Live in Concert from ALL SONGS CONSIDERED

Sonic Youth's latest album, The Eternal, is among the band's finest, with a fuzzy, tightly orchestrated mix of psych-punk rock and noisy jams. The band showcased the album in a full concert, recorded live from Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club.

Despite making one of the year's best albums, The Antlers had trouble finding a label willing to put it out. The band self-released homemade copies of Hospice, but Frenchkiss Records has since stepped in to remaster and formally release it on June 23. See and hear the band's epic, wrenching rock in a full concert, recorded live from the Black Cat in Washington, D.C., on March 11.

After a relentless tour in support of the 2005 album Live It Out, the members of Metric scattered to work on their own projects. Four years later, the Canadian group is back with its fourth studio disc, Fantasies. The album is the centerpiece of a full concert by the band, recorded live at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C.

Hear one of the year's breakout bands, recorded live in concert from Washington, D.C. Passion Pit performed selections from its new album, Manners. The concert, which originally webcast live on NPR.org June 9, includes an opening performance by the band Harlem Shakes.

It was a bold move: Introduce the world to your ambitious concept record by performing it in its entirety to a national audience, a week before the CD release. But The Decemberists did just that at SXSW this past March, and now you can watch some beautifully shot videos from the album's live premiere.

In a year of great music, the Dark Was the Night compilation ranks near the top. Now comes Dark Was the Night: The Concert, a truly mammoth undertaking. Members of The National curated the May 3 event to benefit AIDS research with performances by David Byrne, The Dirty Projectors, Feist, Bon Iver, Sharon Jones and My Brightest Diamond.

Annie Clark, who writes and records under the name St. Vincent, has never been a fan of convention. Her 2007 debut, Marry Me, was filled with off-kilter rhythms, strangely melodic electronic arrangements, and cryptic narratives. St. Vincent's latest release, a candidate for one of 2009's best albums, is even more surprising and inventive. Hear selections from the album, Actor, as St. Vincent gives a full concert, recorded live from Washington, D.C.

Deacon has built his reputation on live shows: comically unpredictable messes of frenetic dancing, audience participation and theatrics, all powered by the Baltimore resident's wildly addictive electro-freak-pop. Hear Deacon and his band give a full concert, recorded live from Washington, D.C.

When the enigmatic rock group Animal Collective released Merriweather Post Pavilion in January, it became an early frontrunner for 2009's best record. Hear the band perform a full concert at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., recorded live on May 11.

Emerging out of the sound of spring peepers, Neko Case stepped onto the 9:30 Club stage set in something out of a nature cartoon. Behind them videos of cyclones and airplanes were projected on a screen. But the attention was clearly on Case, her stunning voice, as well as her solid backing band. Okkervil River's Will Sheff opened.

The music of Mates of State has always been playfully innocent and unabashedly upbeat. But on their latest CD, Re-Arrange Us, Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel show that they've grown a little older and wiser, with their richest and most reflective collection of songs to date. Hear a full concert by the band, webcast live on NPR.org from the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. Also on the bill: Florida-based co-headliner Black Kids.

K'Naan questions the credibility of American hip-hop: After all, even the toughest American neighborhoods aren't as dangerous as his hometown of Mogadishu. His background informs a style that hits hard, with a message that hits even harder. K'Naan's latest album, Troubadour, features the talents of Mos Def, Chali 2na and Metallica's Kirk Hammett.

Thao Nguyen and her backing band, The Get Down Stay Down, make mixing indie-pop and folk sound easy. Nguyen's exuberant voice filled up NPR's offices this past September, and christened its SXSW showcase at The Parish in Austin, Tex., on March 19.

Last year's Furr found its way onto many best-of lists, including NPR's, and with good reason: It refines the rough edges of Wild Mountain Nation without losing Blitzen Trapper's natural forward motion. The band headlined NPR Music's day party from The Parish in Austin, Tex., on March 19.