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NPR News

New Mix: Ryan Adams, Jamie xx, The Civil Wars' Joy Williams, More

NPR | By Robin Hilton,
Bob Boilen
Published March 31, 2015 at 12:40 PM EDT
Clockwise from upper left: Ryan Adams, Jamie xx, Joy Williams, Eskimeaux
Courtesy of the artists
Clockwise from upper left: Ryan Adams, Jamie xx, Joy Williams, Eskimeaux

On All Songs Considered this week, we hear two songs by familiar musicians, one stripped down to his essence and one in a brand new context. Ryan Adams is at his best live, playing solo acoustic hits, with lots of comical chatter. The prolific singer and songwriter has a massive live album coming out with 42 songs recorded at Carnegie Hall. From that collection, we've got Adams' rock anthem "New York, New York," slowed waaaay down for solo piano (along with his seemingly random oratory on the film Terminator 2). The intense folk duo The Civil Wars broke up intensely around the release of its second album; that group's Joy Williams just announced her first solo album, and offers up a single, "Woman (Oh Mama)," that introduces a fresh pop sound.

Also on thee show, Jamie xx, founder of the deeply meditative pop band The xx, serves up club beats on a new cut from his debut solo album In Colour. We also have a quartet of discoveries: Eskimeaux, of Brooklyn art collective The Epoch, a colorful new single by Canadian songwriter Gianna Lauren infectious pop track from Midwest rockers Twinsmith and Florida songwriter Christopher Paul Stelling brings his incredible finger picking from the road to the studio.

But first, we give one last nod to the South By Southwest music festivals' biggest legacy: head colds.

Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

NPR News
Robin Hilton
Robin Hilton is the Senior Podcast Producer for NPR Music and hosts the New Music Friday episodes of All Songs Considered. He is also a composer and multi-instrumentalist whose original scores have appeared in podcasts, films, radio programs and other works. He arranged and performed the theme for NPR's Weekend All Things Considered and composed and performed its elections coverage theme. You can hear more of his music here.
Bob Boilen
In 1988, a determined Bob Boilen started showing up on NPR's doorstep every day, looking for a way to contribute his skills in music and broadcasting to the network. His persistence paid off, and within a few weeks he was hired, on a temporary basis, to work for All Things Considered. Less than a year later, Boilen was directing the show and continued to do so for the next 18 years.