All Songs Considered

This month Alt.Latino's been looking at the music of Venezuela from a lot of different angles. For this episode, we’ve invited trumpet player and producer Ella Bric to be our guest DJ. She shared what she thinks are the most socially, culturally and politically impactful pieces of music to come out of Venezuela in the last half century.

Ella Bric grew up in a migrant-rich town in Venezuela called San Antonio de los Altos, surrounded by a culturally-minded, socially conscious community. She’s now based in New York, and in recent years has positioned herself as a prolific producer on the rise in the Latin music space. In 2018, she won a Latin Grammy for Producer of the Year, and she says her art comes from a curiosity about the state of the world and her desire to reflect that.

(00:00) Introduction
(01:46) La Vida Bohème, 'Hornos del Cal'
(06:41) Betsayda Machado & Parranda el Clavo, 'Sentimiento'
(11:35) María Rodríguez, 'Los Dos Titanes'
(15:11) Ali Primera, 'Techos de Cartón'
(19:52) Linda Briceño & Orlando Watson, 'Unfinished Song'
(24:38) Desorden Público, 'Politicos Paraliticos'
(27:36) Bucle Lunar, 'Subió El Maldito Dolar'

This podcast episode was produced by Noah Caldwell. The executive producer of NPR Music is Suraya Mohamed.

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This week we're obsessing over the hilarious and harrowing “Where’s My Phone?” from Mitski, a slightly softer solo cut from Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, the confounding but wondrous wordplay of Father John Misty and more.

NPR Music editor Hazel Cills joins host Robin Hilton.

Featured songs and artists:

(00:00) Mitski: “Where’s My Phone?” from ‘Nothing’s About to Happen to Me’

(09:29) Robber Robber: “The Sound It Made,” from ‘Two Wheels Move the Soul’

(16:01) Father John Misty: “The Old Law” (single)

(24:44) Kim Gordon: “NOT TODAY,” from ‘PLAY ME’

(31:39) Tinariwen: “Sagherat Assani (feat. Sulafa Elyas),” from ‘Hoggar’

(37:21) Vero: “100 Calls,” from ‘Razor Tongue’

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Lucinda Williams. Julian Lage. The debut from rising Americana star Kashus Culpepper. Stephen Thompson from NPR Music chats with Jessie Scott from WMOT in Nashville about the best new albums out Friday, Jan. 23.

The Starting 5

(00:00) Intro: Cat Power, 'Redux' EP
(02:14) Lucinda Williams, 'World's Gone Wrong'
(07:36) Carolina Chocolate Drops, 'Genuine Negro Jig' (15th Anniversary Edition)
(15:19) Kashus Culpepper, 'Act I'
(20:00) The Lowest Pair, 'Always As Young As We'll Ever Be'
(25:29) Julian Lage, 'Scenes From Above'

The Lightning Round

- Ari Lennox, 'Vacancy'
- Sammy Brue, 'The Journals'
- V/A, 'Naive Melodies'
- Della Mae, 'Magic Accident'

Sample the albums via our New Music Friday playlist on NPR.org.

Credits
Host: Stephen Thompson
Guest: Jessie Scott, WMOT
Audio Producer: Noah Caldwell
Digital Producer: Dora Levite
Editors: Otis Hart, Elle Mannion
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed

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Sometimes life imitates art - or at least the two can seem eerily connected. On Jan. 1, the Venezuelan band Rawayana released a new album, '¿Dónde Es El After?,' which began with a lyric that many interpreted as a wish for their country's leadership to be gone. A few days later, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was ousted from power and seized by American forces. For this week's episode, we chat with Fofo Story and Beto Montenegro of Rawayana to hear how the album came together, where its sonic influences lie, and how they're reflecting on the seismic changes underway in their home country.

(00:00) Intro
(01:54) How they decided to open the album
(06:26) On the song 'Qué Rico PR!'
(09:36) Caribbean influences growing up
(13:41) Childhood love for merenhouse
(16:13) Adapting tonada folk music
(21:58) Reflections on Venezuela in this moment

This podcast episode was produced by Noah Caldwell. The executive producer of NPR Music is Suraya Mohamed.

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Reports from late last year about the demise of MTV were overstated; but it got us thinking about the network’s legacy and most memorable moments. So, on this episode, we remember the best of MTV with a list of our top 20 videos from its golden era.

If you’re listening on Spotify, tell us your favorite classic music video in the episode’s comments.

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