NPR Music

Fifty years ago this month, the TV show Soul Train was first broadcast nationally. It brought Black music, dance, fashion and performance into viewers' homes every weekend and continued for more than 30 years. There was nothing like it on TV, and all these years later, there's been nothing like it since. On this special episode from the NPR podcast, It's Been A Minute with Sam Sanders, we look at the lasting impact of Soul Train and why it mattered.

Every month, we ask the NPR Music staff: What's the one song you couldn't escape? What's the one album to which you'll return all year?

Songs featured in this episode:

• Ada Lea: "hurt" from one hand on the steering wheel the other sewing a garden
• MUNA (Feat. Phoebe Bridgers), "Silk Chiffon"
• Little Simz: "Standing Ovation" from Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
• Mon Laferte: "Nothing Else Matters" from The Metallica Blacklist
• Sun-El Musician (Feat. Simmy), "Higher"
• Jon Hopkins: "Sit Around the Fire (Feat. Ram Dass & East Forest)" from Music for Psychedelic Therapy

Follow the #NowPlaying blog for the NPR Music staff's favorite new songs.

NPR Music's picks for the best new releases out this week include the long-awaited studio album from Philly rapper Meek Mill, a stunning record from Brandi Carlile, country singer Miko Marks and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Meek Mill — Expensive Pain
Featured Song: "Blue Notes 2"
2. Brandi Carlile — In These Silent Days
Featured Song: "Broken Horses"
3. Ben Marc — Breathe Suite
Featured Song: "Breathe Suite A"
4. Tirzah — Colourgrade
Featured Song: "Hive Mind"
5. Illuminati Hotties — Let Me Do One More
Featured Song: "Knead"
6. Shad — Tao
Featured Song: "Black Averageness"
7. Miko Marks — Race Records
Featured Song: "Hard Times"

Other notable releases for Oct. 1: Dar Williams — I'll Meet You Here; Hovvdy — True Love; Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett — Love For Sale; Strand of Oaks — In Heaven.

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen's favorite new songs of the week include the funny, uplifting music of Wet Leg, a prayer for peace from 77-year-old Pakistani artist Ustad Saami and more.

Featured Songs And Artists:
1. Wet Leg: "Wet Dream" (Single)
2. NoSo: "Suburbia" (Single)
3. Nynke Laverman: "Stoarm" from Plant
4. Nora Brown: "The Very Day I'm Gone" from Sidetrack My Engine
5. Jane Fontana: "Untitled, No. 1" from In Situ EP
6. Grace Cummings: "Heaven" from Storm Queen
7. Le Ren: "I Already Love You" from Leftovers
8. Ustad Saami: "Prayer for Peace" from east Pakistan sky

NPR Music's picks for the best albums out this week include new ones from R&B singer Anthony Hamilton, a Sufjan Stevens collaboration with Angelo De Augustine, country singer Mickey Guyton and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Anthony Hamilton — Love is the New Black
Featured Song: "Love Is The New Black"
2. Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine — A Beginner's Mind
Featured Song: "Lady Macbeth In Chains"
3. Kari Faux — Lowkey Superstar Deluxe
Featured Song: "While God Was Sleeping"
4. Hayden Pedigo — Letting Go
Featured Song: "Some Kind of Shepherd"
5. Mickey Guyton — Remember Her Name
Featured Song: "Different"
6. Solemn Brigham — South Sinner Street
Featured Songs: "Keep The Hope" and "Vice North"
7. Japanese Breakfast — Sable
Featured Songs: "Glider" and "Cartographer's Theme"
8. Ada Lea — One Hand on the Steering Wheel The Other Sewing A Garden
Featured Song: "Oranges"

Other notable releases for Sept. 24: Alessia Cara — In The Meantime; Andy Shauf — Wilds; Arturo O'Farrill — Dreaming in Lions; Caleb Landry Jones — Gadzooks Vol. 1; Laura Jane Grace — At War With Silverfish; NAO — And Then Life Was Beautiful; Poppy — Flux.

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen shares his favorite new songs of the week, including a new one from the Leeds rock band alt-J, Swedish singer-songwriter Loney Dear, Amythyst Kiah and more.

Featured Artists And Songs:
1. alt-J: "U&ME," from The Dream
2. Hyd: "Skin 2 Skin," from Hyd (EP)
3. Amythyst Kiah: "Black Myself (Moby Remix)" (Single)
4. La Luz: "Lazy Eyes and Dune," from La Luz
5. Bnny: "Sure," from Everything
6. Loney Dear: "Go Easy On Me Now (Sirens + emergencies)," from A Lantern and a Bell

In the seventh and final episode of Top Shelf, hear from the 2021 Tiny Desk Contest winner, Neffy: a rising singer-songwriter from Arlington, Va., with a breathtaking, soulful, inimitable voice.

The debut album from singer and rapper Lil Nas X tops our list of the week's best releases, along with the 25th anniversary of Buena Vista Social Club, new ones from José González, Carly Pearce and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Lil Nas X — Montero
Featured Song: "Dead Right Now"
2. Carly Pearce — 29: Written In Stone
Featured Song: "Diamondback"
3. Charley Crockett — Music City USA
Featured Song: "Honest Fight"
4. Adia Victoria — A Southern Gothic
Featured Song: "Troubled Mind"
5. Buena Vista Social Club — Buena Vista Social Club
Featured Songs: "Chan Chan" and "El Diablo Suelto"
6. José González — Local Valley
Featured Song: "Visions"
7. Sheila Jordan — Comes Love: Lost Session 1960
Featured Song: "Ballad of the Sad Young Men"
8. Moor Mother — Black Encyclopedia of the Air
Featured Song: "Vera Hall"

Other notable releases for Sept. 17: Bob Dylan — Springtime In New York: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 16; Cory Henry — Best of Me; James Vincent McMorrow — Grapefruit Season; Lindsey Buckingham — Lindsey Buckingham; Melissa Ethridge — One Way Out.

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen shares his favorite tracks of the week, including the Tiny Desk Contest-winning song from the singer, Neffy, new ones from Snail Mail, My Morning Jacket and more.

Featured Songs And Artists:
1. Neffy: "Wait Up" (Single)
2. Aisha Badru: "Rebirth," from The Way Back Home EP
3. Lily Konigsberg: "Sweat Forever," from Lily We Need To Talk Now
4. Sloppy Jane: "Party Anthem," from Madison
5. My Morning Jacket: "Love Love Love," from My Morning Jacket
6. Snail Mail: "Valentine," from Valentine

It's a packed release day, with new albums from the prince of reggaeton J Balvin, Kendrick Lamar collaborator and rising rapper Baby Keem, Kacey Musgraves, Andrew W.K. and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Common — A Beautiful Revolution Pt 2
Featured Song: "A Beautiful Chicago Kid"
2. Kacey Musgraves — Star-Crossed
Featured Songs: "Cherry Blossom" and "Gracias A La Vida"
3. J Balvin — JOSE
Featured Song: "La Familia"
4. Yebba — Dawn
Featured Song: "Boomerang"
5. Andrew W.K. — God Is Partying
Featured Songs: "Babalon" and "Goddess Partying"
6. AZ — Doe or Die II
Featured Song: "Check Me Out"
7. Park Hye Jin — Before I Die
Featured Song: "Me Trust Me"
8. Low — Hey What
Featured Song: "White Horses"
9. Deb Never — Where Have All The Flowers Gone
Featured Song: "Stupid"
10. Bomba Estéreo — Deja
Featured Song: "Agua"
11. Baby Keem — The Melodic Blue
Featured Song: "Range Brothers"

Other notable releases for Sept. 10: Heartless Bastards — A Beautiful Life; Matthew E. White — K Bay; Sleigh Bells — Texis; We Were Promised Jetpacks — Enjoy The View.