NPR Music

We update our running list of the year’s best songs with reflections on shedding the past, moving on and the joy of simple pleasures.  This includes the emo-coded pop of oso oso, Lake Street Dive’s list of hopeful what-aboutisms, the twitchy, genre-hopping sound of brakence, pipe organ drones from Kali Malone and more.

NPR Music editor and writer Sheldon Pearce joins host Robin Hilton.

Tell us what you think with a review on Apple or Spotify wherever you listen to podcasts.

Questions, comments, suggestions or feedback of any kind always welcome: allsongs@npr.org

Featured artists and songs:

(00:00) Intro

(01:56) Thao: “Fossils”

(09:40) Helena Deland: “Tip Of My Tongue”

(16:58) Oso Oso: “someone like that”

(24:38) brakence: “death rolL”

(32:33) Lake Street Dive: “What About Flamingos?”

(42:46) Kali Malone: “Map The Path”

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There is always so much to be said about the Latin Grammys. Some fans and musicians insist that music shouldn't be a competition or that the ceremony is more about entertainment than art. But if you look very closely at the annual nominations, it can be an accurate and informational take on the current state of Latin music.

When the nominations were announced back in September, Ana and I noticed the heavy influence Latin American folk music was having on Spanish-language music in a more significant and creative way than in the past. And my fascination with what I call the "down ballot" categories continues to introduce genre-busting creativity that is slightly outside of the mainstream.

With the Latin Grammy awards scheduled to take place this week in Las Vegas, we used this episode to dig deep on some categories, and even offer some guesses about who will walk away with a Latin Grammy.

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Willi Carlisle. Bricknasty. Katie Gregson-MacLeod. Host Stephen Thompson breaks down the best new albums out Friday, Nov. 6 with DJs from around the NPR Music network: Chloe Kimes from WMOT in Nashville, Nastia Voynovskaya from KQED in San Francisco and Izzi Bavis from WTMD in Baltimore. Plus, a handful of NPR Music writers and critics offer their personal picks in the lightning round. 

The Starting 5

(03:50) Album No. 1
- Willi Carlisle, 'The Universal Bubba'

(09:46) Album No. 2
- Katie Gregson-MacLeod, 'Albatross'

(17:59) Album No. 3
- Dawuna, 'Love's Arp'

(24:04) Album No. 4
- Bricknasty, 'forever'

(30:27) Album No. 5
- Catherine Ellicson, 'River of Fat'

(37:27) The Lightning Round

- Straw Man Army, 'True North'
- Odette, 'Blink'
- Skepta, 'The Fork and Knife'
- Bad Brains, 'Are You Ready: The First Studio Recording'
- Bassvictim, 'Peace + War'

Sample the albums via our New Music Friday playlist.

Credits:
Host: Stephen Thompson
Guests: Chloe Kimes, Nastia Voynovskaya, Izzi Bavis
Audio Producer: Noah Caldwell
Digital Producer: Dora Levite
Editors: Elle Mannion, Otis Hart
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
Special thanks to Sheldon Pearce and Lars Gotrich

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The Mexican folk celebration of Día de los Muertos transcends borders and cultures these days. It is so widely celebrated that you can buy plastic marigolds and papél picado (the intricately cut designs on tissue paper) and even fake sugar skulls for your home altars on Amazon. And yet that popularity hasn't seemed to diminish the actual intent: an offering to the spirits of our friends and family who have passed, as a reminder that they are still in our hearts.

Years ago on Alt.Latino we started a tradition of making those offerings through words and music for a Sonic Altar: songs, dedications, lots of emotions and more than a few tears.

This year, we dedicate our altar to the iconic civil rights icon Dolores Huerta by returning to an Alt.Latino episode from Sept. 2017, when she mixed her passion for social justice with jazz. We also make some time for a special personal dedication, and remember some prominent Latin musicians who left us this year: Ruben Rada, Roxana Amed and Willie Colón.

This podcast episode was produced by Noah Caldwell. Suraya Mohamed is the executive producer of NPR Music.

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As we enter the homestretch of 2026, we pause to catch up on some of the great tracks we missed from earlier in the year. This includes a stunning, ever-shifting earworm from a bedroom pop artist out of Northern Iowa known as Kinji, maximalist polyrhythms from the composer and electronic artist Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, the singular voice of Mexican singer Silvana Estrada and more.

AltLatino host Anamaria Sayre joins All Songs Considered’s Robin Hilton.

Featured artists and songs:

(00:00) Intro

(01:49) Kinji: “Windburn”

(08:42) Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith: “Ruin”

(17:37) Rita Payés & Lucía Fumero: “Rueda eterna”

(25:32) Lizzie Weber: “Truth Teller”

(33:20) Pedro Mizutani: “Queria Ter Nove”

(39:58) Lockimara: “Tastes Like”

(47:04) Silvana Estrada: “Pensarte”

(53:54) Lennon Stella: “Unforgivable Things”

Tell us what you think with a review on Apple or Spotify wherever you listen to podcasts.

Questions, comments, suggestions or feedback of any kind always welcome: allsongs@npr.org

Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

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