All Songs Considered

On this week's All Songs Considered, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton explore some warped musical territory with a little help from one of our friends: producer and musician John Congleton. John turns us on to the deliberate, unrelenting music of Montreal's Suuns, a record he was excited to produce.Also on the show: Bob can't stop listening to the dark humor of teenage psych-pop duo Let's Eat Grandma, Robin takes us into the fractured world of Autolux and changes things up with the tranquil Zen of Mutual Benefit and closes the show with the searching, deconstructive music of Adult Jazz.

We've all been dealing with so much unhappiness over the last week that hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton wanted to kick of this week's All Songs Considered with some celebrations. Bob leads off with some great pick-me up music from Moon Hooch. Robin continues to explore his love of "shrug rock" with a hilarious new song from the band PUP.Also on the show: Robin plays music from Sage and Ry X. Bob keeps up the energy with a new song by Sego. Like The Moth & The Flame, whose "Young & Unafraid" was on last week's show, Sego recently relocated from Provo, Utah to Los Angeles. Bob closes out the show with a premiere of Summer Cannibals' new song, "Simple Life."Looking ahead: On May 2, Bob and Robin will speak with Carrie Brownstein at a book event at Sixth & I in Washington D.C. The next day, Bob will be at the Lagunitas brewery in Chicago with Tiny Desk Contest winner Gaelynn Lea and everyone's favorite GLTTRD band, PWR BTTM.

Prince was one of those rare musicians who continued to connect with people decades after the start of his career. As NPR Music's Ann Powers tells All Songs Considered hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton, Prince had a unique vision of a perfect world, one that challenged gender and sexual norms, one where love was the only rule. He also devoted his life, his studio time and his time on stage to making deep and lasting connections with his audience — and to making sure his audience connected with each other on the deepest human levels.

On this week's All Songs Considered, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton kick off the show with back-to-back premieres from upcoming albums by beloved bands. Robin leads with a frenetic new song by Deerhoof, originally written for the HBO series Vinyl, that will appear on its album The Magic, out June 24. Bob follows with "Ozzie," a song The Low Anthem wrote as a tribute to legendary shortstop Ozzie Smith that will be on its new album Eyeland, out June 17.Also on the show: Robin shares The Avett Brothers' new track "Ain't No Man" and The Moth & The Flame's wonderfully moody song "Young & Unafraid." Bob plays a song from the wise-beyond-his-years Jaye Bartell and closes the show with the heavy yet sweet music of Muscle and Marrow.

Sturgill Simpson's 2014 album, Metamodern Sounds In Country Music, took a lot of people by surprise. While the song forms were firmly rooted in Nashville traditions, the stories he told and observations he made were more like something from a metaphysical self-help guide, with existential meditations on death and dying, religion and the never-ending search for a higher purpose.For his follow-up, A Sailor's Guide To Earth, Simpson finds even more ways to surprise. In fact, the Kentucky-born singer completely dismantles the well-established conventions of country music and reassembles them with psychedelic synths and guitars, Motown horns and cinematic strings, often all in a single track.A Sailor's Guide To Earth is also a concept album. Simpson wrote and recorded it for his son, who was born in 2014, just a month after Metamodern Sounds was released. As Simpson tells us in this interview, he wanted A Sailor's Guide To Earth to be "a pure and beautiful thing," detailing the ups and downs of his own life so his son could one day know him better.

It's a big week for Bob Boilen! He celebrated his birthday earlier in the week and his first book, Your Song Changed My Life, comes out today. He celebrated on the show today with some wonderful pop music by the band Free Cake For Every Creature and a beautiful Grateful Dead cover courtesy of the National. While Bob leaves the studio to celebrate, Robin plays a joyous cut from the Nobility and an atmospheric track from the supergroup Minor Victories.Also on the show: NPR Music's Lars Gotrich drops by to play some rich guitar music from William Tyler, Bob plays guitar-meets-sitar duo Dawg Yawp and Robin closes out the show with some jolting rock from Yak.

Is there a song that changed you? A song that altered the course of how you think about life, changed what you do and how you do it?

On this week's All Songs Considered, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton share a mix of new songs by veteran artists and shiny premieres from up-and-coming bands. Robin leads off the show with a cut from the country-folk flavored alternative rock group The Jayhawks, while Bob wheels out a premiere by the Australian band Oh Pep!. Robin follows with new music from one of his most beloved bands, Weezer, a group that put out his favorite album of 2014, Everything Will Be Alright In The End, and returns with another solid collection of new songs, including the Beach Boy-inspired "Endless Bummer," which you'll hear alongside more new music from singer-songwriter Margaret Glaspy, a heavily cathartic rock song from the Toronto four-piece Greys and an excerpt from saxophonist Colin Stetson's re-imagining of Górecki's Third Symphony

Members of Explosion in the Sky talk about the challenge of making The Wilderness, the most adventurous record yet from an already sonically mind-bending band.

On this week's episode of All Songs Considered, Bob helps Robin Hilton out of his annual NCAA March Madness depression after his Jayhawks lose yet again. Bob plays a mind-obliterating track from Explosions In The Sky. Robin introduces us to new music from punk veterans Wire and a new song from Frankie Cosmos but they all seem to simply taunt his loss.We also hear a magnificent new song from Told Slant that features Felix Walworth, the drummer for Eskimeaux, Florist and Bellows. Then there's more explosive sounds from Parquet Courts and a new song by rhythmic sound effect master Walker Lukens. Robin closes out the show with a song by The Glands, one of his favorite bands from Athens, Ga. in tribute to lead singer Ross Shapiro, whose death was announced late last week.

There's new music from Bob Mould. His latest album, Patch The Sky, comes out March 25. One of this legendary musician's biggest fans — from his punk days of Hüsker Dü to the land of Sugar and his prolific and exciting solo records — is musician Ryan Adams. And as a fan and friend, Ryan invited Bob to his PAX-AM Studio and pressed record.So for the next hour you'll hear Bob and Ryan play music and hear a sprawling, geeky and fun conversation. Sometimes it's about Bob's record, other times it's about Metallica bootlegs, caveman sounding lyrics, favorite cereals, fasted band, how the revival of vinyl helps make better, more focused records, praying, the quietness of church, zombies, Einstürzende Neubauten, noise rock and recording/mixing/soundboards.

After six days of little sleep and a lot of music, the All Songs Considered team is back from Austin with a bucketload of bands and discoveries to share. On this week's show, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton are joined by NPR Music's Stephen Thompson to share their favorite finds and memorable moments, from the stadium presence of Israeli singer Ninet Tayeb and party brass band Lucky Chops to the dark, moody folk of Edith Crash and the kick-ass rock and roll of Seratones.

All Songs host Bob Boilen gathers Stephen Thompson and Katie Presley for their final roundup of the festival.

Hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton wrap up their evening on a busy street with All Songs contributor Stephen Thompson.

Hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton speak with All Songs contributors Katie Presley and Stephen Thompson about their favorite St. Patrick's Day discoveries.