NPR’s Scott Detrow chats with the directors of All Things Considered about the music they listened to the most this year and why.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
The directors of ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, they do a lot behind the scenes. They’ve got the very powerful job of being the person who tells me when to talk and when not to talk. And beyond that, they also pick the wonderful music breaks that you hear every single show. We’re taking some time on the program at the end of the year to talk with our show directors about some of the music they listened to the most in 2023. Think about it as ALL THINGS CONSIDERED Wrapped. And this weekend, we are talking to producer Elena Burnett. Hey, Elena.
ELENA BURNETT, BYLINE: Hey, Scott.
DETROW: OK, so in this series, every director has had a theme. And your theme, I am told, is dance parties.
BURNETT: Yes. So this started for me at the beginning of the pandemic. I live and I still do in a small studio apartment. And to sort of keep myself sane, I decided that every single day, I was going to dance to a song.
DETROW: So this started as something you did around your apartment. Does this mean the dance parties are coming with? Does this mean you’re just breaking out into dance all over the place?
BURNETT: Yeah, it is. It is.
DETROW: Oh, OK.
BURNETT: And then, like, a big part of this, I should preface, is I’m really bad at keeping track of popular music – like, really bad. So I get very excited and I start dancing when a song that I actually know plays on the radio.
DETROW: Makes sense.
BURNETT: And that happened a lot this year with my most listened to band, Lake Street Dive.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “AUTOMATIC”)
LAKE STREET DIVE: (Singing) I’m walking blindfolded.
BURNETT: They are everywhere – in D.C. grocery stores and Albuquerque outdoor malls and Edinburgh stationary stores. And, I mean, those are all places that now have been graced by an Elena Burnett dance party.
DETROW: How far did you extend…
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