Bon Iver

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.

On For Emma, Forever Ago, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon sings in a heartbreaking falsetto. Meanwhile, his backing band provides a comforting wash of gently strummed guitars, set against distant atmospherics and layered harmonies that echo through the ether. Hear Bon Iver perform at SXSW.

Hear the psych-rock revivalists Black Mountain and art-folk singer Bon Iver recorded live in concert from Washington, D.C.'s Rock and Roll Hotel. Both performances originally webcast live on NPR.org Feb. 19.

Using the Bon Iver moniker, Justin Vernon became an instant critics' darling upon the release of For Emma, Forever Ago early this year. Vernon's primal falsetto accentuates his stark and simple arrangements in a session on WXPN.

Two years ago, things weren't going well for Bon Iver's Justin Vernon. So he holed up in a cabin in the snowy Wisconsin northwoods, only to emerge with an album celebrated across the indie music community. Here, Vernon shares his story and performs in the studio.

Holed up in a northern Wisconsin cabin in the middle of winter, Justin Vernon wrote a few songs of loss and heartbreak. The resulting album was one of 2008's best. Vernon, who records as Bon Iver, discusses his forthcoming EP release.

NPR listeners cast thousands of votes for the year's best music (so far) and kept the race tight. In the end, Animal Collective edged out every other artist in both the Best Album category, and for Best Song. Artists like Grizzly Bear, The Decemberists and Neko Case weren't far behind. One thing was clear: 2009 has been one of the strongest years for new music in recent memory.

On this edition of All Songs Considered we've got exclusive sneak previews of some of this year's most anticipated albums: M. Ward's upcoming release, Hold Time, is a gorgeously produced mix of finger-picked guitars, upright bass and shuffling rhythms, all tied together by his achy voice. Hear the song "Stars of Leo," now on All Songs Considered, and the entire M. Ward album at midnight Monday, Jan. 12. Also on the show: Bon Iver, Animal Collective, Heartless Bastards, and a classic from the Bee Gees.

Naturally, no year-end music list can be definitive, just as it's impossible to rate a year in music using purely objective measures of quality. So here are the 10 albums that Song of the Day editor Stephen Thompson treasured the most in 2008.

When the votes started pouring in from NPR listeners for the year's best albums, two things became clear immediately: It was going to be tight, and many of the top spots would go to new, smaller bands and their debut albums. Bigger, more established acts (Coldplay, My Morning Jacket) were well represented, but listeners seemed more inspired by the year's quieter, more intimate albums.

It's been a great year for the quiet and the subtle: The harmonies of Fleet Foxes, the fiery gentleness of Bon Iver and the African kora of Toumani Diabate were all calming company. We all need and want different things from music at different times, and gentility won out this year.

On this edition of All Songs Considered, host Bob Boilen talks with Carrie Brownstein (Monitor Mix blogger), Stephen Thompson (editor for Song of the Day), and Robin Hilton (All Songs producer and host of Second Stage) about the year in music. What were the biggest surprises of 2008? What were the best new bands, or the best songs? Listen and let us know what you think by joining the NPR online community.

Last year, Mark Wheat of The Current proclaimed the album dead. So instead of creating a list of top 10 full-length records, he's documenting the year in music with the perfect 10-song mixtape playlist.

Music reviewers generally wait until November and December to assess the year in music. But 2008's halfway point seems like a good place to stop and look back at six busy months full of critics' darlings, Internet sensations and even, in a grim commercial climate, commercial hits.

As dark as it gets, "Skinny Love," with its unforgettable steel-guitar hook, is too gorgeous to function as a true downer. Shout-along fodder for melancholy late-night drives, it announces Bon Iver as a budding powerhouse, not so much promising as fully formed.

All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen, NPR's Song of the Day curator Stephen Thompson and Carrie Brownstein, Monitor Mix blogger and former guitarist for Sleater-Kinney, review their week at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, TX. They discovered and saw a lot of great bands including My Morning Jacket and a dozen other acts webcast Live by NPR Music. On this edition of All Songs Considered they share their most memorable moments.

On this edition of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen chats with NPR Music blogger and Sleater-Kinney guitarist Carrie Brownstein, and music producer Stephen Thompson about the head-spinning number of bands they're most excited to see. Their chat is followed by an interview at the end of the show with Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig.

On this edition of All Songs Considered: rare live recordings from Billie Holiday; remembering a classic from post-punk group The Jesus and Mary Chain that inspired new music from the Magnetic Fields; a new single from Peter Gabriel from his upcoming CD Big Blue Ball; the "Upper West Side Soweto" sound of Vampire Weekend; the wintry songs of Bon Iver; handmade music from Fire on Fire.

On this edition of All Songs Considered we've got exclusive sneak previews of some of this year's most anticipated albums: M. Ward's upcoming release, Hold Time, is a gorgeously produced mix of finger-picked guitars, upright bass and shuffling rhythms, all tied together by his achy voice. Hear the song "Stars of Leo," now on All Songs Considered, and the entire M. Ward album at midnight Monday, Jan. 12. Also on the show: Bon Iver, Animal Collective, Heartless Bastards, and a classic from the Bee Gees.

Naturally, no year-end music list can be definitive, just as it's impossible to rate a year in music using purely objective measures of quality. So here are the 10 albums that Song of the Day editor Stephen Thompson treasured the most in 2008.

When the votes started pouring in from NPR listeners for the year's best albums, two things became clear immediately: It was going to be tight, and many of the top spots would go to new, smaller bands and their debut albums. Bigger, more established acts (Coldplay, My Morning Jacket) were well represented, but listeners seemed more inspired by the year's quieter, more intimate albums.

On this edition of All Songs Considered, host Bob Boilen talks with Carrie Brownstein (Monitor Mix blogger), Stephen Thompson (editor for Song of the Day), and Robin Hilton (All Songs producer and host of Second Stage) about the year in music. What were the biggest surprises of 2008? What were the best new bands, or the best songs? Listen and let us know what you think by joining the NPR online community.

Music reviewers generally wait until November and December to assess the year in music. But 2008's halfway point seems like a good place to stop and look back at six busy months full of critics' darlings, Internet sensations and even, in a grim commercial climate, commercial hits.

As dark as it gets, "Skinny Love," with its unforgettable steel-guitar hook, is too gorgeous to function as a true downer. Shout-along fodder for melancholy late-night drives, it announces Bon Iver as a budding powerhouse, not so much promising as fully formed.