Radiohead

Hear the band recorded live in concert, from one of the year's most memorable tours. Radiohead ended its run of U.S. cities this summer with a dazzling spectacle of sight and sound at the Santa Barbara Bowl, in Santa Barbara, Calif. Though the tour was intended to showcase the band's latest album, In Rainbows, Radiohead thrilled the audience with plenty of old favorites, including "Karma Police," "The National Anthem," and "Everything In Its Right Place."

Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood has helped push the boundaries of rock music by integrating electronics and decidedly un-rock sounds. From the Wordless Music Series recorded by WNYC, Greenwood offers the U.S. premiere of his orchestral work, Popcorn Superhet Receiver.

One of the appealing things about Lalo Schifrin's theme to Mission Impossible is that it's written in 5/4 time: five beats to the measure, instead of the more commonplace three or four. WNYC's Sara Fishko explores the atypical time signature's usage in music by Tchaikovsky, Dave Brubeck and more.

From giant cell phones to old motherboards, outdated technology holds sentimental value for collectors like Jason Savitt. Meanwhile video artist James Houston rigged vintage dot matrix printers to play a song by Radiohead.

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke shares some of his favorite music with All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen. The two talk about Radiohead's latest work, In Rainbows and listen to some of the artists Yorke admires, including German electronica group Modeselektor, rap duo Madvillain, techno group Autechre and more.

Radiohead released their newest album In Rainbows for download on the Internet this week. In this 2006 interview, lead singer and songwriter Thom Yorke talks about making headlines and making music.

All Songs Considered's list of the 50 most important recordings of the decade continues, from OutKast to Sigur Ros.

There's been a lot of speculation on the Internet in recent weeks about a new batch of songs from Radiohead. While the band hasn't released the EP fans were hoping for, it has put out two new singles. We've got the latest, called "These Are My Twisted Words." Also on this edition of All Songs Considered, early previews of some of the albums we're most looking forward to coming out this fall, including new music from Atlas Sound, Circulatory System and more.

The Dead Weather is a super-group of sorts with members from several well-loved bands, including The White Stripes, Queens of the Stone Age and The Kills. The group's new CD isn't out until June, but we've got an early single on this edition of All Songs Considered. Also on the show: the raucous duo Japandroids, singer-songwriter Vienna Teng, St. Vincent, lo-fi pioneer Bill Callahan, and an acoustic version of "Creep" from a new deluxe edition of Radiohead's Pablo Honey.

"Henry Plainview," from the Radiohead guitarist's score for There Will Be Blood, is the stuff of what philosopher Edmund Burke called "the sublime": art that has the power to destroy. It's hard to imagine the film's Henry Plainview without "Henry Plainview."

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke shares some of his favorite music with All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen. The two talk about Radiohead's latest work, In Rainbows and listen to some of the artists Yorke admires, including German electronica group Modeselektor, rap duo Madvillain, techno group Autechre and more.

For the past three weeks All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen put favorites CDs from 2007 into a playlist on his iPod and let it shuffle. In the end, the music he was consistently thrilled with hearing ended up on his final top ten for the year. For Boilen, hosting a music show is about trying to find music that listeners will fall in love with — music that will be a good friend and fill listeners with good memories.

Tens of thousands of listeners voted in the All Songs Considered poll for the year's best CDs. It was tight for much of the race, but in the end, Radiohead's In Rainbows was an overwhelming winner as 2007's most popular album.

Writer and reviewer Will Hermes shares his favorite albums of the past year. Hermes is a frequent contributor to NPR's 'All Things Considered' and writes for 'Spin' magazine, 'The New York Times' and 'Entertainment Weekly.' He's also the co-editor of 'Spin: 20 Years of Alternative Music.'

It was a particularly incredible year for music. Everyone I wanted an album from delivered one: the Shins, the White Stripes, the Shout Out Louds, Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse and many, many more. There were some wonderful new discoveries along the way (Ben Sollee, Le Loup), and some disappointments (Wilco). But overall it was one of the most rewarding years for music in recent memory.

All Things Considered Reviewer Tom Moon offers his picks for the year's best albums. For Mooon 2007 was about nice chord sequences, tunes that modulate into different keys, and honest-to-goodness "bridge" sections where big sunshine comes through the clouds. He says it's been a while since we've had such interesting progressions.

Host Bob Boilen talks with reviewers Carrie Brownstein, Will Hermes, Tom Moon and Meredith Ochs about the year's biggest surprises and letdowns in music. Hear their picks for the year's most innovative album, the best new band of 2007, the year's best song and more. Featured songs and artists are listed below.

Here's a look at the 10 CDs from the past year that are virtually guaranteed to impress friends, relatives and potential lovers. You don't even have to listen to them — just put them in your collection and memorize what's written here.

Host Bob Boilen looks at some of the most anticipated CDs coming out before the end of the year, with NPR reviewers Meredith Ochs, Tom Moon and Robert Christgau. Hear new music from Radiohead, Neil Young, Youssou N'Dour and more.

In Rainbows was first released on Oct. 10, 2007, as a digital download from the band's Web site. Fans were encouraged to "pay what you wish" — even nothing — and a "digital tip jar" was set up to collect voluntary payments. On Dec. 4 of that same year, an $80 deluxe box set was made available to order online; finally, on Jan. 1, the physical CD and digital album hit retailers. Those are the facts. But what did "the Radiohead experiment," as it would come to be known, mean?

Ever since the dawn of digital delivery, we've been hearing about how the single-song download is killing the album. But at the Grammy Awards, which take place Sunday night in Los Angeles, there's still a category for Album of the Year. Tom Moon profiles the nominees.

There's been a lot of speculation on the Internet in recent weeks about a new batch of songs from Radiohead. While the band hasn't released the EP fans were hoping for, it has put out two new singles. We've got the latest, called "These Are My Twisted Words." Also on this edition of All Songs Considered, early previews of some of the albums we're most looking forward to coming out this fall, including new music from Atlas Sound, Circulatory System and more.

The Dead Weather is a super-group of sorts with members from several well-loved bands, including The White Stripes, Queens of the Stone Age and The Kills. The group's new CD isn't out until June, but we've got an early single on this edition of All Songs Considered. Also on the show: the raucous duo Japandroids, singer-songwriter Vienna Teng, St. Vincent, lo-fi pioneer Bill Callahan, and an acoustic version of "Creep" from a new deluxe edition of Radiohead's Pablo Honey.

"Henry Plainview," from the Radiohead guitarist's score for There Will Be Blood, is the stuff of what philosopher Edmund Burke called "the sublime": art that has the power to destroy. It's hard to imagine the film's Henry Plainview without "Henry Plainview."

Writer and reviewer Will Hermes shares his favorite albums of the past year. Hermes is a frequent contributor to NPR's 'All Things Considered' and writes for 'Spin' magazine, 'The New York Times' and 'Entertainment Weekly.' He's also the co-editor of 'Spin: 20 Years of Alternative Music.'

Esquire music critic Andy Langer and former Rolling Stone contributing editor Toure review the latest music releases, including a sophomore album from Lupe Fiasco, a Rivers Cuomo solo record, a new one from Mary J. Blige and the Radiohead box set.

Even without all the fanfare about the download-only delivery, the release of Radiohead's In Rainbows is an event. It's new music from one of the most creative rock bands of the last decade. Even after just a day's listen, there's already astounding music here.

When words alone fail to illuminate the confounding mysteries of the heart, music lends a hand. Whether it's unrequited love, a fleeting affair or love that lasts a lifetime, there's a song for it. NPR listeners share "their" songs — along with the stories of bliss, bitterness and bygone times that make the music meaningful.

This is a list for the Age of the iPod Shuffle, as more people listen to more types of music than ever before. WNYC's John Schaefer mixes up his favorite CD picks for 2008, offering a wide-reaching smorgasbord of classical, pop, folk and world music.

Now that the MP3 is king, vinyl has become something of an underground revolution. More and more artists have begun to insist on releasing their new albums on vinyl, and music fans who jettisoned their collections in favor of "clear, perfect digital sound CDs" are raiding garage sales and rediscovering analog music all over again. Here are 10 releases from 2008 that are worth the extra effort of vinyl.

Critic Alex Ross says that musical cross-pollination between classical and pop music is a synergetic fact of our cultural life. With this in mind, Ross invites classical fans put an ear to these five popular recordings.