360 Staff Pick: The Very Best

Warm Heart of Africa
The Very Best
Playlist anxiety this party season? It’s The Very Best to the rescue. Fronted by a Malawian Esau Mwamwaya, the band made mixtape history last year with its killer remixes of M.I.A’s “Paper Planes” and Vampire Weekend’s “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.”  Even without those tunes, the album offers dizzying layers of [...]

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360 Staff Pick: Speech Therapy

Speech Therapy
Speech Debelle
In our contest-obsessed culture, it’s easy to tune out awards hoopla. But England’s Mercury Prize has done what a meaningful award should do: shine a light on an artist who deserves it.  Twenty-six year-old Speech Debelle was virtually unknown before she won the prize last month.  Her debut record, Speech Therapy, is filled [...]

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360 Staff Pick: Honor Still Lost

The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum
By Heinrich Boll
When I first read this 1974 novel, set in West Germany around the time of the Red Army Faction, it seemed very foreign to me in every sense.  A serious terrorist threat?  Law enforcement overreach to deal with it?  Powerful, sensationalist right-wing media whipping up the panic?  Well, [...]

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