NPR Music

A treasure trove of unheard Joni Mitchell recordings has just been released with more than a hundred tracks from the early 1960s, including almost 30 original songs she's never released before.

On this special edition of All Songs Considered, NPR Music's Ann Powers and host Bob Boilen explore these early works of Joni Mitchell and play selections from the new box set from Rhino. This includes some of Joni Mitchell's first-known recordings, like a radio studio recording made in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan when she was just 19-years old. We also hear some live concert recordings, including one made at the Ann Arbor Canterbury House 53 years ago, and demos she made on a home reel-to-reel tape machine. This includes one she made for her mom in 1965. Over the course of this remarkable box set and nearly six hours of music, we hear Joni Mitchell grow from a singer of folk songs to a playful and sophisticated lyricist with a brilliant voice.

We pick our favorite music released in October 2020, featuring South African jazz group SPAZA, Wendy Eisenberg's acrobatic guitar play and Jean Dawson's adventurous pop.

NPR Music's picks for the best new albums out on Oct. 30 include a surprise release from Common, the return of rapper Busta Rhymes, singer Sam Smith, the country artist Cam, Ane Brun and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Outkast — Stankonia 20th Anniversary Edition
Featured Songs: "So Fresh, So Clean" and "B.O.B. (A Cappella version)"
2. Sam Smith — Love Goes
Featured Song: "Love Goes (feat. Labrinth"
3. Busta Rhymes — Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God
Featured Song: "True Indeed"
4. Ane Brun — After the Great Storm
Featured Song: "After the Great Storm"
5. Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou — May Our Chambers Be Full
Featured Song: "Ancestral Recall"
6. Common — A Beautiful Revolution Pt. 1
Featured Song: "Fallin'"
7. Nothing — The Great Dismal
Featured Song: "Say Less"
8. Elvis Costello — Hey Clockface
Featured Song: "We Are All Cowards Now"
9. Cam — The Otherside
Featured Song: "The Otherside"
10. Junk Magic — Compass Confusion
Featured Song: "Laser Beaming Hearts"

Other notable releases for Oct. 30: 38 Spesh — Interstate 38; Andrew Bird — Hark!; Creature Comfort — Home Team; Dizzee Rascal — E3 AF; Echo Collective — The See Within; Goo Goo Dolls — It's Christmas All Over; Grateful Dead — American Beauty 50th Anniversary Edition; Joni Mitchell — Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 1 - The Early Years (1963-1967); King Khan — The Infinite Ones; LÉON — Apart; Marco Pavé — Crossroads; Suzzy Roche & Lucy Wainwright Roche — I Can Still Hear You; War on Women — Wonderful Hell.

All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen talks with The Flaming Lips frontman about drugs, the tragic loss of friends, the impact on families and how it all informs the band's latest album, American Head.

NPR Music's shortlist of the best new albums out on Oct. 23 includes Bruce Springsteen's Letter to You, a new concept record from Gorillaz, the electronic artist known as Actress and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Gorillaz — Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez
Featured Song: "The Valley of the Pagans"
2. Actress — Karma & Desire
Featured Song: "VVY"
3. Songhoy Blues — Optimisme
Featured Song: "Assadja"
4. Keaton Henson — Monument
Featured Song: "Ambulance"
5. Junglepussy — JP4
Featured Song: "Spiders"
6. Bruce Springsteen — Letter to You
Featured Song: "Ghosts"
7. clipping. — Visions of Bodies Being Burned
Featured Song: "96 Neve Campbell"
8. Raye Zaragoza — Woman in Color
Featured Song: "The It Girl"
9. Laura Veirs — My Echo
Featured Song: "Freedom Feeling"
10. Xavier Omär — If You Feel
Featured Song: "Find Me"

Other notable Oct. 23 releases: Adrianne Lenker — Songs; Adrianne Lenker — Instrumentals; Ben Harper — Winter is for Lovers; Ela Minus — Acts of Rebellion; The Elwins — The Elwins IV; Fuzz — III; Jeff Tweedy — Love is King; Joel Ross — Who Are You; Luluc — Dreamboat; The Mountain Goats — Getting Into Knives; No Thank You — Embroidered Foliage; PUP — This Place Sucks Ass; Sam Amidon — Sam Amidon; Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings — Just Dropped in to See What Condition My Rendition Was In; TechN9ne — Fear Exodus; This is the Kit — Off Off On.

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen shares his favorite new tracks of the week, including a powerful anthem for racial justice from MILCK, Debussy's "Clair de Lune" played on a theremin and more.

Featured Songs:

1. Steady Holiday: "Living Life" from Take The Corners Gently
2. The Weather Station: "Robber" (Single)
3. Kacy & Clayton And Marlon Williams: "I Wonder Why" from Plastic Bouquet
4. MILCK: "Somebody's Beloved (feat. Bipolar Sunshine)" (Single)
5. Grégoire Blanc and Orane Donnadieu: "Clair de Lune" (Single)
6. Mary Lattimore: "Pine Trees" from Silver Ladders

NPR Music's picks for the best new albums out this week include rapper Black Thought's stunning Streams of Thought Vol. 3, a solo debut from The National's Matt Berninger, Beabadoobee and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Black Thought — Streams Of Thought Vol. 3: Cane & Abel
Featured Song: "State Prisoner"
2. Autechre — Sign
Featured Song: "M4 Lema"
3. SPAZA — Uprize!
Featured Song: "Bantu Education"
4. Beabadoobee — Fake It Flowers
Featured Song: "Care"
5. Matt Berninger — Serpentine Prison
Featured Song: "Distant Axis"
6. Open Mike Eagle — Anime, Trauma And Divorce
Featured Song: "Asa's Bop"
7. Good Sad Happy Bad — Shade
Featured Song: "Blessed"
8. Deep Sea Diver — Impossible Weight
Featured Song: "Impossible Weight"
9. Helena Deland — Someone New
Featured Song: "Dog"
10. Mipso — Mipso
Featured Song: "Big Star"
Bonus Album: Sturgill Simpson — Cuttin' Grass - Vol. 1: (Butcher Shoppe Sessions)
Featured Song: "I Don't Mind"

Other notable Oct. 16 releases: Annie — Dark Hearts; Cordovas — Destiny Hotel; Growing Concerns Poetery Collective — Big Dark Bright Futures; Gulfer — Gulfer; Goldmund — The Time It Takes; Homeboy Sandman & Quelle Chris — Don't Feed the Monster; Jennifer Castle — Monarch Season; James Blake — Before; Kevin Morby — Sundowner; Low Cut Connie — Private Lives; Manu Grace — No Room for Error; Mr. Gnome — The Day You Flew Away... Visit www.npr.org/allsongs for more

All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen and NPR Music's Otis Hart share their favorite songs of the week, including the return of The Antlers, the folk duo Luluc, Tuareg rock artist Mdou Moctar and more.

1. Luluc: "Emerald City" from DREAMBOAT
2. Danielle Durack: "Broken Wings" from No Place
3. The Antlers: "Wheels Roll Home" (Single)
4. Squirrel Flower: "Chicago" (Single)
5. Mdou Moctar: "Chismiten" (Single)
6. Jake Blount: "Roustabout" from Spider Tales
7. Sam Sweeney "Unearth/Steppy Downs Road" from Unearth Repeat

NPR Music's shortlist of the best new albums out this week includes the soaring synth-pop of Future Islands, the country duo Brothers Osborne, remixed classics from John Lennon and more.

Featured Albums:
1. Future Islands — As Long As You Are
Featured Song: "Waking"
2. Carla Bruni — Carla Bruni
Featured Song: "Partir dans la nuit"
3. The Budos Band — Long in the Tooth
Featured Song: "Long in the Tooth"
4. Machinedrum — A View Of U
Featured Song: "Wait For U"
5. Brothers Osborne — Skeletons
Featured Song: "Lighten Up"
6. METZ — Atlas Vending
Featured Song: "Pulse"
7. John Lennon — Gimme Some Truth
Featured Song: "Angela"
8. Laraaji — Moon Piano
Featured Song: "Stillness"
9. The Goodbye Party — Beautiful Motors
Featured Song: "Unlucky Stars"
10. Mary Lattimore — Silver Ladders
Featured Song: "Silver Ladders"

Other notable releases for Oct. 9: Cut Worms — Nobody Lives Here Anymore; JEEN — JEEN; Kronos Quartet — Long Time Passing; Loudon Wainwright III — I'd Rather Lead A Band; Ron Miles — Rainbow Sign; Touche Amore — Lament; Travis — 10 Songs; Yo La Tengo — Sleepless Night (ep).

NPR Music's Bob Boilen and Marissa Lorusso share songs that call for unity and self-reflection in turbulent times.

Featured Tracks:
1. Maren Morris: "Better Than We Found It"
2. Palberta: "Before I Got Here" from Palberta 5000
3. Gulfer: "Nature Kids" from Gulfer
4. Purple Witch of Culver: "Trig"
5. Loudon Wainwright III: "You Rascal You" from I'd Rather Lead A Band
6. Sam Amidon: "Time Has Made A Change" from Sam Amidon