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Ann's favorite albums of the year (so far) |
Konradsen, Hunt, Gather
I don’t need a self-help book when I’m armed with this gem from Norway’s favorite jazz-folk duo, a set of super-subtle, sharp songs about negotiating change and maintaining bonds that matter. Friends Bruce Hornsby, Gia Margaret and others help keep the home fires burning.
Maryam Saleh, Syrr
One of Egypt’s leading innovators of traditional forms returns after a long period of silence, during which she gave birth, got divorced and spent time in desert solitude. Blending personal confession with lyrical touchstones from the Arabic folk traditions she’s long mined and using electronics to bring them into the future, Syrr spans time to reflect the experiences of a 21st-century North African woman.
Charlotte Cornfield, Hurts Like Hell
I can’t stop playing this album, a font of wisdom from Toronto indie stalwart Cornfield, chronicling the ups and downs and sideways slides of her bohemian community and her ways of adjusting to how her life changed within it after the birth of her daughter. Just the realest, most unassumingly resonant songs I’ve heard this year.
Lee Lewis, Howl
This six-song EP follows the arc of a ravishingly toxic relationship in luscious arrangements that touch on several golden R&B eras. Lewis’ tenor is the real draw, a strikingly supple instrument that he deploys effortlessly, even when he’s holding notes and scaling melodies like a god.
Aaron Shaw, And So It Is
Debilitating illness required Shaw, a multi-reedist who’s beloved within L.A.’s spiritual jazz scene, to scale all the way back for this solo debut. Low oxygen levels forced him to completely reimagine his approach to the flute and the tenor sax. And So It Is puts the listener inside this profound experience of pain, fear, resolution and finally, resilience. The band, led by percussionist Carlos Niño, locks into Shaw’s every move with astounding empathy.
Meels, Across the Raccoon Strait
Amelia Einhorn started out as a bedroom confessionalist but found her true calling once she donned gingham dresses and started serenading raccoon puppets and touring the national parks. Her high-concept yet down-home songs enliven trad country with whimsy and unfussy experimentation as she wrings poignancy from stories grounded in a childhood spent mostly outside.
Joe Pernice, Sunny, I Was Wrong
As the leader of the Pernice Brothers and the Scud Mountain Boys, Massachusetts bard Pernice has long been a songwriter’s songwriter; on this poignant, gorgeous collection, his homemade pop again approaches perfection. With help from friends like Rodney Crowell and Aimee Mann, he insistently pours wonder into painfully honest reports from midlife, grounded in quiet hope and carefully managed regret.
Kelsey Lu, So Help Me God
I believe that even the coolest among us has a Coldplay-sized space in their heart, ready to be filled with roof-raising anthems about life’s really deep stuff. If howling lads don’t do it for you, Kelsey Lu is here to transport. A cellist and composer whose sensibilities are symphonic, Lu knows her Simone and her Bush, but blazes her own path toward transcendence.
Tom Ribeira, Pedaço
It’s a special thrill when an artist you’ve been following on socials releases their first serious recording, and it’s awesome. Sao Paulo native Ribeira displays a Gen Z sensibility in these languid yet ambitious songs that defy categories while staying true to the Brazilian principle of taking everything easy.
Truthpaste, I Don’t Know Either
I just love it when young bands throw everything into a blender and sweeten it up with optimism and mutual affection. This one’s from Manchester and couldn’t be more adorable. Friendship is the truth! |
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Could independence have its downsides?
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– If you fall for my fave song “Old Myth Dying” and play guitar, you can learn to play it! Wendy Eisenberg has posted a helpful three-part tutorial.
– My dear friend Alex Ross has left his regular post covering classical music for The New Yorker (he’s still a staff writer there), where he truly changed the game as a critic with inimitable insights and deep understanding of beauty, tradition and the sublime. I know he’ll still be doing great things at that magazine and elsewhere, but his departure from the gig deserves this cri de coeur from fellow classical critic Will Robin.
– One way to celebrate Independence Day is to exercise your free-speech rights in protest. The steady stream of powerful protest music that is one of the big stories of 2026 continues with new offerings from Lizzie No and friends — Outlaws’ Almanac came out on Juneteenth — and from Margo Price, whose Days of Unrest mixtape includes a fantastic version of Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee” featuring Joan Baez and Memphis Mariachi. Oh, and you haven’t experienced the joy yet, here are lifelong activists Billy Bragg and Natalie Merchant singing “Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key” with Wilco at the band’s Solid Sound festival last week.
– Substack is swimming in memoir, and most of it is as affecting as hearing a pal tell you a long story over a beer. Occasionally, though, one of those stories rings so true that it lingers far beyond that first read. This essay by Nikolai Hole on seeing Wednesday and remembering lost friends is one of those.
– I broke down and watched Widow’s Bay. Yeah, I enjoyed it. At first I hated Matthew Rhys’s extremely physical, almost silent-movie style performance, but now I get it: He’s modulating right on the edge of horror and comedy, in a way that’s rare today — you have to go back to Vincent Price’s classic 1960s performances to find an equivalent. (Actually, you could also rewatch Nope, the whole cast aims for this spot.) Here’s a good interview in which Rhys discusses his approach. |
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More stories from NPR Music |
– Just in case you missed my links above, you can find NPR Music’s mid-year picks for albums and songs here, and some of us discussed them on these two podcasts.
– Here’s a holiday gift: We’ve unlocked an episode of the NPR+ podcast I do with Daoud Tyler-Ameen about the afterlives of our favorite songs. Because Death Cab for Cutie’s been in the news with a new album, we chose a tune by the Postal Service, the other band fronted by Death Cab singer Ben Gibbard. Enjoy us discussing all things “Such Great Heights”!
– WXPN’s Stephen Kallao had a heartwarming chat with DJ Jazzy Jeff about growing up in Philadelphia for World Cafe.
– WRTI’s Nate Chinen gathered all the lore on the weekend’s favorite fanfare: John Philip Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”
– Salamishah Tillet is one of the most brilliant music-loving minds we have, and it’s a thrill to hear her talk with Lara Downes about Nina Simone’s classic “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free.”
– Trumpeter Keyyon Harrold talked with Christian McBride about the centennial of Miles Davis for this episode of Jazz Night in America, which also features excerpts from Harrold’s recent Carnegie Hall tribute to the legend.
– Like me, Anamaria Sayre and Felix Contreras at Alt.Latino are excited about Mon Laferte’s new release, the second volume in her torch-song series Femme Fatale. |
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