To make a list is immediately to begin second-guessing it. This year that’s especially true below the Top 10, in my list of 20 runner-up albums, for which I had double that many candidates I could ...

This was one wild year for music — as the late, great Ozzy would say, it was a crazy train. In 2025, you never knew where your next favorite song was coming from. Some of the year’s best songs were ...

A few weeks ago, we launched the Pitchfork 2025 Readers’ Poll. Thousands of readers voted on the best songs and albums of the half-decade, and here are the results. (Thanks for voting!) Compare your ...

This year in country music was all about artists discovering ways to innovate old forms and traditions. In some cases, like Eric Church’s Evangeline vs. the Machine and Carter Faith’s stunning debut ...

Listen to 48 tracks that broke new artists, blew apart genres and revived beloved sounds. By Jon Caramanica and Lindsay Zoladz Jon Caramanica On the one hand, living in an environment in which sounds ...

Our staff's favorite albums from the year that was. Is pop now officially an albums-driven genre? The year 2025 made a strong argument for the answer being “yes.” Acclaimed sets from rising stars like ...

The Korean pop outsider Effie and the Brooklyn indie-rock band Geese top our critics’ lists this year. By Jon Caramanica and Lindsay Zoladz Jon Caramanica Musicians know how to make music, and they ...

This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here. Pop music was not at all safe this year from the encroachments of an AI industry determined to slop-ify everything ...

It's Friday, and that means we've reached our final 2025 episode of New Music Friday. While most of the music internet has moved on to looking backward (including the latest episode of All Songs ...

Each year at NPR Music, we curate two flagship lists: The Best Albums of the Year and The Best Songs of the Year. But there's a lot more recommendations and criticism where those came from. You'll ...

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