New Music Friday: The Top 8 Albums Out On Jan. 29
Celeste. Her new album, Not Your Muse, is on our shortlist for the best albums out on Jan. 29. Elizabeth Porodina/Courtesy of the artist hide caption
The DJ, producer and rapper Madlib has dropped a number of memorable collaborations over the years, including ones with J Dilla and Freddie Gibbs. His latest joint is with the English electronic artist Four Tet. Several years in the making, Sound Ancestors draws on the deep history of Black music and the innumerable ways it's influenced and shaped popular sounds to the present. We open this week's show with the song "Hoprock" and dig into the sonic worlds the album traverses.
Also on the show: two stunning debuts from the singers Arlo Parks and Celeste, a new one from Ani DiFranco, Weezer's orchestral pop album OK Human and more. NPR Music contributor Christina Lee joins Radio Milwaukee's Tarik Moody, WXPN's John Morrison, Nate Chinen of WBGO and Jazz Night in America and NPR's Lars Gotrich and Stephen Thompson, with host Robin Hilton to share their picks for the best new albums out Jan. 29.
Featured Albums:
- Madlib & Four Tet — Sound Ancestors
Featured Song: "Hoprock" - Celeste — Not Your Muse
Featured Song: "Tonight Tonight" - Weezer — OK Human
Featured Song: "All My Favorite Songs" - Nahawa Doumbia — Kanawa
Featured Song: "Didadi" - Arlo Parks — Collapsed in Sunbeams
Featured Song: "Hope" - Ani DiFranco — Revolutionary Love
Featured Song: "Crocus" - Shai Maestro — Human
Featured Song: "Time" - Yasmin Williams — Urban Driftwood
Featured Song: "Juvenessence" and "Urban Driftwood"
Other notable releases for Jan. 29: Anna B Savage — A Common Turn; The Besnard Lakes — The Besnard Lakes Are The Last Of The Great Thunderstorm Warnings; The Body — I've Seen All I Need To See; Buke & Gase With So Percussion — A Record Of...; Goat Girl — On All Fours; The Notwist — Vertigo Days; PJ Harvey — Is This Desire - Demos; Steven Wilson — The Future Bites; Tribulation — Where The Gloom Becomes Sound.