This Week On World Cafe: June 25-29

Here’s what’s coming up this week on World Cafe:

 

Monday, June 25 – Rare Essence

The sound of funk is back — go-go, to be exact — with Rare Essence, one of the pioneers of go-go music, from where it was born: Washington, D.C. The group talks about the origins of the genre, why call and response is a must and have one heck of a dance party.

Tuesday, June 26 – Ruen Brothers

The Ruen Brothers went from singing in the pubs of an old steel town North of London to recording in Malibu with Rick Rubin who introduced them to Lana Del Rey and recruited Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers to play drums on their new album, All My Shades of Blue.

Wednesday, June 27 – ENCORE: Nathaniel Rateliff

Nathaniel Rateliff and his seven band mates in the The Night Sweats deliver a heartfelt and soulful performance of songs from their album, Tearing at the Seams. Nathaniel talks about the difficult conversations that inspired some of his lyrics, and shares how his relationship to secular music changed after his religious father died at a young age.

Thursday, June 28 – Polaris Prize Long List

The Polaris Music Prize celebrates the best in Canadian music, and its long list of 40 nominees for best album was recently announced. Native Canadian and host, Talia Schlanger, takes you North of the border to sample the incredibly diverse list – from household names like Arcade Fire and Bahamas to an emerging Montreal artist covering a Haitian folk song.

Friday, June 29 – Robert Hilburn on Paul Simon

Paul Simon is retiring from touring this fall. Thankfully, author Robert Hilburn, former music critic for the Los Angeles Times, had the opportunity to sit down with Simon for his authorized biography, Paul Simon: The Life. Hilburn shares stories about the great American songwriter including tales on Simon and Garfunkel, The Graduate and Graceland.

Listen to Word Cafe every Monday-Friday at 11pm on KXT!