NPR Music

A conversation with Dan Auerbach and the music that inspired his new album 'Waiting on a Song'

A couple of weeks ago Robin Hilton snuck a Harry Styles cut on the show, to see if he could trick Bob Boilen into loving the One Direction singer's solo effort by not telling him who it was. (It didn't work). This week Robin tries to get another One Direction song by Bob via one of Bob's favorite singers, Mitski, performing a cover of the song "Fireproof" from One Direction's album Four. Did he fool Bob? Full playlist: 1. Mitski: "Fireproof" (One Direction cover), 2. Kevin Morby: "1234," 3. Jeff Tweedy: "I'm Always In Love," 4. Big Thief: "Mary," 5. Jon McKiel: "Conduit," 6. This Is The Kit: "Moonshine Freeze."

Two decades after his death, Tupac Shakur is still the headline-generating, record-selling, contentious figure that he was in life. On this +1, NPR Music hip-hop reporter Rodney Carmichael talks with Ben Westhoff, author of Original Gangstas, a book about the heyday of West Coast gangsta rap. The two talk about Tupac's enduring legacy and what it means today.

'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' turns 50 next week — so what's been done to celebrate one of the greatest records ever? They've remixed the entire album! The word "remix," in fact, may not capture the scope of the project — it's more like someone rebuilt a pyramid with fresh bricks. But a question remains: Why would anyone do so? All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen traveled to New York to meet Giles Martin, who spearheaded the project, to find that out.

Yes, it's true: Harry Styles of the British boy band One Direction has taken a huge left turn on his debut solo album, turning in an infectious, sometimes gritty batch of rock songs inspired by The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and other classic bands he grew up listening to. Robin kick's this week's show off with one of these surprising new songs, the playful earworm "Carolina." Full playlist: 1. Harry Styles: "Carolina," 2. Kalbells: "Why?!steria," 3. The Building: "Have To Forgive," 4. Fleet Foxes: "Fool's Errand," 5. Dr. Danny: "Fly Me Back In Time," 6. The National: "The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness"

This week, guest host and NPR Music reporter and producer Anastasia Tsioulcas talks with jazz saxophonist, composer and band leader Ravi Coltrane about his late mother's remarkable music on a new compilation called World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda

Grab your hanky — you're gonna need it for this week's episode of All Songs Considered. We certainly did while reading and listening to all of the incredible stories we received from listeners about the songs that remind them of their moms. Some were funny, some were dark (a few of you have issues way above our pay grade), but most were heartfelt and full of joy, sometimes grief, but always ending with unconditional love. We got several thousand stories and song picks, way more than we could share in a single show. But here are a handful of the ones that moved us the most, sometimes in the simplest and smallest ways.

Hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton are joined by NPR Music's Lars Gotrich to share the week's best new music, including another cut from Sufjan Stevens' Planetarium collaboration and Feist: 1. Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly & James McAlister: "Mercury," 2. Feist: "A Man Is Not His Song," 3. Rostam: "Gwan," 4. You'll Never Get To Heaven: "Rain Copy," 5. Frankie Cosmos: "Fish Bowl" (cover of a Kero Kero Bonito song), 6. Beth Ditto: "Fire"

If you've never found a way to experience the bliss and tragedy of traditional British folk music, this is your chance. The Queen of Hearts is a stunning new album by Offa Rex, the project of English singer Olivia Chaney and The Decemberists. It's a record The Decemberists' leader Colin Meloy has wanted to make for years, to honor that great British tradition and also the way bands in the '60s and '70s, like Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span, rocked it. On this edition of All Songs Considered, a transatlantic conversation with Offa Rex's Olivia Chaney and Colin Meloy. Both artists are well-versed in the folk tradition — easily identified in Colin's writing with The Decemberists — something he learned as a young lad growing up in Helena, Montana, while Chaney came to it through studying voice and piano in Oxford, England. On The Queen of Hearts, produced by Oregon-based producer Tucker Martine, you'll hear their unique takes on classic records from Anne Briggs, Martin Carthy, Ewan MacColl, Phoebe Smith, June Tabor and more.

Special guests from the NPR Music team join All Songs Considered this week to share some of their favorite releases from April: 1. Shakey Graves: "Nobody's Fool," 2. Elliot Moss: "99," 3. Orgone: "I Sold My Heart To The Junkman," 4. The Mountain Goats: "Rain In Soho," 5. GAS: "Narkopop No. 4," 6. Trio Mediaeval: "Morgunstjarna," 7. The War On Drugs: "Thinking Of A Place