NPR Music

To mark the halfway point of 2024, Felix Contreras, Anamaria Sayre and NPR Culture Desk producer Isabella Gomez Sarmiento run down their favorite releases of the year so far, from a career-defining release from Nathy Peluso, a leveling up from Argentina rapper Trueno, introspective jazz from Melissa Aldana and so much more.
Songs featured in this episode:

•Trueno, "Tranky Funky"
•Kali Uchis, "Dame Beso //Muévete"
•Lau Noah ft. Gaby Moreno, "Aunque Suene Bonito"
•Carlos Ares, "Amigo"
•Angelica Garcia, "Gemini"
•Melissa Aldana, "I Know You Know"
•Nathy Peluso, "Legendario"
•Reyna Tropical, "Cartagena"
•Daymé Arocena (feat. Vicente García), "A Fuego Lento"
•Akapellah (feat. Al2 El Aldeano, Faker), "Ni Con Money"
•The Marias, "Run Your Mouth"
•Grupo Frontera, "Me Hizo Un Favor"
•Alvaro Diaz, Feid, "Gatitas Sandungueras Vol. 1"

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Actor, comedian and music superfan Jason Mantzoukas joins us to update our running list of the year's best songs, with lots of crate-digging curiosities. With host Robin Hilton and NPR Music's Lars Gotrich.

Featured artists and songs:
1. Dancer: "Bluetooth Hell," from '10 Songs I Hate About You'
2. The Superwomen: "Lowlands," from 'Someone Like Me'
3. Oluko Imo: "Glory of Om," from 'Glory of Om'
4. Mekit Dolan Muqam Group: "Jula Muqam" from 'Bayawan'
5. The Short Dark Strangers & The Shady M************: "We're Not Animals," from The Short Dark Strangers & The Shady M************
6. Morgul Blade: "Heavy Metal Wraiths," from 'Heavy Metal Wraiths'

Also Noted:
- Mary Lattimore * Walt McClements: "Nest of Earrings," from 'Rain on the Road'
- Somesurprises: "Be Reasonable," from 'Perseids'
- Mohammad Syfkhan: "Do You Have a Lover or Not?" from 'I Am Kurdish'

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NPR Music's Daoud Tyler-Ameen and Hazel Cills shepherd you through the many huge albums out today, including new records by Kaytranada, Charli XCX and so much more.

Featured albums:
- Kaytranada, 'Timeless'
- Charli XCX, 'brat'
- Pedro the Lion, 'Santa Cruz'

Other notable albums:
- Tems, Born in the Wild
- Angelica Garcia, 'Gemelo'
- Alisa Amador, 'Multitudes'
- Peggy Gou, 'I Hear You'
- Marina Allen, 'Eight Pointed Star'

To see the entire list of June 7 releases and stream our New Music Friday playlists, visit nprmusic.org.

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Listeners share songs that take them back to the final days of high school, and the lessons they impart.

Featured artists and songs:
1. Baz Luhrmann: "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)"
2. Feist: "I Feel It All," from 'The Reminder'
3. Brad Paisley: "Letter to Me," from '5th Gear'
4. Green Day: "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," from 'Nimrod'
5. Wiz Khalifa: "See You Again (feat. Charlie Puth)," from 'Furious 7'
6. Rickie Lee Jones: "We Belong Together," from 'Pirates'
7. Cloud Cult: "You'll Be Bright (Invocation Part 1)," from 'Light Chasers'
8. Ke$ha: "TiK ToK," from 'Animals'
9. The Head and the Heart: "Rivers and Roads," from 'The Head and the Heart'
10. Simple Minds: "Don't You (Forget About Me)," from 'The Breakfast Club'

Like the show? Tell your friends and leave us a review.

Feedback always welcome: allsongs@npr.org

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The producer, singer and songwriter talks with Rachel Martin, host of NPR's new podcast Wild Card, about some of life's biggest questions.

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NPR Music's Ann Powers and Lars Gotrich are your guides to this week's new releases.

Featured albums:
• Arooj Aftab, 'Night Reign'
• Shaboozey, 'Where I've Been, isn't Where I'm Going'
• Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Nathan Salsburg & Tyler Trotter, 'Hear the Children Sing The Evidence'

Other notable albums out May 31:
• Richard Thompson, 'Ship To Shore'
• Dos Monos, 'Dos Atomos'
• Anna Tivel, 'Living Thing'
• Beak>, '>>>>'
• Swamp Dogg, 'Blackgrass'
• Thou, 'Umbilical'
• Chris Housman, 'Blueneck'
• Psychic Temple, 'Doggie Paddlin' Thru the Cosmic Consciousness'
• John Muq, 'Flying Away'
• Robin Holcomb, 'One Way or Another, Vol. 2'

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The Library of Congress' National Recording Registry is more than just a collection of music and sound — it's a reflection of who we are as a country. In April, two new Spanish language songs were added to the registry: Juan Gabriel's "Amor Eterno" and Héctor Lavoe's "El Cantante."

This week on Alt.Latino, Felix and Ana take the opportunity to dive into the Spanish language songs that have made it into the historic collection, as well as share their dream picks for what should be chosen next.

Songs featured in this episode:

•Héctor Lavoe, "El Cantante"
•Juan Gabriel, "Amor Eterno (En Vivo [En el Palacio de Bellas Artes])"
•Buena Vista Social Club, "Chan Chan"
•Buena Vista Social Club, "Orgullecida"
•Buena Vista Social Club, "El Carretero"
•Santana, "Oye Como Va"
•Lydia Mendoza, "Mal Hombre (Cold-Hearted Man)"
•Dizzy Gillespie feat. Chano Pozo, "Manteca"
•Ivy Queen, "Quiero Bailar"
•Jose Feliciano, "El Reloj"

Audio for this episode of Alt.Latino was edited and mixed by Joaquin Cotler, with editorial support from Hazel Cills. Our project manager is Grace Chung. NPR Music's executive producer is Suraya Mohamed. Our VP of Music and Visuals is Keith Jenkins.

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Our biweekly update of the year's best tracks is a mix full of "the hurries and the worries" from Alkaline Trio, wistful reflections from Lake Street Dive, Cindy Lee's sprawling double album and more.

Like the show? Tell your friends and leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts.

Feedback always welcome: allsongs@npr.org

Featured artists and songs:
1. Alkaline Trio: "Teenage Heart," from 'Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs'
2. Lake Street Dive: "Twenty-Five," from 'Good Together'
3. Les Savy Fav: "Void Moon," from 'OUI, LSF'
4. La Luz: "Poppies," from 'News of the Universe'
5. Cindy Lee: "Wild Rose," from 'Diamond Jubilee'
6. Four Tet: "Loved" from 'Three'

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On our survey of the week's most exciting new albums, WRTI's Nate Chinen and NPR Music's Sheldon Pearce get all wrapped up in the amniotic embrace of a new album by a guru of the L.A. ambient-jazz scene.

The new album by Carlos Niño & Friends is called Placenta. If you know anything about Niño, you'll probably be able to guess that the subject that title suggests — pregancy and childbirth — are taken very seriously. Those "Friends" are crucial too: Niño has become a central figure in a scene whose reverberations are starting to be felt well beyond the community itself, and are drawing more artists in. You can hear Niño on André 3000's flute album New Blue Sun, and André returns the favor here.

Also this week: The fourth album by DIIV sees the indie rock group leaning into shoegaze-inspired sounds, and Andrew Bird creates an album in tribute to the "Golden Era" jazz tunes of the 1930s and '40s he heard on Sunday morning radio shows as a young adult in Chicago.

Featured Albums:
• Carlos Niño & Friends, Placenta
• DIIV, Frog in Boiling Water
• Andrew Bird Trio, Sunday Morning Put-On

Other notable albums out May 24:
• Tiny Habits, All For Something
• Vince Staples, Dark Times
• Alex Sipiagin, Horizons
• Machinedrum, 3FOR82
• Joshua Moshier, semipermanence
• Nathy Peluso, Grasa

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We asked listeners to tell us about a song they ugly cried to or just couldn't stop playing. On this episode, we share some of their picks and the stories behind them.

Note: This episode originally ran on Dec. 26, 2023

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