio City Music Hall show, he delivers an aside about his own mixed heritage — his mother, Seon, is half-white — as well as his mixed-race family. (Chappelle’s wife is Asian-American, and he has joked that his kids somehow turned out Puerto Rican.) “I know it doesn’t look like it … but if I grew out my hair, y’all would think you were at \u003ca href=\"http://ionenewsone.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/katt-williams-unretired.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a Katt Williams\u003c/a> concert,” he joked. “Just long, flowing, good hair.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While race is a major fascination of Chappelle’s comedy, he has often struggled with the burden of that megaphone. Ghansah again:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\n\u003cp>“But Chappelle, like Kanye West, grew up in a home where black activism and black leftist thought were the languages of the household. No wonder, then, that both Chappelle and West have wrestled so bitterly and publicly with their sense of responsibility to and also their failure to meet those same obligations. ‘It’s a dilemma,’ Chappelle told Kevin Powell. ‘It’s something that is unique to us. White people, white artists, are allowed to be individuals. But we always have this greater struggle that we at least have to keep in mind somewhere.’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Chappelle has famously cited that pressure as a key reason he walked away from his show and dropped off the map. He’d written a sketch with a jigaboo character, and was unsettled by the way a white member of the crew laughed during the taping. “That concerned me,” \u003ca href=\"http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Chappelles-Story\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">he told Oprah way back in 2006\u003c/a>. “I don’t want black people to be disappointed in me for putting that [message] out there. … It’s a complete moral dilemma.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just like Ghansah, \u003cem>The\u003c/em> \u003cem>New York Times\u003c/em>‘ Jason Zinoman went to Yellow Springs in \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Searching-Dave-Chappelle-Kindle-Single-ebook/dp/B00EK5ICLA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">his own search to figure out where Chappelle had gone and why\u003c/a>. Zinoman situates Chappelle in a larger tradition of black comedy, and underscores a concern that has long dogged black comics who achieved a certain prominence. Chappelle — who started his standup career at the ridiculously young age of 14 — was often pulled between performing in clubs that catered to black audiences and those that catered to mixed audiences. (Again: the idea of racial fluidity.) Chappelle had a really good showing doing a swaggery, more performative version of his early act on \u003cem>Def Comedy Jam,\u003c/em> the ribald show from the early ’90s that put a bunch of future stars like Bernie Mac and Chris Tucker on the map. But he didn’t want to be pigeonholed, and didn’t want to propagate the notion that that raucous style was the only way black folks could be funny. (Again: the idea of social responsibility.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, while most people saw Chappelle as the heir to the mantle of Richard Pryor — profane, subversive, topical — Zinoman posits that Chappelle’s approach is somewhere in the sweet spot between Pryor and the more conservative Bill Cosby, who has talked a lot about black folks’ responsibility to represent their race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Pryor-Cosby juxtaposition is often as heated and oversimplified as the Malcolm-Martin one, but it makes sense when you think about Chappelle. Both Pryor and Cosby are on the shortlist for the greatest comedians of all time. You could see echoes of \u003cem>both\u003c/em> in Chappelle’s routine at Radio City this week. Like Cosby, there were long, detailed stories about family life; they were punctuated by sharp, Pryor-esque detours into weirdness and debauchery. Chappelle tells a joke about how his wife treats him like a mischievous child, and, before she heads to bed each night, pleads with him not to eat the lunch she’s packed for their kids. Sounds like a Cosby joke, right? Then he talks about how he can’t help but murk all those perfectly wrapped sandwiches lying around the house after he’s smoked up in the middle of night. That’s \u003cem>all\u003c/em> Pryor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138494\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle3.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle3.jpg\" alt=\"Dave Chappelle sold out the first five shows at his Radio City Music Hall minutes after the tickets became available. So he added more dates, where he would also be joined by musical guests including Nas, The Roots, and Erykah Badu.\" width=\"800\" height=\"466\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138494\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle3.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle3-400x233.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/chappelle3-300x174.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dave Chappelle sold out the first five shows at his Radio City Music Hall minutes after the tickets became available. So he added more dates, where he would also be joined by musical guests including Nas, The Roots, and Erykah Badu. \u003ccite>(Kainaz Amaria/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The crowd spilled out onto Broadway after the show, all electric and sated. We wondered whether this was the beginning of a re-emergence that might endure, or whether the Radio City shows were just a valedictory. It’s not like his reputation needs burnishing; he’s already a legend. And it’s not like he needs the money. This was fun and funny, but it might not ever happen again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the exits, employees handed out black T-shirts emblazoned with Chappelle’s visage. The front read: \u003cem>Dave Chappelle; Radio City Music Hall\u003c/em>. The back read: \u003cem>I WAS THERE …\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=The+Elusive+Dave+Chappelle+Re-Emerges%2C+But+For+How+Long%3F+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>“All things flow from the sacred engine…The engine is forever.” The passengers on the titular train in Bong Joon-ho’s grim, post-apocalyptic sci-fi tale essentially deify the locomotive that is their salvation. This “rattling ark” carries the last remainders of humanity, after an attempt to reverse global warming goes terribly awry, plunging the planet into an extinction-event deep freeze. Extinction for all but those on this endlessly circling, perpetual-motion-driven train that can’t stop, or else these few survivors will meet the same fate. When the movie begins, they’ve been running non-stop for 17 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s nothing subtle about the allegorical implications of this messianic express, nor any of the other metaphors piled up like the ice and snow the train blasts through relentlessly. For the survivors, this technological marvel has become a religion, and as such, dictates appropriate behavior for its acolytes – be they willing followers or not. Science and religion become blurred here, both flawed, but flawed via their filtration through humankind. Even near extinction, humanity finds ways to continue perpetuating cruel class systems and authoritarian oppression of the many to benefit the few.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it is that those designated poor live in the tail of the train in absolute squalor, sleeping on top of one another and subsisting on gelantinous brown “protein blocks.” (The revelation of their contents, while not people, still packs a disgusting Soylent Green-style shock.) They’re regularly beaten, arbitrarily tortured, and punished to maintain order, As one moves up towards the front, there are cars for the sick, for prisoners, for water management and food production, eventually leading to opulence and drug-addled decadence up front.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>http://youtu.be/nX5PwfEMBM0\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Curtis (Chris Evans, in brooding, dangerous contrast to his Captain America performances) is a tail resident with a plan to upset the order of things, planning a car-by-car push forward to take control of the engine from its creator and the Snowpiercer’s de facto king — a mysterious, Oz-like figure called Wilford (Ed Harris). No need to follow the yellow brick road; there’s but one way from back to front, and Curtis has a small army of tail section comrades, as well as a trio of more vital misfit sidekicks: Gilliam (John Hurt), a wizened multiple amputee who acts as mentor; Namgoong (Bong regular Song Kang-ho), a sprung prisoner who can hotwire the doors between cars; and Edgar (Jamie Bell), a hot-headed youth with no memories of life before the train. Their nemesis: a wicked witch of a bureaucrat, Mason, played by Tilda Swinton with blackly comic vigor and a fearsome dental appliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The clownish comedy amid dire circumstances is a typical device for Bong, a director who delights in playing games within established genres, from a Godzilla-style monster movies (\u003cem>The Host\u003c/em>) to detective thrillers (\u003cem>Mother\u003c/em>). This foray into post-apocalyptic survival territory is the director’s first English-language feature, and it’s a pleasure to see many of his idiosyncrasies intact – even if he had to go through a much-publicized battle with The Weinstein Company to preserve his cut of the film.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That allows for rhythms that feel slightly off-kilter from those of an American action flick, with more attention paid to developing the unusual details of this hermetically sealed manufactured society, a lengthy conversational lead-up to the film’s climax, and characters that are far from stock — many even deeply strange, beyond just Tilda Swinton’s enhanced overbite. Thankfully, there is also no attempt to hold back for a PG-13 rating; Bong loves artful sprays of blood on train windows and a grisly hand-to-hand combat that feels like it has real impact. Whether or not everyone who dies here is named, no one dies anonymously or carelessly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s some evidence of the film’s wild ambition slightly outstripping its grasp: the complexity of all the plot’s moving parts makes for some muddled details in the climactic moments, and the CGI of the train’s exteriors often comes off as extremely shoddy, as if money ran dry before the film got to the digital artists. But very little happens outside. The interior, meanwhile, is a triumph of design, first in the claustrophobic industrial nightmare of the rear of the train (John Hurt’s character’s name is likely no coincidence, as a great debt is owed to Terry Gilliam’s dystopic visions), and then in the mishmash of 20th and 21st century luxuries in the front.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Idea-heavy science fiction hasn’t exactly been burning up the box office lately with films like \u003cem>Edge of Tomorrow\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Transcendence\u003c/em>. \u003cem>Snowpiercer\u003c/em>‘s limited release isn’t going to do much to change that, but this is exactly the sort of ambitious, audacious, and uncompromising filmmaking that deserves to be seen. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=The+Satisfying+Chill+Of+The+Audacious+%27Snowpiercer%27+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>“All things flow from the sacred engine…The engine is forever.” The passengers on the titular train in Bong Joon-ho’s grim, post-apocalyptic sci-fi tale essentially deify the locomotive that is their salvation. This “rattling ark” carries the last remainders of humanity, after an attempt to reverse global warming goes terribly awry, plunging the planet into an extinction-event deep freeze. Extinction for all but those on this endlessly circling, perpetual-motion-driven train that can’t stop, or else these few survivors will meet the same fate. When the movie begins, they’ve been running non-stop for 17 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s nothing subtle about the allegorical implications of this messianic express, nor any of the other metaphors piled up like the ice and snow the train blasts through relentlessly. For the survivors, this technological marvel has become a religion, and as such, dictates appropriate behavior for its acolytes – be they willing followers or not. Science and religion become blurred here, both flawed, but flawed via their filtration through humankind. Even near extinction, humanity finds ways to continue perpetuating cruel class systems and authoritarian oppression of the many to benefit the few.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it is that those designated poor live in the tail of the train in absolute squalor, sleeping on top of one another and subsisting on gelantinous brown “protein blocks.” (The revelation of their contents, while not people, still packs a disgusting Soylent Green-style shock.) They’re regularly beaten, arbitrarily tortured, and punished to maintain order, As one moves up towards the front, there are cars for the sick, for prisoners, for water management and food production, eventually leading to opulence and drug-addled decadence up front.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/nX5PwfEMBM0'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/nX5PwfEMBM0'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Curtis (Chris Evans, in brooding, dangerous contrast to his Captain America performances) is a tail resident with a plan to upset the order of things, planning a car-by-car push forward to take control of the engine from its creator and the Snowpiercer’s de facto king — a mysterious, Oz-like figure called Wilford (Ed Harris). No need to follow the yellow brick road; there’s but one way from back to front, and Curtis has a small army of tail section comrades, as well as a trio of more vital misfit sidekicks: Gilliam (John Hurt), a wizened multiple amputee who acts as mentor; Namgoong (Bong regular Song Kang-ho), a sprung prisoner who can hotwire the doors between cars; and Edgar (Jamie Bell), a hot-headed youth with no memories of life before the train. Their nemesis: a wicked witch of a bureaucrat, Mason, played by Tilda Swinton with blackly comic vigor and a fearsome dental appliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The clownish comedy amid dire circumstances is a typical device for Bong, a director who delights in playing games within established genres, from a Godzilla-style monster movies (\u003cem>The Host\u003c/em>) to detective thrillers (\u003cem>Mother\u003c/em>). This foray into post-apocalyptic survival territory is the director’s first English-language feature, and it’s a pleasure to see many of his idiosyncrasies intact – even if he had to go through a much-publicized battle with The Weinstein Company to preserve his cut of the film.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That allows for rhythms that feel slightly off-kilter from those of an American action flick, with more attention paid to developing the unusual details of this hermetically sealed manufactured society, a lengthy conversational lead-up to the film’s climax, and characters that are far from stock — many even deeply strange, beyond just Tilda Swinton’s enhanced overbite. Thankfully, there is also no attempt to hold back for a PG-13 rating; Bong loves artful sprays of blood on train windows and a grisly hand-to-hand combat that feels like it has real impact. Whether or not everyone who dies here is named, no one dies anonymously or carelessly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s some evidence of the film’s wild ambition slightly outstripping its grasp: the complexity of all the plot’s moving parts makes for some muddled details in the climactic moments, and the CGI of the train’s exteriors often comes off as extremely shoddy, as if money ran dry before the film got to the digital artists. But very little happens outside. The interior, meanwhile, is a triumph of design, first in the claustrophobic industrial nightmare of the rear of the train (John Hurt’s character’s name is likely no coincidence, as a great debt is owed to Terry Gilliam’s dystopic visions), and then in the mishmash of 20th and 21st century luxuries in the front.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Idea-heavy science fiction hasn’t exactly been burning up the box office lately with films like \u003cem>Edge of Tomorrow\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Transcendence\u003c/em>. \u003cem>Snowpiercer\u003c/em>‘s limited release isn’t going to do much to change that, but this is exactly the sort of ambitious, audacious, and uncompromising filmmaking that deserves to be seen. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=The+Satisfying+Chill+Of+The+Audacious+%27Snowpiercer%27+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The first film to point a camera at the graffiti movement in New York City was \u003cem>Stations of the Elevated\u003c/em>, which debuted at the New York Film Festival in 1981.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The film hasn’t been seen much since, except by generations of graffiti fans and writers who watched it on VHS tapes. Now it’s being re-released on the big screen, with a showing Friday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. It will hit screens around the country this fall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Stations of the Elevated\u003c/em> is not a documentary in the usual sense. It’s only 45 minutes long; there’s no narrative and hardly any dialogue. The camera follows subway cars painted from top to bottom with vibrant graffiti compositions over a soundtrack of jazz by Charles Mingus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One critic compared \u003cem>Stations\u003c/em> to a nature film, in which director Manny Kirchheimer stalks graffiti-covered subway cars in their native habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He went big-game hunting, and he caught the big game, you know?” says graffiti writer Lee Quinones, whose work is featured prominently in the film. He says there have been other movies about the art movement, including \u003cem>Style Wars, \u003c/em>but those came later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the first film of its kind that captured a beautiful golden age where a lot of these cars were being painted, and that urgency,” he says. “He was able to capture that, and way before the established art world even got a pulse that this was going on underneath their feet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kirchheimer is not the guy you would expect to make a movie about graffiti. He was born in Germany and fled to New York with his parents in 1936. He was in his late 40s when he shot \u003cem>Stations of the Elevated\u003c/em> in 1977. He didn’t know anyone who wrote graffiti, and he’d never given it much thought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a matter of fact, there was a great deal of graffiti around that I didn’t pay much attention to,” Kirchheimer says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then he found himself driving up to the Bronx early in the morning, and he saw the trains running overhead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They would come by and it would be screaming full of colors — just gorgeous,” he says. “The smart thing I did was shoot it all outdoors. Most of the lines are indoors, and the way most people see these paintings was indoors. Doing it outdoors gave a whole other perspective.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a grittier time in New York’s history, when the city could barely afford to clean subway cars, inside or out. Most straphangers considered graffiti writers a nuisance, or worse. But Kirchheimer was focused on “elevating” their work, as the title of the film suggests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The genre, if there is one, is one that goes back to the beginning of cinema. That’s the city symphony,” says Jake Perlin, who is reissuing \u003cem>Stations of the Elevated\u003c/em> through his company, Artists Public Domain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says Kirchheimer also asked a profound moral question: “How does this artwork that was deemed illegal coexist in a city with advertising that is deemed legal [and] that is possibly more offensive?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Stations of the Elevated\u003c/em> contrasts the painted subway cars with outdoor advertising on billboards — giant images of cigarettes, alcohol and semi-nude women. Artist Quinones says the film captures something essential about a moment in the history of the graffiti movement, and of New York City, which is long gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s something really magical about when you see a train coming around a curve with a beautiful painting on it, and that painting is moving in more ways than that train is actually moving,” Quinones says. “It’s in and out, all over the place. And it’s mind-boggling. And that film captures that. It’s something majestic that I can’t even explain completely.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=After+Decades+On+VHS%2C+Graffiti%27s+Golden+Age+Returns+To+Big+Screen&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is the first film of its kind that captured a beautiful golden age where a lot of these cars were being painted, and that urgency,” he says. “He was able to capture that, and way before the established art world even got a pulse that this was going on underneath their feet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kirchheimer is not the guy you would expect to make a movie about graffiti. He was born in Germany and fled to New York with his parents in 1936. He was in his late 40s when he shot \u003cem>Stations of the Elevated\u003c/em> in 1977. He didn’t know anyone who wrote graffiti, and he’d never given it much thought.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As a matter of fact, there was a great deal of graffiti around that I didn’t pay much attention to,” Kirchheimer says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then he found himself driving up to the Bronx early in the morning, and he saw the trains running overhead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They would come by and it would be screaming full of colors — just gorgeous,” he says. “The smart thing I did was shoot it all outdoors. Most of the lines are indoors, and the way most people see these paintings was indoors. Doing it outdoors gave a whole other perspective.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a grittier time in New York’s history, when the city could barely afford to clean subway cars, inside or out. Most straphangers considered graffiti writers a nuisance, or worse. But Kirchheimer was focused on “elevating” their work, as the title of the film suggests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The genre, if there is one, is one that goes back to the beginning of cinema. That’s the city symphony,” says Jake Perlin, who is reissuing \u003cem>Stations of the Elevated\u003c/em> through his company, Artists Public Domain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He says Kirchheimer also asked a profound moral question: “How does this artwork that was deemed illegal coexist in a city with advertising that is deemed legal [and] that is possibly more offensive?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Stations of the Elevated\u003c/em> contrasts the painted subway cars with outdoor advertising on billboards — giant images of cigarettes, alcohol and semi-nude women. Artist Quinones says the film captures something essential about a moment in the history of the graffiti movement, and of New York City, which is long gone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s something really magical about when you see a train coming around a curve with a beautiful painting on it, and that painting is moving in more ways than that train is actually moving,” Quinones says. “It’s in and out, all over the place. And it’s mind-boggling. And that film captures that. It’s something majestic that I can’t even explain completely.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=After+Decades+On+VHS%2C+Graffiti%27s+Golden+Age+Returns+To+Big+Screen&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Just as there are those who seek to drag Mr. Jackson’s name through the mud, there are those who insist that he was a saint, an angelic figure to be put on a pedestal. He was neither. Michael Jackson was, like all of us, a complicated human being. —\u003c/em> “Remember The Time: Protecting Michael Jackson In His Final Days”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When my \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Code Switch\u003c/a> cousins called me over and handed this book to me — telling me my whole Michael Jackson fan-life was preparing me for THIS book and this moment — I shifted to major side-eye mode. My fandom had prepared me for a \u003cem>Thriller\u003c/em> or \u003cem>Smooth Criminal\u003c/em> dance-off in the NPR newsroom, not a book by two former security guards for Michael Jackson. \u003cem>You Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’\u003c/em>?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, I didn’t push this to the top of my reading list. Not until Sunday, when I finally had a good chunk of time to sit down with the book and discovered … I liked it. I was mad that I had to put it down Monday morning and come to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The story begins in December 2006, when Michael and his three kids, Prince, Paris and Blanket, return to the States after a long stint in Bahrain, and settle in Las Vegas for several months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two security guards — Bill Whitfield and Javon Beard — are assigned to protect him and, as you read along, it’s obvious that they are fans and great admirers of the King of Pop. But still, their account (I should note here that they partnered with \u003ca href=\"http://tannercolby.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">author Tanner Colby\u003c/a> to write the book) of the day-to-day job of providing security for Michael Jackson is a fascinating peek at his sad and, honestly, depressing life:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Michael insisted that his family members make appointments to see him, with the exception of his mom, who could come and go as she pleased. (\u003cem>Leave Me Alone\u003c/em>!)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Even though he was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, he celebrated Christmas because he wanted the kids to have the experience.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Younger brother Randy Jackson rammed the security gate with his car because Michael wouldn’t see him, and then cussed everybody out and refused to leave for hours until dad Joe Jackson came over and made him leave. (Who’s \u003cem>Bad\u003c/em>?)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The kids wore masks when they were with him so that they wouldn’t be recognized, which would allow them to be able to go out without him at other times with no masks and be “normal.”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Michael’s business and financial affairs were messy, and he distrusted everyone around him. (\u003cem>Human Nature\u003c/em>?)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>He refused to go back to his Neverland Ranch (which is \u003ca href=\"http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6128664/michael-jackson-neverland-ranch-frozen-in-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">still “frozen in time,”\u003c/a> apparently).\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The isolation. Michael had few friends. He didn’t get calls from people just wanting to shoot the bull or inquire about his day. (\u003cem>You Are Not Alone\u003c/em>)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Because things would often get so out of control when he was spotted in public, he was rarely able to enter hotels or businesses through lobbies or the front door, or even during business hours, which means he was always escorted through these dark and dirty tunnels, and back elevators. (\u003cem>Ain’t No Sunshine\u003c/em>, indeed.)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>This book is not what I expected. \u003cem>\u003c/em>In fact, some of the lyrics from “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGWPE1FevJE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Destiny\u003c/a>,” one of Michael’s songs when he was still singing with his brothers, come to mind:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>If it’s the rich life, I don’t want it\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Happiness ain’t always material things\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>I want destiny\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem> It’s the place for me\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem> Give me the simple life\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem> I’m getting away from here\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem> Let me be me, c’mon let me feel free\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Remember The Time \u003c/em>describes a lonely man whose life — and the lives of his children — was severely limited because of his fame. I don’t know if all of these stories are true but, even if just some of these things happened, it’s more than many of us may ever have known (or even wanted to know) about the \u003cem>Man in the Mirror\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>BONUS:\u003c/i>\u003c/b> Listen to Michael Jackson’s vocal demo for “Beat It,” where he sings all the parts, even the instruments: \u003ca href=\"http://lacienegasmiled.tumblr.com/post/77598143356/demo-of-beat-it-composed-using-only-michael\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Here on Rhythm of the Tide\u003c/a> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Tanya Ballard Brown is an editor for NPR.org who often sings Michael Jackson songs at her desk. Loudly. You can reach out to her on \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/TanyaBallardBrown?ref=hl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://plus.google.com/u/0/+TanyaBallardBrown/posts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google+\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://tballardbrown.tumblr.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tumblr\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/TdoubleB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter\u003c/a>.\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Michael+Jackson%2C+We+Barely+Knew+You&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Just as there are those who seek to drag Mr. Jackson’s name through the mud, there are those who insist that he was a saint, an angelic figure to be put on a pedestal. He was neither. Michael Jackson was, like all of us, a complicated human being. —\u003c/em> “Remember The Time: Protecting Michael Jackson In His Final Days”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When my \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Code Switch\u003c/a> cousins called me over and handed this book to me — telling me my whole Michael Jackson fan-life was preparing me for THIS book and this moment — I shifted to major side-eye mode. My fandom had prepared me for a \u003cem>Thriller\u003c/em> or \u003cem>Smooth Criminal\u003c/em> dance-off in the NPR newsroom, not a book by two former security guards for Michael Jackson. \u003cem>You Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’\u003c/em>?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, I didn’t push this to the top of my reading list. Not until Sunday, when I finally had a good chunk of time to sit down with the book and discovered … I liked it. I was mad that I had to put it down Monday morning and come to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The story begins in December 2006, when Michael and his three kids, Prince, Paris and Blanket, return to the States after a long stint in Bahrain, and settle in Las Vegas for several months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two security guards — Bill Whitfield and Javon Beard — are assigned to protect him and, as you read along, it’s obvious that they are fans and great admirers of the King of Pop. But still, their account (I should note here that they partnered with \u003ca href=\"http://tannercolby.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">author Tanner Colby\u003c/a> to write the book) of the day-to-day job of providing security for Michael Jackson is a fascinating peek at his sad and, honestly, depressing life:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Michael insisted that his family members make appointments to see him, with the exception of his mom, who could come and go as she pleased. (\u003cem>Leave Me Alone\u003c/em>!)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Even though he was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, he celebrated Christmas because he wanted the kids to have the experience.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Younger brother Randy Jackson rammed the security gate with his car because Michael wouldn’t see him, and then cussed everybody out and refused to leave for hours until dad Joe Jackson came over and made him leave. (Who’s \u003cem>Bad\u003c/em>?)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The kids wore masks when they were with him so that they wouldn’t be recognized, which would allow them to be able to go out without him at other times with no masks and be “normal.”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Michael’s business and financial affairs were messy, and he distrusted everyone around him. (\u003cem>Human Nature\u003c/em>?)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>He refused to go back to his Neverland Ranch (which is \u003ca href=\"http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6128664/michael-jackson-neverland-ranch-frozen-in-time\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">still “frozen in time,”\u003c/a> apparently).\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>The isolation. Michael had few friends. He didn’t get calls from people just wanting to shoot the bull or inquire about his day. (\u003cem>You Are Not Alone\u003c/em>)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Because things would often get so out of control when he was spotted in public, he was rarely able to enter hotels or businesses through lobbies or the front door, or even during business hours, which means he was always escorted through these dark and dirty tunnels, and back elevators. (\u003cem>Ain’t No Sunshine\u003c/em>, indeed.)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>This book is not what I expected. \u003cem>\u003c/em>In fact, some of the lyrics from “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGWPE1FevJE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Destiny\u003c/a>,” one of Michael’s songs when he was still singing with his brothers, come to mind:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>If it’s the rich life, I don’t want it\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>Happiness ain’t always material things\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem>I want destiny\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem> It’s the place for me\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem> Give me the simple life\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem> I’m getting away from here\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\u003cem> Let me be me, c’mon let me feel free\u003cbr>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Remember The Time \u003c/em>describes a lonely man whose life — and the lives of his children — was severely limited because of his fame. I don’t know if all of these stories are true but, even if just some of these things happened, it’s more than many of us may ever have known (or even wanted to know) about the \u003cem>Man in the Mirror\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003ci>BONUS:\u003c/i>\u003c/b> Listen to Michael Jackson’s vocal demo for “Beat It,” where he sings all the parts, even the instruments: \u003ca href=\"http://lacienegasmiled.tumblr.com/post/77598143356/demo-of-beat-it-composed-using-only-michael\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Here on Rhythm of the Tide\u003c/a> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Tanya Ballard Brown is an editor for NPR.org who often sings Michael Jackson songs at her desk. Loudly. You can reach out to her on \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/TanyaBallardBrown?ref=hl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://plus.google.com/u/0/+TanyaBallardBrown/posts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google+\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://tballardbrown.tumblr.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tumblr\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/TdoubleB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter\u003c/a>.\u003c/em> \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Michael+Jackson%2C+We+Barely+Knew+You&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Star Wars\u003c/em> creator George Lucas has chosen Chicago as the location of a planned museum of his art and movie memorabilia, snubbing San Francisco despite the push to build it adjacent to Crissy Field in the Presidio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesman for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says the \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/lucasculturalartsmuseum\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lucas Cultural Arts Museum\u003c/a> will be built in the Windy City.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Associated Press says: “It was unclear for weeks whether Chicago or San Francisco would be selected. Some people thought Chicago might have the upper hand because Lucas’ wife is from Chicago and because of Emanuel’s powers of persuasion. But Lucas is a California native, his visual effects division is based in San Francisco and the headquarters for LucasFilm and Skywalker Sound is in nearby Marin County.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138271\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/LucasMuseum.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/LucasMuseum.jpg\" alt=\"Artist’s rendering of proposed Lucas Cultural Arts Museum in San Francisco’s Presidio. The body governing the former Army base has rejected the museum and two other proposals.\" width=\"800\" height=\"442\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138271\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/LucasMuseum.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/LucasMuseum-400x221.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/LucasMuseum-300x165.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/LucasMuseum-672x372.jpg 672w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist’s rendering of proposed Lucas Cultural Arts Museum in San Francisco’s Presidio. The body governing the former Army base has rejected the museum and two other proposals. \u003ccite>(Photo: Lucas Cultural Art Museum presentation, January 2014))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://politics.suntimes.com/article/chicago/sneed-exclusive-chicago-get-george-lucas-museum/tue-06242014-346pm-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Sun-Times describes the museum as a $1 billion investment\u003c/a> and \u003cem>Chicago Business\u003c/em> says, quoting a task force set up by Emanuel to study the project, it “would \u003ca href=\"http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140624/NEWS09/140629914/chicago-to-get-george-lucas-museum\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">generate between $2 billion and $2.5 billion\u003c/a> of additional tourist spending and significant tax revenue over ten years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in March of 2013, Lucas announced plans to build the center. Although it’s being described as the “\u003cem>Star Wars\u003c/em> museum,” \u003ca href=\"http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140410/BLOGS03/140419998/george-lucas-eyeing-chicago-for-museum-after-san-francisco-snubbed-him\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lucas says the facility would feature, among other things, a wide selection of populist art he owns\u003c/a>, including “a number of Norman Rockwell paintings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t have enough walls, which is why I want to build a museum,” Lucas told \u003cem>The San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The AP says:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\n\u003cp>“The city offered up a slice of real estate along the Lake Michigan shore that is near other attractions, including the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum of Natural History. At the same time, San Francisco suffered a setback when the city rejected Lucas’ first choice of a location near the Golden Gate Bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Emanuel has long been trying to portray Chicago as a global destination, and throughout the decision process, a spokesman for Lucas praised Chicago for the attention it heaps on culture, architecture, innovations and education — some of which are the themes Lucas’ museum will seek to promote.”\n\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Read more of KQED’s coverage of the plans for the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/06/24/george-lucas-art-museum-headed-for-chicago\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lucas Museum at KQED’s News Fix.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>KQED’s Kevin Jones contributed to this article.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Star+Wars%27+Museum+Lands+In+Chicago&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Star Wars\u003c/em> creator George Lucas has chosen Chicago as the location of a planned museum of his art and movie memorabilia, snubbing San Francisco despite the push to build it adjacent to Crissy Field in the Presidio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A spokesman for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says the \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/lucasculturalartsmuseum\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lucas Cultural Arts Museum\u003c/a> will be built in the Windy City.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Associated Press says: “It was unclear for weeks whether Chicago or San Francisco would be selected. Some people thought Chicago might have the upper hand because Lucas’ wife is from Chicago and because of Emanuel’s powers of persuasion. But Lucas is a California native, his visual effects division is based in San Francisco and the headquarters for LucasFilm and Skywalker Sound is in nearby Marin County.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10138271\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/LucasMuseum.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/LucasMuseum.jpg\" alt=\"Artist’s rendering of proposed Lucas Cultural Arts Museum in San Francisco’s Presidio. The body governing the former Army base has rejected the museum and two other proposals.\" width=\"800\" height=\"442\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10138271\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/LucasMuseum.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/LucasMuseum-400x221.jpg 400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/LucasMuseum-300x165.jpg 300w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/06/LucasMuseum-672x372.jpg 672w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Artist’s rendering of proposed Lucas Cultural Arts Museum in San Francisco’s Presidio. The body governing the former Army base has rejected the museum and two other proposals. \u003ccite>(Photo: Lucas Cultural Art Museum presentation, January 2014))\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://politics.suntimes.com/article/chicago/sneed-exclusive-chicago-get-george-lucas-museum/tue-06242014-346pm-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Sun-Times describes the museum as a $1 billion investment\u003c/a> and \u003cem>Chicago Business\u003c/em> says, quoting a task force set up by Emanuel to study the project, it “would \u003ca href=\"http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140624/NEWS09/140629914/chicago-to-get-george-lucas-museum\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">generate between $2 billion and $2.5 billion\u003c/a> of additional tourist spending and significant tax revenue over ten years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back in March of 2013, Lucas announced plans to build the center. Although it’s being described as the “\u003cem>Star Wars\u003c/em> museum,” \u003ca href=\"http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140410/BLOGS03/140419998/george-lucas-eyeing-chicago-for-museum-after-san-francisco-snubbed-him\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lucas says the facility would feature, among other things, a wide selection of populist art he owns\u003c/a>, including “a number of Norman Rockwell paintings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t have enough walls, which is why I want to build a museum,” Lucas told \u003cem>The San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em> in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The AP says:\u003c/p>\n\u003cblockquote>\n\u003cp>“The city offered up a slice of real estate along the Lake Michigan shore that is near other attractions, including the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum of Natural History. At the same time, San Francisco suffered a setback when the city rejected Lucas’ first choice of a location near the Golden Gate Bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Emanuel has long been trying to portray Chicago as a global destination, and throughout the decision process, a spokesman for Lucas praised Chicago for the attention it heaps on culture, architecture, innovations and education — some of which are the themes Lucas’ museum will seek to promote.”\n\u003c/p>\u003c/blockquote>\n\u003cp>Read more of KQED’s coverage of the plans for the \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2014/06/24/george-lucas-art-museum-headed-for-chicago\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lucas Museum at KQED’s News Fix.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>KQED’s Kevin Jones contributed to this article.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Star+Wars%27+Museum+Lands+In+Chicago&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Film director David Wain’s work has always been hard to describe. In some ways, it’s straight-up spoof: His most famous film, \u003cem>Wet Hot American Summer\u003c/em>, lampooned the summer camp films of the 1980s; and his more recent TV show, \u003cem>Childrens Hospital\u003c/em>, sends up shows like \u003cem>Grey’s Anatomy\u003c/em>, where the female lead is living inside an inner monologue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Wain’s newest film, \u003cem>They Came Together\u003c/em>, takes on the genre of rom-coms. But even he has a hard time describing it. He tells NPR’s Rachel Martin, “One very shorthand way I’ve come up with is to say it’s a purposefully dumb romantic comedy, or a purposefully terrible romantic comedy. But that could really scare people away, so I don’t want to say that. … Another way to say that is it’s a grand, huge, funny, crazy spoof movie in the tradition of movies like \u003cem>Airplane\u003c/em>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wain tells Martin about his feelings toward rom-coms, brazenly copying from \u003cem>You’ve Got Mail, \u003c/em>and the most divisive scene in his new film.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Interview Highlights\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On whether there’s a part of him that likes romantic comedies\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s all of me that absolutely loves, loves, loves rom-coms. It’s probably my favorite genre of movies. … So many of my favorite movies are rom-coms of sorts, whether it’s all the Woody Allen movies or \u003cem>Tootsie\u003c/em> or \u003cem>The Graduate\u003c/em>. And then, when you get to understand something really well, you also find all the flaws, and that’s a lot of what we’re having fun with in this movie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the parallels between Wain’s film and \u003cem>You’ve Got Mail\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the main through lines we just brazenly lifted from \u003cem>You’ve Got Mail\u003c/em>. Amy Poehler plays the quirky, you know, independent candy store owner. And then Paul Rudd is an executive at the huge, corporate Candy Systems and Research, and they’re gonna take her down. But then they meet otherwise. So it is like \u003cem>You’ve Got Mail\u003c/em> in that way, but the truth is that the story is so beside the point. If you talk about this movie by talking about the storyline, then you’ve missed the point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the layers of jokes in the film’s basketball scene\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, there’s so much going on, actually. [It’s] Paul Rudd playing basketball in the local playground with his friends after work. And, you know, we feel like [in] every rom-com the guy always has this random group of best friends who he does some big sport with — usually it’s basketball — and they have real discussions while also playing basketball at the same time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People never just talk; they have to be doing something.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then, of course, each of his friends is a “type.” So you have the sort of wistful poet, and then the sex-crazed, you know, Lothario. And of course, the visual of it … is that every time they shoot the ball and Ken Marino says “swish,” the ball goes not even close to the net. Like, [it] doesn’t even go within 5 feet of the net.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it’s actually a good example of every scene in our movie filled with like four or five different layers of jokes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the scene in which Rudd’s character, who is depressed about his relationship problems, has a conversation with a bartender\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, the bartender says, “Hard Day, huh?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[Rudd] says, “Yeah, you can say that again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so the bartender says it again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Bartender: “Well, you came in here looking like crap and you haven’t said very much.”\u003c/em> \u003cem>Rudd: “Tell me about it.”\u003c/em> \u003cem>Bartender: “You came in here looking like crap and you haven’t said very much.”\u003c/em> \u003cem>Rudd: “Yeah, you can say that again.”]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul Rudd keep[s] repeating, back and forth, “You can say that again” and “Tell me about it,” which then causes the bartender to not only say the exact same thing — we actually just splice in the exact same footage of the bartender’s response over and over. … It’s just literally on a loop. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s interesting because I know that in screenings, pretty much every time, what happens is people start laughing, then they get annoyed and stop laughing. Then it keeps going and they start laughing all the harder, and it becomes, for many, the favorite scene of the movie because they’re like: I can’t believe you actually did that. But even in our test screenings, it was one — and this happens in every movie — there’s always that one scene that is at the top of both lists of what was the audience’s favorite scene and what was the audience’s least favorite scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On whether the scene’s distinction as the audience’s favorite and least favorite scene pleases him\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It does. It means that there’s passion. And I’ve always felt that way. And most of the work that I have done over my career has been that. … It’s their favorite thing, or they really hated it. And the middle ground is not so much what we get, and I’m very happy with that. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=+%27They+Came+Together%27+Is+A+Terrible+Rom-Com+On+Purpose&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Film director David Wain’s work has always been hard to describe. In some ways, it’s straight-up spoof: His most famous film, \u003cem>Wet Hot American Summer\u003c/em>, lampooned the summer camp films of the 1980s; and his more recent TV show, \u003cem>Childrens Hospital\u003c/em>, sends up shows like \u003cem>Grey’s Anatomy\u003c/em>, where the female lead is living inside an inner monologue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Wain’s newest film, \u003cem>They Came Together\u003c/em>, takes on the genre of rom-coms. But even he has a hard time describing it. He tells NPR’s Rachel Martin, “One very shorthand way I’ve come up with is to say it’s a purposefully dumb romantic comedy, or a purposefully terrible romantic comedy. But that could really scare people away, so I don’t want to say that. … Another way to say that is it’s a grand, huge, funny, crazy spoof movie in the tradition of movies like \u003cem>Airplane\u003c/em>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wain tells Martin about his feelings toward rom-coms, brazenly copying from \u003cem>You’ve Got Mail, \u003c/em>and the most divisive scene in his new film.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch3>\u003cstrong>Interview Highlights\u003c/strong>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On whether there’s a part of him that likes romantic comedies\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s all of me that absolutely loves, loves, loves rom-coms. It’s probably my favorite genre of movies. … So many of my favorite movies are rom-coms of sorts, whether it’s all the Woody Allen movies or \u003cem>Tootsie\u003c/em> or \u003cem>The Graduate\u003c/em>. And then, when you get to understand something really well, you also find all the flaws, and that’s a lot of what we’re having fun with in this movie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the parallels between Wain’s film and \u003cem>You’ve Got Mail\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the main through lines we just brazenly lifted from \u003cem>You’ve Got Mail\u003c/em>. Amy Poehler plays the quirky, you know, independent candy store owner. And then Paul Rudd is an executive at the huge, corporate Candy Systems and Research, and they’re gonna take her down. But then they meet otherwise. So it is like \u003cem>You’ve Got Mail\u003c/em> in that way, but the truth is that the story is so beside the point. If you talk about this movie by talking about the storyline, then you’ve missed the point.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the layers of jokes in the film’s basketball scene\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, there’s so much going on, actually. [It’s] Paul Rudd playing basketball in the local playground with his friends after work. And, you know, we feel like [in] every rom-com the guy always has this random group of best friends who he does some big sport with — usually it’s basketball — and they have real discussions while also playing basketball at the same time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People never just talk; they have to be doing something.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then, of course, each of his friends is a “type.” So you have the sort of wistful poet, and then the sex-crazed, you know, Lothario. And of course, the visual of it … is that every time they shoot the ball and Ken Marino says “swish,” the ball goes not even close to the net. Like, [it] doesn’t even go within 5 feet of the net.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So it’s actually a good example of every scene in our movie filled with like four or five different layers of jokes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the scene in which Rudd’s character, who is depressed about his relationship problems, has a conversation with a bartender\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Well, the bartender says, “Hard Day, huh?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[Rudd] says, “Yeah, you can say that again.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And so the bartender says it again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Bartender: “Well, you came in here looking like crap and you haven’t said very much.”\u003c/em> \u003cem>Rudd: “Tell me about it.”\u003c/em> \u003cem>Bartender: “You came in here looking like crap and you haven’t said very much.”\u003c/em> \u003cem>Rudd: “Yeah, you can say that again.”]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul Rudd keep[s] repeating, back and forth, “You can say that again” and “Tell me about it,” which then causes the bartender to not only say the exact same thing — we actually just splice in the exact same footage of the bartender’s response over and over. … It’s just literally on a loop. …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s interesting because I know that in screenings, pretty much every time, what happens is people start laughing, then they get annoyed and stop laughing. Then it keeps going and they start laughing all the harder, and it becomes, for many, the favorite scene of the movie because they’re like: I can’t believe you actually did that. But even in our test screenings, it was one — and this happens in every movie — there’s always that one scene that is at the top of both lists of what was the audience’s favorite scene and what was the audience’s least favorite scene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On whether the scene’s distinction as the audience’s favorite and least favorite scene pleases him\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It does. It means that there’s passion. And I’ve always felt that way. And most of the work that I have done over my career has been that. … It’s their favorite thing, or they really hated it. And the middle ground is not so much what we get, and I’m very happy with that. \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=+%27They+Came+Together%27+Is+A+Terrible+Rom-Com+On+Purpose&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"order": 9
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"order": 18
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"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
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"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
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"source": "American Public Media"
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"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
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},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
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"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"meta": {
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"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
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"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
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},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
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},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
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"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
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},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
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"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
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"planet-money": {
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"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
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},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0c2d153-ad36-4c8d-901d-f1da6a724824/political-breakdown",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
"meta": {
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"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
"subscribe": {
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
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},
"pri-the-world": {
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