All Songs Considered NPR Music

On our survey of the week's most exciting new albums, WRTI's Nate Chinen and NPR Music's Sheldon Pearce get all wrapped up in the amniotic embrace of a new album by a guru of the L.A. ambient-jazz scene.

The new album by Carlos Niño & Friends is called Placenta. If you know anything about Niño, you'll probably be able to guess that the subject that title suggests — pregancy and childbirth — are taken very seriously. Those "Friends" are crucial too: Niño has become a central figure in a scene whose reverberations are starting to be felt well beyond the community itself, and are drawing more artists in. You can hear Niño on André 3000's flute album New Blue Sun, and André returns the favor here.

Also this week: The fourth album by DIIV sees the indie rock group leaning into shoegaze-inspired sounds, and Andrew Bird creates an album in tribute to the "Golden Era" jazz tunes of the 1930s and '40s he heard on Sunday morning radio shows as a young adult in Chicago.

Featured Albums:• Carlos Niño & Friends, Placenta• DIIV, Frog in Boiling Water• Andrew Bird Trio, Sunday Morning Put-On

Other notable albums out May 24: • Tiny Habits, All For Something• Vince Staples, Dark Times• Alex Sipiagin, Horizons• Machinedrum, 3FOR82• Joshua Moshier, semipermanence• Nathy Peluso, Grasa

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We asked listeners to tell us about a song they ugly cried to or just couldn't stop playing. On this episode, we share some of their picks and the stories behind them.

Note: This episode originally ran on Dec. 26, 2023

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NPR Music's Stephen Thompson and Hazel Cills discuss new releases by Billie Eilish, Portishead's Beth Gibbons and Rapsody.

Featured albums:- Billie Eilish, 'Hit Me Hard and Soft'- Rapsody, 'Please Don't Cry'- Beth Gibbons, 'Lives Outgrown'

Other notable albums out May 17:- Shellac, 'To All Trains'- The Avett Brothers, 'The Avett Brothers'- V/A, 'Everyone's Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense'- Mach-Hommy, '#RICHAXXHAITIAN'- Cage the Elephant, 'Neon Pill'- of Montreal, 'Lady on the Cusp'- Wu-Lu, 'Learning To Swim On Empty'- Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band, 'Loophole'- The Lovely Eggs, 'Eggistentialism'- Kaia Kater, 'Strange Medicine'- Álvaro Díaz, 'SAYONARA'- ZAYN, 'Room Under the Stairs'- One Step Closer, 'All You Embrace'- A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, 'Better Off Alone'- Crumb, 'AMAMA'- Lightheaded, 'Combustible Gems'- Pallbearer, 'Mind Burns Alive'- Joywave, 'Permanent Pleasure'- Blitzen Trapper, '100's of 1000's, Millions of Billions'- Payroll Giovanni, 'Have Money, Have Heart' EP- UFOmammut, 'Hidden'- SQÜRL, 'Music for Man Ray'- pub, 'process the wise'

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Ana and Felix collect their favorite recent releases from the past few months, including new material from the breakout regional band Grupo Frontera, a country/Latin cross-over in the music of Wyatt Flores, a new song from groundbreaking rapper Mala Rodriguez and more.

Songs featured in this episode:

•Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, "Mas Que Nada"•Luis Muñoz, "Crescent Moon"•Mala Rodriguez, "Casi Nada [Explicit]"•Alih Jay, "Bang Bang (Mi Baby Me Mató)"•Cher, "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)"•Grupo Frontera, "Me Hizo Un Favor"•Wyatt Flores, "Half Life"•Danny Ocean, "Cero Condiciones [Explicit]"•Fabiola Méndez, "Lamento en Celinés"•Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, "EL ÚNICO"

Audio for this episode of Alt.Latino was edited and mixed by Joaquin Cotler, with editorial support from Hazel Cills. Our project manager is Grace Chung. NPR Music's executive producer is Suraya Mohamed. Our VP of Music and Visuals is Keith Jenkins.

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We update our running list of the year's best songs with new ones from Dominic Fike, WILLOW, Kamasi Washington, Illuminati Hotties and more.

Featured artists and songs:1. WILLOW: "run!" from 'empathogen'2. Dominic Fike: "hi grace" from '14 minutes'3. Kamasi Washington, George Clinton & D Smoke: "Get Lit," from 'Fearless Movement'4. Illuminati Hotties: "Can't Be Still" (single)5. Caroline Shaw & Sō Percussion: "To Music," from 'Rectangles and Circumstance'6. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross: "L'ouef" from 'Challengers' OST

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Feedback always welcome: allsongs@npr.org

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This week's episode of New Music Friday from All Songs Considered showcases artists stretching limits across a wide spectrum of genres. NPR Music editor Daoud Tyler-Ameen and Alt.Latino host Anamaria Sayre dig into the most exciting albums out May 10, 2024, from a juggernaut of the Mexican regional scene experimenting with song forms and sounds from across Latin America to an R&B singer getting loose after portraying a jazz icon to a blockbuster collection of contemporary indie artists pulled together for the soundtrack of a discombobulating movie rooted in the 1990s.

Featured Albums:• Grupo Frontera, Jugando a Que No Pasa Nada• Andra Day, Cassandra (cherith)• Various Artists, I Saw the TV Glow Original Soundtrack

Other notable albums out May 10:• Yaya Bey, Ten Fold• Les Savy Fav, OUI LSF• I. Jordan, I Am Jordan• Ryan Castro, El Cantante del Ghetto• Amen Dunes, Death Jokes• Arab Strap, I'm totally fine with it don't give a f*** anymore• Brad Mehldau, After Bach II• Brad Mehldau, Après Fauré• Chick Corea & Béla Fleck, Remembrance• Chief Keef, Almighty So 2• Conway the Machine, Slant Face Killah• Dehd, Poetry• Gunna, One of Wun• How To Dress Well, I Am Toward You• Jim White and Marisa Anderson, Swallowtail• Kelsey Waldon, There's Always a Song• Kings of Leon, Can We Please Have Fun• Mick Harvey, Five Ways to Say Goodbye• Morgan Guerin, Tales of the Facade• Myriam Gendron, Mayday• Orville Peck, Stampede, Vol. 1• Shannon & the Clams, The Moon Is In The Wrong Place

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