Music

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As a child, I categorized people by genres, eras, or media to remember them better. It helped me define how I felt about them and their impact on me. Without this, I would unfortunately forget them as soon as they were out of sight, and that still holds true today!

Nas

 “People fear what they don’t understand, hate what they can’t conquer
Guess it’s just the theory of man”  

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Ok, "borrow" definitely isn't one of the 3 R's, but it should be an honorary member. And when you borrow from NPL instead of buy new, you're doing our Earth a huge favor. Plus, now there's so much more you can borrow from your library -- take a look!

Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers

Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers is the long awaited return of Kendrick Lamar. This album discusses what he was dealing with during his absence and the growth that came along with it. 

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Here is my favorite type of book: the kind where you have to keep stopping to Google things.

My favorite holiday tradition is watching an old Fruity Pebbles commercial in which Barney Rubble, disguised as Santa, tries to steal Fred Flintstone’s cereal. 

September of this year has come and gone, and so has 50 years since the release of the The Beatles' last and arguably most iconic album, Abbey Road. Read a little about the history of the album and about The Beatles in Nashville (separately unfortunately, never together). 

For two nights in January 1972, Aretha Franklin joined voices with the Southern California Community Choir at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles. The recording event was filmed and after thirty-plus years of legal wrangling, it is finally available to wow us all.

UK's most intrepid musical occultists present four extended tones intended for spiritual transportation.

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Chances are good that you’ve heard library music at some point in your life and not known it.

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Parent life got you feeling like your Music Festival days are behind you? Bring the kids to any one of our kid-friendly music shows this #NPLsummer 

If you want a straight-up, studio-jam experience of the legendary Memphis music scene, this DVD will not disappoint you and will leave you wanting more and more and more...

Punk rock is the voice of the silenced. It rises in troubling times, disquiets in times of peace.  We take a look at some of  Nashville Public Library's most punk rock books by pioneers who were there for its rise, its fall, and its revival. After all, libraries are punk: what's more punk than free access to information?

Ah, here is something to be savored and enjoyed!  I make no bones about Flamenco’s being my favorite art form, but biases aside, this is a magnificent, gorgeous, jaw-dropping film by a master director, Carlos Saura.

No, his mind is not for rent. To any God or government...

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Nashville Public Library is excited to help celebrate the 125th anniversary of Ryman Auditorium and host Ryman Auditorium: Soul of Nashville, a brand new art exhibit exploring the iconic venue’s rich history. The exhibit is on display at NPL’s Main Library downtown from October 21 through February 25. 

Last week, libraries nationwide celebrated Banned Books week.
This week, Nashville Public Library uniquely celebrates BAND Books.

The birthday train rolls on and the music theme continues. 

Glen Campbell died yesterday. While his death was not unexpected, it does give us pause to look back on his stellar career and graceful goodbye.

Thirty years after the release of his most famous work, most people still don’t know the name Koji Kondo. This installment of the 33 ⅓ series goes a long way toward correcting that.

John Olson of the band Wolf Eyes reviews one record per day for one year... from the best in death metal demo tapes to thrift store bin gospel.

It's been a rough week: we've lost some talented people. Longing to know more about Gwen Ifill, Leon Russell, Leonard Cohen, or Janet Reno? We offer these selections.

Listening to The Bird and the Rifle for the very first time, I spontaneously burst into tears during track six.  That’s some impressive song crafting.

 

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Bob Dylan joins the ranks of previous American laureates in literature--Faulkner, Hemingway, and Steinbeck--with the honor of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2016, "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition." On the occasion of this award, we offer a Dylan primer.