NPR Music's Stephen Thompson and Hazel Cills discuss new releases by Billie Eilish, Portishead's Beth Gibbons and Rapsody.

Featured albums:
- Billie Eilish, 'Hit Me Hard and Soft'
- Rapsody, 'Please Don't Cry'
- Beth Gibbons, 'Lives Outgrown'

Other notable albums out May 17:
- Shellac, 'To All Trains'
- The Avett Brothers, 'The Avett Brothers'
- V/A, 'Everyone's Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense'
- Mach-Hommy, '#RICHAXXHAITIAN'
- Cage the Elephant, 'Neon Pill'
- of Montreal, 'Lady on the Cusp'
- Wu-Lu, 'Learning To Swim On Empty'
- Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band, 'Loophole'
- The Lovely Eggs, 'Eggistentialism'
- Kaia Kater, 'Strange Medicine'
- Álvaro Díaz, 'SAYONARA'
- ZAYN, 'Room Under the Stairs'
- One Step Closer, 'All You Embrace'
- A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, 'Better Off Alone'
- Crumb, 'AMAMA'
- Lightheaded, 'Combustible Gems'
- Pallbearer, 'Mind Burns Alive'
- Joywave, 'Permanent Pleasure'
- Blitzen Trapper, '100's of 1000's, Millions of Billions'
- Payroll Giovanni, 'Have Money, Have Heart' EP
- UFOmammut, 'Hidden'
- SQÜRL, 'Music for Man Ray'
- pub, 'process the wise'


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Ana and Felix collect their favorite recent releases from the past few months, including new material from the breakout regional band Grupo Frontera, a country/Latin cross-over in the music of Wyatt Flores, a new song from groundbreaking rapper Mala Rodriguez and more.

Songs featured in this episode:

•Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, "Mas Que Nada"
•Luis Muñoz, "Crescent Moon"
•Mala Rodriguez, "Casi Nada [Explicit]"
•Alih Jay, "Bang Bang (Mi Baby Me Mató)"
•Cher, "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)"
•Grupo Frontera, "Me Hizo Un Favor"
•Wyatt Flores, "Half Life"
•Danny Ocean, "Cero Condiciones [Explicit]"
•Fabiola Méndez, "Lamento en Celinés"
•Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, "EL ÚNICO"

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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We update our running list of the year's best songs with new ones from Dominic Fike, WILLOW, Kamasi Washington, Illuminati Hotties and more.

Featured artists and songs:
1. WILLOW: "run!" from 'empathogen'
2. Dominic Fike: "hi grace" from '14 minutes'
3. Kamasi Washington, George Clinton & D Smoke: "Get Lit," from 'Fearless Movement'
4. Illuminati Hotties: "Can't Be Still" (single)
5. Caroline Shaw & Sō Percussion: "To Music," from 'Rectangles and Circumstance'
6. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross: "L'ouef" from 'Challengers' OST

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This week's episode of New Music Friday from All Songs Considered showcases artists stretching limits across a wide spectrum of genres. NPR Music editor Daoud Tyler-Ameen and Alt.Latino host Anamaria Sayre dig into the most exciting albums out May 10, 2024, from a juggernaut of the Mexican regional scene experimenting with song forms and sounds from across Latin America to an R&B singer getting loose after portraying a jazz icon to a blockbuster collection of contemporary indie artists pulled together for the soundtrack of a discombobulating movie rooted in the 1990s.

Featured Albums:
• Grupo Frontera, Jugando a Que No Pasa Nada
• Andra Day, Cassandra (cherith)
• Various Artists, I Saw the TV Glow Original Soundtrack

Other notable albums out May 10:
• Yaya Bey, Ten Fold
• Les Savy Fav, OUI LSF
• I. Jordan, I Am Jordan
• Ryan Castro, El Cantante del Ghetto
• Amen Dunes, Death Jokes
• Arab Strap, I'm totally fine with it don't give a f*** anymore
• Brad Mehldau, After Bach II
• Brad Mehldau, Après Fauré
• Chick Corea & Béla Fleck, Remembrance
• Chief Keef, Almighty So 2
• Conway the Machine, Slant Face Killah
• Dehd, Poetry
• Gunna, One of Wun
• How To Dress Well, I Am Toward You
• Jim White and Marisa Anderson, Swallowtail
• Kelsey Waldon, There's Always a Song
• Kings of Leon, Can We Please Have Fun
• Mick Harvey, Five Ways to Say Goodbye
• Morgan Guerin, Tales of the Facade
• Myriam Gendron, Mayday
• Orville Peck, Stampede, Vol. 1
• Shannon & the Clams, The Moon Is In The Wrong Place

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Get your hanky out. With Mother's Day nearing, listeners share the songs that remind them of their moms and the deeply moving stories behind them.

Featured songs and artists:
1. Hoagy Carmichael: "Stardust"
2. Christina Aguilera: "Beautiful"
3. Jeannie C. Riley: "Harper Valley PTA"
4. Stevie Wonder: "Isn't She Lovely"
5. Kermit the Frog: "Rainbow Connection"
6. Phyllis Hyman: "You Know How to Love Me"
7. MILCK: "Oh, Mother"
8. Christina Perri: "You Are My Sunshine"
9. The Tokens: "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"
10. Four Tops: "Reach Out I'll Be There"
11. Sweet Honey in the Rock: "Wanting Memories"

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On the May 3 episode of New Music Friday, NPR Music's Hazel Cills and WRTI's Nate Chinen discuss the week's essential new albums, including Radical Optimism, from the dance-pop superstar Dua Lipa.

The songs on Radical Optimism are mostly in the vein of Dua Lipa's earlier work, but that itself might be reason to keep a militantly sunny attitude: A parade of hits from her last album, Future Nostalgia, proved to have incredible staying power — "Levitating" hung around in the top 10 of Billboard's Hot 100 chart for nearly a year — and she contributed to last year's cultural juggernaut Barbie with "Dance the Night." Still, Hazel and Nate say the new album offers hints of a few surprising artistic developments in her sound.

Radical Optimism isn't the only album out this week that demands attention. New records by the inimitable folk songwriter Jessica Pratt and the always ambitious jazz maestro and saxophonist Kamasi Washington focus their own sounds in new and highly rewarding ways.

Featured Albums:
• Dua Lipa, 'Radical Optimism'
• Jessica Pratt, 'Here in the Pitch'
• Kamasi Washington, 'Fearless Movement'

Other notable albums out May 3:
• Willow, 'empathogen'
• Mdou Moctar, 'Funeral for Justice'
• Steph Richards, 'Power Vibe'
• Charlotte Day Wilson, 'Cyan Blue'
• Luke Stewart's Silt Trio, 'Unknown Rivers'
• 4batz, 'u made me a st4r'

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It's the 10th annual Tiny Desk contest and there's been a strong showing of Latin artists behind desks across the United States and Puerto Rico.

Felix and Ana sifted through all the entries and pulled their favorites from artists with roots all across the Americas. And if one of them ends up winning, you can thank us for the introduction.

Songs featured in this episode:

•Cathia, "Taza de Café"
•Manu Manzo, "Celos"
•Mireya Ramos and the Poor Choices, "Quiero Volver"
•Flaco el Jandro, "Lluvia Pesada"
•Los Quinceañeros, "Guero"
•La Doña, "Loser Girl"
•Alejandro Aranda, "Pieces"

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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Brittany Luse, host of NPR's It's Been A Minute, joins All Songs Considered's Robin Hilton to update our running list of the year's best songs.

Featured artists and songs:
1. Ekko Astral: "Baethoven," from 'pink balloons'
2. Nubiyan Twist: "Carry Me (feat. Seun Kuti)," from 'Find Your Flame'
3. T-Bone Burnett: "He Came Down," from 'The Other Side'
4. Bien et Toi: "So Long (feat. Paris Texas)," from 'London Safari II'
5. Bnny: "Missing," from 'One Million Love Songs'
6. Chanel Beads: "Unifying Thought," from 'Your Day Will Come'


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NPR Music's Daoud Tyler-Ameen and Sheldon Pearce discuss new albums from St. Vincent, Charley Crockett, Iron & Wine and more.

Feature Albums:
• St. Vincent, 'All Born Screaming'
• Charley Crockett, '$10 Cowboy'
• Iron & Wine, 'Light Verse'
• Maria Chiara Argirò, 'Closer'

Other notable albums out April 26:
• Neil Young and Crazy Horse, 'FU##IN' UP'
• PartyNextDoor, 'PartyNextDoor 4'
• Justice, 'Hyperdrama'
• Anitta, 'Funk Generation'

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Is April, as T.S. Eliot put it, the cruelest month? We reflect on the question with a mix that's both cringe-inducing and hilarious, from the cruelest takedowns to the most insidious earworms.

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NPR Music's Ann Powers and Hazel Cills dig into Taylor Swift's 'The Tortured Poets Department,' which hit streaming services last night, and share a handful of other new albums out Friday, April 19.

Featured Albums:
• Taylor Swift, 'The Tortured Poets Department'
• Bbymutha, 'Sleep Paralysis'
• claire rousay, 'sentiment'
• Pearl Jam, 'Dark Matter'

Other notable albums out April 19:
• Stephanie Lambring, 'Hypocrite'
• Cadence Weapon, 'ROLLERCOASTER'
• Tei Shi, 'Valerie'
• Ekko Astral, 'pink balloons'
• Bill Frisell, 'Orchestras'
• BIG|BRAVE, 'A Chaos of Flowers'
• Blue Lab Beats, 'Blue Eclipse'
• Chanel Beads, 'Your Day Will Come'
• Local Natives, 'But I'll Wait For You'
• Gangrene (The Alchemist & Oh No), 'Heads I Win, Tails You Lose'
• Brian Eno, 'Eno'
• Cloud Nothings, 'Final Summer'
• Melvins, 'Tarantula Heart'
• Mozzy, 'CHILDREN OF THE SLUMS'
• Lucy Rose, 'This Ain't The Way You Go Out'
• Pillow Queens, 'Name Your Sorrow'
• A Certain Ratio, 'It All Comes Down To This'
• Cavalier, 'Different Type Time'
• Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds, 'That Delicious Vice'
• T Bone Burnett, 'The Other Side'

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