Kacey Musgraves on World Cafe; New Grammy membership rules

Plus, new music from Earl Sweatshirt; Tekashi 6ix9ine indicted

Courtesy of Senia Lopez If your office is anything like ours (well, besides the frequent Tiny Desk concerts at lunchtime), most of you probably spent the week preparing for holiday travel. And even when dealing with the chaos that comes with Thanksgiving, be it bottleneck traffic, flight delays, crises in the kitchen or probing questions from distant relatives (remind me, how are we related?), there’s something reassuring about a season that offers an opportunity to reflect. In honor of Thanksgiving, dear readers, we each wanted to offer a musical moment of gratitude. Marissa Lorusso: The recent All Songs Considered episode featuring a conversation with the members of boygenius is such a delight. I loved getting to hear Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus talk about their friendship and really dig into what makes each other’s songwriting so special. Sidney Madden: I’m thankful for the refreshing pop- and hip-hop-influenced spin Rosalía is putting on traditional flamenco — and even more thankful that she’s getting rewarded for it. Her new album El Mal Querer is one of my favorites of the year and she recently won her first Latin Grammy in the category of Best Urban Fusion Performance. Lyndsey McKenna: Wilco has long been a personal favorite of mine (“Jesus, etc.” was my alarm all through college). I read Jeff Tweedy's new memoir, Let's Go (So We Can Get Back), in one joyous afternoon. With equal parts humor and heart, it’s a passenger side ride through key moments in Tweedy’s life that made me even more grateful for one of the musicians who has soundtracked my formative years. To Read After an indictment unsealed earlier this week in federal court, rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine could face a life sentence for charges that include alleged involvement in shootings, armed robbery and drug trafficking. After widespread criticism over its lack of gender diversity, the Recording Academy has changed its membership rules. (Whether that leads to greater gender parity at future Grammy ceremonies remains to be seen.) We’ve had Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour (which won Album of the Year at this year’s Country Music Association Awards) on repeat all year, so it was a treat to hear her talk about writing and recording the album — and perform a couple tracks from it — on World Cafe. She also told World Cafe’s Talia Schlanger about how she met her husband, musician Ruston Kelly — and he told his side of the story when he stopped by the show for a conversation and performance this week. To close this season of Turning the Tables, we asked our readers to celebrate the most influential women and non-binary artists of this century. Your responses were heartfelt, passionate and sometimes surprising.   New Music Out this week: a concept album about the pursuit of self-discovery from My Brightest Diamond, beautiful instrumental records from Ed Harcourt and Jacco Gardner and expanded reissues from Calexico and Songs: Ohia. Hear about those and more on New Music Friday from All Songs Considered. Earl Sweatshirt announced a new album this week called Some Rap Songs. But don’t let the blasé album title fool you: “The Mint,” his new single, shows off Earl’s dedication to pushing himself towards evolution. This week’s playlist of the best new Latin music features a taste of Helado Negro’s upcoming album and an electronic/acoustic mashup from Juracán. Tiny Desk Cameron Pollack/NPR dvsn brought sultry R&B harmonies and concert-quality lighting to the confines of Bob Boilen’s Tiny Desk this week. With a short set of their most recent Internet hits, the Toronto-based duo made the Desk feel grandiose and intimate at the same time. Incoming This year, we’ve been been examining anthems — from patriotic tunes to historic songs to pop bangers — and the power they have to rally, unify and unite. We don’t want to spoil anything, but next week, we’ll have an essay about an artist whose songs of self-affirmation and confidence have often left us feeling, uh, really good. One More Thing Have you ever watched a Tiny Desk concert and then thought, “But what about intimate performances by artists I love in an unexpected location that isn’t an office?” We’ve got the solution: our Night Owl series. There are now 20 episodes of Night Owl available on YouTube — including performances by Josh Ritter, Jamila Woods and Emily King — and we’ll be posting more each week. You received this message because you're subscribed to our NPR Music emails. |  Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy | NPR 1111 N. CAPITOL ST. NE WASHINGTON DC 20002