Jacob Ganz

Here's some great news: On May 27, the Gainesville, Fla. quartet Hundred Waters will release its second album (via OWSLA, the label run by Skrillex), and today the band has shared a brand new song, "Cavity," along with an eerily beautiful video.

"'Cavity' is like watering a field but so ...

One of the highlights of our year, the SXSW music festival, kicks off in just three weeks in Austin, Texas. Today, NPR Music is hugely excited to announce another genre-blending lineup of artists for our opening night showcase at Stubb's on Wednesday, March 12.

Here's what you can ...

The Swedish siblings Olof Dreijer and Karin Dreijer Andersson released their self-titled debut album as The Knife in 2001, and in the dozen years since then, have upended expectations on a regular basis. Their second album, Deep Cuts, included the song "Heartbeats," a perfect, if slightly corroded, pop ...

Whether you're traveling for the holidays or waiting for those who are on the road to come back to you — or if you just need to wipe your eardrums clean after weeks of holiday shopping music — the next week should offer ample listening time.

At NPR Music, we ...

Over the last couple of weeks, the sounds of pop's biggest hits have been distractingly familiar. Almost as soon as it hit the Internet, "Roar," the brand new smash by Katy Perry, was accused of sounding an awful lot like the recent song "Brave," by Sara Bareilles. A ...

When Archy Marshall first emerged as Zoo Kid in 2010, he was a hyped-up curiosity — a skinny, pink-cheeked 16-year-old alone on stage, dressed in a blousy button-down and a ball cap, quietly plucking at an electric guitar. Then he'd open his mouth to reveal a gigantic voice. Marshall took ...

Early in her band's career, Camera Obscura's Tracyanne Campbell won constant comparisons with Belle and Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch, and rightfully so. Both singers held merit badges in restrained pop aesthetic and deadpan delivery: Tentative romantic encounters were described and sung in a way that hid whether Campbell and ...

Kurt Vile is sometimes known as a shredder, which isn't exactly right. His guitar playing is accomplished, but it doesn't blow your hair back so much as wrap it gently in a worn, sun-bleached kerchief.

Vile's new album, Wakin on a Pretty Daze, is a perfect soundtrack for ...

It's a perfect illustration of the current age of music fandom that this year's Record Store Day comes at the end of the week when Twitter introduced its music service — an online streaming music tool that tethers discovery to acquaintances who probably know your taste about as ...

This week, the Strokes put out the new album Comedown Machine, the band's fifth collection of wiry, tightly-produced throwback rock. The Strokes have always derived as many influences from visual media as they have from music, and the cover of the new album nods to both: the image resembles

The brand new video for Phosphorescent's "Song For Zula," from the band's sixth album, Muchacho, forgoes a literal illustration of song's heartbroken story for something more allegorical. In a single slow-motion tracking shot, the camera approaches a distant figure dressed in rags, bashing at chains that hold her ...

In August of 2011, the three members of the Danish band Efterklang, dressed in survival suits, loaded a small recording studio worth of equipment onto an open boat docked on the island of Spitsbergen. Soaked by rain and rough seas, the boat pushed off into the fjord that ...

How the tiny digital file took down the mighty CD and came to dominate the music industry.

Or: Why Justin Bieber didn't really sell 40,000 tickets in 30 seconds.

This week, alternative rock's bible, SPIN magazine, announced that it would eliminate the standard short album review from the magazine. In 2012 the magazine's writers will assess 1,5...

2010 brought the rise of the indie band and Taylor Swift, Kanye West’s Twitter account, and an avalanche of reunion tours. Jacob Ganz of the NPR Music blog The Record reviews the year's top music news stories.