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In Your Ear: Anthony Fantano

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Now it's time for the occasional feature we call In Your Ear. That's where we asked some of the guests on our program to share the music that gets them going. This week though, we decided to reach out to music gurus from public radio stations around the country to hear about their personal playlists. Today we hear from a radio host and music reviewer from Hartford, Connecticut.

ANTHONY FANTANO, BYLINE: Hi, everyone. I'm Anthony Fantano, the Internet's busiest music nerd of WNPR's THE NEEDLE DROP. I also run a website with THE NEEDLE DROP, where I review music there on a regular basis. And this is what's in my ear.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CITY STAR")

FANTANO: The first song I wanted to show off was this track "City Star" from the new Rustie album "Glass Swords." Rustie is a Glasgow electronic music producer.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CITY STAR")

FANTANO: You know, when I was reviewing this record, this is one of the most recent records I reviewed. There are a lot of songs that, you know, just get me excited because they create a certain, I guess, set of colors in my head. And I when I first listened to this song it was like quite literally, you know, just rainbow, fireworks exploding in every possible direction in a really overwhelming way, in a really exciting kind of way.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CITY STAR")

FANTANO: While I was listening to this song, I was not under the influence of anything.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "CITY STAR")

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE GOLDEN AGE OF APOCALYPSE")

FANTANO: Well, the next song over here that's in my ear is this track from the new Thundercat album, "The Golden Age of Apocalypse." Thundercat is a bass player - jazz bass player, jazz fusion, to be exact - from the West Coast.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE GOLDEN AGE OF APOCALYPSE")

FANTANO: Now what I did find on this album was something different, just a different take on a lot of jazz fusion ideas. And I would love to see a lot of other artists in the future, kind of, take jazz down this avenue and make it younger again, make it more interesting again, and make it something that is just as innovative and as current as a lot of the other genres out there.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE GOLDEN AGE OF APOCALYPSE")

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NIGHTLIGHT")

FANTANO: Another song right now that's, kind of, in my ear is a track from the new Little Dragon album, "Ritual Union," and it's kind of a sensual album for me. And that's one of the reasons this track in particular "Nightlight," has kind of hung with me. And the singing to me that stands out the most about this song is just their front woman's, Naomi's vocals. She's just got such a fantastic voice. It's just got a lot of personality to me and she has a fantastic range.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NIGHTLIGHT")

NAOMI: (Singing) (Unintelligible)

FANTANO: I just love a great groove. And Little Dragon brought that on this album, and this track, especially, to me.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NIGHTLIGHT")

NAOMI: (Singing) Turning and (Unintelligible) form the line. Moving shoulder...

MARTIN: That was Anthony Fantano, host of THE NEEDLE DROP on WNPR in Hartford, Connecticut, telling us what's playing in his ear.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NIGHTLIGHT")

MARTIN: And that's our program for today. And remember, to tell us more, please go to npr.org and find us under the Programs tab. You can also friend me on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at TELL ME MORE/NPR. I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE from NPR News and the African-American Public Radio Consortium. Let's talk more tomorrow. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.