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New Mix: Music From ‘The Big Sick,’ Rhye, Protomartyr, More

Clockwise from upper left: Waxahatchee, Protomartyr, billboard photo for the film The Big Sick, The Blow
Courtesy of the artists
Clockwise from upper left: Waxahatchee, Protomartyr, billboard photo for the film The Big Sick, The Blow

Composer Michael Andrews started writing music for movies back in 2001, when he scored the now-cult-classic film Donnie Darko (which included Andrews’ haunting arrangement of the Tears For Fears song “Mad World”). His simple, brilliantly rendered songs perfectly reflected the movie’s surreal narrative with moments that were both comical and creepy. Now he’s back with a new score — and completely different sound — for the romantic comedy The Big Sick. We kick off this week’s show with the sweetly melodic “Two Day Rule,” a song that host Bob Boilen says sounds, appropriately enough, like a romantic relationship unfolding.

We follow with new music from a duo known as The Blow. Bob first became obsessed with their music when they released what became his favorite album of 2013. Now they’re back with a followup called Brand New Abyss, a record of pulsing electronics and reflections on political and cultural upheaval.

Also on the show: The band Rhye is also back after a four-year break with the sensuous new song “Please;” existential rock from Protomartyr – along with a short conversation with singer and lyricist Joe Casey about the universal search for hope and truth in the darkness; Waxahatchee‘s latest album, Out In The Storm, finds singer Katie Crutchfield recovering from a toxic relationship; and NPR Music’s Andrew Flanagan stops by to share the instrumental work of saxophonist Joseph Shabason, who has a new album that Andrew likens to “swimming with ankle weights.”

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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.

Prior to joining NPR in 2000, Hilton co-founded Small Good Thing Productions, a non-profit production company for independent film, radio and music in Athens, Georgia.

Hilton lived and worked in Japan as an interpreter for the government, and taught English as a second language to junior high school students.

From 1989 to 1996, Hilton worked for NPR member stations KANU and WUGA as a senior producer and assistant news director and was a long-time contributing reporter to NPR's daily news programs All Things Considered and Morning Edition.

Along the way, Hilton worked as an emergency room orderly, a blackjack dealer and a fruitcake factory assembly lineman.

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