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As listeners vote in our online poll for the year's best music, All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen sees three emerging trends: more bands from Canada, more bands from Sweden and an obsession with animals.

By running a 1997 Chevy van on old vegetable oil, the funk band Patio Kings saves money and the environment during a 25-city tour. NPR's Petra Mayer takes a ride on the van.

After a year defined by emergence and creative combination, our critics zoom in on their own listening to choose one inescapable album and song each.

Avant-garde rock band Sonic Youth is celebrating 25 years of making music together. In that quarter-century, its members have stayed true to their roots in the downtown New York art scene of the 1980s.

Listening to one of Finnish metal band Korpiklaani's frantic songs is like being tackled by a frisky Finnish Lapphund — it's not subtle, but it sure is likable. The band's music fuses humppa (a Finnish variant of German oompah music) and heavy metal with surprisingly few seams.

This year's unmissable jazz releases came in two flavors: breakthrough releases by driven young newcomers, and a heap of unearthed treasures from the vault.

NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour asked listeners to vote on their favorite American Idol contestants of all time.

The mid-40s are typically a transitional period for many jazz musicians. On Push, pianist Jacky Terrasson enlisted a young rhythm section, and the result has recharged his music. In a session from WBGO, Terrasson's trio opens with a tribute to Michael Jackson.

There's been no shortage of media coverage for SXSW. But here's a slightly different perspective: the view from the stage.

Sigur Ros, a five-piece band from Iceland, makes spacey progressive music, with often-indecipherable lyrics. Its fourth studio CD is called Takk..., which means "Thanks."