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11:49 am
Tue July 17, 2012

Ravi Coltrane: A Noble Sound, Witness To Its Heritage

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Credit Deborah Feingold / Courtesy of the artist
Ravi Coltrane's new album is called Spirit Fiction.
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cover for Spirit Fiction
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Originally published on Wed July 18, 2012 9:54 am

The jazz musician Ravi Coltrane, 47, didn't make his burden any lighter by choosing to play tenor and soprano saxophones — the same instruments his father, John Coltrane, indelibly stamped with his influence.

Ravi knew early he needed his own voice. On tenor, he has his own ways of bending and inflecting a note, applying flexible vibrato. Even when his noble sound bears witness to his heritage, Ravi Coltrane can draw on his father's language and make it his own.

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All Songs Considered Blog
11:36 am
Tue July 17, 2012

Song Premiere: TNGHT, 'Higher Ground'

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Credit Georgia Kuhn
TNGHT pairs up producers Lunice (left) and Hudson Mohawke.
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By Sami Yenigun

High-profile producers Hudson Mohawke and Lunice recently teamed up to adopt the vowel-less moniker TNGHT and assemble a self-titled, five-track stampede of brazen electronic instrumentals. The two have been busy individually; Mohawke's touch is all over Kanye West's blockbuster banger, "Mercy," as well as on a new mixtape from sharp-tongued wunderkind Azealia Banks.

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Deceptive Cadence
10:01 am
Tue July 17, 2012

Young Conductor Steers A Vivid, Drug-Addled Dream

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Credit Marco Borggreve
Robin Ticciati conducts beyond his years in a debut recording with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.
Credit Linn Records
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Originally published on Wed July 18, 2012 9:20 am

Robin Ticciati is the principal conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Bamberg Symphony in Germany. He's conducted at the Metropolitan Opera and just finished a run of Britten's Peter Grimes at La Scala. Ticciati has also been tapped to take over England's storied Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 2014. And did I mention he's under 30?

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All Songs Considered Blog
8:47 am
Tue July 17, 2012

Song Premiere: She Keeps Bees, 'Counter Charm'

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Andy LaPlant and Jessica Larrabee of She Keeps Bees.
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The Brooklyn-based duo She Keeps Bees likes to go it alone. Singer-guitarist Jessica Larrabee and drummer Andy LaPlant have been recording their music at home and self-releasing it since 2006. Their sound is intimate and moody, with incredibly spare arrangements that mix swampy blues with gritty rock.

To record the band's latest single, "Counter Charm," the duo headed to Paris, where they set up a makeshift studio in a small restaurant, late on Halloween night. If they were hoping to bottle the airy creepiness of the time and space, they found it.

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All Songs Considered
6:54 am
Tue July 17, 2012

This Week's Essential Listening, From The xx, Dan Deacon, Frank Ocean And More

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The xx (clockwise from upper left), Cate Le Bon, Frank Ocean and Dan Deacon.
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By editor

Originally published on Sat July 21, 2012 9:34 am

On this edition of All Songs Considered, hear the first new song from The xx since the group's stunning debut in 2009. "Angels" is a sensitive love song, and fantastically sparse in instrumentation, aside from a booming bass.

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