Watch Jason Isbell And Amanda Shires’ Tiny Desk (Home) Concert; Public Radio Favorites From September

Plus, our quarantine nostalgia listening.

by Marissa Lorusso and Lyndsey McKenna One of the things we miss about being in the office are the casual conversations we’d have with our teammates about the music that’s been bringing us joy, comfort, delight and surprise. When those conversations have happened lately – as with all conversations – they’ve been over chat platforms and video conferences. Recently, the topic of nostalgia came up, and many of us were surprised to find that we weren’t alone in using music from our childhoods and young adulthoods to escape the challenging present. We thought we’d share some of those nostalgic recommendations with you over the next few weeks. To kick things off, we asked news editor Andrew Flanagan to share his recent listening habits: “I'm of an age (36) at which my memories of growing up are rarely sharp in quality or specific in content. When I open the tap and let them spill out, a flood of unrelated images and sounds streak across and under and into one another. I've been spending a lot of time this year projecting this '90s bricolage onto the roof of my skull and letting it kaleidoscope away. So imagine my delight this week when Mariah Carey revealed she worked on an ‘alternative’ album as a pressure-release valve during the making of her blockbuster Daydream in 1995: Chick’s out-of-print Someone's Ugly Daughter. While it’s near impossible to actually hear that album, the ensuing discussion sent me traveling to better contemporaneous hangs, like Veruca Salt’s ‘Volcano Girls’ or D.C. indie rockers Quix*o*tic.” Nostalgia, ultra, Marissa Lorusso and Lyndsey McKenna Tiny Desk NPR Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires are no strangers to the Tiny Desk; Isbell’s performed with the 400 Unit, Shires has shared a solo set, and both musicians accompanied Josh Ritter for his most recent Tiny Desk concert. For our Tiny Desk (home) concert series, Isbell and Shires performed a set of songs from his latest LP, Reunions, from their barn behind their very own desk.  Also this week: In Jhené Aiko’s Tiny Desk (home) concert, the R&B star coasts through a medley of eight (8) songs that plays like the ultimate nod to her legions of fans. Plus, Bright Eyes’ recent Tiny Desk (home) concert was recorded in two studios 1,500 miles apart. Newsletter continues after sponsor message New Music On this week’s All Songs Considered new music mix, Bob Boilen pressed pause on the music for two short conversations: Tune in for new music from Shamir, Told Slant and beabadoobee, plus brief interviews with Kurt Vile on meeting John Prine and Peter Silberman, best known for The Antlers, on writing music for Malcolm Gladwell’s audiobook.  The electrifying New Orleans ensemble Tank and the Bangas made a major impression when it won the 2017 Tiny Desk Contest. When our colleagues at Morning Edition sought original music to soundtrack the COVID-19 era for their Song Project, Tarriona “Tank” Ball and her bandmates responded with an appropriately-titled track called “Feelings.”  It’s a jam-packed week on All Songs Considered New Music Friday: K-pop girl group Blackpink shares its Korean-language full-length debut, West Coast rapper YG returns with his fifth album in as many years, Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace surprise-drops a new album and the Icelandic singer Jónsi offers a new record of mesmerizing melodies.  This week, the Washington, D.C.-based artist Bartees Strange released his debut full-length, Live Forever. Featuring a mélange of influences, from post-punk and hip-hop to acoustic meditations, it’s inviting yet uncompromising with surprises at every sonic turn. September’s edition of Heavy Rotation —  a playlist of our Member stations’ favorite new tracks —  features a political anthem by Janelle Monáe, a prog-metal fever dream from Mastodon, a dreamy power-pop ballad from Sad13 and an ostensible mission statement from the mysterious band SAULT. This week, our friends at World Cafe shared a video of Ana Tijoux performing "Antipatriarca" at a Latin Roots live concert in Philadelphia.  Featuring When young composers reboot old musical formulas, exciting things can happen —  like in composer Sarah Kirkland Snider's first large choral work, Mass for the Endangered, which gives the traditional Catholic mass a 21st-century twist. Mac Davis, a promotions man turned songwriter and performer whose work was recorded by Nancy Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash and more, died this week in Nashville.  Pop superstar Billie Eilish has been spending her time in quarantine writing new music, fostering dogs and trying not to spend too much time on social media. She and her brother and producer, Finneas, joined World Cafe to talk about their songwriting process and perform three songs. Helen Reddy’s hit "I Am Woman" became a feminist anthem in the '70s. The Australian-born singer died this week at the age of 78. Incoming What can the stories of Bobby Shmurda, Nipsey Hussle and DJ Drama tell us about America’s obsession with race and criminality? Our new podcast Louder Than A Riot goes beyond the headlines, breaking down stories of rap, race, infamy and injustice with the artists caught up in it all. Subscribe now and hear it beginning Oct. 8th. One More Thing What else is in the teaches of Peaches? 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