Music Lists

Cozy up with this playlist to help weather the winter storm.

Music & Culture

Bracing For The Bomb Cyclone: Songs For Storms

4:44pm January 03, 2018

by Talia Schlanger

A playlist of tunes to remind you of warmer weather, songs that sound like hot cups of tea and jams to inspire vigorous dance moves that nobody will see you perform in the privacy of your heated home.

Amelia Randall Meath and Nicholas Sanborn of Sylvan Esso perform at the NPR Music showcase during 2017's SXSW.

Music & Culture

30 Must-Read (Or Must-Revisit) NPR Music Articles From 2017

11:18am December 29, 2017

by Andrew Flanagan

The mystery of a "missing" classic rocker, a record collector who desires just one album, Austrians who bungled their way to celebrity, a fake genre we invented ... the gang's all here.

Music & Culture

21 Hip-Hop Albums That Reflected The Politics Of Race, Space And Place In 2017

3:07pm December 28, 2017

Many of the year's best challenged America's record on race, critiqued widespread cultural erasure, or broke conventions of genre, gender and identity within the space of rap itself.

Anna Burch's song "2 Cool 2 Care" is featured in this month's Heavy Rotation.

Heavy Rotation: 10 Songs Public Radio Can't Stop Playing

7:11am December 23, 2017

This month's playlist includes a single off Anna Burch's forthcoming debut album, a cover of a Willie Dixon song and a powerful spoken-word track about homelessness.

The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (50th Anniversary Edition)

Music & Culture

The Best Reissues Of 2017

3:04pm December 20, 2017

by Tom Moon

It was a good year for previously unheard songs from classic albums and discoveries of studio works and live performances that never saw the light of day.

Music & Culture

World Cafe Remembers The Musicians We Lost In 2017

1:38pm December 20, 2017

by Talia Schlanger

We were lucky to have some of the artists who died in 2017 pass through the World Cafe to perform. Listen back to their sessions.

Music & Culture

The 2017 NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll

12:07pm December 20, 2017

by Francis Davis

An international panel of 137 jazz writers voted on the best albums of 2017. The winner took the top spot by a wide margin.

Kirk Knuffke's Cherryco was Francis Davis' top jazz album of the year.

Music & Culture

The Jazz Albums Of 2017 And The Power Of Gatekeepers

11:01am December 20, 2017

by Francis Davis

Record labels — and the physical presence of CDs and vinyl — stood out compared to artists who issued albums digitally. Plus, see the poll master's ballot.

A still from Angel Snow's "I Need You," a video found in this list of 20 songs from Nashville artists in 2017.

Music & Culture

World Cafe Nashville: 20 Indie Discoveries From 2017

7:00am December 19, 2017

by Jewly Hight

Hear a playlist of album tracks, singles and videos released by an array of fascinating independent Nashville musicians over the last 12 months.

Music & Culture

World Cafe's Best Of 2017 Playlist

12:14pm December 18, 2017

by Talia Schlanger

Enjoy listening to this mix of our favorite sounds of the year, picked by the show's entire staff.