World Cafe's Raina Douris joins NPR's Sheldon Pearce and host Robin Hilton to talk about the most anticipated albums out this spring, including new ones from Vampire Weekend, Waxahatchee, Portishead's Beth Gibbons and more.

Featured artists, albums and songs:
Reyna Tropical: "Conexión Ancestral" from 'Malegría,' out March 29
Yaya Bey: "Chasing the Bus" from 'Ten Fold,' out May 10
METZ: "Entwined (Street Light Buzz)" from 'Up On Gravity Hill,' out April 12
Vampire Weekend: "Gen X Cops" from 'Only God Was Above Us,' out April 5
Shabaka: "End of Innocence" from 'Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace,' out April 12
Beth Gibbons: "Floating on a Moment" from 'Lives Outgrown,' out May 17
Waxahatchee: "365" from 'Tigers Blood,' out March 22
Amen Dunes: "Boys" from 'Death Jokes,' out May 10
girl in red: "Doing It Again" from 'I'm Doing It Again Baby!' out April 12

See a list of more of NPR Music's most anticipated albums for spring 2024.

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A wave of springtime releases might be just around the corner, but the biggest albums out this week are keeping things cool in an enticing variety of ways. Ann Powers and Hazel Cills discuss what Jack Antonoff, Norah Jones, Moor Mother's Camae Ayewa and Kim Gordon have in common, besides a common release date.

Featured albums:
1. Kim Gordon, The Collective
2. Bleachers, Bleachers
3. Norah Jones, Visions
4. Moor Mother, The Great Bailout

Other notable releases for March 8:
• Ariana Grande, Eternal Sunshine
• Bolis Pupul, Letter to Yu
• Judas Priest, Invincible Shield
• YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Compliments of Gravedigger Mountain
• Oisin Leech, Cold Sea
• Cyrille Aimée, à Fleur de Peau
• Dion, Girl Friends
• Chris Potter, Eagle's Point
• Torrey, Torrey
• Daniel Carter and Stefan Christoff, In the wind now
• homeshake, CD Wallet
• Pixies, At the BBC
• Meatbodies, Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom
• Ronnie Lion, Spanish Town
• Vanessa Bedoret, Eyes
• Charles Moothart, Black Holes Don't Choke
• Anja Huwe, Codes
• Erika Angell, The Obsession With Her Voice
• The Rhythm Method, Peachy
• The Hanging Stars, On A Golden Shore
• astrel k, The Foreign Department
• Observers, The Age of the Machine Entities

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Alt.Latino's Anamaria Sayre and Felix Contreras visited Cuba and give us an audio-rich tour of Havana.

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Brittany Luse, host of NPR's It's Been A Minute, joins NPR's Stephen Thompson and host Robin Hilton to update our running tally of songs that could end up on NPR Music's best-of-the-year lists.

Featured Tracks:

1. Empress Of: "Feminine," from For Your Consideration
2. Rosie Tucker: "All My Exes Live In Vortexes," from UTOPIA NOW!
3. Patrick Watson: "Perfect Day" (Single)
4. Summer Banton: "Boyfriend" (Single)
5. Madi Diaz: "God Person," from Weird Faith
6. Friko: "Get Numb To It," from Where we've been, Where we go from here


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Ann Powers and Sheldon Pearce discuss Faye Webster's Underdressed at the Symphony and a handful of the week's other brand new albums on which a musician's personality seems to be embodied by their voice — even when the music is completely instrumental.

Featured albums:
1. Faye Webster, Underdressed at the Symphony
2. ScHoolboy Q, Blue Lips
3. Julian Lage, Speak To Me
4. Sheer Mag, Playing Favorites

Other notable releases for March 1:
Paula Cole, Lo
Jacob Collier, Djesse Vol. 4
Everything Everything, Mountainhead
Nils Frahm, Day
Hannah Frances, Keeper of the Shepherd
Ben Frost, Scope Neglect
Liam Gallagher & John Squire, Liam Gallagher & John Squire
Albert Hammond, Body of Work
Jahari Massamba Unit, Karriem Riggins & Madlib, YHWH is LOVE
Kaiser Chiefs, Kaiser Chiefs' Easy Eighth Album
Lang Lang, Saint-Saëns
Mannequin Pussy, I Got Heaven
Ministry, HOPIUMFORTHEMASSES
Pissed Jeans, Half Divorced
That Mexican OT, Texas Technician
Uranium Club, Infants Under the Bulb
Yard Act, Where's My Utopia?
De La Soul, 3 Feet High and Rising (35th Anniversary Edition)
Linda Smith, Nothing Else Matters and So I Liked Spring (reissues)


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Nothing on mainstream radio sounded like Beck's "Loser" when it dropped in 1994. Thirty years later, we explain why, look at its impact on the rise of slacker rock and how we still hear it today.

With KEXP's Cheryl Waters, NPR's Stephen Thompson and host Robin Hilton.

Beck tracks featured in this episode:
From 'Mellow Gold':
"Loser"
"Truck Driving Neighbor Downstairs (Yellow Sweat)"
"Beercan"
"Black Hole"
From 'Stereopathetic Soulmanure':
"Satan Gave Me A Taco"
"Rowboat"
From 'One Foot in the Grave':
"One Foot in the Grave"
Also featured:
Basehead: "Brand New Day" from 'Play with Toys'
Ween: "Push Th' Little Daisies" from 'Pure Guava'
King Missile: "Detachable Penis" from 'Happy Hour'
Pussy Galore: "Brick" from 'Sugars*** Sharp'
The Lemonheads: "Half The Time" from 'Lovey'
Guided By Voices: "#2 in the Model Home Series" from 'Vampire on Titus'
Sebadoh: "Soul and Fire" from 'Bubble & Scrape'
Pavement: "Cut Your Hair" from 'Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain'
Alex G: "Runner" from 'God Save the Animals'
Courtney Barnett: "History Eraser" from 'The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas'
Frankie Cosmos: "Apathy" from 'Vessel'
Beck: "F**** With My Head (Mountain Dew Rock)" from 'Mellow Gold'

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Ann Powers and Daoud Tyler-Ameen discuss Hurray for the Riff Raff's career-defining new album The Past Is Still Alive, along with a trio of other thrilling new releases that reveal the distinct strengths of the musicians behind them.

Featured albums:
1. Hurray for the Riff Raff, The Past Is Still Alive
2. Erika de Casier, Still (released Wednesday, Feb. 21)
3. Real Estate, Daniel
4. Mary Timony, Untame The Tiger

Other notable releases out Feb. 23:
• Daymé Arocena, Alkemi
• glaive, a bit of a mad one
• Glitterer, Rationale
• Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru, Souvenirs
• Corb Lund, El Viejo
• Mama Zu, Quilt Floor
• MGMT, Loss of Life
• Laetitia Sadier, Rooting for Love
• Nadine Shah, Filthy Underneath
• Rafael Toral, Spectral Evolution
• TWICE, With YOU-th

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Felix Contreras and Anamaria Sayre round up their favorite new music, including Southern Cone rock and cumbia, atmospheric vocals from the U.S. and even some delicate yet emotionally powerful music from the Catalan region of Spain.

Featured songs:
El Cuarteto de Nos: "Chivo Expiatorio (En Vivo)"
Helado Negro: "Best For You and Me"
La Yegros: "Bodas de Plumas"
Lau Noah: "If a tree falls in love with a river"
Daymé Arocena: "A Fuego Lento" (feat. Vicente García)
Residente: "Ron En El Piso"

Audio for this episode of Alt.Latino was edited and mixed by Joaquin Cotler. Hazel Cills is the podcast editor and digital editor for Alt.Latino and 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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Host Robin Hilton hangs with composer and artist Julia Holter and NPR's Lars Gotrich to gab about their favorite new music, including the calming sounds of Helado Negro, Daisy Rickman and more.

Featured artists and songs:
1. Jessica Pratt: "Life Is" from 'Here In The Pitch'
2. Deerlady: "Masterpieces" from 'Greatest Hits'
3. Helado Negro: "Colores Del Mar" from 'Phasor'
4. Julia Holter: "Spinning" from 'Something in the Room She Moves'
5. Daisy Rickman: "Signpost to the Stars" from 'Howl'
6. Frances Chang: "Spiral in Houston" from 'Psychedelic Anxiety'
7. Jessika Kenney & Eyvind Kang: "Ocean" from 'Azure'

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NPR Music's Felix Contreras and WRTI's Nate Chinen run down new albums by Gaby Mareno, Les Amazones d'Afrique and more. Then, Nate Chinen is joined by NPR Music's Tom Huizenga to discuss the legacy and controversy around George Gershwin's masterpiece, "Rhapsody in Blue," which celebrated its centennial this week.

Featured albums out Feb. 16:
• Gaby Moreno, 'Dusk'
• Mike McGinnis +9, 'Outing: Road Trip II'
• Mike LeDonne and the Groover Quartet, 'Wonderful!'
• Nathalie Joachim, 'Ki moun ou ye'
• Les Amazones d'Afrique, 'Musow Danse'


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