NPR Top 100 Songs & Top 50 Albums of 2016

Info:  NPR (National Public Radio) is "an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States" (from Wikipedia). 

Source: NPR
Date of publication: December 2016
Spotify playlists latest update: 27th December 2016
(end-of-2016 playlist series)


TOP 100 SONGS

Spotify direct link: URI / HTTP



Full list

Strikethrough tracks (3/100) are not available on Spotify. Some tracks may be not available in all countries.

1. Beyoncé - Formation
2. Mitski - Your Best American Girl
3. Kanye West (feat. Chance the Rapper, The-Dream, Kelly Price and Kirk Franklin) - Ultralight Beam
4. Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker
5. Drive-By Truckers - What It Means
6. Chance the Rapper (feat. Anderson .Paak, BJ The Chicago Kid, Raury and Ty Dolla $ign) - Blessings (Reprise)
7. Rae Sremmurd (feat. Gucci Mane) - Black Beatles
8. Solange - Cranes in the Sky
9. Pinegrove - Old Friends
10. ANOHNI - Drone Bomb Me
11. Fifth Harmony (feat. Ty Dolla $ign) - Work From Home
12. Frank Ocean - Pink + White
13. David Bowie - I Can't Give Everything Away
14. Maren Morris - Rich
15. Rihanna (feat. Drake) - Work
16. Car Seat Headrest - Vincent
17. Anderson .Paak - Come Down
18. Gregory Porter - Take Me to the Alley
19. Danny Brown (feat. Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul and Earl Sweatshirt) - Really Doe
20. Boris Giltburg - Étude-tableaux, Op. 39: No. 3 (Rachmaninoff)
21. Margaret Glaspy - You And I
22. Lizzo - Good As Hell
23. Robert Ellis - California
24. James Blake (feat. Bon Iver) - I Need A Forest Fire
25. Angel Olsen - Sister
26. Ty Dolla $ign (feat. Big TC) - No Justice
27. Lucy Dacus - I Don't Wanna Be Funny Anymore
28. Miranda Lambert - Vice
29. Paul Simon - Wristband
30. Xenia Rubinos - Mexican Chef
31. Desiigner - Panda
32. Bon Iver - 22 (OVER S∞∞N)
33. Maggie Rogers - Alaska
34. A Tribe Called Quest - We The People...
35. Parker Millsap - Heaven Sent
36. Leyla McCalla - A Day For The Hunter, A Day for the Prey
37. Blood Orange (feat. Empress Of) - Best To You
38. Pavel Kolesnikov - Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17, No. 4 (Chopin)
39. Lindstrøm - Closing Shot
40. Radiohead - Daydreaming
41. Maxwell - Lake By the Ocean
42. Låpsley - Operator (DJ Koze's Disco Edit)
43. Allen Toussaint - Mardi Gras In New Orleans
44. Brandy Clark - Since You've Gone To Heaven
45. Bombino - Timtar (Memories)
46. Big Thief - Masterpiece
47. Riton (feat. Kah-Lo) - Rinse & Repeat
48. Jeff Parker - Get Dressed
49. Joyce DiDonato - Lascia ch'io pianga (Handel)
50. William Bell - The Three Of Me
51. Swet Shop Boys - T5
52. Shura - What’s It Gonna Be?
53. Julianna Barwick - Big Hollow
54. Yola Carter - Fly Away
55. Weezer - California Kids
56. The 1975 - A Change Of Heart
57. Savages - Adore
58. Daniel Wohl - Source
59. Lake Street Dive - Call Off Your Dogs
60. Angelica Garcia - Orange Flower
61. Joyce Manor - Fake I.D.
62. Fat Joe, Remy Ma & Jay Z (feat. French Montana and Infared) - All The Way Up (Remix)
63. Beyoncé (feat. Dixie Chicks) - Daddy Lessons (Remix)
64. Japanese Breakfast - In Heaven
65. case/lang/veirs - Atomic Number
66. Robbie Fulks - South Bend Soldiers On
67. Rolf Lislevand - Caprice de Chaconne (Corbetta)
68. Kelsey Waldon - All By Myself
69. La Yegros (feat. Lindigo) - Sueñitos
70. The xx - On Hold
71. Isaiah Rashad (feat. SZA) - Stuck in the Mud
72. Brent Cobb - Diggin' Holes
73. Angela Hunte - Mon Bon Ami
74. Miles Mosley - Abraham
75. Dae Dae - Wat U Mean (Aye, Aye, Aye)
76. William Tyler - Highway Anxiety
77. D.R.A.M. (feat. Lil Yachty) - Broccoli
78. Vektor - Charging The Void
79. Fea - Tragedias
80. Jambinai - They Keep Silence
81. Heron Oblivion - Beneath Fields
82. SubRosa - Troubled Cells
83. Noura Mint Seymali - Ghlana
84. Jon Bellion - All Time Low
85. Lubomyr Melnyk - Sunset
86. Calvin Harris (feat. Rihanna) - This Is What You Came For
87. Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band - High Castle Rock
88. Jacob Collier - Hideaway
89. The Furrow Collective - Chuir M'Athair Mise dhan Taigh Charraideach
90. ¡Aparato! - Aire
91. Beth Orton - Dawnstar
92. Oathbreaker - 10:56 / Second Son of R.
93. ZAYN - PILLOWTALK
94. Adam Torres - Juniper Arms
95. Eighth Blackbird - Pulse (Robert Honstein)
96. Young Thug and Travis Scott (feat. Quavo) - Pick Up the Phone
97. John Paul White - Black Leaf
98. Los Cenzontles - Both Sides Now
99. William Michael Morgan - I Met a Girl
100. Drake (feat. WizKid and Kyla) - One Dance


TOP 50 ALBUMS

Spotify direct links: URI / HTTP



Full list

Strikethrough albums (7/50) are not available on Spotify. Some albums may be not available in all countries.

1. Solange - A Seat At The Table
2. Beyoncé - Lemonade
3. David Bowie - Blackstar
4. Frank Ocean - Blonde
5. Bon Iver - 22, A Million
6. Barbara Hannigan/Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra/Andris Nelsons - let me tell you (Abrahamsen)
7. Anderson .Paak - Malibu
8. Car Seat Headrest - Teens Of Denial
9. Miranda Lambert - The Weight Of These Wings
10. Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book
11. Xenia Rubinos - Black Terry Cat
12. Rihanna - Anti
13. Kaytranada - 99.9%
14. Drive-By Truckers - American Band
15. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
16. Carrie Rodriguez - Lola
17. A Tribe Called Quest - We got it from Here...Thank You 4 Your service
18. Laura Mvula - The Dreaming Room
19. David T. Little - Dog Days
20. Margo Price - Midwest Farmer's Daughter
21. The 1975 - I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it
22. Noname - Telefone
23. A-WA - Habib Galbi
24. Young Thug - Jeffery
25. Angel Olsen - My Woman
26. Noura Mint Seymali - Arbina
27. Jamila Woods - HEAVN
28. Esperanza Spalding - Emily's D+Evolution
29. Mitski - Puberty 2
30. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - EARS
31. Big Thief - Masterpiece
32. ANOHNI - Hopelessness
33. Logan Richardson - Shift
34. Lori McKenna - The Bird & The Rifle
35. Pavel Kolesnikov - Chopin Mazurkas
36. Maren Morris - Hero
37. René Marie - Sound Of Red
38. Pinegrove - Cardinal
39. Tweet - Charlene
40. Aaron Lee Tasjan - Silver Tears
41. Carl Gari & Abdullah Miniawy - Darraje
42. Pure Disgust - Pure Disgust
43. Parker Millsap - The Very Last Day
44. New York Philharmonic/Alan Gilbert - Rouse: Symphonic Works
45. Mal Devisa - Kiid
46. Steven Julien - Fallen
47. Y La Bamba - Ojos del Sol
48. Domo Genesis - Genesis
49. Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor's Guide To Earth
50. Catherine Russell - Harlem On My Mind

NPR 50 Favorite Albums of 2015

Info: "This list of our favorite albums of the year (published alphabetically) includes hip-hop that reckons with our incandescent political moment and the foundational ideas that shaped our nation. Pop for the first moments of new love, metal for the end of the world. Songs from a dozen countries and as many genres, and plenty from areas in-between. There's so much here we adore, from old favorites and new obsessions. We hope you find something to love". On NPR, each album comes with a short review. As usual with NPR end-of-year selection, albums are not ranked. 

Source: NPR
Date of publication: 7th december 2015
Spotify playlist latest update: 18th december 2015
Spotify direct links: URI / HTTP
(end-of-2015 playlist series)

Full list (alphabetical order)

Strikethrough albums (4/50) are not available on Spotify. Some albums may be not available in all countries. 

Africa Express & Andre de Ridder – Africa Express Presents… Terry Riley’s In C Mali

Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color

Anthony de Mare – Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano

Ashley Monroe – The Blade

Beauty Pill – Describes Things As They Are

Bomba Estéreo – Amanecer

Boston Modern Orchestra Project & Gil Rose – Andrew Norman: Play

Brandi Carlile – The Firewatcher’s Daughter

Carla Morrison – Amor Supremo

Carly Rae Jepsen – E•MO•TION

Cécile McLorin Salvant – For One to Love

Chris Stapleton – Traveller

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah – Stretch Music (Introducing Elena Pinderhughes)

Colleen – Captain of None

Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

Daymé Arocena – Nueva Era

Dead To A Dying World – Litany

DJ Sotofett & Jaakko Eino Kalevi – Drippin’ For A Tripp

Earl Sweatshirt – I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside: An Album

Floating Points – Elaenia

Florence + The Machine – How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

Four Tet – Morning / Evening

Future – DS2

The Game – The Documentary 2

Girlpool – Before the World Was Big

Ibeyi – Ibeyi

International Contemporary Ensemble – Thorvaldsdottir: In the Light of Air

The Internet – Ego Death

Jamie xx – In Colour

Jason Isbell – Something More Than Free

Jazmine Sullivan – Reality Show

Joan Shelley – Over and Even

Joanna Newsom – Divers

Kacey Musgraves – Pageant Material

Kamasi Washington – The Epic

Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly

Low – Ones and Sixes

Mbongwana Star – From Kinshasa

various artists – Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording)

Patty Griffin – Servant of Love

Rhiannon Giddens – Tomorrow Is My Turn

Sam Lee & Friends – The Fade in Time

John Adams, San Francisco Symphony & Michael Tilson Thomas – Adams: Absolute Jest & Grand Pianola Music

Sufjan Stevens – Carrie & Lowell

Torres – Sprinter

Ty Dolla $ign – Free TC

Vijay Iyer Trio – Break Stuff

Vince Staples – Summertime ’06

Worriers – Imaginary Life

Xaos – Xaos

NPR 50 Favourite Albums of 2014

Like every year, NPR 50 Favourite Albums is one of the most eclectic end-of-year charts. Not ranked, nicely covering pop, rock, country, electronic, classical, jazz, world and much more. Listen to it on the following playlists and go to NPR to read something more about each album.

Enjoy!

The Complete Spotirama EOY 2014 playlist series:
Decibel Top 40 Albums of 2014
Intro Top 50 Songs and Top 50 Albums of 2014

Mojo Top 50 Albums of 2014
NME Top 50 Tracks and Top 50 Albums of 2014
Rolling Stone Top 50 Albums of 2014
Rough Trade Top 100 Albums of 2014
Uncut Top 75 Albums of 2014

Previous EOY series:
2013
2011
2010

NPR 50 FAVOURITE ALBUMS OF 2014

(from A to Z, full albums)

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(from A to Z, 3 tracks each album)

SUBSCRIBE TO THIS PLAYLIST

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Full list

Strikethrough albums (7/50) are not available on Spotify. Some albums may be not available in all countries.

Alt-J - This Is All Yours
Ana Tijoux - Vengo
Angaleena Presley - American Middle Class
Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness
Aphex Twin - Syro
Augustin Hadelich - Ades/Sibelius: Violin Concertos
Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band - Landmarks
Brownout - Brownout Presents Brown Sabbath
Ceci Bastida - En La Edad De La Violencia
FKA twigs - LP1
Fred Hersch Trio - Floating
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Piñata
The Gloaming - The Gloaming
Grouper - Ruins
Hurray for the Riff Raff - Small Town Heroes
Isaiah Rashad - Cilvia Demo
Jeff Ballard Trio - Time's Tales
Jenny Lewis - The Voyager
Jorge Drexler - Bailar En La Cueva
Joyce Didonato - Stella di Napoli
Kassem Mosse - Workshop 19
Leon Fleisher - All The Things You Are
Los Lobos - Si Se Puede: Los Lobo And Friends
Luluc - Passerby
Marc Ribot Trio - Live At The Village Vanguard
Martha - Courting Strong
Mary J. Blige - The London Sessions
Miranda Lambert - Platinum
Moodyman - Moodyman
Noura Mint Seymali - Tzenni
Pallbearer - Foundations of Burden
Perfume Genius - Too Bright
Popcaan - Where We Come From
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra/Prague Philharmonic Choir - Leos Janacek, Glagolitic Mass
Robert Ellis - The Lights From The Chemical Plant
Robert Plant - lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar
Run the Jewels - RTJ2
Seattle Symphony - John Luther Adams, Become Ocean
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 - A Long Way To The Beginning
Spoon - They Want My Soul
St. Vincent - St. Vincent
Stromae - Racine Caree
Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds In Country Music
Sylvan Esso - Sylvan Esso
T.I. - Paperwork
Taylor Swift - 1989
Teyana Taylor - VII
Ty Dolla $ign - SIgn Language
The War on Drugs - Lost In The Dream
YG - My Krazy Life

NPR Music 100 Favorite Songs of 2013

After the albums, here we have NPR picks on best songs of 2013. Again, not ranked. And again, with a good equilibrium between rock favourites of everyone (Get Lucky, Song For Zula, White Noise, Where Are We Now?, GMF, Do I Wanna Know?), pop hits (Pusher Love Girl, Blurred Lines), obscure (to me) world acts and unusual choices (Lorde without Royals!). On NPR Music site you find a quick description of each track and direct links to their own playlists (Spotify and Rdio).

Enjoy.

Complete series of Spotirama end-of-2013 playlists (with charts by Amazon, BuzzFeed, Indiewire, Jazzwise, Mojo, NPR, Paste, PopMatters, Pretty Much Amazing, Q, Renowned for Sound, Revolver, Rolling Stone, Rough Trade, Stereogum, Uncut, The Wire, Zane Lowe)

NPR MUSIC 100 FAVORITE SONGS OF 2013

(from 1 to Y)

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Full list

Strikethrough tracks (5/100) are not available on Spotify. Some tracks may not be available in all countries.

The 1975 - Chocolate
2 Chainz - Feds Watching
A$AP Ferg feat. A$AP Rocky - Shabba
Alice Smith - Shot
Anna von Hausswolff - Funeral For My Future Children
Aoife O'Donovan - Red & White & Blue & Gold
Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know?
Ariana Grande - Honeymoon Avenue
Ashley Monroe - Used
Ballake Sissoko - Maimouna
Beck - Gimme
Billband - Sparkle
The Blow - Make It Up
Boards of Canada - Cold Earth
Bonobo - Cirrus
Bosnian Rainbows - Torn Maps
Bunji Garlin - Differentology
Caitlin Rose - Only a Clown
Cecille McLorin Salvant - You Bring Out the Savage in Me
Chelsea Wolfe - The Warden
Christian Gerhaher, Mahler - Ich Bin Der Welt Abhanden Gekommeen
Chucho Valdes - Tabu
Chvrches - Recover
Ciara - Body Party
Claire Chase, Edgar Varese - Density 21.5
Courtney Barnett - Avant Gardener
Daft Punk - Get Lucky
Daniel Wohl - Corpus
Danny Brown - Dip
Daughter - Youth
David Bowie - Where Are We Now?
Disclosure Feat. AlunaGeorge - White Noise
Drake - Hold On We're Going Home
Earl Sweatshirt - Chum
FKA Twigs - Water Me
Foxygen - San Francisco
The Front Bottoms - Twin Size Mattress
Fuck Buttons - The Red Wing
Gary Allan - It Ain't the Whiskey
Glenn Jones - My Garden State
Gray Reverend - My Hands
Hilary Hahn, Somei Satoh - Bifu
Holly Williams - Giving Up
Irene Diaz - I Love You Madly
J. Cole Feat. Miguel - Power Trip
Jagwar Ma - Uncertainty
Jaheim - Age Ain't a Factor
Jaimeo Brown - Power of God
James Blake - Retrograde
Jay Z - Picasso Baby
John Grant - GMF
Josh Ritter - Joy To You, Baby
Jucifer - Shame
Justin Timberlake - Pusher Love Girl
Kyle Hall a.k.a. KMFH - Crushed
Lemuria - Brilliant Dancer
Linda Thompson - Love's for Babies and Fools
Lorde - Tennis Court
Machel Montano - The Fog
Mala Rodriguez - 33
Meridian Brothers - Coplas Para Cantar Al Atardecer
Minnesota Orchestra/Osmo Vanska, Sibelius - Symphony No. 4. IV. Allegro
My Blood Valentine - In Another Way
The National - Don't Swallow the Cap
The Necks - Open
Neko Case - Man
Night Beds - Even If We Try
North Mississippi All Stars - Turn Up Satan
Omar Souleyman - Warni Warni
Parquet Courts - Stoned and Starving
Patty Griffin - Ohio
Pelican - Deny the Absolute
Phosphorescent - Song for Zula
Pinata Protest - Volver Volver
Pinkish Black - Razed to the Ground
Prodigy & Alchemist - Breeze
Pusha T - Numbers on the Board
Rapsody Feat. Chance the Rapper and Big K.R.I.T. - Lonely Thoughts
Rhye - Open
Rich Homie Quan - Type of Way
Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines
Rokia Traore - Melancolie
Royal Highness - Fiesta Columbiana
Rudresh Mahanthappa - Waiting Is Forbidden
RVIVR - Paper Thin
Sam Amidon - My Old Friend
Sarah Cahill - Be Kind to One Another
Son Lux - Easy
Stromae - Papaoute
Suede - For The Strangers
The-Dream - Too Early
Thundercat - Oh Sheit, It's X
Timo Andres - Paraphrase on Themes of Brian Eno
Todd Terje - Strandbar (Samba Version)
Tom Harrell - Night Life
Typhoon - Young Fathers
White Mandingos - My First White Girl
William Tyler - Country of Illusion
Willis Earl Beal - Coming Through
Yo La Tengo - Ohm

NPR Music 50 Favorite Albums of 2013

Nice spinning .gif from NPR website

The wide world of NPR Music extends beyond rock, pop and electronica. So in this end-of-2013 albums list you will find some previously/frequently spoticharted artists like Deafheaven, Haim, James Blake, Kanye West, Laura Marling and Vampire Weekend along with new entries tinged with jazz, world, classical, contemporary. Go to NPR Music, for smart photo-evidence that they bought all the physical discs. And/or browse the usual double Spotify playlist, below.

Enjoy.

Complete series of Spotirama end-of-2013 playlists (with charts by Amazon, BuzzFeed, Indiewire, Jazzwise, Mojo, Paste, PopMatters, Pretty Much Amazing, Q, Renowned for Sound, Revolver, Rolling Stone, Rough Trade, Stereogum, Uncut, Zane Lowe)

NPR MUSIC 50 FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2013

(full albums, form B to Z)

(3 tracks each album, from B to Z)

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Full list

Strikethrough albums (8/50) are not available on Spotify. Some albums (like Lucius' Wildewoman, Sky Ferreira's Night Time, My Time and Starlito & Don Trip's Step Brothers 2 may be not available in all countries).

Bill Callahan - Dream River
Blood Orange - Cupid Deluxe
Bombino - Nomad
Brandy Clark - 12 Stories
Bryan Ferry Orchestra - The Jazz Age
Buika - La noche mas larga
Caleb Burhans - Evensong
Chance the Rapper  Acid Rap
Daniel Avery - Drone Logic
Darcy James Argue's Secret Society - Brooklyn Babylon
David Lang (feat. Bryce Dessner, Nico Muhly, Owen Pallett & Shara Worden) - Death Speaks
Dawn Of Midi - Dysnomia
Dawn Upshaw & Maria Schneider - Winter Morning Walks
Deafheaven - Sunbather
Dj Koze - Amygdala
The Flaming Lips - The Terror
Gregory Porter - Liquid Spirit
Haim - Days Are Gone
In Solitude - Sister
Isabelle Faust And The Swedish Radio Orchestra, Conducted By Daniel Harding - Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 (Bela Bartok)
James Blake - Overgrown
Jason Isbell - Southeastern
John Legend - Love In The Future
John Luther Adams - Inuksuit
Juana Molina - Wed 21
Ka - The Night's Gambit
Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer Different Park
Kanye West - Yeezus
La Santa Cecilia - Treinta dias
La Vida Boheme - Será
Latvian Radio Choir - Rachmaninoff: All-Night Vigil
Laura Marling - Once I Was An Eagle
Laura Mvula - Sing To The Moon
Livity Sound - Livity Sound
Lucius - Wildewoman
Mala Rodríguez - Bruja
Pedrito Martinez Group - Pedrito Martinez Group
Pusha T - My Name Is My Name
Rhye - Woman
Run The Jewels - Run The Jewels
San Fermin - San Fermin
Sky Ferreira - Night Time, My Time
Starlito & Don Trip - Step Brothers 2
Tim Hecker - Virgins
Valerie June - Pushin' Against A Stone
Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires Of The City
Van-Anh Vanessa Vo - Three-Mountain Pass
Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt
Wayne Shorter - Without A Net
William Onyeabor - Who Is William Onyeabor?

NPR's 70-song SXSW Playlist (on Spotify)

Whistlin' in the rain

Well, actually NPR made a 100-song playlist. And many of them are available as MP3 on their website. In this playlist you can listen to the 69 70 I found on Spotify. Enjoy!

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NPR's 70-song SXSW Playlist
Source: NPR.
Songs available on Spotify: 69/100 (69%)

Adam Arcuragi - Presidents' Song
Alabama Shakes - I Found You
Allen Stone - Sleep
Amy Bezunartea - Doubles
Andrew Bird - Eyeoneye
Apparat - Black Water
Bear In Heaven - The Reflection Of You
Ben Howard - Old Pine
Best Coast - When I'm With You
Big Deal - Chair
Black Tusk - Set The Dial To Your Doom
Blondes - Wine
Brendan Benson - Bad For Me
Bright Moments - Travelers
Caveman - Old Friend
Ceremony - Hysteria
Chappo - Come Home
Chic Gamine - Closer
Chicha Libre - La Danza Del Millonario
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Same Mistake
Cloud Nothings - Stay Useless
Crooked Fingers - Your Apocalypse
Cults - Abducted
Dan Deacon - Bangkok
Daughter - Landfill
Deafheaven - Violet
Dessa - The Beekeeper
Dev - In The Dark
Dry The River - New Ceremony
Eleanor Friedberger - My Mistakes
Emma-Louise - Jungle
Emperor X - Erica Western Teleport
The Front Bottoms - Maps
Fanfarlo - Deconstruction
Feathers - Believe
Firehorse - Our Hearts
fun. - We Are Young
G-Side - NAT GEO
Gappy Ranks - Longtime
Garland Jeffreys - Coney Island Winter
Girl In A Coma - Smart
Great Lake Swimmers - Easy Come Easy Go
Grimes - Oblivion
Heartless Bastards - Parted Ways
Herzog - Silence
Horse Feathers - Fit Against The Country
Hospitality - Friends Of Friends
Imperial Teen - Runaway
JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound - Everything Will Be Fine
Kendrick Lamar - Ab-Souls Outro (feat. Ab-Soul)
Kishi Bashi - Bright Whites
La Sera - Please Be My Third Eye
La Vida Boheme - Nicaragua
Laura Gibson - La Grande
Lee Fields & The Expressions - Faithful Man
Lost Lander - Cold Feet
Lost In The Trees - Red
Lower Dens - Brains
Luluc - Little Suitcase
The Magnetic Fields - Andrew In Drag
The Men - Open Your Heart
Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again
Milagres - Here To Stay
Milo Greene - 1957
Mind Spiders - Wait For Us
The Milk Carton Kids - There By Your Side
Nada Surf - When I Was Young
Nicolas Jaar - With Just One Glance
Now, Now - Dead Oaks
Of Monsters And Men - Little Talks
Patrick Watson - Into Giants
Polica - Lay Your Cards Out
Quiet Company - You, Me & The Boatman
Royal Thunder - Mouth Of Fire
Reks - Autograph
Robert Glasper Experiment - Ah Yeah
Sarah Jaffe - Glorified High
Sarah Siskind - Feeling For You
SBTRKT - Wildfire
Seryn - We Will All Be Changed
Seun Anikulapo Kuti & Egypt 80 - Rise
Sepalcure - Pencil Pimp
Sharon Van Etten - Serpents
Shearwater - You As You Were
Shimmering Stars - Sun's Going Down
Silverbus - Those Forgotten
Sleeper Agent - Get It Daddy
Spoek Mathambo - Put Some Red On It
STS - Here Tonight
Tanlines - Brothers
THEESatisfaction - QueenS
Water Liars - Dog Eaten
We Are Augustines - Headlong Into The Abyss
We Were Promised Jetpacks - Act On Impulse
Wild Belle - Keep You
Y La Bamba - Squawk
Yellow Ostrich - Marathon Runner
Young Buffalo - Catapilah
Young Prisms - Floating In Blue
Zola Jesus - Vessel

Listen on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR846)

NPR Best 100 Songs of 2011

This NPR chart has two problems. First, it's not ranked. It's alphabetical. So I couldn't chop it as a Top50, I painfully breaking my 2011 end-of-year playlist habit. Second, many songs - almost twenty - are missing from Spotify. And many are available only in restricted markets. But there is a big value in it. It doesn't feature only rock music (or alternative/electronica/folk/hip hop): it's wider, including other genres, like world, contemporary or classical. That means - along with the usual M83, tUnE-yArDs or Bon Iver - some very different choices from the other playlists I published so far. One example? A crazy little thing called Lungulungu by Fokn Bois and Jumo Daddy taken from the album The Fokn Dunaquest in Budapest. Cool, isn't it? Enjoy!

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NPR BEST 100 SONGS OF 2011
Source: NPR
Songs available on Spotify: 81/100 (81%)

10/10 Ensemble - Fiji
Adele - Someone Like You
Alabama Shakes - Hold On
Anthony Hamilton - Mad
Azealia Banks - 212
Battles - Ice Cream (feat. Matias Aguayo)
Beyonce - Countdown
Big Freedia - Azz Everywhere
Bill McHenry - La Fuerza
Bingo Players - Cry (Just A Little) (Olav Basoski Remix)
Bjork - Virus
Blawan - Getting Me Down
Bon Iver - Calgary
Cass McCombs - County Line
Caveman - Old Friend
Chris Brown - Look At Me Now (feat. Busta Rhymes and Lil Wayne)
Chris Thile & Michael Daves - Sleep With One Eye Open
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Same Mistake
Cults - Abducted
Danny Brown - Scrap Or Die
Darkest Era - An Ancient Fire Burns
Das Racist - Michael Jackson
David Wax Museum - Born With A Broken Heart
The Decemberists - Down By The Water
Delicate Steve - Butterfly
Deniz Kurtel - The L Word
Drake - Take Care (feat. Rihanna)
E-40 - Beastin'
Eleanor Friedberger - My Mistakes
EMA - The Grey Ship
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Fokn Bois and Jumo Daddy - Lungulungu
Frank Ocean - Swim Good
Garland Jeffreys - Coney Island Winter
Gary Clark, Jr. - Bright Lights
Geko Jones - Pa'la Escuela Nene (feat. Maria Mulata)
Gem Club - Twins
Gillian Welch - Hard Times
Grouplove - Tongue-Tied
G-Side - Atmosphere (feat. PH)
Hammers of Misfortune - The Grain
I Wayne - Change Them Ways
Jacques Greene - Another Girl
James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream
James Farm - Polliwog
Jay-Z & Kanye West - That's My Bitch
JD Allen Trio - Mr. Steepy
Jean-Guihen Queyras - Cello Concerto in G minor
JEFF The Brotherhood - Bummer
Jill Scott - All Cried Out (feat. Doug E. Fresh)
Jonsi - Gathering Stories
The Joy Formidable - Whirring
Joyce DiDonato - D'amour l'ardente flame
Kate Bush - Misty
Katy B - Katy On A Mission
Kay Ara - Me Dough (feat. Lil Shaker and Yaa Pono)
Kes The Band - Wotless
Lady Gaga - Yoü & I
Lagartijeando - El Alto De La Paz
Laura Marling - The Beast
Lil B - I Seen That Light
Lil Wayne - 6 Foot 7 Foot (feat. Cory Gunz)
Lisa Hannigan - Home
Los Tigres - Jefe de Jefes
Low - Try To Sleep
Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers
M83 - Midnight City
Martina McBride - I'm Gonna Love You Through It
Midnite - Mongst I & I
Milagres - Halfway
Miranda Lambert - Mama's Broken Heart
The Mountain Goats - Estate Sale Sign
My Morning Jacket - Circuital
Natacha Atlas - Batkallim (Bombay Dub Remix)
Nick Lowe - House For Sale
Nicki Minaj - Super Bass
Nicolas Jaar - Keep Me There
Now Ensemble - Change
Panda Bear - You Can Count On Me
Paul Simon - Rewrite
Pedro Soler & Gaspar Claus - Insomnio Mineral (Rondena)
Purity Ring - Ungirthed
Randy Montana - Burn These Matches
Raphael Saadiq - Heart Attack
Real Estate - It's Real
Rihanna - We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris)
SBTRKT - Wildfire (feat. Yukimi Nagano)
Seun Kuti - Rise
Simone Dinnerstein - Ich ruf zu dir
Smith Westerns - Weekend
St. Vincent - Cruel
Telebossa - Eu Sonhei Que Tu Estavas Tao Linda
Tinariwen - Tenere Taqqim Tossam
tUnE-yArDs - Bizness
Tyler, the Creator - Yonkers
The Weeknd - The Morning
Wilco - Art Of Almost
Wild Flag - Romance
Wye Oak - Civilian
Yuck - Rubber

Listen on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0793)


END OF YEAR 2011 PLAYLISTS

Best 50 Albums:
Amazon.com
The Guardian
Intro
Kerrang!
Mojo
NME
Paste
Pitchfork
Q
Rolling Stone
Spin
Stereogum
The Fly
Uncut

Best 50 Songs:
Intro
NME
NPR (100 songs)
Paste
Pitchfork
PopMatters
Rolling Stone
Treble

Best 20 Albums of 2011. So far. According to NPR & Stereogum. On Spotify.

Justin Vernon/Bon Iver celebrates his #1 on Stereogum making funny noises

Are you ready to say goodbye to the first half of 2011? The july turning point is getting closer and some websites have made their mid-term charts of the best music of the year, so far. For example, two American heavyweights of the digital/musical age like NPR and Stereogum.

NPR's list goes alphabetically and diplomatically from Adele to Wye Oak, covering a wide musical spectrum (pop, rock, jazz, world, James Blake, new age...). Stereogum is more loyal to its indie-rock curriculum and crowns Bon Iver's Bon Iver as best album of the first six months of 2011. Just four albums are included in both charts: by Adele, Bon Iver, Fucked Up and Krallice (the last one, not available on Spotify).

Wanna compare these musical tastes with yours? Enjoy!

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NPR'S 25 FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2011 (SO FAR)
Source:NPR.
Albums available on Spotify: 18 out of 25 (72%)

Adele, 21
Alexander Tharaud, Scarlatti: Sonatas
Ballake Sissoko & Vincent Segal, Chamber Music
Ben Allison, Action-Refraction
Big K.R.I.T., Return Of 4eva
Bon Iver, Bon Iver
Bright Eyes, The People's Key
Colin Stetson, New History Warfare, Vol. 2: Judges
Demdike Stare, Tryptych
Diego Garcia, Laura
Dominik Eulberg, Diorama
Donnacha Dennehy, Grá agus Bás
E-40, Revenue Retrievin': Overtime Shift
Ebène Quartet, Fiction
Frank Ocean, Nostalgia, ULTRA
F——- Up, David Comes To Life
Gretchen Parlato, The Lost And Found
James Blake, James Blake
Jill Scott, The Light Of The Sun
Julianna Barwick, The Magic Place
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins, Diamond Mine
Krallice, Diotima
Tommy Guerrero, Lifeboats And Follies
tUnE-yArDs, w h o k i l l
Wye Oak, Civilian

Listen to it on Spotify:
Lite (3 tracks each album): HTTP, URI. (SR0703)
Mammoth (full albums): HTTP, URI. (SR0704)



STEREOGUM'S TOP 20 ALBUMS OF 2011 (SO FAR)
Source: Stereogum.
Albums available on Spotify: 15 out of 20 (75%)

20 Puro Instinct – Headbangers In Ecstasy
19 Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
18 Liturgy – Aesthetica
17 Toro Y Moi – Underneath The Pine
16 Krallice – Diotima
15 Yuck – Yuck
14 Destroyer – Kaputt
13 Smith Westerns – Dye It Blonde
12 Prurient – Bermuda Drain
11 Pure X – Pleasure
10 Unknown Mortal Orchestra – Unknown Mortal Orchestra
09 The Weeknd – House Of Balloons
08 PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
07 Adele – 21
06 Pictureplane – Thee Physical
05 Fucked Up – David Comes To Life
04 Iceage – New Brigade
03 Austra – Feel It Break
02 Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact
01 Bon Iver – Bon Iver

Listen to it on Spotify:
Lite (3 tracks each album): HTTP, URI. (SR0705)
Mammoth (full albums): HTTP, URI. (SR0706)

NPR The Decade's 50 Most Important Recordings

That exciting Beatles-JayZ thing

What:
From NPR:

"It seemed like an impossible task, but that didn't stop us from trying. With the first decade of the new millennium coming to a close, we decided to compile a list of the 50 most important recordings of the past 10 years — a list that covers a wide range of styles and genres, with indelible songs and albums that challenge, inspire and captivate. These are the game-changers: records that signaled some sort of shift in the way music is made or sounds, or ones that were especially influential or historically significant."

Comments:

We are so fond of lists, that with the excuse of numerical uncertainty we're even doubling them. So, we make "best of decade" lists both at the end of 2009 and of 2010. :o)

Anyway, NPR helps us to meet with some old friends not seen or heard for too much time: Bright Eyes, Iron & Wine, Postal Service, the happy country yodels from O' Brother, Where Art Thou?, that exciting Beatles-JayZ thing by Danger Mouse. As usual, not everything is available on Spotify (the exciting Beatles-JayZ thing, for instance, is obviously not). And as usual, on the NPR original chart website you find a lot of infos, historical contest and comments about each album. Enjoy!

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THE PLAYLIST
(40 albums out of 50, 80%)

01. John Adams: On The Transmigration Of Souls
02. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion
03. The Arcade Fire: Funeral
04. The Bad Plus: These Are The Vistas
05. Beyonce: Dangerously In Love
06. Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago
07. Bright Eyes: I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
08. Burial: Untrue
09. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
10. Kelly Clarkson: Breakaway
11. Coldplay: A Rush Of Blood To The Head
12. Danger Mouse: The Grey Album
13. Death Cab For Cutie: Transatlanticism
14. The Decemberists: The Crane Wife
15. Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP
16. The Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
17. Osvaldo Golijov: La Pasión Segun San Marcos (Saint Mark’s Passion)
18. Green Day: American Idiot
19. Iron And Wine: Our Endless Numbered Days
20. Jay-Z: The Blueprint
21. Norah Jones: Come Away With Me
22. Juanes: Fijate Bien
23. LCD Soundsystem: Sound Of Silver
24. Lil’ Wayne: Tha Carter III
25. Little Brother: The Listening
26. M.I.A.: Kala
27. Yo-Yo Ma: Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet
28. Mastodon: Leviathan
29. Jason Moran: Black Stars
30. OutKast: Stankonia
31. Brad Paisley: 5th Gear
32. Panda Bear: Person Pitch
33. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss: The Rising
34. The Postal Service: Give Up
35. Radiohead: In Rainbows
36. Radiohead: Kid A
37. Shakira: Fijación Oral, Vol. 1
38. Sigur Ros: ( )
39. Britney Spears: In The Zone
40. Sufjan Stevens: Illinois
41. The Strokes: Is This It
42. The Swell Season: Once Soundtrack
43. Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate: In The Heart of the Moon
44. TV On The Radio: Return To Cookie Mountain
45. Various Artists: Garden State Soundtrack
46. Various Artists: O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack
47. Kanye West: The College Dropout
48. The White Stripes: White Blood Cells
49. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
50. Amy Winehouse: Back To Black

Listen to it on Spotify:
Mammoth (full albums): HTTP, URI.
Lite (three songs each album): HTTP, URI.


Previously on the Noughties:
The Telegraph 100 Songs That Defined the Noughties
NME 100 Tracks of the Decade

NPR Favourite 50 Albums of 2010

What:

The radio formerly known as National Public Radio is now a "privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to 797 public radio stations in the United States of America" (Wikipedia). Music programming includes the popular All Songs Considered, while tech stuff shines a very nice iPad app. Like many other magazines, website and medias, NPR just published its list of 50 top albums of 2010. I spotified it.

Comment:

The worst side of EOY charts is their likeness. In the indie/hiphop/rock oriented lists, usually, you find mostly the same albums. NPR chart is quite different. First, it's not a ranked chart: albums are alphabetically ordered. Second, it's not only a rock list: along with dear old Black Keys, Deerhunter, National and Kanye West, here you can find a lot of classical, jazz, latin and world music. Yes, an italian tenor, too. :o)

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THE PLAYLIST
(36 albums out of 50, 72%, 432 tracks, about 1 day)

Thomas Ades, Tevot
Agalloch, Marrow Of The Spirit
Aloe Blacc, Good Things
Khaira Arby, Timbuktu Tarab
Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
Erykah Badu, New Amerykah, Pt. 2: Return Of The Ankh
Big Boi, Sir Lucious Leftfoot...The Son Of Chico Dusty
The Black Keys, Brothers
Brooklyn Rider, Dominant Curve
Buke & Gass, Riposte
Carolina Chocolate Drops, Genuine Negro Jig
Regina Carter, Reverse Thread
Chancha Via Circuito, Rio Arriba
Deerhunter, Halcyon Digest
Issac Delgado, Love
Joyce DiDonato, Rossini: Colbran, The Muse
Flying Lotus, Cosmogramma
Four Tet, There Is Love In You
Vittorio Grigolo, The Italian Tenor
Gyptian, Hold You
Hilary Hahn, Higdon & Tchaikovsky: Violin Concertos
Mary Halvorson Quintet, Saturn Sings
Rita Indiana, El Juidero
Jamey Johnson, The Guitar Song
Jonsi, Go
Seu Jorge And Almaz, Seu Jorge And Almaz
King Sunny Ade, Baba Mo Tunde
Ray LaMontagne And The Pariah Dogs, God Willin' And The Creek Don't Rise
LCD Soundsystem, This Is Happening
Lower Dens, Twin Hand Movement
Alexander Melnikov, Shostakovich
Janelle Monae, The ArchAndroid
Jason Moran, Ten
Carla Morrison, Mientras Tu Dormias
The National, High Violet
Owen Pallett, Heartland
Sondra Radvanovsky, Verdi Arias
Josh Ritter, So Runs The World Away
Robyn, Body Talk (Body Talk anthology is not available: I included Body Talk pt.1 & pt.2)
Kermit Ruffins, Happy Talk
Christian Scott, Yesterday You Said Tomorrow
Gil Scott-Heron, I'm New Here
Sleigh Bells, Treats
Esperanza Spalding, Chamber Music Society
Mavis Staples, You Are Not Alone
Sufjan Stevens, The Age Of Adz
The Tallest Man On Earth, The Wild Hunt
Titus Andronicus, The Monitor
Sharon Van Etten, Epic
Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Listen to it on Spotify: HTTP, URI. (SR0302)

Previously on Spotirama:
NME Best 75 Tracks & Albums of 2010
Rough Trade Top 100 Albums of 2010

Best Music of 2010 (So Far) (NPR listeners)

Cheers from #1, guys!

Are you sure you catched all the best music of the year? Or, while you were distracted by your lovely girlfriend or by a football match, something missed from your listenings? NPR helps us getting a summary of the first six musical months of 2010 with a listeners' survey. The results? A chart of the top 50 albums of the year so far. Just not to leave anything behind. #1 is Gorillaz's Plastic Beach, with The National's High Violet and Black Keys' Brothers on the podium. Here you can find the whole list and some words from NPR guys. Below, the Spotirama Spotify playlist. In the usual double edition: a mammoth with the complete albums (43 out of 50 are available on Spotify) and a lite baby with just three songs each album. Enjoy!

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The Playlists
featuring 43 out of 50 albums (86%):

50 David Byrne & Fatboy Slim: Here Lies Love
49 Bettye LaVette: Interpretations: The British Songbook
48 Laura Marling: I Speak Because I Can
47 Sade: Soldier Of Love
46 Corinne Bailey Rae: The Sea
45 Kings Go Forth: Outsiders Are Back
44 Quasi: American Gong
43 Owen Pallett: Heartland
42 Erykah Badu: New Amerykah Pt. 2, Return Of The Ankh
41 Ratatat: LP4
40 The Flaming Lips & Stardeath & White Dwarfs, & Henry Rollins & Peaches: Dark Side Of The Moon
39 Blitzen Trapper: Destroyer Of The Void
38 Four Tet: There Is Love In You
37 Laura Veirs: July Flame
36 Jakob Dylan: Women And Country
35 Charlotte Gainsbourg: IRM
34 Freelance Whales: Weathervanes
33 Massive Attack: Heligoland
32 Hold Steady: Heaven Is Whenever
31 Gaslight Anthem: American Slang
30 Crystal Castles: Crystal Castles (II)
29 Dead Weather: Sea Of Cowards
28 Caribou: Swim
27 Dr. Dog: Shame, Shame
26 Surfer Blood: Astro Coast
25 Frightened Rabbit: The Winter Of Mixed Drinks
24 Janelle Monae: The ArchAndroid
23 Josh Ritter: So Runs The World Away
22 Joanna Newsom: Have One On Me
21 MGMT: Congratulations
20 Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings: I Learned The Hard Way
19 Broken Social Scene: Forgiveness Rock Record
18 The Knife: Tomorrow, In A Year
17 Jonsi: Go
16 Band of Horses: Infinite Arms
15 She & Him: Volume Two
14 Flying Lotus: Cosmogramma
13 The New Pornographers: Together
12 Yeasayer: Odd Blood
11 Local Natives: Gorilla Manor
10 Sleigh Bells: Treats
09 Spoon: Transference
08 Mumford And Sons: Sigh No More
07 Beach House: Teen Dream
06 Vampire Weekend: Contra
05 LCD Soundsystem: This Is Happening
04 Broken Bells: Broken Bells
03 The Black Keys: Brothers
02 The National: High Violet
01 Gorillaz: Plastic Beach

Listen to the mammoth playlist on Spotify (complete albums, 503 tracks, about 1 day): HTTP Link, URI. (SR0199)
Listen to the lite playlist on Spotify (3 songs each album, 129 tracks, about 9 hours): HTTP Link, URI. (SR0200)