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Sharon Van Etten On World Cafe

Sharon Van Etten's raspy, elegant vocals and deeply confessional folk-rock have made her a rising star. Ever since her official debut in 2009, the heart-breakingly intimate Because I Was In Love, Van Etten has been expanding her sound and adding grit to her delivery.

Van Etten's third album, the transfixing Tramp, came out in February. Van Etten still sings of heartbreak, lost chances and first kisses, but the overall tone is more triumphant and defiant. Van Etten's luminous alto, dynamic instrumentation and star collaborators — Beirut's Zach Condon, Wye Oak's Jenn Wasner, The Walkmen's Matt Barrick — make Tramp wonderfully expressive and unforgettable.

This segment originally aired on March 9, 2012.

Copyright 2012 WXPN-FM. To see more, visit http://www.xpn.org/.

NPR

China Builds Museums ... But Will The Visitors Come?

China is on a spree to build world-class museums and has opened about 100 of them annually in recent years. Two of the biggest opened on the same day last fall on opposite banks of Shanghai's Huangpu River. But filling these museums — with both art and visitors — is proving more challenging.
NPR

African Cities Test The Limits Of Living With Livestock

Hipsters may just be discovering the joys of backyard chickens, but in African megacities, people have been bringing their animals into the slums with them for decades. That's creating a new ecosystem of animals and huge numbers of people living closely together like never before.
NPR

Oklahoma's GOP Senators Find Themselves In Tornado Aid Bind

Sens. Tom Coburn and James Inhofe have become the faces of pushback on federal emergency spending. Now the deadly and devastating tornado in their home state has put them in an awkward position.
NPR

Vertical 'Pinkhouses:' The Future Of Urban Farming?

Architects have come up with spectacular concepts for vertical farms that would grow crops in city skyscrapers. But many horticulturists think the future of vertical farming isn't in skyscrapers but rather, in large, indoor warehouses lit up magenta by super-efficient LEDs.

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