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This has been a strong year for African music, with two big trends emerging: the continuing integration of African music into the U.S. and European mainstream, as well as the ongoing unearthing of treasures from Afropop's "golden era," particularly the '70s.

The Los-Angeles-based force of nature, one of the most inspired talents of today, shows off a spontaneous side at (and around) the Tiny Desk.

Whether we're ready to hear it or not, the elusive rapper isn't holding back.

Ravel's magical orchestration and subtle sensuality bring an aura of poetry to this pastoral drama. Jean Martinon guides the Chicago Symphony in this 1964 recording.

The song cycle Winterreise stands among the masterpieces in the art of song. Schubert conjures up harmonic twists and melodic turns, conveying emotions with remarkable simplicity and force.

Franz Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor demands the utmost from the performer in musical as well as technical terms. It's a piece that in the best performances can spark a powerful emotional experience in the listener.

Any list of the all-time best classical recordings would have to include the urgent, sinuous performances of Beethoven's fifth and seventh symphonies with Carlos Kleiber conducting the Vienna Philharmonic.

Late in his career, Joseph Haydn spent some leisure time in London, lapping up the wealth of praise and composing a formidable set of 12 symphonies. Critic Ted Libbey recommends the best recordings.

The Grateful Dead began their musical journey in 1965, and continued to perform before sell-out crowds until their breakup in 1995. NPR's Scott Simon talks with the band's historian Dennis McNally about his book, A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead.

Sometimes, even the most assiduous socio-political commentators rejoice in the brighter side of life. "L.O.V.E.," the divine closing track on Ursula Rucker's Ma'at Mama, may come as a surprise to those accustomed to her incendiary prose.