Music

On the night Jeff Tweedy was set to visit the Free Library of Philadelphia to talk about his new memoir, Let's Go (So We Can Get Back), in front of an audience of fans, the first snow storm of the season had caught the city off guard. Traffic was gnarly and Tweedy was genuinely concerned.

Kurt Vile's song "Loading Zones" is in my head. It's a song about Kurt's adventures driving around Philadelphia. In particular, I've been thinking the last few minutes, wherein he repeats this line over and over: "I park for free."I parked for free. Until I didn't.

What can stop the mutant psych of Sunwatchers? In the last two years alone, the Brooklyn band has released Sunwatchers and II, two live albums and 3 Characters, a double LP led by the truly impossible-to-pin-down guitarist and banjoist Eugene Chadbourne. Sunwatchers' sonic and sociopolitical fervor is palpable, as the band weaves a noise-induced trance given to ecstatic dance.

Ever wonder what albums your fellow NPR fans listen to? We asked, you voted and below are the results our year-end listener poll for 2018. The list mirrors the NPR Music Top 50 Albums more than I've noticed in previous years. Like that list, listeners put Janelle Monáe, Kacey Musgraves, Mitski and Lucy Dacus all in the top positions.

In August 2017, all the original members of the Arizona rock and roll band the Meat Puppets got together for the first time in 22 years to perform.

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Doyle Bramhall II is a musicians' musician.

Bluedog is a family band based out of the Twin Cities, Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.

Formed by Ponca lead guitarist Eric Buffalohead and his wife and singer-songwriter Joni who is Dakota, the band has a genre crossing style that comes from a love of the blues and passion for Native issues.

Eric is a musician of 20-plus years and also a university professor. Joni was encouraged by their twins to fill the band’s spot for a female vocalist, then started writing songs.