Lars Gotrich

New York emcees ELUCID and billy woods ain't just for the heads; it takes a heart to feel what they're putting down. Kenny Segal assembles a killer band to bring their kaleidoscopic hip-hop to life.

Napalm Death's ongoing campaign for musical destruction comes to the Desk. The founding fathers of grindcore speed through a sprawling catalog with manic energy.

In power ballads and two-steppers, Vince Gill crafts intimate songs about how we treat each other. The Country Music Hall of Famer sandwiches '90s hits in between new material, and closes with "Go Rest High on That Mountain."

The Welsh guitarist's fingerstyle playing drones with a haunted quality, but her flurry of bends, slides and chord clusters rip open the firmament.

If you think you know "Machinehead" and "Glycerine," prepare to be surprised by these Tiny Desk arrangements of beloved alt-rock hits.

How do we find beauty in a broken world? This is the question that Ganavya's music asks, but lets you answer. At the Tiny Desk, she sings the poems of today in the language of today.

Great Grandpa writes lullabies for the restless. The indie rock band's thoughtful intensity remains intact at the Tiny Desk, just at a quieter volume.

On the last episode of All Songs Considered for 2025, NPR Music producer Lars Gotrich takes host Robin Hilton through an exceptional year in guitar music. From Gwenifer Raymond's beautiful and brash fingerstyle to Rafael Toral's stretched-out jazz standards, not to mention William Tyler's glitched hymns and Vernon Reid's ecstatic shred, there's so much diversity to be found in six strings.Featured songs and artists: • Gwenifer Raymond: "Bleak Night in Rabbit's Wood," from 'Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark'• Hayden Pedigo: "Houndstooth," from 'I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away'• TAKAAT: "Isghmar," from 'Is Noise, Vol. 1'• Rafael Toral: "You Don't Know What Love Is," from 'Traveling Light'• Laura Snowden: "This Changing Sky," from 'This Changing Sky'• Madala Kunene & Sibusile Xaba: "Wemfana," from 'kwaNTU'• William Tyler: "Star of Hope," from 'Time Indefinite'• Jorge Espinal: "ají de pollería," from 'Bombos y Cencerros'• Vernon Reid: "Meditation on the Last Time I Saw Arthur Rhames," fro

Which song lyrics from 2025 most moved our NPR Music critics?

D'Angelo. Brian Wilson. Sly Stone. We lost these greats and so many more in 2025 — singers, producers, conductors and writers whose departures gave us a pang of loss, but whose art still lifts us up.