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Kim Gordon

Friday

Nala Sinephro's Endlessness — produced, arranged and engineered by the English harpist — arrived in 2024 without the usual narrative baggage of new releases, forcing listeners to uncover its secrets on their own.

Nala Sinephro's Endlessness — produced, arranged and engineered by the English harpist — arrived in 2024 lacking any narrative baggage, forcing listeners to uncover its secrets on their own. Tofjan/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Tofjan/Courtesy of the artist

Best Music of 2024

Sheldon Pearce's favorite albums of 2024

For NPR Music's hip-hop and R&B editor, no list could capture an accurate picture of the year, yet there's still value in calling out the albums that felt unignorable.

Tuesday

Wednesday

Monday

Friday

Kim Gordon makes the mundane sound thrilling on 'The Collective'

Kim Gordon Danielle Neu/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Danielle Neu/Courtesy of the artist

World Cafe Words and Music Podcast

Kim Gordon makes the mundane sound thrilling on 'The Collective'

WXPN

The Sonic Youth co-founder's latest solo album is full of hard edges and moments of digital distortion.

Kim Gordon on World Cafe

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Friday

New Music Friday: The best albums out March 8

Kim Gordon's new album, The Collective, is out March 8. Danielle Neu/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Danielle Neu/Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

New Music Friday: The best albums out March 8

A wave of springtime releases might be just around the corner, but the biggest albums out this week are keeping things cool in an enticing variety of ways. Ann Powers and Hazel Cills discuss what Jack Antonoff, Norah Jones, Moor Mother's Camae Ayewa and Kim Gordon have in common, besides a common release date.

New Music Friday: The best albums out March 8

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Tuesday

The Contenders, Vol. 2: Our running list of the year's best songs

"Crowded Roomz," the latest single from Nia Archives, is one of the tracks we can't stop playing this week. Lola Banet/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Lola Banet/Courtesy of the artist

All Songs Considered

The Contenders, Vol. 2: Our running list of the year's best songs

Host Robin Hilton hangs with NPR's Hazel Cills and Sheldon Pearce to geek out about the new Billy Joel, Kim Gordon, Shygirl, Nia Archives and more.

The Contenders, Vol. 2: Our running list of the year's best songs

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Thursday

Kim Gordon raps her shopping list — it's hot and terrifying

In her 2015 memoir, Girl in a Band, Kim Gordon credits The Shangri-Las' speak-sing style as an influence on her own. The '60s girl-group's lead singer, Mary Weiss, died last week. Danielle Neu/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Danielle Neu/Courtesy of the artist

Music

Kim Gordon raps her shopping list — it's hot and terrifying

Sonic Youth's co-founder took her cues from a '60s girl-group but forges a new lane. NPR Music producer Lars Gotrich functions as your antidote to the algorithm in eight tracks to know this week.

Wednesday

On Aug. 12, 2011, Sonic Youth played the Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn; it would be the band's final concert in the United States.

On Aug. 12, 2011, Sonic Youth played the Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn; it would be the band's final concert in the United States. Chris Gersbeck for NPR hide caption

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Chris Gersbeck for NPR

Music Features

The sunset of Sonic Youth: An oral history of the band's final U.S. show

For the first time, the band members, their crew and their fans tell the story of a landmark moment they didn't realize was happening. Sonic Youth's new album, Live in Brooklyn 2011, is out this week.

The sunset of Sonic Youth: An oral history of the band's final U.S. show

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Thursday

Wednesday

Kim Gordon Returns With New Collaborators On 'No Home Record'

Kim Gordon's debut solo album, out now, is entitled No Home Record. Natalia Mantini/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Natalia Mantini/Courtesy of the artist

Music Interviews

Kim Gordon Returns With New Collaborators On 'No Home Record'

The former member of influential noise rock band Sonic Youth talks about her first solo album since the band's breakup in 2011.

Kim Gordon Returns With New Collaborators On 'No Home Record'

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Friday

New Music Friday: Our Top 6 Albums Out Oct. 11

Rapper Lil' Kim performing at the 2019 BET Hip Hop Awards in Atlanta, Georgia. Her new full-length, 9, is on our shortlist for the best albums out on Oct. 11. Aaron J. Thornton/WireImage hide caption

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Aaron J. Thornton/WireImage

All Songs Considered

New Music Friday: Our Top 6 Albums Out Oct. 11

Our shortlist of the best new albums out this week incudes Big Thief's Two Hands, rapper Lil' Kim's first new studio project in 14 years, a solo album from Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and more.

New Music Friday: Our Top 6 Albums Out Oct. 11

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Tuesday

Monday

Hear Kim Gordon's First Song Released Under Her Own Name

"We're making our own kind of anti-status symbol, in our own language that's kind of subliminal," Kim Gordon says. Jamie Brisick/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Jamie Brisick/Courtesy of the artist

The Record

Hear Kim Gordon's First Song Released Under Her Own Name

On "Murdered Out," recorded with producer Justin Raisen and drummer Stella Mozgawa, the former Sonic Youth member takes inspiration from cars painted matte black to obscure identifying features.