Aug 24th, 2008 · The Beijing Olympics got off to a rocky start with talk about pollution and censorship and fakery at the glittering opening ceremony. But once the games began, transcendent performances by athletes gave the games a big boost. NPR's Frank Langfitt wraps up the Olympics during the closing ceremony.
Jul 28th, 2008 · Tom Waits doesn't tour a lot, and when he does, tickets are hard to come by. But in this week's All Songs, you can hear an excerpt of the final performance of his recent tour, along with Celtic music from Cape Breton, and African-inspired sounds with a distorted twist in the music of NOMO. And lovers of great pop music won't want to miss new music by The Silent Years and Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene.
Jul 28th, 2008 · Recorded at Atlanta's historic Fox Theater on July 5, Waits delivers a stunning and epic two-and-a-half hour performance, including songs he says he's never attempted outside of the studio before. Backing Waits is a five-piece group featuring Seth Ford-Young (upright bass), Patrick Warren (keyboards), Omar Torrez (guitars), Vincent Henry (woodwinds) and Casey Waits (drums and percussion). "They play with racecar precision and they are all true conjurers," says Waits. "They are all multi-instrumentalists and they polka like real men."
Apr 27th, 2008 · Big oil, big buildings, big hair — the TV series Dallas made its glittering debut 30 years ago this month. Neither its namesake city nor TV has been the same since. Longtime Dallas TV critic Ed Bark discusses the show, the city and "Who Shot J.R.?"
Jun 30th, 2007 · Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, a liberal institution with a glittering list of alumni, faces a financial crisis that could force it to close next year. During better times, Antioch was a cauldron of creativity. That's especially true of the campus radio station, WYSO.
Mar 1st, 2007 · Malin began developing his punk-rock craft in the early '80s, eventually founding D Generation in 1991. Once he went solo a decade later, Malin reinvented himself as a purveyor of straightforward rock 'n' roll music, heavily influenced by Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.
Oct 15th, 2006 · Abby Travis, a stalwart bass player for several groups, is out with her third solo CD. The musical style on Glitter Mouth has been dubbed "cabaret pop." The cover art is as striking as the music, with dramatic photos by Rocky Schenck.
Jul 2nd, 2006 · Graffiti -- New York's most famous symbol of urban anxiety -- no longer grows like ivy on the subway trains. Still, it's lodged deeply in the city's psyche. And through Sept. 3, it's firmly ensconced in the Brooklyn Museum, in an exhibition simply called, "Graffiti."