NPR Music

Roger Waters plays DJ, sharing music by those he loves and talks about what draws him to songs. This conversation isn't about his time with Pink Floyd. In fact, over the course of this nearly hour-long interview, he didn't mention the band he left more than 30 years ago even once. We do talk with him about his upcoming own solo work, including his upcoming tour called "Us And Them." But at the heart of everything, this creative force behind some of the 20th century's most iconic music is politics, money, greed and ultimately hope. Mention the music of Billie Holiday (who was addicted to heroin) and Waters launches into an assault on what he calls draconian drug laws that vilify addicts instead of treating them. That leads to a discussion of corruption and greed in politics and more knotty issues than we could reasonably keep track of: The U.S. presidential race, the conflict between Israel and Palestine, the state of the music industry, the futility of war, Guantanamo, civil rights and the Black Lives Matter movement, prison reform and how Waters, remarkably, remains hopeful and optimistic in the face of all the despair and suffering he sees plaguing the world.

This week a gigantic Pink Floyd box set is released. What's remarkable about Pink Floyd Early Years 1965-1972 is that its 27 discs cover only the band's first seven years! All this week we'll think pink with some of the people who were there. On Friday — the day this collection is released — we'll talk with drummer Nick Mason about those early years. On Tuesday we talk to Roger Waters about his upcoming projects and politics. But we thought we should start with a man who, 50 years ago, witnessed and participated in those very early days. Joe Boyd was an American working for Elektra Records in London in 1966, and the group played early shows, before it had released any recordings, at the UFO Club, where Boyd was an owner. He'd go on to produce Pink Floyd's first single, "Arnold Layne." Joe Boyd is a critical figure in the British folk music scene and global music scene. If you love Nick Drake then you can thank Joe Boyd. His book White Bicycles paints some great images of making music in the '60s, including stories of Pink Floyd. He also has a podcast that's quite brilliant called Joe Boyd's A-Z where he goes through his remarkable record collection in alphabetical order, making insightful musical connections and telling personal stories. We suggest Pink Floyd fans listen to the episode on the letter I, for "Interstellar Overdrive."

Imagine being a singer — in this case, a singer of traditional British folk songs and murder ballads, songs of love, hate, revenge, redemption and tragedy. And as the singer of these songs, you get pretty well known in the circles of folk music in the 1960s and 1970s.Now, imagine a broken heart robs you of your ability to sing. For 38 years, your voice — once beautiful — falls silent.This is the story of the great Shirley Collins.But this tragic tale has a happy epilogue, because Shirley Collins is finally singing again. She has a new record called Lodestar and she is our guest on All Songs Considered.I listened to Shirley Collins' music as a teen in the heyday of British folk music. I own records by The Albion Band, which she put together with her then-husband, Ashley Hutchings. Her songs were a huge influence on American singers as well — and one of those singers, so many years later, is Colin Meloy.If you listen to The Decemberists, you know how much Colin loves a good tale, and a good murder ballad. In fact, he released an EP of Shirley's songs about 10 years ago. So, on this edition of All Songs Considered: "Colin and Collins," a conversation with Shirley Collins and Colin Meloy.

Patrick Jarenwattananon has been the backbone of our jazz coverage almost since NPR Music started in 2007. Patrick came to us as a 22-year-old intern and shortly after began covering legendary and rising jazz luminaries like a veteran journalist. His writing for A Blog Supreme captured the spirit of the jazz community and was a rich resource for thoughtful coverage on this living American musical culture.Recently NPR Music changed the way we cover jazz, with our wonderful member station WBGO taking the lead.Sadly, Patrick is no longer working at NPR Music, but PJ (as we call him) turned me and our listeners on to so much music, and a good deal of it through the jazz artists he brought to the Tiny Desk.So on this +1 edition of All Songs Considered, I asked Patrick to come back and talk to us all about some of the legends and up-and-comers he brought to our offices. You can hear the full conversation and music with the listen link above, or watch the featured sets below.

I first saw Aurora in a small club in New York City three years ago. She was just 17 years old, but her performance was mesmerizing. Her frail, blonde figure mirrored her enchanting voice and words. The young singer from Norway put out a dramatic and beautiful record earlier this year called All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend.On this edition of All Songs Considered, Aurora — now 20 years old — plays DJ, choosing songs that inform her life and music. Some mirror the emotions in her own music, like Leonard Cohen, Enya and the mechanical, organic music of Wintergatan. She also surprised us by showing her love for metal music, including Mastodon.We had an emotional conversation. Aurora is all about touching hearts and expressing her feelings through song. Below are some edited quotes from the interview, though it's best to give a listen to the full show so you can fall in love with her music and her passion for performing and connecting with fans.

If you're looking of a break from the relentless assault of gut-churning news headlines, you've come to the right place! For this week's show Robin Hilton thought he'd send a little bit of good cheer into the world with some big, joyful group sing-alongs that celebrate life and all its gloriousness. The first burst of light and love comes from the London-based band Crystal Fighters and its anthem to how momentary and magical life is. It's followed by Fialta, a group from California with a simple message: We're all in this together. Oh, Bob Boilen has some songs too, including the gloriously chaotic sax-noise of James Chance and a new cut from singer Kevin Morby about the preciousness and fragility of life. Bonus: NPR Music's Lars Gotrich stops by to share songs from two of his favorite D.C. bands — the punk group Priests and Flasher, a band that sounds like Smashing Pumpkins if they made a new wave record. But first up: The Chilling, Thrilling Sounds Of The Haunted House. 1. James Chance: Melt Yourself Down 2. Priests: Pink White Noise 3. Flasher: Destroy 4. Crystal Fighters: Lay Low 5. Fialta: Do The Best We Can 6. Kevin Morby: Beautiful Strangers 7. Biosphere: Sweet Dreams From A Shade

On this week's +1 podcast, NPR Music contributor Timmhotep Aku talks with singer and rapper Anderson .Paak and producer Knxwledge about their new collaboration under the name NxWorries.

In this week's All Songs Considered, we feature three solo projects by some of our favorite bandleaders, a solo artist's duets record, and new music from some familiar faces, or more accurately put, some familiar Lips. The Flaming Lips are back with a new album, Oczy Młody, inspired by a Polish book that Wayne Coyne owns and finds phonetically fascinating (even if he doesn't understand any of the words). We've also got Run the Jewels, a duo that's all about the words and whose new single speaks to urgent issues of race relations. Laura Burhenn (Mynabirds) and Kyle Morton (Typhoon) each have quiet solo records that tackle life's preciousness, how the small things sometimes matter most and the tangles we amass. Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz went the loud route; Bob found one of the lyrics a little offensive, but that didn't stop Robin from playing it. We also hear from John Prine. He turns 70 this month and has recorded his highest charting record yet. For Better, Or Worse features a high spirited, often funny collection of cover tunes sung by a brilliant songwriter whose battle with cancer only seems to make him stronger. Every time I hear his Ernest Tubb and Loretta Lynn cover I laugh, and that's where our show starts.

Sunday is the 10th anniversary of My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade, a defining album for both the band and a generation of pop-punk fans. A decade later, NPR's Daoud Tyler-Ameen is still processing what it means to love this record, and what its impact says about the culture around it.

On this week's +1 podcast: A conversation with Henry Hey, the orchestrator, arranger and musical director for Lazarus, the off-Broadway musical set to the songs of David Bowie. Lazarus only ran in New York for six weeks last winter, and the songs weren't available for anyone to hear outside of those live performances until this week, when Columbia Records released the cast recording of Lazarus, along with three new songs Bowie wrote and recorded for the musical. The tracks, written during his Blackstar sessions, were among the final recordings Bowie made before he died of liver cancer on Jan. 10. To understand Lazarus, you first have to know about the 1976 film The Man Who Fell To Earth. Bowie starred in the movie as Thomas Jerome Newton, an alien who travels to earth in search of water for his dying planet. He starts a tech company, gets rich and uses the money to build a spaceship to transport water back home. But before he can take off, the government catches on and arrests him. After years in captivity, he's eventually freed, but left a lonely, broken alcoholic. Bowie always wanted to revisit his role in the film and conceived of Lazarusas a sequel that picks back up with his alien 40 years later. Though time has passed, Newton, played in the musical by Michael C. Hall, hasn't aged. But he's still addicted to alcohol, binges on Twinkies, and television. Set to a mix of Bowie's back catalog, Lazarus follows Newton as he tries find his way back home. Henry Hey worked closely with Bowie on arranging and orchestrating the songs for the stage. In this conversation, he talks about how he and Bowie reshaped the music to tell the story and what it meant to work on the iconic singer's final project.