We open this week's show with Elf Power, one of my favorite bands from the Elephant 6 collective (which also counts among its members Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control and many more). Later this spring the band will release its sixteenth full-length album, a collection of sometimes exuberant, sometimes wistful lo-fi rock cuts with lots of fuzz and Andrew Rieger's idiosyncratic voice at the front of it all.
Bob Boilen follows that up with a new song from one of his own favorite bands, Big Thief. Later this year, the Brooklyn-based group will release the followup to its amazing (and appropriately titled) debut album from 2016, Masterpiece. Lead singer and guitarist Adrianne Lenker joins us as well, to share the emotional story behind this first single, "Mythological Beauty."
Also on the show: Walter Martin of The Walkmen reaches out to The National's Matt Berninger for some singing advice; Canadian singer and composer Lydia Ainsworth draws on her formal music training for some captivating, cinematic pop; Public Service Broadcasting, known for its instrumental songs that feature audio clips from propaganda films, stretches its sound on its latest album to include a singer; the duo known as Diet Cig prepares to release one of the year's most joyfully frenetic pop-punk records; and composer Ryan Lott releases a chilling, mind-bending score, performed by Son Lux, for the film Mean Dreams.
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