The music world lost one of its most beloved lyricists this week in David Berman, a poet and the leader of the rock band Silver Jews. If the name doesn’t ring any bells, listen to our In Memoriam playlist and prepare to have your bell rung. When word spread on Wednesday that he’d died at the age of 52, musicians, poets and longtime fans took to Twitter share their favorite couplets. As someone who watched the memorial unfold in real-time, one thing in particular struck me: There was little overlap in the lyrics mourners chose to cite. This wasn’t like when Leonard Cohen died and “cracks" appeared across social media. Most of Berman's 90+ songs as Silver Jews — and more recently the 10 he released under the moniker Purple Mountains — contain at least one stroke of standalone genius, usually more than that, and if you’re a Silver Jews fan, you probably know most of them. I’ll leave you with my David Berman quote, which may or may not have served as an AIM Away Message a long time ago:
“Final words are so hard to devise, I promise that I'll always remember your pretty eyes,” Otis Hart
New Music
Looking for a new summer playlist? Carly Rae Jepsen collected some of her favorite songs for a living room dance party ("some sad, but mostly happy and all epic artists,” the pop singer says). This week, we also launched Heat Check: an R&B playlist for slow-burners, oddly satisfying cross-genre concoctions and the discoveries you almost want to keep for yourself, updated weekly by our colleague Sidney Madden.
This month’s Slingshot selection of the best new music as chosen by NPR Member stations, includes an exciting array of new discoveries from Bernard Fowler, Neal Francis, Erin Rae and more.
This week’s All Songs ConsideredNew Music Friday rundown recaps the records you need to hear now, including Marika Hackman’s delightfully candid Any Human Friend, The Regrettes’ punk-pop concept album How Do You Love?, Fionn Regan’s quiet balm Cala and Ra Ra Riot’s guitar-driven return, Superbloom.
Featuring
This week, our Turning the Tables series focused on Bessie Smith, the Empress of the Blues. Read about her influence on the past century of popular music, the complicated relationship between her legacy and blues tourism and more, plus hear a playlist of some of her best songs and music by her influences and inheritors.
Last month, David Daniels, one of the world's most highly sought-after opera singers and a tenured University of Michigan professor, was indicted on a felony charge of sexual assault. Internal university documents obtained this week by NPR detail multiple allegations, including soliciting students for sex in exchange for money.
Musical genius runs in the family of Isata Kanneh-Mason (you may remember her brother, Sheku, who had a brush with fame following his performance at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle). On her debut, Isata Kanneh-Mason takes on lesser-known works of Clara Schumann.
This week in El Paso, "Amor Eterno" has been played by mariachis and sung in the Cielo Vista Mall parking lot. In the wake of the shooting that left at least 22 individuals dead, Alt.Latinomourns and remembers.
Light-years ahead of his time, the prolific and beloved musician Ras G died last week at the age of 40 – but not before helping found the L.A. beat movement that has since spread worldwide.
Tiny Desk
Cameron Pollack/NPR
Together, David Crosby, Becca Stevens, Michelle Willis and Michael League are The Lighthouse Band, and together they harmonized the heck out of a set of songs behind the Tiny Desk, including a new arrangement of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock" from a version Crosby recorded almost 50 years ago with Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young on Déjà Vu.
While Ty Dolla $ign recently visited NPR to record his own Tiny Desk concert (stay tuned for that session), he also performed a special tribute to his friend, the late Mac Miller.
One More Thing
“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”
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