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NPR's Stephen Thompson reports on two new bands that are topping the Billboard charts despite being fictional K-pop groups from a new Netflix movie.

Taylor Swift's chokehold on the Hot 100 is loosening, and that's made room for two fresh career milestones.

Tom Terrell has a review of Soul on Top, a re-release of a James Brown recording from 1970. On it, Brown sings jazz tunes such as "September Song" and "What kind of Fool am I?"

This week, the rapper Future hit #1 on Billboard's albums chart for a third time in the last six months. Meanwhile, on the songs, chart, stasis is becoming the coin of the realm.

Playboi Carti's supersized blockbuster MUSIC holds at No. 1 in its second week of release. Elsewhere, Kendrick Lamar's "Luther (feat. SZA)" holds at No. 1and Morgan Wallen charts a fifth top 10 hit from an album that isn't even out yet.

In a year when hip-hop was frequently absent from the pop charts, NPR's music critic found that looking in darker corners revealed a genre that was flourishing.

From a straight-up death metal record by a bunch of lifers to a bluegrass 'n' black metal hybrid (really!), these are the records that hurt so good in 2012.

All Things Considered music reviewer Will Hermes shares his picks for the 10 best CDs of 2005, from the "wonderfully strange" world of Animal Collective to the "gorgeous hymn rock" of Sigur Ros.

Host Melissa Block asks what the top Summer song of 2005 will be. Several reviewers offer their picks for the season's most popular country, hip hop and alternative rock songs, from The Killers, Sugarland and Rihanna.

Writer and reviewer Will Hermes shares his favorite albums of the past year. Hermes is a frequent contributor to NPR's All Things Considered and writes for Spin Magazine, The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly. He's also the co-editor of Spin: 20 Years of Alternative Music.