Our Critics Week series continues with a look back at year in classical music and opera. Washington Post chief classical music critic Anne Midgette joins us with her picks for the year’s best. Plus: Tis the season – for Handel’s “Messiah.”  Every year at this time, Handel’s big piece for chorus, soloists and orchestra takes over the NY concert scene. Kent Tritle, conductor of the Oratorio Society of NY and Musica Sacra, and host of the new “Choral Mix with Kent Tritle” on WQXR, updates us on all things "Messiah."

From cozy fitted earbuds to the new realistic Rock Band, New York Times technology columnist David Pogue weighs in with this year’s best of technology and gadgets.

Critics Week continues with a look back at the year's best world music releases. We're joined by Anastasia Tsioulcas, who writes frequently about world and classical music and edits the classical website Ariama.com.

Between Kanye and Eminem's redemption stories and Drake and Nicki's break-outs, Soundcheck focuses on the year's best hip-hop releases. HipHopDX.com's Editor-in-Chief Jake Paine joins us to share his list.

Jazz critic Will Layman of PopMatters.com joins us for a look at his favorite releases of 2010.

We kick off Critics Week with a look at music on the big screen in 2010. Slate.com film critic Dana Stevens tells us about this year's music-oriented movies and documentaries, plus its notable soundtracks.

Bookforum editor Michael Miller shares his top picks for this years releases in books… that take on music. The high profile (Keith Richards and Patti Smith), mix in with some unexpected (fiction about The Smiths, scholarly pieces about jazz musician Art Pepper) and more.

This was the year when a band from Montreal topped the charts, American Idol went indie, and Lady Gaga and Beyonce had their very own Thelma and Louise moment. Los Angeles Times chief pop music critic Ann Powers and Rolling Stone contributing editor Rob Sheffield join us with their lists of 2010’s best rock and pop music.

All week, we’ve cheered on the best – now for the rest. Music critics Maura Johnston and Chris Weingarten join us in the Soundcheck studio to talk about their picks for a VillageVoice.com series called “The 20 Worst Songs of 2010.”

2010 brought the rise of the indie band and Taylor Swift, Kanye West’s Twitter account, and an avalanche of reunion tours. Jacob Ganz of the NPR Music blog The Record reviews the year's top music news stories.