NPR Music has become an invaluable resource over the past couple of years, streaming a ton of great albums before their release on its website and employing some very good music writers, queen O.G. Ann Powers among them. And now it's unveiled its year-end list of 50 albums, and this thing is just nuts. The unranked list somehow finds room for Ab-Soul, Pallbearer, Fun., Pink, Dwight Yoakam, Dan Deacon, a healthy smattering of classical and jazz, and a ton of stuff I've never heard of. Check out NPR's picks below.
Ab-Soul - Control System
Alabama Shakes - Boys And Girls
Alisa Weilerstein & Daniel Barenboim - Elgar & Carter Cello Concertos
Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
Andy Stott - Luxury Problems
Astro - Astro
Simon Rattle & The Berlin Philharmonic - Bach: St. Matthew Passion
Bobby Womack - The Bravest Man In The Universe
Bomba Estereo - Elegancia Tropical
Brooklyn Rider - Seven Steps
Cafe Tacvba - El Objeto Antes Llamado Disco
Carla Morrison - Dejenme Llorar
Cat Power - Sun
Cody ChesnuTT - Landing On A Hundred
Dan Deacon - America
Death Grips - NO LOVE DEEP WEB
Debo Band - Debo Band
Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
Dwight Yoakam - 3 Pears
Exitmusic - Passage
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel...
Flying Lotus - Until The Quiet Comes
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Fun. - Some Nights
Homeboy Sandman - First Of A Living Breed
Iris DeMent - Sing The Delta
Janka Nabay & The Bubu Gang - En Yay Sah
Japandroids - Celebration Rock
Karriem Riggins - Alone Together
Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City
Killer Mike - R.A.P. Music
Leila Josefowicz - Salonen: Violin Concerto
Leonard Cohen - Old Ideas
Matt Ulery - By A Little Light
Meek Mill - Dreamchasers 2
Miguel - Kaleidoscope Dream
Neneh Cherry & The Thing - The Cherry Thing
Now, Now - Threads
Pallbearer - Sorrow And Extinction
Patrick Watson - Adventures In Your Own Backyard
Pink - The Truth About Love
Regina Spektor - What We Saw From The Cheap Seats
San Francisco Symphony/Michael Tilson Thomas - Adams: Harmonielehre/Short Ride In A Fast Machine
Sharon Van Etten - Tramp
Swans - The Seer
Ty Segall - Twins
The Very Best - MTMTMK
Vijay Iyer Trio - Accelerando
Wadada Leo Smith - Ten Freedom Summers
The 2 Bears - Be Strong
For blurbs and music streams, head over to NPR.
