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Think of the best songs of 2021 as a playlist catering to the most basic human urges. Within it, booties were called, muffins were buttered and bloody revenge was contemplated. It was quite a year.

White spent his early childhood in poverty in Baltimore, at times sleeping in abandoned houses. He's now principal tubist in the Santa Fe Symphony and the New Mexico Philharmonic.

This #NowPlaying discovery of Semler comes to us from this year's Tiny Desk Contest.

NPR Music's senior manager shares her favorite albums and songs of 2021.

NPR Music's resident viking shares his favorite albums and songs of 2021.

Saxophonist Euge Groove earned his chops as a member of Tower of Power and sideman for Huey Lewis, Tina Turner and Elton John. He's back with a new solo CD of smooth tunes that are equal parts jazz, pop and R&B. Hear full-length cuts from the CD.

At the top of the UN's list of "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" are the people known as the Garifuna, bearers of a unique brand of Afro-Caribbean music and dance. A new CD by the Garifuna Women's Project helps preserve the legacy of the stories and music of the Garifuna people.

F, Monday, Orange, February, Venus, Lunatic, 1 or 13, the improbably named, full-length debut from rock band Colourmusic, has a mouthful of a title, and it's not the only thing that's over-the-top about the Oklahoma group. Not only does the band dress in matching all-white outfits for live performances, but they've also gone so far as to grow matching bushy mustaches and beards. So it's not surprising that the personal quirks of the band spill over into the music.

The Prague native was a proud promoter of his country's musical heritage — from Antonín Dvořák to Bohuslav Martinů — with the world's top orchestras.

Jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut and Elvis Presley aren't a likely pairing: Chestnut is one of the top pianists of a generation born many years after songs like "Love Me Tender" made Presley the king of rock 'n' roll. Hear an interview and performance from Studio 4A.