When it comes to the airwaves, World Cafe is NPR’s most popular music radio show. More than 300 public radio stations from all corners of the country carry the two-hour program.
You might only be familiar with the first hour of the show — that’s the interview element, where hosts Raina Douris and Stephen Kallao have in-depth conversations with essential and emerging musicians from across the genre spectrum.
But we put just as much thought into the second hour of World Cafe, which we call the “needledrop” in-house. Every day, we handpick an hour’s worth of songs to share with our listeners. Some of those songs are old favorites, but a lot of it is new music from your favorite — or soon to be favorite — acts.
Now you can stream the songs featured on World Cafe. We’ll be updating this playlist every Tuesday with a selection of the best cuts from the radio program.
This week, you’ll find new music from some of the artists we’ve had on the show recently, like Lucy Dacus and Sharon Van Etten.
The playlist features new music from Shamir, Turnstile and Pulp. There’s a good dose of high-energy antics, courtesy of Wet Leg’s new single, called “catch these fists.”
One of my favorite songs in this week’s mix is “Rust,” from Liberian folk singer Mon Rovîa, which is not a new release but still a must-listen.