Ann Powers
@annkpowers.bsky.social
I write about music things and things music at NPR and elsewhere. Latest book: TRAVELING: ON THE PATH OF JONI MITCHELL.
OK I'm making a list. I have my opinions but what was your favorite album released this year?
November 10, 2025 at 7:13 PM
OK I'm making a list. I have my opinions but what was your favorite album released this year?
Absolutely love this interview with longtime Alice in Chains and original Soundgarden manager Susan Silver. I have admired Susan since I was 18 and she is still dropping wisdom! variety.com/2025/music/n...
Longtime Soundgarden Manager Susan Silver on the Band’s Rock Hall of Fame Induction, Working With Alice in Chains, and Paving the Way for Female Executives (EXCLUSIVE)
With Soundgarden's induction into the Rock Hall of Fame, longtime manager Susan Silver speaks about the honor and being a pioneering female executive.
variety.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Absolutely love this interview with longtime Alice in Chains and original Soundgarden manager Susan Silver. I have admired Susan since I was 18 and she is still dropping wisdom! variety.com/2025/music/n...
This is so damn beautiful
“Heavy music teaches us things such as we’re not alone; when life is dark, we do something about it. We’re not just a prisoner to that darkness. But also that our risk fluctuates, that our misery isn’t gonna last forever. There are ways through it.” www.hcn.org/issues/57-11...
Heavy metal is healing teens on the Blackfeet Nation - High Country News
In response to youth suicides, teachers show students the power of headbanging at Fire in the Mountains festival.
www.hcn.org
November 9, 2025 at 12:29 AM
This is so damn beautiful
That's a great stack of books, delighted to be part of it! And that Musician magazine interview is great. (actually both are)
Happy birthday, Joni. Thank you for your amazing songs all these years. Love that you wrote and recorded what YOU wanted. I just found these old magazines I had saved. Enjoyed these books. Ann Powers’ “Traveling” was excellent! #jonimitchell
November 8, 2025 at 4:12 AM
That's a great stack of books, delighted to be part of it! And that Musician magazine interview is great. (actually both are)
I'm excited for Hamnet, but not so excited to have to share Jessie Buckley with the normie world. She's so quintessentially arthouse and I love her for it
November 7, 2025 at 8:53 PM
I'm excited for Hamnet, but not so excited to have to share Jessie Buckley with the normie world. She's so quintessentially arthouse and I love her for it
thank you!
Joni is 82 today! A true pioneer.
Great to see her in better health, out and about, and even performing again.
If you looking for a good read on Joni, last year a really interesting take on her career came out by the great writer Ann Powers. It’s called “Traveling on the Path with Joni Mitchell”
Great to see her in better health, out and about, and even performing again.
If you looking for a good read on Joni, last year a really interesting take on her career came out by the great writer Ann Powers. It’s called “Traveling on the Path with Joni Mitchell”
November 7, 2025 at 6:07 PM
thank you!
Happy Cynical Group Chats About the Grammy Nominations Day to those who celebrate
November 7, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Happy Cynical Group Chats About the Grammy Nominations Day to those who celebrate
I saw and heart Sir Paul do “Maybe I’m Amazed” tonight. A dream I’ve had since I was a smitten middle schooler. Was he pitchy? Maybe. was it still sublime? Completely.
November 7, 2025 at 6:09 AM
I saw and heart Sir Paul do “Maybe I’m Amazed” tonight. A dream I’ve had since I was a smitten middle schooler. Was he pitchy? Maybe. was it still sublime? Completely.
Today our first All Songs Plus episode for subscribers is up! Please consider paying less than the price of a latte for this series. Because it's irresistible, this new ep is all about "A Thousand Miles" by the great Vanessa Carlton! Check it out here: www.npr.org/2025/11/05/n...
All Songs+: “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton : All Songs Considered
This is a new series on All Songs Considered, hosted by NPR Music critic Ann Powers and editor Daoud Tyler-Ameen. Most of what you hear on All Songs is focused on new music, but now, every other Thurs...
www.npr.org
November 6, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Today our first All Songs Plus episode for subscribers is up! Please consider paying less than the price of a latte for this series. Because it's irresistible, this new ep is all about "A Thousand Miles" by the great Vanessa Carlton! Check it out here: www.npr.org/2025/11/05/n...
Thanks for making this readable! In this newsletter I explore the idea of songs/artists making it "if there's any justice," and what exactly creates the unfair circumstances in the pop marketplace.
Why isn’t this song a hit?
The NPR Music Newsletter
By Ann Powers
November 2, 2025
view.nl.npr.org?qs=65775cc99...
The NPR Music Newsletter
By Ann Powers
November 2, 2025
view.nl.npr.org?qs=65775cc99...
November 3, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Thanks for making this readable! In this newsletter I explore the idea of songs/artists making it "if there's any justice," and what exactly creates the unfair circumstances in the pop marketplace.
I just saw an influencer use the phrase "the message life." Please tell me this is not a thing.
November 1, 2025 at 3:40 PM
I just saw an influencer use the phrase "the message life." Please tell me this is not a thing.
yes!!
And playing in Montclair @outpostintheburbs.bsky.social next week 11/8!
October 30, 2025 at 1:27 AM
yes!!
Zandi Holup is touring with Steve Earle right now and it totally makes sense, she's telling outlaw stories from a woman's point of view, love her voice www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4Ot...
Zandi Holup - Dirty Wings (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by Zandi Holup
www.youtube.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Zandi Holup is touring with Steve Earle right now and it totally makes sense, she's telling outlaw stories from a woman's point of view, love her voice www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4Ot...
This is a perfect spooky season song love it @brosaleigh.bsky.social www.undertheradarmag.com/news/premier...
Premiere: Josaleigh Pollett Shares New Single “Radio Player”
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www.undertheradarmag.com
October 28, 2025 at 12:02 AM
This is a perfect spooky season song love it @brosaleigh.bsky.social www.undertheradarmag.com/news/premier...
I know it's wayyyy too early for Xmas music but I'm working on something so I'm listening to it and it's bonkers how Ella drops a shard of a MURDER BALLAD into her version of Rudolph www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc5i...
Ella Fitzgerald - Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Verve Records
www.youtube.com
October 26, 2025 at 8:19 PM
I know it's wayyyy too early for Xmas music but I'm working on something so I'm listening to it and it's bonkers how Ella drops a shard of a MURDER BALLAD into her version of Rudolph www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pc5i...
Laufey has competition. Great production by my neighbor Jordan Lehning www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O-V...
Allison Young - Lavender (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by Allison Young
www.youtube.com
October 24, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Laufey has competition. Great production by my neighbor Jordan Lehning www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O-V...
New Jobi Riccio single, this rocker just gets fiercer by the minute www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JIP...
The Ridge
YouTube video by Jobi Riccio - Topic
www.youtube.com
October 24, 2025 at 4:16 PM
New Jobi Riccio single, this rocker just gets fiercer by the minute www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JIP...
My partner is awesome
Soft-launching today: A podcast series hosted by me and superhero critic @annkpowers.bsky.social, on why certain songs just keep coming back in style.
New eps every two weeks for NPR Music Plus subscribers, but the first ep is free to all in the ASC feed. Go now:
www.npr.org/2025/10/23/n...
New eps every two weeks for NPR Music Plus subscribers, but the first ep is free to all in the ASC feed. Go now:
www.npr.org/2025/10/23/n...
“I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)” by Stevie Wonder : All Songs Considered
This is the first episode of a new series on All Songs Considered, hosted by NPR Music critic Ann Powers and editor Daoud Tyler-Ameen. Most of what you hear on All Songs is focused on new music, but n...
www.npr.org
October 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM
My partner is awesome
Thank you Lars!!! Please do listen, I think this is really fun if I say so myself
I happen to work with two of my favorite Thinkers About Music: @annkpowers.bsky.social and @artsorority.bsky.social. Lo and behold, they have a new @npr.org podcast together!
(This episode's free. The rest will be on NPR Music+, which costs a nice cup of tea/month.)
www.npr.org/2025/10/23/n...
(This episode's free. The rest will be on NPR Music+, which costs a nice cup of tea/month.)
www.npr.org/2025/10/23/n...
“I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)” by Stevie Wonder : All Songs Considered
This is the first episode of a new series on All Songs Considered, hosted by NPR Music critic Ann Powers and editor Daoud Tyler-Ameen. Most of what you hear on All Songs is focused on new music, but n...
www.npr.org
October 23, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Thank you Lars!!! Please do listen, I think this is really fun if I say so myself
So excited that @gailanndorsey.bsky.social is back -- her first solo recording in over two decades! This arrangement feels like a 21st-century take on late 1960s soul pop and therefore is PERFECT for right now www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgAk...
Gail Ann Dorsey - (It Takes All Kinds) To Make A World (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Gail Ann Dorsey
www.youtube.com
October 22, 2025 at 6:39 PM
So excited that @gailanndorsey.bsky.social is back -- her first solo recording in over two decades! This arrangement feels like a 21st-century take on late 1960s soul pop and therefore is PERFECT for right now www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgAk...
Love Mike’s reactions here. I knew him when he was a teenage metalhead and that is real love for KISS and the Spaceman!
6/25/2008: Ace Frehley joins the band on stage for Black Diamond and absolutely shreds a solo at Madison Square Garden. 🎸
🎥: Kevin Shuss
🎥: Kevin Shuss
October 21, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Love Mike’s reactions here. I knew him when he was a teenage metalhead and that is real love for KISS and the Spaceman!
An army of former video (and record and book) store clerks roars NO!! hanging out in such stores was the best. even chains if that’s all you had
Someone doesn’t remember how badly going to a video store sucked, and just generally how much worse things were in the 90s-2000s. Oh, it doesn’t work perfectly? Sometimes they just didn’t have the thing you wanted. We live in an era of unprecedented media abundance and it’s has spoiled us rotten.
I would laugh if this wasn't so true 😭
October 20, 2025 at 3:05 PM
An army of former video (and record and book) store clerks roars NO!! hanging out in such stores was the best. even chains if that’s all you had
Ever since this, that Louvre heist was inevitable #karma hypebae.com/2021/6/netfl...
Netflix’s 'Lupin' and Musée Du Louvre Link Up for an Exclusive Collection
Curated by HYPEBEAST, only on HBX.
hypebae.com
October 20, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Ever since this, that Louvre heist was inevitable #karma hypebae.com/2021/6/netfl...
Come on down! Both of these books are extraordinary
I’ll be at the Southern Festival of Books on Sunday, talking with @paulburchwpab.bsky.social and Ann Powers about mine and Paul’s Jimmy/ie-centric books ✨ See you there!
sofestofbooks.org
sofestofbooks.org
October 19, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Come on down! Both of these books are extraordinary
Looking for books that look at a brief crucial period in an artist's life--like @elijahwald.bsky.social 's Dylan Goes Electric or @peteramescarlin.bsky.social 's latest on Springsteen + Born To Run (or @warrenzanes.bsky.social on the Boss/Nebraska). Would love suggestions esp on nonmusic subjects
October 14, 2025 at 11:22 PM
Looking for books that look at a brief crucial period in an artist's life--like @elijahwald.bsky.social 's Dylan Goes Electric or @peteramescarlin.bsky.social 's latest on Springsteen + Born To Run (or @warrenzanes.bsky.social on the Boss/Nebraska). Would love suggestions esp on nonmusic subjects