Grayson Haver Currin

Remembering Michael Hurley, a godfather of folk music's underground

Sometimes called the father of freak-folk, the 83-year-old singer-songwriter lived, worked and died on his own terms.

On Beth Gibbons' 'Lives Outgrown,' the Portishead singer invites us in

Grayson Haver Currin

Thirty years after Portishead's debut, Gibbons' first solo album is the testament of an uncanny singer simply making it through each day.

Can Thom Yorke escape his own voice?

Grayson Haver Currin

The second album from Radiohead offshoot The Smile is very good. But can its singer ever transcend his role in his revolutionary other band?

Getting older, with — or without? — The National

Grayson Haver Currin

What happens when the band that has soundtracked the milestones of your adulthood suddenly feels like it has nothing left to give you?

On Aug. 12, 2011, Sonic Youth played the Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn; it would be the band's final concert in the United States.

The sunset of Sonic Youth: An oral history of the band's final U.S. show

Grayson Haver Currin

For the first time, the band members, their crew and their fans tell the story of a landmark moment they didn't realize was happening. Sonic Youth's new album, Live in Brooklyn 2011, is out this week.

On her sixth album, Feist's barely adorned honesty is consummate, the result of someone who has lived enough to have a story and worked enough to set it brilliantly to song.

Feist holds a mirror up to her 'Multitudes'

Grayson Haver Currin

On her best album to date, Feist mines age and experience, love and loss to shape 12 songs about the hard-earned insights of simply existing.

Patrick Shiroishi — pictured here in Los Angeles — released 19 albums in 2022; at least three were standouts in their respective fields, in part because of the questions of identity they examine.

Patrick Shiroishi's music moves a Japanese American saga forward

Grayson Haver Currin

The saxophonist and composer resisted his Japanese American heritage for decades. He now funnels that painful and triumphant personal history into a string of vital records.

Kurt Wagner performs with Lambchop in September at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

Lambchop's long and winding road

Grayson Haver Currin

Kurt Wagner's Nashville collective has always been an expression of absolute possibility. The Bible, his best album in a decade, points that instinct at life's most inescapable truth.

In the metal bands Sleep and High on Fire, Matt Pike has always looked to esoteric sources. Over the last decade, however, he's found inspiration in the conspiracy theories of David Icke.

Can Matt Pike face the music?

Grayson Haver Currin

Matt Pike overcame long odds to find success in metal bands Sleep and High on Fire. But his deepening obsession with conspiracy theories has created a dissonant riff.

Meric Long of the Bay Area band The Dodos found his voice in a distinctive guitar style. While writing the new album <em>Grizzly Peak</em>, he watched that ability begin to slip away.

News from NPR

When Making Music Breaks Your Body

Grayson Haver Currin

An arthritis diagnosis means the latest album by the Bay Area band The Dodos is likely its last. It is a striking reminder of the oft-overlooked physical strains of music careers.