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The story of Francis Scott Key's "Star Spangled Banner" is the stuff of grade-school history books. But the song has inspired some memorable interpretations in the recent past, as each performer imbues it with a personal take on patriotism.

The list of our 50 favorite albums of the year includes Jonsi, LCD Soundsystem, Jonsi and more artists from H to L.

From the sweet melodies by Bach to the quiet sound world of Morton Feldman, sample three fascinating new albums by today's top fiddlers.

Dekker plays drums in the innovative black-metal bands Agalloch and Ludicra, but says that before he'd ever heard Kiss, "there was only Coltrane." Find out which Mingus album he calls a "Lovecraftian noir soundtrack" and more with Dekker's favorite five jazz records.

Many jazz standards are themselves about making lists. Here are five of them, including Louis Armstrong's take on "Let's Do It," Johnny Hartman's version of "These Foolish Things" and a classic reading of Jobim's "Waters of March."

Born in the '60s, soul-jazz is a groove-oriented style built from the bottom up. You take a strong bass line, establish a steady groove between the bass and drums, and then embellish that groove with riffs and melody lines that draw heavily from gospel, blues and R&B.

Manouche Jazz, commonly known as "Gypsy Jazz," is a blend of traditional Roma music and swing jazz. Originating in Paris in the early 1930s, it was first popularized by guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli. Hear five songs from the genre's founders and modern jazz musicians.

During the 1940s and '50s, Dameron focused his considerable compositional talents on the emerging jazz style called bebop. During a relatively brief period, Dameron composed a body of work that helped define and expand the parameters of this music.

All Songs Considered's list of the 50 most important recordings of the decade continues, from Norah Jones to Jason Moran.

NPR listeners cast tens of thousands of ballots, but in the end, only a handful of votes separated some of the bands. See and hear what NPR listeners picked as the best albums of 2008.