Giving thanks for friends who recommend great songs

Plus, William Prince brings his world-class voice to the Tiny Desk

View this email online November 25, 2023 Support This Newsletter Hello! Next week is Giving Tuesday, a day dedicated to generosity and community assistance. As we approach this global day of giving, please consider showing your support for the NPR Network and the role it plays in your everyday life. Your contribution helps ensure that this free and vital public service continues to enlighten and engage communities everywhere.Let’s join forces to keep NPR thriving.  Your early donation makes a difference. Thanks for considering. by Stephen Thompson, NPR Music In the spirit of Thanksgiving, members of the NPR Music team thank the music nerds in their lives who tipped them off to great new music this year. Plus, William Prince wows at the Tiny Desk Helena Deland Lawrence Fafard I’ve spent this week combining Thanksgiving festivities with the world’s least efficient beer run — there’s this great beer that they only sell in Wisconsin, I don’t make the rules — so this week’s newsletter is a team effort. Because it’s the season for gratitude, we decided to throw a prompt to the NPR Music staff: “What’s a piece of music you got into this year because of someone you know?” It’s a chance for many of our staffers to shout out songs or albums they love, while also giving thanks to the tastemaker who brought it into their lives. I’ll get the ball rolling and thank my dear pal Leah Douglas, intrepid agriculture reporter for Reuters, who put together a tremendous playlist on a summer couples’ road trip this year. That playlist included two songs that are now on heavy rotation in my own life: Deanna Petcoff’s 2022 banger “Devastatingly Mediocre” — seriously, one of the best kiss-off songs I’ve heard in years — and The Beaches’ unstoppable, ridiculously catchy, utterly hilarious “Blame Brett.” I’m a little sheepish in admitting that both artists had slipped past my radar, so here’s to Leah for setting me on the right path. Elle Mannion, Tiny Desk Contest coordinator: Thank you to my dear friend and music critic (and former editor of this very newsletter!) Marissa Lorusso for introducing me to Helena Deland’s Goodbye Summerland. In her review of the album, Marissa wrote that the Montreal artist “shifts toward a stripped-back, folksier sound, highlighting her gossamer voice and newfound observations about the ache of grief and the passage of time.” I’m grateful to Deland for the warm and contemplative poetry that has soundtracked many of my fall walks and helped me appreciate the changing of the seasons — and to Marissa for recommending what’s become my favorite album of the year. Lars Gotrich, Resident Viking: I can always rely on Pete Swanson from the noise duo Yellow Swans to turn me onto some obscure racket or wonked beats. One of my personal favorite albums of the year came from one of his Bandcamp Friday recommendations. The pitch was irresistible: The Belgian composer Amber Meulenijzer wrote music for a brass band processional that was performed and then played back through speakers affixed to the top of an old car. The results drone with solemnity, triumph and a touch of absurdity. Hazel Cills, NPR Music editor: One of the benefits of working with NPR Music's Alt.Latino is that I get exposed to a wide, deeply eclectic variety of Latin music on the daily -- far more eclectic than what normally lands on America's Billboard charts. One song that I got hooked on this year came courtesy of Alt.Latino contributor, producer Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, whose consistent repping of Puerto Rican rapper Young Miko led me to the artist's unapologetically horny, early 2023 track "Lisa," which features the rapper running down all the ways in which beautiful women are her weakness. It subsequently landed on several "bad bitch" playlists (bad bitch songs curated for bad bitches, for those playing at home) I made throughout the year for friends, so the love was passed forward. Otis Hart, NPR Music deputy director: KEXP, the Seattle-based public radio station, is more important than ever to the indie-rock ecosystem, given that the most common form of “music discovery” these days is 10-second clips on TikTok. Last week, senior director of programming Kevin Cole selected one of the best songs I’ve heard all year for the station’s Song Of The Day series: “Bang,” by the Spanish rock band Melenas, a song that wouldn’t have crossed my radar if not for Kevin’s bloodhound scent for indie gold. Thank you, Kevin, for your tireless devotion to keeping us hip. NPR Classical If you are a fan of cartoons – and who isn’t? – each week we’re featuring one from Jeffrey Curnow, who happens to be the Associate Principal trumpeter for the Philadelphia Orchestra and a cartoonist for NPR Classical since 2015. Newsletter continues after sponsor message More to hear, read and watch After battling drug addiction and alcoholism, Detroit rapper Danny Brown has emerged from a downward spiral with Quaranta, the most thoughtful album of his wild and unpredictable career, and one that embraces the wisdom of his 40s.  Actors Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan give warm, deeply sympathetic performances as composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein and his wife, Felicia Montealegre, in a biopic directed by Cooper. Following star-making roles in Broadway's Kinky Boots and FX's Pose, Billy Porter has released an original album that plays out like mini-autobiographies. World Cafe brought us more recordings from AmericanaFest, which took place in Nashville in September. First, Sunny War wows us with her guitar playing; then, it’s a live set from Logan Ledger, who caught our ear earlier this year with his song “Golden State.” A Taylor Swift concert in Rio de Janeiro took place during one of the worst heat waves ever in Brazil, resulting in the death of a 23-year-old fan. The NPR Science desk examined the country’s record-breaking six-month streak of extreme weather. The Japanese House, a.k.a. British singer-songwriter Amber Bain, visited KUTX in Austin to perform songs from one of our favorite albums of the year, In The End It Always Does. Broadcast Your Support this Giving Season This week, give thanks to the NPR Network you love and rely on by supporting with a donation. Your contribution fuels in-depth journalism and meaningful stories from your community, your nation, your world. With Giving Tuesday, 11/28, right around the corner – every dollar makes a difference. Act now. Show your support today. Donate Tiny Desk Catie Dull/NPR There are thousands of love songs sung sweetly and strummed softly by a big guy with a big heart. But there's only one William Prince. The Canadian singer-songwriter from the Peguis First Nation had a disarming presence at the Tiny Desk, thanks to his warm voice and smiling eyes.  Also this week, we presented the performers and songs of Broadway’s Shucked, which features songwriting from two exceptional Nashville minds: Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally.  One More Thing Alt.Latino is releasing the second episode of its Regional Goes Global limited-run series on regional Mexican music this Wednesday. Carve out the time to listen to the first episode before then. Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WUFT 89.1 (edit station). Need a new playlist? Follow NPR Music on Spotify and Apple Music What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: nprmusic@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? 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