Tracey Thorn On World Cafe

Edward Bishop/Courtesy of the artist Tracey Thorn.

Edward Bishop/Courtesy of the artist

When veteran U.K. singer-songwriter Tracey Thorn decided to put together her own Christmas album — a project she'd been pursuing for several years — she opted for a slightly less traditional approach. The Everything but the Girl singer's new album, Tinsel and Lights, has only one very familiar holiday tune, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." The rest of the record is a mix of Thorn's original work and traditional songs that, while still written in the holiday spirit, aren't as well-known as the songs we hear in every shopping mall throughout the season.

"Joy""Like A Snowman""River""Tinsel And Lights"

Among Thorn's original material on Tinsel and Lights is "Joy," which isn't quite as cheery as your average holiday tune. "Joy" was informed, she says, by the change in perspective we experience as we get older: "This is what Christmas is for — you know, it is kind of there to get you through some of the difficult stuff," she tells World Café host David Dye. "And maybe one of the reasons we all get together at Christmas — and we put up lights, and we celebrate this stuff — is precisely because life starts to seem really difficult when you're older."

Thorn performs songs from the new album and recounts the story of its creation with David Dye in this session of World Cafe.

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Bonnie Raitt On World Cafe

Bonnie Raitt's new album is titled Slipstream.

Marina Chavez Bonnie Raitt's new album is titled Slipstream.

Marina Chavez "Right Down The Line""Used To Rule The World""Not 'Cause I Wanted To""Love Sneakin' Up On You"

Bonnie Raitt is a blues-rock legend with nine Grammys and five platinum albums under her belt. Her rootsy and passionate take on everything blues — combined with her intimate understanding of composition, deft slide-guitar skills and soulful vocals — helped Raitt become an icon.

It's been 40 years since Raitt started releasing albums, and she's still in remarkably fine form. In fact, her new 16th studio release ranks among her best yet. Slipstream comes seven years after her last release, and it's a daring and introspective album with reggae, soul, rock and blues influences.

Here, Raitt plays live and talks to WXPN's Michaela Majoun about the making of Slipstream.

This edition of World Cafe originally aired June 18, 2012.

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Minus The Bear On World Cafe

Minus The Bear performs the song "Steel and Blood" live at KXT.

"Steel and Blood""Empty Party Rooms""Diamond Lightning"

The majority of Minus The Bear's records have been iterations of the intricate, melodic rock the Seattle band has been playing since it formed in 2001. In 2010 the band made a slight departure with Omni, an album that relied much more heavily on synthesizers and keyboards.

The band didn't go into the recording process for its latest record, Infinity Overhead, with any stated goals of returning to its trademark sound, but that was the outcome nevertheless. Guitarists Jake Snider and David Knudson say they fell back in love with playing guitar, and their renewed affection for their instruments is immediately apparent in the riff-laden hooks that dominate the album.

The band plays an acoustic set of songs from Infinity Overhead in this session of World Cafe.

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Latin Roots: Christmas Preview

Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles is an all-female mariachi band.

Courtesy of the artist Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles is an all-female mariachi band.

Courtesy of the artist Los Papines, "El Pequeño Tamborilero (The Little Drummer Boy)"Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles, "Los Peces En El Río"

As the peak of the holiday season draws near, Latin Roots explores some sizzling renditions of well-known Christmas classics. Most people are familiar with the traditional "Little Drummer Boy," but many have yet to enjoy a very popular Cuban version of the song, interpreted by the band Los Papines. The band, commonly known as the "Kings of Rumba," uses deep, percussive sounds to tell the story of a child's perspective of the holiday season.

World Cafe host David Dye is joined by Catalina Maria Johnson — host of Beat Latino — as they discuss the musical traditions of Spain, and one particular Christmas song that has spread across all of Spain's former colonies: "Los Peces en el Rio."

Many Americans may not be familiar with the song, but throughout Latin America, singing it has become a household tradition. Nearly every country has its own rendition, and Catalina performs a mariachi version of the much-beloved tune.

While mariachi is typically a male-dominated genre in Latin America, Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles is an all-female band that defies stereotypes. The band offers a unique biblical perspective on "Los Peces en el Rio," which recounts the story of a fish watching the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus as they make their way along a river bank.

Listen to the Latin Roots Catalina Maria Johnson Christmas playlist on Spotify

Latin Roots from World Cafe is made possible by a grant from the Wyncote Foundation.

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Sea Wolf On World Cafe

Courtesy of the artist Sea Wolf.

Courtesy of the artist "Old Friend""Middle Distance Runner""Priscilla""You're A Wolf"

Alex Brown Church began performing under the name Sea Wolf in 2003, after writing a handful of songs that didn't fit the rock band he played with at the time. Although Church has roped in a supporting cast of musicians to perform his songs, Sea Wolf is still very much his baby.

For the second Sea Wolf record, White Water, White Bloom, Church began to put together more ornate arrangements with strings and unusual instruments. For his latest album, he took a stripped-down approach, relying on just his voice and guitar and focusing on the cores of his songs. The result, Old World Romance, is a more straightforward affair, one that Church produced himself.

Although Church did at one point accidentally wipe the hard drive containing all of the audio files he'd been working on for the album, he was eventually able to get them all back. The album comes across as a distillate of the confidence Church has developed over the past few years, revealing strength in his singing and songwriting that wasn't quite so obvious in his previous work.

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Susanna Hoffs On World Cafe

Jonathon Kingsbury/Courtesy of the artist Susanna Hoffs.

Jonathon Kingsbury/Courtesy of the artist "Raining""Picture Me""When You Walk In The Room"

Susanna Hoffs, best known as the lead singer of the all-female 1980s pop group The Bangles, has a history of playing well with others. After she and the band's other members parted ways — only to reunite a few years later — Hoffs wrote two solo albums. Soon enough, though, she found a new collaborator in Matthew Sweet, with whom she released two collections of covers.

Her recent solo album Someday also finds Hoffs pulling in help from friends; she co-wrote most of the songs from this session with Nashville musician Andrew Brasell. Brasell spent a stretch of time staying in the guest room at Hoffs' family home, and Hoffs tells World Cafe host David Dye that his presence there was an essential part of the album's creation: "Having a musician whose singular focus was writing and music and creativity, sort of right in my living room ... caused me to stop everything that I was doing that was a distraction."

Although the majority of the songs on Someday come from the time Hoffs spent writing with Brasell, one has its roots in a considerably older partnership. Hoffs put together the final version of "Raining" with Brasell and producer Mitchell Froom, but she found the first version of the song on an old cassette — she'd originally written it with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell in 1989. Hear "Raining" and other songs from Someday on this session of World Cafe.

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Jovanotti On World Cafe

Courtesy of the artist Jovanotti.

Courtesy of the artist

"Piove"
"Mezzogiorno"
"Sulla Frontiera"

Lorenzo Cherubini, better known by his stage name Jovanotti, occupies a curious position on the pop landscape — that of the hugely successful international star who remains largely unknown to U.S. audiences. More than two decades have passed since he first broke out in his native Italy, though, and now he's making moves to do the same in the States.

Jovanotti just put out a career-spanning retrospective album called Italia 1988-2012, his first-ever U.S. release. It's a good starting point to those unfamiliar with his work, which pulls from a vast array of genres. He started out making mostly hip-hop, but later dabbled in more mainstream pop songs, Italian ballads and Latin pop.

In this World Cafe session, Jovanotti plays songs from across his career, and talks with host David Dye about his recent move to New York. Jovanotti relocated to the U.S., he says, to surround himself with the American music that has inspired him throughout his life.

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