SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
What were your favorite albums this year? For music lovers, the end of the year is a time to look back. You've got the Grammy nominations. You've got Spotify Wrapped. But nothing really beats a person you know telling you about something that they loved, so today, we are turning to NPR Music's critic Ann Powers to get recommendations on some of this year's best albums. Hi, Ann.
ANN POWERS, BYLINE: Oh, hey, Scott. How are you doing?
DETROW: I understand you and everyone at NPR Music - you're all so smart. Sometimes you disagree. But there was one album you all had a lot of consensus on. Tell me about it.
POWERS: Oh, yes. The Spanish artist Rosalia released her album "Lux" in November, and it totally changed the game.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SEXO, VIOLENCIA Y LLANTAS")
ROSALIA: (Singing in Spanish).
POWERS: This is a very high-concept album, but it's also easy to relate to. Rosalia used a symphony orchestra to create really an operatic suite about heartbreak and romantic revenge. It is high art, but it also is pop in the best way. I mean, it evokes big ballad singers like Celine Dion and even Disney scores, at least to my ears. And as my colleague Anamaria Sayre said, it's also connected to flamenco, which is Rosalia's root form. It makes that connection really clear and it's so emotional. Everyone loves this record.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROSALIA SONG, "BERGHAIN")
DETROW: This list comes together with everyone bringing their own personal views on the year. Tell me about your favorite album.
POWERS: Well, I live in the South. I live in Nashville, and I care a lot about, you know, how the South is represented in art, in music. And the band "Wednesday," they're based in North Carolina. On their album "Bleeds," they totally capture what it's like to live in a place like North Carolina and make art and just be, I don't know, kind of a freak in the best way.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BITTER EVERYDAY")
WEDNESDAY: (Singing) You're chopping ketamine with a motel room key.
POWERS: This is a very personal album, but what I love is songwriter and singer Karly Hartzman's storytelling style, how it's fleshed out by this band who can go from punk to country to huge Southern rock without even sweating.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TOWNIES")
WEDNESDAY: (Singing) Died.
DETROW: These lists cover so many different genres. Tell me about some of our other critics' favorites.
POWERS: Well, my colleague, Sheldon Pearce - he knows everything about hip-hop, and like me, he loves British rap. And Dave - the artist Dave - is an absolute titan of the London hip-hop scene, and his album "The Boy Who Played The Harp" was Sheldon's pick.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MY 27TH BIRTHDAY")
DAVE: (Rapping) White fish on the coast of the Caribbean. My life is a film. Hero and villain, I'm playing both in the script worthy of Spielberg or Christopher Nolan reading, the constant overachieving, I know.
POWERS: This is a very introspective album. It's also extremely expansive, lush. If you like that kind of sound that mixes hip-hop, soul and rap and just great rhyming, you're going to love this.
DETROW: All right, so let me ask you just selfishly, are there any good jazz albums on this list?
POWERS: Well, if you know jazz guitar, you probably already know about Mary Halvorson, and she released an album with her group Amaryllis called "About Ghosts." Our jazz critic Nate Chinen called this a thrill ride, and it really is.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARY HALVORSON'S "CARVED FROM")
POWERS: It's a beautiful, complicated record. To me, it's just like watching flowers bloom, you know? It's just gorgeous.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARY HALVORSON'S "ABSINTHIAN")
DETROW: All right, that is NPR Music's critic Ann Powers. Ann, I have learned about several new albums myself today 'cause I'm out of touch till I talk to you, and I appreciate it.
POWERS: Well, keep your ears open. That's my main message.
DETROW: You can read Ann and everybody else's lists of albums of the year at npr.org.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARY HALVORSON'S "ABSINTHIAN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
