[Letitroll98]

I was expecting pop garbage, but no, a very interesting list.  What do you think?

1. boygenius: the record
2. Sufjan Stevens: Javelin
3. Caroline Polachek: Desire, I Want to Turn Into You
4. The National: Laugh Track
5. Mitski: The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We
6. Olivia Rodrigo: GUTS
7. Lana Del Rey: Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd
8. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: Weathervanes
9. Hozier: Unreal Unearth
10. SZA: SOS
11. Janelle Monae: The Age of Pleasure
12. 100 gecs: 10,000 gecs
13. Bully: Lucky for You
14. Agust D: D-DAY
15. Wednesday: Rat Saw God
16. JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown: SCARING THE HOES
17. Feist: Multitudes
18. Jessie Ware: That! Feels Good!
19. billy woods & Kenny Segal: Maps
20. Paramore: This Is Why
21. Lankum: False Lankum
22. Joy Oladokun: Proof Of Life
23. Peter Gabriel: i/o
24. Sampha: Lahai
25. Troye Sivan: Something to Give Each Other
26. Zach Bryan: Zach Bryan
27. Blondshell: Blondshell
28. Noname: Sundial
29. Nickel Creek: Celebrants
30. Chappell Roan: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess
31. Youth Lagoon: Heaven Is a Junkyard
32. Foo Fighters: But Here We Are
33. Arlo Parks: My Soft Machine
34. Palehound: Eye On The Bat
35. Margo Price: Strays
36. Ratboys: The Window
37. Indigo De Souza: All of This Will End
38. Gorillaz: Cracker Island
39. Jess Williamson: Time Ain't Accidental
40. Miya Folick: Roach
41. Gia Margaret: Romantic Piano
42. Jeff Rosenstock: HELLMODE
43. Samia: Honey
44. Brandy Clark: Brandy Clark
45. Blur: The Ballad of Darren
46. Queens of the Stone Age: In Times New Roman...
47. Belle and Sebastian: Late Developers
48. Jenny Lewis: Joy'All
49. Laufey: Bewitched
50. Travis Scott: UTOPIA

[FullRangeMan]

Must be a typo, they must be the most unknown, I don't know no one of these bands, except the boring Peter Gabriel/Genesis.

[Letitroll98]

Must be a typo, they must be the most unknown, I don't know no one of these bands, except the boring Peter Gabriel/Genesis.

Perhaps you might broaden your horizons.  I'm listening to Joy Oladokun's album In Defence of my Own Happiness.  A remarkable work, the Qobuz description says listening to each track is like stepping deeper into a lake to be baptized.  They're right.  boygenius is a verified supergroup.

Edit: I just discovered In defense of my own happiness is actual four different albums with sometimes different songs and different track orders.  Haven't found out if the arrangements are different.

[Phil A]

I have 60,000+ music files but only have music from 5 artists of the 50 listed and have only heard of another 5.  That being said, I'm sure that many would find a decent portion of what I have as being unknown.  e.g.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJQmcSzWPyM

[WGH]

It's a very good, well curated list. I know most of the artists and have 4 of the albums listed including Peter Gabriel's i/o.
KXCI, our local independent free form radio station, plays all the artists listed and many that are not, plus everything in between 1930-2023.



i/o is Peter's first album of new original material in over 21 years since Up (2002). Reviews say it is one of his best. I like it too.
i/o is available in a 2 CD package that includes the Bright-Side mix and Dark-Side mix. Same songs on both CDs but Bright-Side is mixed to highlight how albums are mixed in 2023, the Dark-Side is old school. Listen to the different mixes depending on your mood, I like them both.

https://petergabriel.bandcamp.com/album/i-o

[newzooreview]

If that "supergroup" album is the best that 2023 has to offer then we may as well stop listening to music. But at least it's consistent with the source of the list: bland, pretentious, self-absorbed pablum that sips chamomille while hoping to come across as smart and edgy.

[Letitroll98]

Hmmm, wildly varying opinions.  That makes it interesting, keep em coming.

Remember, most popular, not best, there's a difference.

[WGH]

Another source to listen to the best, inventive and upcoming artists like Olivia Rodrigo who was just on Saturday Night Live along with established artists like PJ Harvey and Tank and the Bangas check out NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts performed live

https://www.npr.org/series/tiny-desk-concerts/

Scarface



Philip Selway - Radiohead drummer

[mix4fix]

Must be a typo, they must be the most unknown, I don't know no one of these bands, except the boring Peter Gabriel/Genesis.

20. Paramore: This Is Why

Paramore is one of the few modern artists that I can stand. I like various songs from them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IA7QExh-NQ

Paramore - "Ain't It Fun"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0hvzjyuZ5k

Paramore - "Hard Times"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Eb4r-GU-yo

Paramore - "This Is Why"

[WGH]

If rap and hip hop is more your thing, check this out:

Every hip-hop Tiny Desk concert from Rapsody in 2016 through this year's Black Music Month sets.

Hip-Hop 50: Rap At The Tiny Desk
https://www.npr.org/series/1191106092/hip-hop-50-rap-at-the-tiny-desk

[FullRangeMan]

Are they better than Jim Croce in his short life?
RIP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb85NvjbBm8

Rick Beato explain this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yan-qTEG4lI

https://jimcroce.com/

[MttBsh]

In my view “popular” implies mediocrity. What the masses adore is catchy, formulaic, easily digested and rarely of any real substance. The “fast food” of music. Great music on the other hand usually takes a few listens to fully appreciate. When I was growing up in the late 60s/early 70s there was far more artistic freedom and musicians were encouraged to take chances and explore different directions. As a result some wonderful music was made. I see very little of that today. I have collected a ton of what I consider great music over the past 50+ years but have only heard of a handful of the “artists” on NPRs list. I will check some of it out to see what I’ve been missing. I will be delighted if I find some things I like.

[newzooreview]

I went through the first 30 on Qobuz and then gave up. Lots of whiny falsetto "moody" stuff and generic, sound-alike hit radio music with genre-imitators, such as a whole album of disco or dance/club music that sounds like all other dance/club music.

There are some good new artists out there, though. Lizzy McAlpine's cover of Teenage Dirtbag is first rate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htb5bmo3PUU

[mix4fix]

I was thinking about the list:

No Taylor Swift.

 

[S Clark]

There is so much music to choose from that most of us travel in many different musical circles.  In my 4000 jazz and classical lp's, not a single one makes this list... and that's just fine.  Any "most popular list" that doesn't include Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans, Miles, Chopin, Beethoven, or Aaron Copland has no relevance to me.   

[mix4fix]

Well, we shouldn't put any stock into what NPR thinks what album should be important by them. Since I couldn't care less about NPR, nor what music is chosen by some schmuck that works for them, it's just a random list and not considered important.

I though it was funny that the princess of Pop isn't on the list. But, who knows what screwed up opinions this "journalist" has in real life. Where are the Heavy Metal albums? The Country? The Electronic? Etc?

Can you actually listen to the hundreds or so albums (mainstream and underground) within that particular time frame (assuming it's a yearly list) and honestly say that 50 of them can be worthily ranked? No. You can't. You listen to something and you may like a song or two. You listen to them a bunch of you times more and your opinion changes. It becomes better or worse. You get sick of it, or it really grows on you (like some Paramore songs with me).

[NIGHTFALL1970]

NPR is a load of crap! If that list was all that I could listen to, then I would sell my entire stereo and give up on music altogether.