World Cafe

The music of Rodrigo y Gabriela combines delicate flamenco and metal-influenced lead guitar with stunningly percussive rhythmic strumming. Their covers of Metallica and Led Zepplin showcase their melding of hard rock and classical Spanish styles. But most of their music is original, and all of it instrumental.

The group One eskimO is an audio-visual endeavor, and its self-titled debut album includes a full animation. But while the band's idiosyncratic, self-produced videos are a notable component of its work, its expressive music is the heart and soul of the enterprise.

With his first bluegrass album, The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo, comedic genius Steve Martin reveals another side of his talent. One of the most successful stand-up comedians of the '70s, Martin is quite familiar with fame and sold-out performances. These days, though, he's capturing the crowd not with his jokes, but with his banjo.

A sophisticated songwriter with a knack for wordplay, Landes has also worked as a recording engineer on several movie soundtracks. When she isn't behind the boards in the studio, she's singing her own indie-rock tunes. Her third studio album, Sweet Heart Rodeo, ties together classic tales of love and loss with the metaphorical device of the rodeo.

For the first time in her career, Amos plans to release a collection of holiday standards. Following the release of Abnormally Attracted to Sin, released this past May, Amos makes a surprising shift to holiday gaiety on her 11th album, Midwinter Graces. Hear her perform a session from World Cafe.

At times, Carlile's most recent album, Give Up the Ghost, explores a surprising amount of raw, stripped-down territory. At others, she uses heavy layers of rich harmonies, awash in piano, guitar and strings.

Fanfarlo's spiky brand of rock feels both fresh and familiar. In addition to the usual lineup of drums, bass and guitars, the group employs an array of instruments ranging from keyboards and mandolin to horns. The result is a sound that's ambitious yet emotionally engaging.

On his sophomore album, Everything Is New, Penate exudes a refreshing sense of insight and experimentation. While the music has a gloomy undercurrent, each track is still fun and dance-floor-friendly, colorfully blending classic soul and pop with hints of Afrobeat.

Lea Michele (Rachel), Cory Monteith (Finn) and Amber Riley (Mercedes) from the cast of Glee join David Dye to chat about the runaway hit show and its music in this session from World Cafe.

Since his release from prison following a presidential commutation last year, Forte has released a new EP and been actively engaged in humanitarian work. Hear his reggae-influenced hip-hop in this session from World Cafe.

Yorn may have moved to Los Angeles to start a career writing songs for movies, but he's since found success well beyond the studio walls. His latest album, not counting a duets record with Scarlett Johansson, is titled Back and Fourth. Hear him in a session on World Cafe.

Born into the Children of God cult, Girls' Christopher Owens escaped a life of spiritual hardship only to end up on the streets. Upon meeting Chet "JR" White, the two created their widely hyped debut, Girls: Album. The record is an attempt by Owens to make peace with his past and pave a clean road ahead — but the album isn't all serious. Lots of its songs are about hanging out with friends and, of course, girls.

Combining pop, jazz, soul and country, Jones sold more than 20 million copies of her debut album, Come Away With Me, which won six Grammy Awards. Hear Jones play songs from her new album, The Fall, in a session from World Cafe.

The buzz around BLK JKS started about two years ago, when the band released an eponymous EP; many called it avant-garde, in part because there's no other name for what BLK JKS does. Psychedelic rock, jazz, Afrobeat, blues, metal and reggae: The group crams all of these styles into an undeniably African rock sound.

Working under the name 7 Worlds Collide, Crowded House's Neil Finn brought together a wide variety of popular artists to record The Sun Came Out, including Sharon and Liam Finn, KT Tunstall, Jeff Tweedy and Glenn Kotche of Wilco, and Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway of Radiohead. The result is overflowing with energy.