Joni Mitchell's return 'At Newport' reconfigures her legacy

The surprise performance at the Newport Folk Festival, now released as an album, is another exciting evolution in Joni Mitchell's notoriously chameleonic career.

(Image credit: Nina Westervelt/Courtesy of the artist)

* This article was originally published here

The Clientele, reliably dreamy for decades, tears up its delicate formula

The long-running British band introduces drum-and-bass-tinged breakbeats, strings and dub production to its delicate indie pop.

(Image credit: Andy Willsher/Courtesy of the artist)

* This article was originally published here

Critic's corner: Blur's 'The Ballad of Darren'

British band Blur, lead by singer-songwriter Damon Albarn, has a new album. It's called The Ballad of Darren.

* This article was originally published here

Newly unearthed 1974 session by Clifford Jordan is a striking, one-of-a-kind album

The tenor sax player came up in Chicago and toured in the '60s with Charles Mingus, Max Roach and Randy Weston. Jordan's forgotten album, Drink Plenty of Water, mixes singers with a small ensemble.

* This article was originally published here

Blur's 'Ballad' to bittersweet midlife

On The Ballad of Darren, the band's ninth album (and a surprise after years away), Damon Albarn and company understand the key to aging gracefully is noticing the things your younger self never could.

(Image credit: Reuben Bastienne-Lewis/Courtesy of the artist)

* This article was originally published here

Highlight tracks from Palehound's new album

NPR music contributor Marissa Lorusso reviews Eye on the Bat, the latest album from indie band Palehound.

* This article was originally published here

You can feel Palehound's songs in your gut

El Kempner turns the force of their wiry indie rock toward collapse, yet the visceral palette of Eye on the Bat has an unexpectedly joyful quality.

(Image credit: Tonje Thilesen/Courtesy of the artist)

* This article was originally published here

Brian Blade the bandleader returns for a ride down 'Kings Highway'

Recorded in 2018 but only now seeing daylight, it's the prolific drummer's first release in years at the head of his expressive and enduring Fellowship Band.

(Image credit: Mimi Chakarova/Courtesy of the artist)

* This article was originally published here

Mingus' 'Changes' is a mixed bag: Some brilliant music, then a hero's tragic fate

In 1973, composer and bass virtuoso Charles Mingus signed his last recording contract with Atlantic; he'd stay with the label till his death in 1979. A new box set collects his music from that era.

* This article was originally published here

The misplaced promise of Kim Petras

With her debut album 'Feed the Beast,' the rising pop star is still in the process of figuring out where she wants to be in the pop music echelon.

(Image credit: Luke Gilford)

* This article was originally published here

Janelle Monáe explores masculine and feminine energies on 'The Age of Pleasure'

Monáe has been releasing albums that mix R&B, pop and rap since 2007 — this is her first since 2018. Ken Tucker reviews the new album, then we listen back to our 2020 interview with the artist.

* This article was originally published here

On her new album, Lucinda Williams asserts her legacy as a great American rock star

On the singer-songwriter's 16th studio album Stories From a Rock n Roll Heart, Williams is at her most emotionally uncompromising and astute.

(Image credit: Danny Clinch)

* This article was originally published here