Bob Boilen

This week we've got wild and wonderful new music from Tank and the Bangas, a message of unity from singer Jesca Hoop (with Lucius), the mysterious voice of Sevdaliza and more.

There's a beauty buried deep inside these lazy and woodsy songs just waiting for you to dig them out.

After a few months taking care of his newborn, NPR Music's Lars Gotrich is back with buzzing Ethiopian hymns and Tuareg folk songs, but also white-hot psych-rock and a modular synth frenzy.

It was a day when sunlight drenched the office and the songs of heart from Courtney Marie Andrews felt right at home.

This week's essential playlist includes Chastity Belt singer Julia Shapiro on her first solo album, Portishead's Beth Gibbons singing with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and more.

Jesse Mac Cormack's song "Give a Chance," follows humans making their way across the ordeals of life — with rope as a metaphor — towards that proverbial light that everyone tries to have in them.

At 83, reggae king Lee "Scratch" Perry has just made a brilliant record. Hear that, plus the daydreamy music of Radiator Hospital, the astonishing sounds of The Comet Is Coming and more.

Philadelphia Rapper Chill Moody and singer Donn T, along with their crew known as &More, were one of the standout entrants in last year's Tiny Desk Contest. They bring a message of hope and love.

The Tuareg musician may have just made the most insane psychedelic guitar album of the 21st century.

Hear the shredded noise rock of Rev Rev Rev, the thundering soul of Yola Carter, Afro-Cuban grooves from Cimafunk, the warped and woozy pop of Rose Droll and much more in our 2019 SXSW wrap-up.

Cut through the noise at this year's SXSW music festival with our daily highlight reel.

Multi-hyphenate artist Kaia Kater uses the architecture of roots music, which she studied in West Virginia, to establish a simultaneous dialogue with both the present moment and her own past.

Submit a video of you or your band playing one original song behind a desk — any desk will do — and you could win a chance to play your own Tiny Desk concert and tour the country with NPR Music.

The singer and violinist's latest project is a symphonic love story set in World War II, inspired by the internment of Japanese Americans in the U.S.

We've listened to more than a thousand songs by bands playing this year's festival. On this episode, we share some of our best discoveries before we hit the ground to see as many shows as possible.

The Sudanese musician shares an "anthem of inclusion" as the lead-off to his upcoming record, Dépaysé.

The song is quieter than might be expected from the band, and would fit right in with the solo album singer Adrianne Lenker released last fall.

The singer shares songs she loves by other artists and talks about her debut full-length release, Miss Universe, an album filled with melodies that won't let go.

The New Zealand singer says her strangely alluring video for the song "The Barrel" has been described as "Amish Sci-fi." But its ultimate meaning depends on what you think you see.

This week's must-hear songs include the spooky-suave sounds of Palehound, angular, stuttering rock from Sego, the deeply affecting voice of Aldous Harding and more.