NPR Music

When we settled into the studio for this week's All Songs Considered, a clear theme quickly emerged: We had a whole lot of music by artists we already adore! This includes a rare acoustic demo by R.E.M., a glorious new electro-pop cut from Sylvan Esso, a heartbreaking tribute song from Sharon Van Etten and more.This year marks the 25th anniversary of R.E.M.'s 1991 classic album Out Of Time. To mark the occasion, the band is releasing a deluxe version of the album that includes early acoustic demos of every song, including the one Robin Hilton kicks this week's show off with, "Radio Song." Stephen Thompson follows in the same spirit with Sylvan Esso's brand new "Radio," a somewhat retro synth thumper that mixes the band's signature dance pop with singer Amelia Meath's searching, often melancholy vocals.Also on the show: Sharon Van Etten's stirring tribute to the victims of the Pulse nightclub shootings in Orlando, Fla.; English poet, playwright and rapper Kate Tempest and a fabulous kiss-off from the Phoenix, Ariz. band AJJ. Plus, John K. Samson, lead singer for The Weakerthans, returns with a sentimental new song that has Stephen thinking of happier days.

This week: the moment it all went wrong, relived in vivid detail. Members of the All Songs Considered crew share stories of hope and heartache as they remember some of the bands they've broken up with over the years and why. NPR Music's Daoud Tyler-Ameen joins hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton for the discussion. Context is everything here, so the three narrowed their picks into four basic categories: bands you swore off entirely and never looked back; bands you simply grew away from with age; bands you no longer follow, but you still remember the good times; and bands you'll stick by no matter what. Prepare for pride-swallowing tales of joy and pain, smooth jazz and second-wave emo, outrage and, ultimately, redemption.

On this +1 edition of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen talks with producer Giles Martin about his remarkable efforts to salvage the only three professional recordings ever made of The Beatles performing live. Giles explains how he was able to take the analog tapes of the band's Hollywood Bowl shows from 1964 and 1965 and make them sound so much better. Giles Martin is the son of legendary Beatles producer George Martin.

Note: With hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton away this week, we've got an encore presentation of The Worst Songs Of All Time, from Feb. 2014. Guitarist, actor, writer (and former Monitor Mix blogger) Carrie Brownstein joins us, along with NPR Music's Stephen Thompson, to do something we don't normally do: Talk about the songs we really, really don't like. Our mission at All Songs is to bring you our favorite musical discoveries of the week. But after Stephen wrote his Good Listener column examining Starship's widely reviled hit single "We Built This City," we watched the comments pour in like an out-of-control fire hose, and got to talking about all the songs that drive us bonkers. It was so much fun we decided to continue the discussion here, with a look at some of the contenders for worst songs of all time, and why they stick in our craw. These are the relentless earworms — the songs you can't escape once they're in your head — or the annoying novelty songs. "The Candy Man," anyone? We also look at songs that take themselves too seriously, songs we used to love until they were ruined by a bad personal experience and more.

I've missed Lisa Hannigan. Five years ago the Irish songwriter and singer made an unforgettably beautiful record called Passenger. She came by to play a Tiny Desk Concert that year and then I waited sometimes impatiently for five years, it was tough, I miss her sad delicate songs. Well it turns out the five year gap wasn't something she did with intent. On this +1 edition of All Songs Considered I talk with Lisa Hannigan about how this happenstance collaboration, how it unlocked her writing block and the mechanics of making this long distance musical relationship work.

This week on All Songs Considered, we return from break with new music by some of our all-time favorite artists, including a wildly different sound from Bon Iver, a previously unreleased White Stripes song and a remarkable new direction for the Nashville art-folk group Lambchop.Also on the show: The Neutral Milk Hotel-inspired LVL UP, an arresting instrumental from Swans percussionist Thor Harris and Ed Harcourt's searing indictment against political corruption.But first, Robin digs into a little gift from Bob: a Twinkie! Playlist: 1. LVL UP, 2. Bon Iver, 3. Lambchop, 4. The White Stripes, 5. Thor & Friends, 6. Ed Harcourt

This week, we've got a surprise: Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton both went on vacation and left the All Songs studio unlocked. Apparently neither one of them uses two-step verification, so it took only a very minor effort for a couple of highly skilled NPR Music team members, Daoud Tyler-Ameen and Saidah Blount, to hack into the elaborate system of tubes, funnels and hamster wheels that feed podcasts from our microphones into your earbuds for a very special takeover edition of All Songs Considered. Daoud last visited the show to play some foot-stomping power-pop, and Saidah was our copilot for this year's South By Southwest festival preview. Together they dissect new music from California punks Joyce Manor, sounding more fleshed-out and anthemic than ever; slow-burning electro-soul from London songwriter Nao; a hip-hop track by two South Asian MCs that's as funny as it is uneasy about our current political moment and more. (And because Daoud and Sai grew up in the '80s and '90s, reference is made to JNCO jeans, black lipstick, the old THX logo theme and the end credits of the 1995 Power Rangers film. Things get ... specific.)