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Ahead of his first solo project, the guitarist for electronic-rock giants Darkside discusses electronics, improvisation and controlled spontaneity

Minnesota's Twin Cities area is a hotbed of excellent classical music. It's also home to American Public Media, where classical music thrives. APM's Brian Newhouse thinks these 10 new classical recordings rise to the top of the year's offerings.

The NPR Music editor shares her favorite albums and songs of 2022.

A new album by the octogenarian saxophonist is always a big deal, but his latest — and the winner of the 2018 Jazz Critics Poll — is also just plain big: 3 discs and an 84-page graphic novel.

The L.A. band Fool's Gold has really gotten off the ground in 2009. The group's sound is firmly planted in popular African styles, including the guitar music of Congolese rumba, Tuareg desert-blues and '70s Ethiopian soul, among others. Hear the Hebrew-language Afro dance band in a session from KEXP.

At just 19 years old, Australian guitarist Joe Robinson has accomplished what most musicians can only dream of. He recorded his first CD at age 14, and won first place on Australia's Got Talent at 17. The following year he took the top title at the World Championships of Performing Arts.

Carol Jantsch, 21, soon will be the Philadelphia Orchestra's youngest member, and the first woman to be a principal tuba player in a top U.S. orchestra.

Some singles linger in the Top 40 for months — and sometimes, they do so for good reason. Case in point: "Too Little, Too Late" by the teenage pop queen JoJo. For all the song's familiar R&B signifiers, formulaic pop rarely sounds so non-formulaic, nor so fabulous.

Jazz vocalist Roberta Gambarini sails like an angel on top of a song, while Freddy Cole's baritone voice rides low, full of experience but still sentimental. Hear them both in a concert recorded live for JazzSet.

Bieber's current single, "Baby," from his chart-topping album My World 2.0, is a slickly peppy bit of pop-soul that wears its freshly broken heart on its sleeve. Along the way, it neatly accomplishes the trick of tugging at the sympathies of Bieber's most besotted fans.