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Music Reviews

Song Of The Day

Apollo Run: Of War And Circuses

Apollo Run's John McGrew is a multi-instrumentalist who hops genres and styles easily, with a talent for quickly jelling melodies. An Ohio native now based in Brooklyn, he sings and plays trumpet and piano in "Land Land Land," which manages to fashion compelling entertainment out of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

'Land Land Land' by Apollo Run

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Song Of The Day

Sarah Jaffe: On Salvation And Selfishness

Great songwriters bring together two things listeners want most from music: the ability to relate to people's daily lives and the wisdom to express emotions in new and powerful ways. Young, virtually unknown Texas singer-songwriter Sarah Jaffe passes both tests in the title track from her new Even Born Again EP.

Even Born Again

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Song Of The Day

Rokia Traore: Gershwin, By Way Of Mali

Traore isn't the first African singer to take on an American jazz standard, but her version of George and Ira Gershwin's "The Man I Love" sets a new standard. Channeling Billie Holiday without losing herself, Traore delivers a deeply satisfying read, subtly infused with African-ness as a lute converses with her electric guitar throughout.

The Man I Love

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Music

Senor Coconut Takes Us 'Around the World'

Senor Coconut aka Uwe Schmidt is known for his lushly orchestrated Latin big band versions of pop hits like The Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams, Prince's Kiss and works by German techno pioneer Kraftwerk. His new album, Around The World, sounds like a vision you'd have after eating bad wienerschnitzel at a Miami rave.

Senor Coconut Takes Us 'Around the World'

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World Cafe

Oren Lavie: Elegance From Stage To Stereo

XPN

Lavie's debut album, The Opposite Side of the Sea, flows with soothing vocals and evocative lyrics. A playwright and theater director by nature, the Israeli-born singer has seamlessly transposed his compositional talent from stage to record.

Opposite Side of the Sea

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Fiction Family Debut Is Delicate And Industrious

Fresh Air

The band Fiction Family may be new, but its members are old hands at the music business. Jon Foreman of Switchfoot and Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek collaborated on the new album. Ken Tucker has a review.

Fiction Family Debut Is Delicate And Industrious

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Song Of The Day

Alice Russell: Under Smoky Club Lights

Every few decades, the British invade. This time out, the onslaught features a bevy of beautiful women with deep voices and serious soul. Alice Russell hitched a ride on that boat, and with Pot of Gold and the song "Lights Went Out," she plants her flag and claims some fresh territory for herself.

Lights Went Out

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Song Of The Day

Bajofondo Crafts A Tango Rap Ballad

Trip-hop, rock en espanol and even hip-hop turn up in Mar Dulce, and if you're having trouble imagining a tango rap ballad, check out freestyler La Mala Rodriguez as she spits jotas in "El Anden" (The Platform). Her words hone in on a sense of loss as violins and miniature accordions scratch furiously in the background.

Andén

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Animal Collective: The Electronic Turns Organic

Animal Collective is an experimental pop band that's cultivated an air of mystery over the past few years, as well as a passionate following. Will Hermes reviews the band's new album, Merriweather Post Pavilion.

Animal Collective: The Electronic Turns Organic

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Song Of The Day

Cat Power: The 'Dark End' Of Depressive Soul

A dark tale of cheating lovers that's a chronicle of trouble foretold ("They're gonna find us someday"), "Dark End of the Street" is a hard song to mess up. The best versions have an air of enervated misery which Cat Power, the human embodiment of enervated misery, nails completely.

Dark End of the Street

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Song Of The Day

Robert Glasper: Jazz For Obama

WBGO

Pianist Robert Glasper wrote the hypnotic "Enoch's Meditation" years ago, for his 2005 album Canvas. He conceived it as a tribute to his colleague, drummer Enoch Jamal Strickland, but reconditioned it in time for Inauguration Day 2009. Hear Glasper perform the repurposed song at the studios of WBGO.

'Enoch's (Inaugural) Meditation' by Robert Glasper

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