NPR Music’s “First Listen” allows you to stream entire albums prior to their official release date (usually about a week in advance). This week, it’s a sonic smorgasbord of tasty tunes, featuring new releases from:
Hurray For The Riff Raff – The Navigator
Alynda Segarra, a.k.a. Hurray For The Riff Raff
The Magnetic Fields – 50 Song Memoir
(it’s one song for each year of Stephin Merritt’s life, NPR streams the first 20)
Stephin Merritt, not a UPS driver.
Valerie June – The Order of Time
Valerie June, not Medusa
Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives – Way Out West
(produced by Mike Campbell of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
They sound as good as they look.
First Listen also features an original Broadway cast recording, an Afro-Cuban album and the new release from Jay Som, a 22-year-old indie rock artist from Oakland who plays every instrument on the album. Get your ears over there now, add them all to your listening queue and have a harmonious Hump Day.
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