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The New Music Friday and Pop Culture Happy Hour host had a hard time narrowing his favorite albums of 2025 down to 10 — the year in music was good enough to fill a list two or three times longer.

This may have been a year when Latin music exploded globally, but the Alt.Latino and El Tiny host also sensed a desire among musicians for softness and stillness.

The Tiny Desk series producer shares his favorite records of the year.

In our time, it's easy to shut your mind, driven by fear or misinformation. This year, NPR Music's pop critic found the antidote in music that encouraged exploring.

Mohan Karki's family and others with Nepali ancestry were persecuted and driven out of Bhutan in the 1990s. Karki himself was born in a refugee camp in nearby Nepal. Yet, the U.S. government claims he is a Bhutanese citizen and seeks to deport him there.

NPR Music critics, editors and Tiny Desk producers each singled out one album they would recommend to anyone who came calling. The elite, no-skips albums of the year.

The Alt.Latino and El Tiny host shares his favorite records of the year, including jazz musicians from across Latin America as well as vocalists inspired by folk, rock and pop whose work defies genre.

The NPR Music critic and All Songs Considered contributor's favorite records of the year include the best of British rap, whimsical and melancholy electronic experiments and spellbinding dreampop.

If you're searching for music off the beaten path, here's the list for you. NPR Music's Tiny Desk editor and resident Viking scours the corners of the music world to find his favorite records of 2025.