Music

Doe is probably still best known as co-founder of the punk-rock band X more than 30 years ago. Rock critic Ken Tucker says Doe's new solo album Keeper is less conflicted and more contemplative than his earlier works.

The New York trio Battles and the Chicago-based experimental rock band Cheer-Accident come from very different directions. But critic Milo Miles says that both groups have recently put out their most appealing records, without losing their cerebral side.

Songs of Mirth and Melancholy takes cues from the brooding romantic music of 19th century Europe.

Stone is known to millions from the records he made with Sly and the Family Stone. But his early days, and the recordings he produced for his own Stone Flower label, add another dimension to the career of this enigmatic character, rock historian Ed Ward said.

Bridges won an Oscar in 2009 for his performance as a broken-down country singer in the film Crazy Heart, for which her performed his own vocals. He also sings as himself on a new self-titled album.

All these years later, Burton's old country and rock associations leave a mark on his new quartet.

Phillips has been making albums since the 1980s, but her voice may be best known for her background music in the TV series Gilmore Girls. Rock critic Ken Tucker says there's a lot of terrific music on her new album, Solid State.

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers weren't the only famous Hollywood musical team of the 1930s. Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy also starred in a series of operettas. But classical music critic lloyd Schwartz says the couples achieved their success in quite opposite ways.

Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger, the pair behind Fountains of Wayne, have just released their first new album since 2007. Rock critic Ken Tucker says Sky Full of Holes showcases the detailed storytelling and bright melodies that can occasionally hid the duo's darker thoughts.

Mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberwson died a little more than five years ago at the height of her career. Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz says that, just when it seemed we weren't going to hear her sing anything new, some fantastic live performances have been released for the first time.

Landesman, a songwriter and poet who wrote the words to the jazz standard "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most," died on July 23. She was 83. Fresh Air remembers the iconoclastic lyricist with highlights from a 1988 interview.

Singer Blake Shelton scored his fourth consecutive No. 1 country hit with "Honey Bee," from his just-released album. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the album shows Shelton's playful, unpredictable side.

New Orleans went decades without a homegrown label to document its riches. Rock critic Ed Ward says this explains why many 1950s New Orleans classics were released by Ace Records in Jackson, Miss.

Welch and Rawlings perform an in-studio concert featuring several songs from The Harrow and the Harvest, and talk about many of the lyrics they've written over the years.

Sherwood Schwartz, who created the TV sitcoms Gilligan's Island and The Brady Bunch, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 94. Fresh Air remembers the TV producer and writer with excerpts from a 1988 interview.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews a seven-CD box set featuring the quartet's Atlantic years, which span 1956-64.

Rock critic Ken Tucker says that Beyonce's new album, titled 4, is something of a risk – it's not merely a collection of new songs, but a personal reassessment of the kind of pop star she wants to be.

The Singing Cowboy was one of the country's most popular and prolific film stars during his career; he also gained fame as a radio star, producer and TV personality. Biographer Holly George-Warren traces Autry's lengthy career in Public Cowboy No. 1.

Since releasing her first solo album in 1967, Parton has become a star in movies and on television. But rock critic Ken Tucker says that her new album, Better Day, returns the focus to Parton's singing and her frequently underestimated songwriting.

When Monk's band arrived late in San Francisco, it inspired a solo album recorded in 1959.