NPR Music

Our list of the best albums out this week includes delicate piano pieces from Hauschka, the brilliantly burning rock of Bob Mould, songs inspired by the film Roma, Mercury Rev's remake of Bobbie Gentry's country opera The Delta Sweete and much more. Host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Felix Contreras, Tom Huizenga and Stephen Thompson as they sprint through their top picks for Feb. 8. FEATURED ALBUMS: 1. Bob Mould: Sunshine Rock; 2. Jessica Pratt: Quiet Signs; 3. Hauschka: A Different Forest; 4. Various: Music Inspired by the Film Roma; 5. Said the Whale: Cascadia; 6. Mercury Rev: Bobbie Gentry's The Delta Sweete Revisited; 7. Joszef Van Wissem and Jim Jarmusch: An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil. OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR FEB. 8: Ariana Grande: thank u, next; Cass McCombs: Tip of the Sphere; The Lemonheads: Varshons 2; Panda Bear: Buoys; Talos: Far Out Dust

On this week's show, artists battle their inner demons – the kind that come out a night when you're alone in bed, trying to find sleep – speak truth to power, celebrate love, dig into complicated characters with troubled pasts and much more.This includes a kind of demented nursery rhyme from singer Billie Eilish; the London-based duo Tender and their deep reflection on ruinous self-indulgence; and producer T Bone Burnett's new album with a prayer to overcome fear.Also on the show: The artist known as Many Rooms confronts organized religion; New York singer-songwriter Laura Stevenson has a new album inspired by the inevitable end of the universe; Lucy Dacus reimagines the French love song "La Vie En Rose" as a driving anthem to love; and producer and musician John Vanderslice returns from a five-year break from making music with a new solo album called The Cedars and a complicated tale of bent love

On this sprint through the week's best new albums, host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Lyndsey McKenna and Stephen Thompson for a whole lot of guitar rock, with a little bit of melancholy, acoustic beauty on the side. This includes Spielbergs, a group from Oslo, Norway, that makes its US debut with a fantastic squeal of feedback on This is Not the End; the L.A. quartet Cherry Gazerr, which just dropped its most emotionally potent and fully formed album ever; Girlpool, Le Butcherettes, the beautifully transporting songs of Tiny Ruins and more. FEATURED ALBUMS: Spielbergs: This is Not the End; Cherry Glazerr: Stuffed and Ready; Girlpool: What Chaos is Imaginary; Beirut: Gallipoli; Le Butcherettes: bi/MENTAL; Tiny Ruins: Olympic Girls; OTHER NOTABLE RELEASES FOR FEB. 01: Boy Harsher: Careful; Deer Tick: Mayonnaise; Guided by Voices: Zeppelin Over China; Emily King: Scenery; Mandolin Orange: Tides of a Teardrop; David Meade: Cobra Pumps; Nina Nesbitt: The Sun Will Come Up, the Seasons Will Change; Unloved: Heartbreak

Ken Mansfield was the U.S. Manager for Apple records when the Beatles played their final gig on a rooftop in London — and one of the few people who was actually with the band to witness it.

On this edition of All Songs Considered I'm joined by Marissa Lorusso our Tiny Desk Contest leader and also a critical contributor to NPR Music's Turning the Tables project.Marissa plays music from the '90s San Jose trio, Duster. They're getting back together but not before a boxed set of their storied past comes out. Marissa is also a fan of Bellows, the music of Oliver Kalb, who we also know from the band Gabby's World (formerly Eskimeaux and O). And we hear music from Heather Woods Broderick, a songwriter and singer we've featured not only for her own music but for being a stage and studio partner with Sharon Van Etten. I play music from Tiny Desk Contest entrant Jackie Mendoza who performs a stripped-down, more focused remake of the song she submitted to our contest called "De Lejos" about loving from afar. We also hear great trance guitar from a Tuareg musician from the Saharan region. It's a recording he made in Detroit after a chance meeting with a producer who shared his love of ZZ Top's Tres Hombres record. But first, I open the show with my current 2019 favorite album, one that came out as huge surprise just last week, by Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers. They call their project the Better Oblivion Community Center.

On this week's program, host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Rodney Carmichael, Sidney Maden and Stephen Thompson to talk about the must-hear albums out on Jan. 25. This includes hard-driving riff rock with a healthy sense of humor from FIDLAR and Mike Krol, the Compton rapper Boogie, woozy synth-pop from The Dandy Warhols, the shape-shifting sounds of New Orleans singer DAWN and more. Featured Albums: FIDLAR: Almost Free; Mike Krol: Power Chords; Boogie: Everything's For Sale; The Dandy Warhols: Why You So Crazy? Rat Boy: Internationally Unknown; DAWN: New Breed; Other Notable Releases For Jan. 25: Backstreet Boys: DNA; Better Oblivion Community Center: S/T; Bring Me The Horizon: AMO; Rosie Carny: Bare; Toy: Happy In The Hollow; Vangelis: Nocturne; William Tyler: Goes West

Today on All Songs Considered, hear a conversation about the record's production, the logistics of performing live as a seven-piece band and, at long last, the meaning behind FOTB, the mysterious album-title acronym that turned fans into code-crackers early last week.

A lot has changed in Sharon Van Etten's life since she put out her last album, Are We There, in 2014. Over the past five years she's gotten into acting, she went back to school to get a degree in Mental Health Counseling, she's worked on some film scores and, the biggest change: She's a mom, now. But through it all she eventually found herself coming back to her first love: music. Sharon Van Etten has a new album out called Remind Me Tomorrow and it's unlike anything she's ever done before. Largely seen as an acoustic singer-songwriter up to now, her new album is full of pulsing synths, big beats and lots of strange, dark textures made with the help of producer John Congleton. The result is a stunning achievement for Van Etten. Remind Me Tomorrow is her most ambitious and adventurous album to date. For this edition of All Songs Considered, Sharon Van Etten and host Robin Hilton listened to her whole new album together, front to back. She reflects on motherhood, shares stories about the new songs and explains why she decided to blow up nearly everything fans have long loved about her music.

Welcome to a brand-new season of New Music Friday! After a few quiet weeks, the flood gates are opening and we've got a whole bunch of essential albums dropping on Jan. 18 to tell you about. This includes the smart, sparkling pop of singer Maggie Rogers, swooning love songs from James Blake, deep introspection from Pedro The Lion's first new album in 15 years, pure joy from Toro y Moi and much more. Host Robin Hilton is joined by NPR Music's Stephen Thompson for this quick sprint through the essential releases for Jan. 18, the first busy drop date for the new year. Featured Albums: 1. Maggie Rogers: Heard It In A Past Life; 2. Toro y Moi: Outer Peace; 3. Deerhunter: Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared; 4. Pedro The Lion: Phoenix; 5. James Blake: Assume Form; 6. Buke And Gase: Scholars; 7. Frances Cone: Late Riser; Other Notable Releases: Crane Like The Bird: Crane Like The Bird; Future: The Wizrd; Juliana Hatfield: Weird; Malibu Ken: Malibu Ken; Mike Posner: A Real Good Kid; Sharon Van Etten: Remind Me Tomorrow; Tender: Fear Of Falling Asleep; The Twilight Sad: It Won't Always Be Like This

It's been a minute since we got together to share some all-new music – not since our Nov. 6 show of last year, in fact. Hopefully you used the past several weeks to dig into our look back at the year in music for 2018, our remembrance of the artists we lost, Viking's Choice, Glaring Omissions and, of course, our annual Holiday Radio Play. But we're back now with a batch of essential songs to start the new year right. This includes a spare and profoundly moving new track from singer Lana Del Rey called "Hope is a Terrible Thing for a Woman Like Me To Have – But I Have It;" a brutally candid critique of toxic masculinity from Stella Donnelly; and the thumping, propulsive sounds of Priests and their new song "The Seduction Of Kansas." Also on the show: Perfect guitar pop from Telekinesis, and the punk-saxophone of Joy On Fire and the sweet harmonies of The Wild Reeds, both of whom pay tribute to a lost mother.