NPR Music streaming Flying Lotus, Beth Orton, Miguel and Cecilia Bartoli

NPR Music is offering fans a new batch of album streams as part of its “First Listen” series. This week, the series features a diverse lineup of new music from Flying Lotus, Beth Orton, Miguel and Cecilia Bartoli. All albums in the “First Listen” series are available in their entirety for free on-demand listening atwww.npr.org/music and in the NPR Music mobile apps.

 

Flying Lotus: As Flying Lotus, Steven Ellison makes his mark on modern music with a dynamic, original mix that incorporates hip-hop, jazz and electronic sounds. The Los Angeles producer inspires guest performances by Erykah Badu and Thom Yorke on his new album Until The Quiet Comes, which Sami Yenigun says “beats with a heart unique to its creator: adventurous but never muddled.”

 

Beth Orton: Known for mixing folk with electronic music, the singer-songwriter takes an acoustic turn on Sugaring Season, her first new album in six years. "Ornate but not wispy, these songs aren't merely pretty," NPR Music's Stephen Thompson writes. "They also convey power that builds subtly."

 

Miguel: The rising R&B artist is part of a new generation redefining the genre. Since August, he's teased fans with tracks from his second album,Kaleidoscope Dream. Frannie Kelley writes, "The singer gleefully smashes together R&B, pop and rock to make love songs about the early days."

 

Cecilia Bartoli: The mezzo-soprano is one of the most popular opera singers of her time; in her career, she’s taken on some of its long-forgotten masterpieces. Her latest collection, Mis­sion, continues in that tradition, showcasing the rarely performed work of Baroque composer Agostino Stef­fani. Hear an interview with Bartoli this afternoon on All Things Considered.

 

Complete track listings and album information are available at NPR Music, as are extensive archives of concerts, interviews and reviews of artists from all genres. NPR Music's "First Listen" series is one of the site’s most popular features, and is currently featuring Efterklang’sPiramida after a remarkable month of “First Listen” streams from The xx, The Avett Brothers, Aimee Mann and more. The Emmy Award-winning free, multimedia website at www.npr.org/music offers new features daily and an extensive archive, in collaboration with NPR's newsmagazines, public radio Member stations and the passionate NPR community.