NPR Music

All Songs Considered's Robin Hilton runs through this week's essential new releases with NPR Music's Ann Powers and Stephen Thompson. This week we manage to go from Justin Timberlake's 'Man Of The Woods' to the abstract sounds of Efrim Menuck of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, contemporary country from Montgomery Gentry, Roxy Music and more. Albums we talk about: 1. Justin Timberlake 'Man Of The Woods,' 2. Rhye 'Blood,' 3. Efrim Menuck 'Pissing Stars,' 4. Montgomery Gentry 'Here's To You,' 5. Field Music 'Open Here,' 6. Roxy Music 'Roxy Music 45th Deluxe Edition.' Also notable for Feb. 2: Anna Burch 'Quit The Curse,' Steve Reich 'Pulse/Quartet,' Kyle Craft 'Full Circle Nightmare,' Red River Dialect 'Broken Stay Open Sky'

Has anyone ever watched the Grammy's and concluded that the Recording Academy really nailed it? (No one has ever concluded they nailed it). So we begin this episode of All Songs Considered with a simple question: Why keep watching?! It's like being addicted to disappointment and outrage.The only remedy is to share and talk about a whole bunch of great artists who probably aren't on the Academy's radar, including the gloriously inspired rock band Wye Oak and Swedish folk singer José González. González quietly dropped a new EP last week with retooled versions of songs from his back catalog, while Wye Oak just announced they've got a new full-length coming in the spring called The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs. We play the title track on this week's show.Also on the program: Gritty, loud and fast guitar rock from Grace Vonderkuhn; the playfully sinister music of Let's Eat Grandma; ethereal dreamscapes from singer Brianna Hunt's solo project Many Rooms; and the Iranian-Dutch singer known as Sevdaliza.Full Playlist: 1. Grace Vonderkuhn "Bad Habits," 2. Let's Eat Grandma "Hot Pink," 3. José González "Killing For Love," 4. Many Rooms "Which Is To Say, Everything," 5. Wye Oak "The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs," 6. Sevdaliza "Soul Syncable"

Friday's the day lots of new albums drop! All Songs Considered's Robin Hilton talks with NPR Music's Sidney Madden and Lars Gotrich about the ones you need to hear that are out today: 1. Ty Segall 'Freedom's Goblin,' 2. No Age 'Snares Like A Haircut,' 3. Migos 'Culture II,' 4. Mimicking Birds 'Layers Of Us,' 5. The Spook School 'Could It Be Different,' 6. Craig David 'The Time Is Now,' 7. Dream Wife 'Dream Wife.' Also Notable: Nils Frahm 'All Melody,' Mary Gauthier 'Rifles And Rosary Beads,' Calexico 'The Thread That Keeps Us,' Cardo and Payroll Giovanni 'Big Bossin Vol 2,' Tribulation 'Down Below,' Khruangbin 'Con Todo El Mundo.'

Kevin Morby and Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield have just released covers of two songs by the late cult legend Jason Molina. One of the two tunes released today, the A-side, is among Molina's best-known songs, called "Farewell Transmission." The B-side is a lesser-known tune called "Dark Don't Hide It." In this conversation with All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen, Katie Crutchfield and Kevin Morby talk about what drew them to the music of Jason Molina, the challenges of covering his music and what it meant to dig deep into these songs.

David Byrne is back with his first album of all-new solo music in 14 years. American Utopia, due out March 9 on Byrne's Todo Mundo imprint, includes contributions from Brian Eno, the Onyx Collective, Daniel Lopatin, Sampha and more. We kick this week's show off with the first single from the album, the polyrhythmic, party-pop song "Everybody's Coming To My House."Also on the program: NPR Music's Tom Huizenga stops by to share the mind-bending, genre-defying sounds of pianist Nils Frahm; Sylvan Esso takes an upbeat, carefree look at the end of the world; and the Boston-based band Darlingside reflects on childhood and lost youth with a beautiful and affecting new song called "Old Friend."All that plus the bent sounds of former Supergrass frontman Gaz Coombes, idiosyncratic pop from Trace Mountains (a side-project from Dave Benton of the band LVL UP) and the pulsing ambient sounds of German composer Niklas Paschburg.Full Playlist: 1. David Byrne: "Everybody's Coming To My House," 2. Sylvan Esso: "PARAD(w/m)E," 3. Gaz Coombes: "World's Strongest Man," 4. Trace Mountains: "Turn Twice," 5. Nils Frahm: "Momentum," 6. Niklas Paschburg: "Spark," 7. Darlingside: "Old Friend"

Connie Lim, who writes and records as MILCK (a combination of her last name backwards and her first two initials) makes music for anyone who feels out of place in the world. They're songs of empowerment and cathartic healing for the displaced and brokenhearted. It's a kind of thesis or mission statement MILCK first declared on her anthemic hit "Quiet," the song that blew up after she performed it with a group of a cappella singers at last year's Women's March in Washington, D.C. "It's about helping people who have felt silenced reclaim their power," she says. In the year since releasing "Quiet," MILCK has signed with Atlantic Records and just released her debut EP, This Is Not The End. On this edition of All Songs Considered she talks with All Songs Considered co host Robin Hilton about the new music, her struggle to make it as a musician while preserving her Chinese American identity, how courage and truth can lead to widespread healing and much more.

Hear a rundown of the best new albums out today, including music from Tune-Yards, Shopping, Belle & Sebastian, First Aid Kit and more.

Not matter how much of a music geek you may be, globalFEST is a music festival of discovery for everyone. Now in its 15th year, it's a celebration of music from around the world.This year's festival featured extraordinary Congolese music from Jupiter & Okwess, Brazilian avant-pop from Ava Rocha, a twist on traditional Irish music from Jarlath Henderson, modern Iranian songs and poetry from Mohsen Namjoo, and so much more.The gathering happens in just one evening. This year, a dozen bands performed on three stages in midtown Manhattan at B.B. King Blues Club, its smaller sister-venue in the same building called Lucille's and at the Liberty Theater directly across 42nd Street.All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen was there at globalFEST this past Sunday, along with around 1,500 people, including NPR Music's Anastasia Tsioulcas, Afropop Worldwide's Banning Eyre and WFMU's Rob Weisburg, home of his show "Transpacific Sound Paradise." On this edition of All Songs Considered, they share our favorite discoveries from globalFEST 2018.

All this year, NPR Music and its member stations will be following a group of outstanding new and emerging artists from local music scenes across the globe for a series we're calling Slingshot. On this week's All Songs Considered, we talk to some of the music directors from our partner stations about the artists they chose for this year's list. Some are hometown favorites, and others are rising stars from abroad.

Many of us in the U.S. are freezing this weekend and looking for warmth, but halfway around the world is an artist whose career in music is dependent on frigid weather.Terje Isungset is a Norwegian musician who makes his own instruments — out of ice. Among his creations are "icehorns," a xylophone-shaped instrument called an "iceofon," guitars, harps and even even saxophones sculpted from huge chunks of ice using chainsaws.