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NPR's site offers a world of music
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The Star Ledger, NPR's site offers a world of music >>
Longtime music junkies may bemoan big record stores going the way of the dinosaur, as well as gripe that music magazines and FM radio aren't what they used to be. But if the Internet has usurped those outlets, it compensates and then some.
The latest connection for those addicted to new sounds is National Public Radio's revamped music Web site (www.npr.org/music). Whether one is a fan of classical, jazz and blues, rock/folk/pop, hip-hop or world music, NPR's site offers a wealth of content and context for streaming, downloading and reading -- with all the variety channeled from the network's affiliate stations from across the country.
The bright, easily navigable site features free concerts, studio sessions (audio and video), interviews, profiles, reviews, news and blogs. Within minutes of visiting the site, this inveterate music seeker checked out a recent studio session from alt-rock act Band of Horses, listened to an archived feature on vintage Ethiopian jazz, and streamed Thomas Adés' new symphonic poem "Tevot" from Wednesday's Berlin Philharmonic concert at Carnegie Hall.
The Internet may have killed off many aspects of the past infrastructure for music, but the good old days for discovering new sounds may be right now. A new concert by the wonderful singer/songwriter Neko Case from Disney Hall in Los Angeles is up on the NPR site today, as is a session by New Orleans alt-funk band Galactic.
It isn't necessary to be chained to the computer to enjoy what the site has to offer. It was simple and fast to download a warm, witty concert by veteran country-rock Briton Nick Lowe taped in Alexandria, Va. -- plus burn the show on CD to take on a car trip. Shows by Cat Power, Jenny Lewis and Mogwai went straight to the iPod (each as one long podcast track).
Some of the concerts and features are only available for streaming, not download -- and some streams are only up for a limited time (such as shows by the Stooges and Sonic Youth). And although the 75-minute Lowe show was easily put on CD, longer concerts are trickier to burn. The download quality of the site's MP3 files is mid-fi -- 128kbps -- but that's good enough for the iPod generation. And, of course, music fans of a certain age will find them infinitely better sonically than any long-treasured bootlegs.
Along with offering NPR's popular podcast "All Songs Considered," the site functions as a clearinghouse for content from such pace-setting outlets as Newark's WBGO ("Jazz Set with Dee Dee Bridgewater"), Philadelphia's WXPN ("World Café"), Boston's classical WGBH, Minnesota Public Radio and Internet radio station Folk Alley.com. Along with cherry-picked programs, the site includes links to member stations.
The site makes it easy to sample far-flung music festivals, from the Monterey Jazz Festival in California to the CMJ Festival in Manhattan. And there are offerings from closer to home, such as the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra's performance of Elgar's Cello Concerto with soloist Steven Isserlis via the NJSO's syndicated radio series from WQXR New York.
Unlike most Internet radio, NPR's site enables visitors to learn something about the music they're hearing and make connections to other artists. The contextual material is rich, so if you're listening to the Houston Grand Opera performance of Gounod's "Roméo et Juliette," there is a virtual program book to go along with it -- an article, cast list, synopsis. Also, if you like just one of the key arias from this opera, there's a link to streams of other "hit singles" from the opera canon courtesy of NPR's "World of Opera."
The site features music lists galore. If you've ever wondered what's on Yo-Yo Ma's iPod, he lists five of his favorite tracks -- which range from Brahms to "newgrass" band Nickel Creek. "All Songs Considered" has a song of the day feature and generates lists not only of alt-pop singer/songwriters but the hosts' five current faves from Africa, including a track by Saharan "desert blues" band Tinariwen. And the site's cross references give seekers a lot to go on, with a show from Nickel Creek's farewell tour and a profile of Tinariwen available for streaming.
NPR valiantly tries to be everything to everyone, although even the network's multicultural purview has limits. Fans of metallic and punk rock won't find much of what they're looking for on the site, nor will devotees of the lewder strains of rap. The blogs won't be to all tastes, either. Ex-Sleater-Kinney member Carrie Brownstein skates across her cultural whims with a mix of cuteness and grad-student hip that can be wearying. But "All Songs Considered" producer Robin Hilton gets points for lamenting the overabundance of "twee" music in the indie-rock world even as he confesses that such quirky tunes are a staple of his show.
--Bradley Bambarger 11/16/07 >> go there
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