All Songs Considered

Hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton are back from their holiday journey to the heartland, rested and ready to celebrate the new year with a batch of new music from some of their favorite artists, and latest discoveries. Robin kicks things off with a new cut from St. Vincent, an artist who continues to redefine what it means to rock an electric guitar. Her new, self-titled album isn't out until late February, but you can get a good taste of it with the fantastically gritty, disjointed song "Digital Witness." Also on the show: Bruce Springsteen reimagines his somber, acoustic classic, "The Ghost Of Tom Joad," as massive, noisy rock song, courtesy of Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello; Lost In The Trees, a band normally defined by its lush string arrangements, is back with a brand new sound; singer, songwriter Damien Jurado takes us on a journey through an imaginary world where everyone is named "Silver," and Bob Boilen shares some bold and beautiful new discoveries from the Swedish duo I Break Horses and Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Danny Brewer, who writes and records as Besides Daniel. Songs Featured On This Episode St. Vincent Album: St. Vincent Song: Digital Witness I Break Horses Album: Chiaroscuro Song: Denial Damien Jurado Album: Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son Song: Silver Timothy Lost in the Trees Album: Past Life Song: Past Life Bruce Springsteen Album: High Hopes Song: Ghost of Tom Joad Besides Daniel Album: This Marvelous Grief Song: Untouched and Burning

It's been a couple of years since we last had NPR Music producer Lars Gotrich on the show to highlight the year in metal and what he sometimes calls "outer sound," a nebulous grouping of experimental music. It was time to bring his weird sonic world back. In 2013, the impeccably named heavy metal band Satan came out of the woodwork after a 17-year gap as if nothing had changed in heavy music and made its best album yet. Circuit des Yeux and Jeremiah Cymerman shook hell in their own ways. And, more than ever before, Lars Gotrich looked to cassettes and artists like Giant Claw and Katie Gately for the bizarre, inspired and even euphoric. Over on the Best Music of 2013 blog, you'll find the complete lists of Lars' favorite metal and cassette releases of 2013. 

For this year's annual holiday music show, All Songs Considered hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton set out on a snowy road trip in search of the true spirit of the season. Their destination: America's heartland, where they plan to celebrate Christmas with Robin's family in Kansas. Join Bob and Robin as they motor across the country in a '71 Volkswagen Beetle, brave an ice storm and meet some special guests along the way, including Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, St. Vincent (Annie Clark), Josh Ritter and more.

Hear us count down through the top 25 most popular albums in this year's poll. It's always hard to predict how our audience will vote in our year-end polls for the best music. NPR has a large group of listeners with wildly varying tastes. But this year was even harder to call because we had an unusually large pool of contenders for Album Of The Year. In the end listeners picked Vampire Weekend's Modern Vampires Of The City as the year's best album. No other record came close. It drew more than twice as many votes as the next closest record, Arcade Fire's Reflektor. Daft Punk's Random Access Memories followed closely in third place, with The National's Trouble Will Find Me and Lorde's Pure Heroine wrapping up our top five. (You can see the others that made the final list below). Lorde led a trio of debut albums in the top ten, each fronted by female singers (the others were The Bones of What You Believe by CHVRCHES and Days Are Gone by HAIM). Listeners seemed less interested in let's-get-a-band-together guitar rock this year and more interested in studio efforts, like the carefully composed songs from bands such as Vampire Weekend or Atoms For Peace. There was a lot of love for dance and pop, with albums from Daft Punk, Janelle Monae and Justin Timberlake in the top 25. At No. 7, Kanye West's Yeezus was the lone hip-hop album to appear in the top 25 (you'll find more in the top 100 listener picks we list at the bottom of the page). You can hear us count down through the top 25 most popular albums in this year's poll with the link above, or scroll through the list below. You can see the top 100 albums at the bottom of the page and download a pdf of the full list.

What defined music in 2013? All Songs Considered kicks off NPR Music's year-end coverage by humbly submitting the following themes for your consideration: The long-awaited return of legends. New favorites who arrived fully formed. The triumph of elaborate promotion. The sneak-attack album drop. On this special edition of the show, Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton are joined by NPR Music's Stephen Thompson and Ann Powers for a roughly chronological tour through the musical high points of the year. Songs Featured On This Episode My Bloody Valentine Album: m b v Song: She Found Now David Bowie Album: The Next Day Song: Where Are We Now? Bryan Ferry Album: The Great Gatsby: Music from Baz Luhrmann's Film Song: Love Is the Drug Rhye Album: Woman Song: Open Kacey Musgraves Album: Same Trailer Different Park Song: Follow Your Arrow Brandy Clark Album: 12 Stories Song: Just Like Him Kanye West Album: Yeezus Song: Blood on the LeavesLanguage Advisory: The song contains profanity. Earl Sweatshirt Album: Doris Song: Chum James Blake Album: Overgrown Song: Retrograde Vampire Weekend Album: Modern Vampires of the City Song: Step Laura Marling Album: Once I Was an Eagle Song: Master Hunter Valerie June Album: Pushin' Against a Stone Song: Somebody To Love Ty Segall Album: Sleeper Song: Man Man Lorde Album: Pure Heroine Song: Tennis Court Daughter Album: If You Leave Song: Youth San Fermin Album: San Fermin Song: Renaissance! Dorothy Love Coates & The Gospel Harmonettes Album: I Heard the Angels Singing: Electrifying Black Gospel from The Nashboro Label 1951-1983 Song: Dorothy Love Coates & The Gospel Harmonettes, 'Heaven, I've Heard So Much About It' Arcade Fire Album: Reflektor Song: Normal Person The Blow Album: The Blow Song: Make It Up Paul McCartney Album: New Song: Alligator The Flaming Lips Album: The Terror Song: "Look...The Sun Is Rising" Songs: Ohia Album: Magnolia Electric Co. (10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) Song: Hold On Magnolia The Velvet Underground Album: Loaded Song: Rock & Roll

How would you describe your family in a song? Would it be AC/DC's ominous "Highway to Hell," or The Beatles' warm, sentimental "All You Need Is Love"? Last week we asked you to tell us about the songs that remind you of your family. We got a lot of wonderful stories (and a few unsettling ones), along with a bunch of great song suggestions that reflect the same wide range of family experiences. On this special Thanksgiving week edition of All Songs Considered, we share some of our favorite stories and songs — from still in love to "still crazy." AC/DC Album: Highway to Hell Song: Highway to Hell The Beatles Album: Magical Mystery Tour Song: All You Need Is Love Alasdair Roberts Album: Farewell Sorrow Song: Whole House Is Singing The Beatles Album: I Want to Hold Your Hand/This Boy Song: I Want to Hold Your Hand Radiohead Album: OK Computer Song: No Surprises Sister Sledge Album: We Are Family Song: We Are Family Carl Douglas Album: Best of Carl Douglas: Kung Fu Fighting Song: Kung Fu Fighting Night Beds Album: Country Sleep Song: Even If We Try Paul Simon Album: Still Crazy After All These Years Song: Still Crazy After All These Years Jimmy Dean Album: 20 Great Story Songs Song: Please Pass the Biscuits Lead Belly Album: Best of Lead Belly Song: Goodnight Irene Joni Mitchell Album: Blue Song: A Case of You Yeah Yeah Yeahs Album: It's Blitz! Song: Heads Will Roll

On this episode of All Songs Considered, hear Robin Hilton explain why he has a Yo Gabba Gabba! song stuck in his head every day, and how the best remedy this week has been the new Death Grips record, Government Plates. We've also got an electrified cut from the arresting singer-songwriter Angel Olsen. Her new album doesn't come out till February, but it's an early frontrunner for one of Bob Boilen's favorites in 2014. Bob also shares new music from the appropriately named Quilt, a band that patches together light and airy, but droning songs within songs. Plus a new cut from the colorful dream-pop band GEMS. Meanwhile, Robin shares a song from the band Ages And Ages that's filled him with so much hope he thinks it could actually change your life - or at least how you're feeling at the moment. He also revisits his previous hometown of Athens, GA where he's discovered yet another great band called The New Sound Of Numbers. Death Grips Album: Government Plates Song: Feels Like A Wheel Angel Olsen Album: Burn Your Fire for No Witness Song: Forgiven/Forgotten playlist Ages and Ages Album: Divisionary Song: Divisionary (Do The Right Thing) Quilt Album: Held in Splendor Song: Arctic Shark The New Sound of Numbers Album: Invisible Magnetic Song: Complete GEMS Album: Medusa Song: Pegasus

On this episode of All Songs Considered, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton are still buzzing from the concerts they saw last week, from the spastic noise rock of (webcast ), to an intimate, joyful and humor-filled set by . Both shows offer a good excuse to revisit their respective 2013 albums: Dagger Beach from John Vanderslice, and Oh My Sexy Lord from Marijuana Deathsquads. Later, Bob and Robin are joined by NPR Music's Lars Gotrich. Lars is back this week with a massive, intricately woven song from Italian progressive metal band . The group's new album, Hemmed by Light, Shaped by Darkness, is streaming now on our . Also on the show: Bob tries to understand how the British psych rock band Toy managed to write a killer song with such a huge wall of sound; Liz Harris of and Brooklyn musician Jefre Candu-Ledesma collaborate on a new project called Raum, with a strange and mesmerizing sound; and the breezy pop band is back with a somewhat grittier sound on a new record called Trouble. Meanwhile the ghost of former All Songs intern Thor Slaughter just won't stop haunting the show. Pizza! Marijuana Deathsquads Album: Oh My Sexy Lord Song: Ewok Sadness Join the Dots Album: Join the Dots Song: Join the Dots "Join the Dots" is the title-track from Toy's sophomore release. At nearly eight minutes long, it's a mammoth and winding track, punctuated by bursts of psych-influenced punk intensity. Cover for Dagger Beach John Vanderslice     Album: Dagger Beach Song: How the West Was Won Hospitality Album: Trouble Song: I Miss Your Bones Raum Album: In The Event Of Your Leaving Song: Blood Moon Ephel Duath Album: Hemmed By Light, Shaped By Darkness Song: Feathers Under My Skin

On this edition of All Songs Considered, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton travel through the decades for an eclectic mix of rock, folk, and, wait for it... disco. The Beatles Album: On Air: Live at the BBC, Vol. 2 Song: Please Please Me Oscar Isaac Album: Inside Llewyn Davis Soundtrack Song: Oscar Isaac, 'Hang Me, Oh Hang Me' Sam Cooke Album:Night Beat Song: Trouble Blues James Blake Album: Overgrown Song: Retrograde Marisa Anderson Album: Mercury Song: Galax Shearwater Album: Fellow Travelers Song: Natural One Colin Meloy Album: Colin Meloy Sings The Kinks Song: Days Broken Bells Album: After The Disco Song: Holding On For Life

There's soon to be a new album from Broken Bells — the duo of James Mercer (The Shins) and Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) — and you're about to find out how it all came together.

On this week's edition of All Songs Considered, host Bob Boilen is caught in a funk, and the only cure is copious amounts of saxophones and surf rock. To soothe his ailments, Bob introduces Moon Hooch, a group that was banned from New York City's Bedford Avenue subway stop in Brooklyn due to its danceable squeaks and squawks. Also on the show: Death Cab For Cutie's Transatlanticism celebrates its 10th anniversary by releasing demo versions of every track from the record. It's a fascinating look at what would eventually become a revered album. We've got an early, heartbreaking version of "Title & Registration." Later in the program, co-host Robin Hilton checks back in with director Jim Jarmusch's band SQÜRL (first featured on All Songs back in May). This time the group performs a sludgy cover of Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry." Plus surf-rock from La Luz, a new solo album from Rhye singer Milosh, and the band Swearin', fronted by Allison Crutchfield, the twin sister to Waxahatchee singer and songwriter Katie Crutchfield. Moon Hooch Album: Moon Hooch Song: Number 9 SQÜRL Album: EP 2 Song: I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry Cover for Transatlanticism Demos Death Cab for Cutie Album: Transatlanticism Demos Song: Title and Registration (Demo) La Luz Album: It's Alive Song: Morning High Swearin' Album: Surfing Strange Song: Dust in the Gold Sack Milosh Album: Jetlag Song: Jetlag

Every fall, hundreds of bands flock to New York City for the annual CMJ Music Marathon, a large festival where independent, new and emerging musicians hope to be discovered. All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen was among the countless journalists, bloggers, college radio DJs, record label reps and others who attempted to navigate the sea of live performances, hoping to find new music to love and share. On this week's show, Bob's joined by music critic Maria Sherman and WSPN's Becka Schwartz to talk about and play some of their favorite discoveries out of the hundreds of shows they saw, including D.C. punks Priests, British multimedia duo Public Service Broadcasting, rockabilly singer King Dude, '60s-era soul from Nick Waterhouse and many more. Priests Album: Tape Two Song: Leave Me Alone Eagulls Album: Nerve Endings Song: Nerve Endings      Courtney Barnett Album: Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas Song: Avant Gardener Jacco Gardner Album: Cabinet of Curiosities Song: Where Will You Go Weekend Album: Jinx Song: July Public Service Broadcasting Album: Inform - Educate - Entertain Song: Spitfire King Dude Album: Burning Daylight Song: Holy Land Arcade Fire Album: Time's All Gone Song: Some Place Perfect Pussy Album: I Have Lost All Desire For Feeling Song: I Celestial Shore Album: 10x Song: Rabbit Hole

On this episode of All Songs Considered, NPR Music's Stephen Thompson stops by in his 1984 Dodge Omni to pick up hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton for a trip down Memory Lane, revisiting artists they discovered years ago. Stephen's most recent Good Listener column asked the question: "How do you get your parents into new music?" The gang talks about the dynamic of sharing music between generations, which prompts Stephen to play a cut both he and his mother love: Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car." Also on the show: hear why Björk loves the sound of Syrian musician Omar Souleyman; Dev Hynes returns with a new album under the name Blood Orange; Sleigh Bells turn up the gain with a noisy and thrilling pop-rock record; and Irish singer James Vincent McMorrow takes a surprising turn from folk to R&B. Sleigh Bells Album: Bitter Rivals Song: Bitter Rivals Blood Orange Album: Cupid Deluxe Song: Chamakay Omar Souleyman Album: Wenu Wenu Song: Khattaba Tracy Chapman Album: Tracy Chapman Song: Fast Car James Vincent McMorrow Album: Post Tropical Song: Cavalier Ex Hex Album: Hot and Cold Song: Hot and Cold Mind Spiders Album: Inhumanistic Song: Steady

New Mix: Of Montreal, Gem Club, Perera Elsewhere, More It's been a dreary, rainy week in D.C. On this episode of All Songs Considered, hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton are a little stir crazy after being stuck inside during the storms. But, with thunder rolling in the background, Robin kicks things off with an ethereal cut from the Berlin-based trip-hop artist Perera Elsewhere that perfectly captures the mood. Meanwhile, Bob, who's still picking confetti out of his clothes following a recent Flaming Lips show, shares new music from his latest obsession: the mesmerizing, Boston-based duo Gem Club. Later, Bob and Robin are joined by NPR Music's Saidah Blount and Otis Hart who introduce us to 21st century gospel doo-wop from Mapei and the Australian rapper Remi. Also on the show: The psychedelic rock group Of Montreal channels vintage Rolling Stones on a new song called "Fugitive Air," and the sultry sounds of New York City-based singer Tati Ana. Perera Elsewhere Album: Bizarre Song: Bizarre Gem Club Album: In Roses Song: Hypericum Remi Album: F.Y.G ACT:1 Song: Sangria Mapei Album: Don't Wait Song: Don't Wait Tati Ana Album: Four Walls Song: Four Walls Of Montreal Album: Lousy with Sylvianbriar Song: Fugitive Air

On this edition of All Songs Considered, host Bob Boilen has a confession: everything in the world is actually a dream in his mind. (Just listen to the podcast, it will make sense.) If that's true, co-host Robin Hilton is grateful that Bob has at least imagined some great new music. You'll hear some of it on this edition of the program, including rapper Danny Brown, Swedish electronic duo Jonsson & Alter, and the beautiful voice of singer Tom Brosseau. Also on the show: When was the last time you listened to an album three times in a row? For Bob, it was this past weekend when he discovered the new, self-titled record from the pop duo known as The Blow. Hear why he loves it so much. Plus folk singers Linda and Richard Thompson are reunited, and garage rock revivalist Ty Segall is back with yet another band - his eighth or ninth (we've lost track). The group is called Fuzz and it sounds exactly like the name. The Blow Album: The Blow Song: Make It Up Tom Brosseau Artist: Tom Brosseau Album: Grass Punks Song: Cradle Your Device Linda Thompson Artist: Linda Thompson Album: Won't Be Long Now Song: Love's For Babies And Fools Jonsson / Alter Artist: Jonsson / Alter Album: 2 Song: Brevet Hem (Vocal) Danny Brown Artist: Danny Brown Album: Old Song: Red 2 Go Fuzz Artist: Fuzz Album: Fuzz Song: Sleigh Ride