Milo Miles

Milo Miles is Fresh Air's world-music and American-roots music critic. He is a former music editor of The Boston Phoenix.

Miles is a contributing writer for Rolling Stone magazine, and he also writes about music for The Village Voice and The New York Times.

Music Reviews
10:57 am
Wed December 19, 2012

Tunes To 'Work Hard, Play Hard, Pray Hard' To

Credit Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Music by guitarist Fields Ward appears in the new collection Work Hard, Play Hard, Pray Hard: Hard Time, Good Time & End Time Music, 1923-1936.

Originally published on Wed December 19, 2012 6:32 pm

The first thing to note about the collection of old-timey music Work Hard, Play Hard, Pray Hard is that it resulted from a record-discovery event that happens less and less often, and soon will likely never happen again. The music was recorded between 1923 and 1936. Most of the sides on the set are taken from 78s collected by the late Don Wahle of Louisville, Ky., and rescued from Dumpster destruction in 2010 by compiler Nathan Salsburg. Nineteen of the songs have never been reissued. Piles of moldy vinyl left behind by the deceased were once commonplace. No longer.

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Music Reviews
9:34 am
Thu November 8, 2012

Samuel Yirga Ushers In A Golden Age Of Ethiopian Music

Originally published on Fri November 9, 2012 9:09 am