Editors' Picks A selection of stories handpicked by NPR Music editors.

Editors' Picks

On this week's Alt.Latino, an exploration of the rise of regional Mexican music. Jackie Lay/NPR hide caption

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Jackie Lay/NPR

The result of the improvised sessions that led to New Blue Sun is subtle but daring. Mainly because it flies in the face of everything we've come to expect, and selfishly demand, as André 3000 fans. Kai Regan/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Kai Regan/Courtesy of the artist

The new album of music by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt is a warm blanket of comfort in troubled times. Luciano Rossetti/ECM Records hide caption

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Luciano Rossetti/ECM Records

A disciplined plea for peace – and quiet – from composer Arvo Pärt

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Having mounted outsized tours for decades, U2 is particularly suited to the technological wizardry of the Sphere in Las Vegas. But is the Sphere suited for more? John Katsilometes/Las Vegas Review-Journal hide caption

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John Katsilometes/Las Vegas Review-Journal

Composer Angélica Negrón, whose works are increasingly heard in concert halls across America, looks to her native Puerto Rico for inspiration. Catalina Kulczar/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Catalina Kulczar/Courtesy of the artist

After more than 20 years of hosting All Songs Considered — and bringing hundreds of artists to the Tiny Desk - Bob Boilen is retiring. Meg Vogel/NPR hide caption

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Meg Vogel/NPR

Bob Boilen's farewell show: Songs that say 'goodbye'

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On Doja Cat's fourth album, Scarlet, she delights in playing the "demon" her haters and fans accuse her of being. Illustration by Jackie Lay hide caption

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Illustration by Jackie Lay

On 'Scarlet,' Doja Cat finds power harnessing the darkness of online vitriol

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Olivia Rodrigo's second album, the follow-up to her 2021 breakthrough Sour, is called Guts. Photo by Nick Walker/Courtesy of the artist/Illustration by Jackie Lay/NPR hide caption

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Photo by Nick Walker/Courtesy of the artist/Illustration by Jackie Lay/NPR

Olivia Rodrigo wants you to decide what her songs are about

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The members of Talking Heads — Jerry Harrison, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and David Byrne — today and as they appeared in 1983 with their live band, for the concerts that would become the film Stop Making Sense. Sire Records/Michael Ochs Archives/Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images/Illustration by Jackie Lay hide caption

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Sire Records/Michael Ochs Archives/Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images/Illustration by Jackie Lay

'The everyday can be just fine'

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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

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

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Going back to her earliest days as a performer, Sinéad O'Connor has always rode an uneasy tension between suffering and liberation. Paul Bergen/Redferns/Getty Images hide caption

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Paul Bergen/Redferns/Getty Images

Tyler Childers will release a new album, Rustin' in the Rain, on Sept. 8. The video for the record's first single, "In Your Love," depicts a love story between two miners. Childers' friend and collaborator, the writer Silas House, says that he wanted to show that stories like this "are part of the story of Appalachia, too. These are human stories, not political stories." Sam Waxman/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Sam Waxman/Courtesy of the artist

The Philip Glass Ensemble performing Music in Twelve Parts at the Idea Warehouse in 1975, with vocalist Joan La Barbara (far left). The Museum of Modern Art/SCALA/Art Resource, N.Y. hide caption

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The Museum of Modern Art/SCALA/Art Resource, N.Y.

Minimalism: a story told in 8 pulses

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A section of Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, N.Y. was renamed Hip Hop Boulevard in 2016, in recognition of the apartment building where the music is said to have been born. José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR hide caption

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José A. Alvarado Jr. for NPR

50 years ago, teenagers partied in the Bronx — and gave rise to hip-hop

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Rapping in a deceptively versatile mutter-croak, Veeze ekes out dense, snake-like verses that are as captionable and clever as they are transparent about his vices. Jimmy Whisperz hide caption

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Jimmy Whisperz