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All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen shares the albums and songs that stood out even if some were more peaceful than explosive.

Lupe Fiasco is a Chicago-based rapper who made his mainstream debut on the most recent CD by Kanye West, who is also from Chicago. Now Fiasco is further cementing the Windy City's reputation as a breeding ground for innovative hip-hop, with a new CD, Food and Liquor.

The host of All Songs Considered shares the albums he loved this year. Many of Bob Boilen's favorite albums of 2013 were danceable. Many were intimate. Some managed to be both at once.

If one defining thread ran through 2016's best albums, it was an air of mystery: a sense of myth, otherworldliness, storytelling ambition or multimedia wizardry.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has nominated a four-star general to take command of U.S. forces in Iraq. Gen. George W. Casey, Jr. would replace Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez. Colleagues say Casey has demonstrated the ability to work closely with U.S. diplomats, a skill that will be needed in Iraq when the U.S. embassy goes into business in July. NPR's Michele Kelemen reports.

It was a great year for lyricists, says All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen. His favorite albums of the year are proof of that richness.

To Lam, who oversaw police and intelligence operations at a time when rights groups say basic freedoms had been suppressed, was confirmed amid a major reshuffle of the country's top leadership.

One of the top athletes in the new Olympic sport of ski halfpipe is in critical condition in a Utah hospital. Canadian Sarah Burke, 29, was injured when she fell during a training run in Park City, Utah, earlier this week. Burke is considered a pioneer in a sport where competitors on skis do the same tricks and flips that snowboarders do — all in a super-sized halfpipe.

The Princeton Review's guide to colleges comes out Tuesday. Colleges fiercely compete to be No. 1 for most of the categories in the guide. That's not the case for the dubious distinction of top party school in the nation.

From the inescapable "Call Me Maybe" to Fiona Apple's intricate word puzzles to the strikingly gorgeous return of Iris DeMent, the Fresh Air critic counts down his favorite albums and musical moments of the year.