Music critic Milo Miles on the new Yo La Tengo album, Fade:
if I had to pick a favorite tune on Fade, most endearing, fresh but characteristic, it would be “Is That Enough” Kaplan’s extended sigh about the ambiguities of love in a long-term couple. Whether it’s unsaid jokes or undeclared affections, he notes “there’s just no way that it’s enough.” Kaplan even casts a quick shadow of despair when he sings “what can’t come back’s what we can’t bear to lose.” But the music and words on Fade as a whole are pure affirmation of life and living. For Yo La Tengo, if what they have is not enough, it’s plenty.
This time of year brings out the best and worst in us when it comes to music, and we all have our memories of seasonal songs, including Robin Hilton’s story about a painfully unforgettable childhood performance of “O Holy Night.”
Impatient Laura Marling fans, rejoice! Watch the English folksinger play the Tiny Desk, including a gorgeous song so new (“Once”) that Marling hasn’t even recorded it, yet.
Photo: Nick Michael/NPR
Saturday night, 17 artists will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Morning Edition visited three of the cities that gave birth to six of the inductees: Donovan and The Small Faces from London, Beastie Boys and Laura Nyro from New York City, and Guns N’ Roses and Red Hot Chili Peppers from Los Angeles.
Photos: Marc S Canter/Getty Images, Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images, Getty Images, Ebet Roberts/Getty Images.
When Malian breakout superstars Amadou and Mariam happened to find themselves with an extra day in New York recently, we invited them up to The Shrine in Harlem to sing an unplugged version of “Wily Kataso.”
It’s Public Radio Music Month! NPR Music could not exist if it weren’t for the smart, talented and, yes, oh-so attractive public radio personalities, producers, reporters, engineers, volunteers, HR folk, interns and more that keep us in the loop about the country’s best music. All month-long, a number of stations are celebrating with special concerts and panels, which you can discover at the PRMM website and by following @pubradiomusic on Twitter.
