NPR Music announces best music of 2010

After offering audiences hundreds of first listens, live concerts and song picks throughout the year, NPR Music is spending the month of December choosing “The Best Music of 2010." The end-of-year coverage kicks off today with the unveiling of NPR Music’s “50 Favorite Albums of 2010,” the launch of the "Songs of 2010” streaming mix and the opening of voting for the All Songs Considered annual listeners’ list. NPR Music’s coverage of the year in music can be found at npr.org/music:
www.npr.org/series/131394847/the-best-music-of-2010

The year’s finest records unite for NPR Music’s “50 Favorite Albums of 2010.” Presented alphabetically, the list features selections in all genres, as chosen by NPR Music staff and Member stations, and includes artists as diverse as rapper Big Boi, the folk band Carolina Chocolate Drops, classical sensation Hilary Hahn, pop dynamo Robyn and indie rocker Sufjan Stevens. The entire “50 Favorite” list, where you can listen to music from each album, is now available here (and copied in its entirety below):
www.npr.org/series/131413130/npr-music-s-50-favorite-albums-of-2010.

Also launching: “The Songs of 2010,” a new, nonstop mix of more than 100 of the year’s stand-out tracks, compiled by NPR Music and Member stations. Listen here: www.npr.org/series/131394847/the-best-music-of-2010

Starting today, All Songs Considered also begins its sixth annual “Best Albums of the Year” listener vote, asking NPR Music audiences to pick their favorite records of 2010. Host Bob Boilen and producer Robin Hilton will announce the Top 25 on Tuesday, December 14, in a special countdown edition of the weekly show. Voting is open until December 12 at the All Songs Considered blog:
www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs

“The Best Music Of 2010” continues all month, with NPR Music staffers sharing their personal picks in classical, jazz and Latin Alternative, and NPR Member stations offering themed listening sets. Look for WBGO’s big band albums of 2010, WFUV’s best side projects list, and choice jazz reissues, as chosen by KPLU’s Jazz24. Other features expected in December are a review of the year’s biggest music moments from the music news blog The Record, as well as a remembrance of musicians who died in 2010.

NPR Music celebrates great music in every genre and is an industry leader in music discovery. The multimedia site offers more than 300 new features monthly and an extensive archive, in collaboration with NPR's newsmagazines, 12 public radio member stations and the passionate NPR community. NPR Music creates and distributes inventive music coverage across multiple platforms – from web, to radio, to podcast, to mobile, to social media, to live events – with first listens to new albums, live performances, concerts at the Tiny Desk, interviews, reviews and blogs. Its newest addition: All Songs 24/7, a non-stop stream of every song ever played in 10 years of the show.

NPR MUSIC’S 50 FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2010: A-B

- Thomas Adès, '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 Left Foot... The Son Of Chico Dusty'
- The Black Keys, 'Brothers'
- Brooklyn Rider, 'Dominant Curve'
- Buke And 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 Quartet, 'Saturn Sings'
- Rita Indiana, 'El Juidero'
- Jamey Johnson, 'The Guitar Song'
- Jonsi, 'Go'
- Seu Jorge, 'Seu Jorge And Almaz'
- King Sunny Ade, 'Bábá Mo Túndé'
- Ray LaMontagne, '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 Tú Dormías'
- The National, 'High Violet'
- Owen Pallett, 'Heartland'
- Sondra Radvanovsky, 'Verdi Arias'
- Josh Ritter, 'So Runs The World Away'
- Robyn, 'Body Talk'
- 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, 'Monitor'
- Sharon Van Etten, 'Epic'
- Kanye West, 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'