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The Bloodsugars: Prom Night

"The Pedestrian Boogie" is an appropriately melodramatic piece that oozes nostalgic yearning. courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Song Of The Day

The Bloodsugars: Prom Night

Bloodsugars singer-guitarist Jason Rabinowitz describes his group's latest album, I Can't Go On, I'll Go On, as "a modern prom playlist," and "The Pedestrian Boogie" makes it easy to understand what he means. Backed by a synth line that seems borrowed from Toto's 1983 hit "Africa," Rabinowitz's vocals ooze nostalgic yearning.

'The Pedestrian Boogie' by The Bloodsugars

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Joey Ramone, As His Brother Remembers Him

The Ramones in a 1981 promotional photograph. Joey Ramone is second from left. Sire Records/Getty Images hide caption

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Sire Records/Getty Images

Joey Ramone, As His Brother Remembers Him

All his life, Mickey Leigh lived in the shadow of his older, weirder and much more successful brother. Leigh's new memoir, I Slept With Joey Ramone, portrays the rock star through the lens of a sibling rivalry.

Joey Ramone, As His Brother Remembers Him

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Kurt Rosenwinkel: 'Reflections' Of Monk

The guitarist infuses Monk's "Reflections" with dreamlike grace and finely controlled power. Lourdes Delgado hide caption

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Lourdes Delgado

Song Of The Day

Kurt Rosenwinkel: 'Reflections' Of Monk

Of late, Thelonious Monk has gotten a lot of worthwhile attention from guitarists: Both Peter Bernstein and Bobby Broom paid fine album-length homage to the pianist in recent years, and both covered his "Reflections." Neither of those interpretations, however, approach Rosenwinkel's rendition in its dreamlike grace.

'Reflections' by Kurt Rosenwinkel

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Ella Fitzgerald: A Trove Of Club Treasures

Ella Fitzgerald: A Trove Of Club Treasures

Fresh Air

Twelve Nights in Hollywood is a four-disc box set of 73 unreleased Ella Fitzgerald live recordings, made during her 1961 engagement at Los Angeles' Crescendo Club. Music critic Kevin Whitehead reviews the compilation for Fresh Air.

Ella Fitzgerald: A Trove Of Club Treasures

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Los Campesinos!: Inventive Invective

Surly and overstuffed, Los Campesinos!'s "Romance Is Boring" takes an unsurprisingly dim view of domestic bliss. Kim Coulour hide caption

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Kim Coulour

Song Of The Day

Los Campesinos!: Inventive Invective

It's fitting that, when the title track to the Welsh group's new album Romance Is Boring gives way to a guitar solo, it's a fractured, discontented mess — all shards and shrapnel, frayed nerves and raw power. Surly and overstuffed, "Romance Is Boring" takes an unsurprisingly dim view of domestic bliss.

Romance Is Boring

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Corinne Bailey Rae Mesmerizes With 'The Sea'
Tierney Gearon

Corinne Bailey Rae Mesmerizes With 'The Sea'

The British singer-songwriter made a splash in 2006 with her chart-topping single "Put Your Records On." Now, two years after the death of her husband, Rae returns with The Sea, and it's light-years ahead of what she'd done before. The album marks the arrival of a newly observant songwriter and an absolutely fearless singer.

Corinne Bailey Rae Mesmerizes With 'The Sea'

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The Magnetic Fields' Hard-Headed 'Realism'

Fresh Air

A companion piece to 2008's Distortion, the new album is vivid and whimsical — and it certainly lives up to its title. Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker has a review.

The Magnetic Fields' Hard-Headed 'Realism'

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Daddy Lion: Quarter-Life Crisis

The mysterious singer-songwriter who calls himself Daddy Lion finds himself bruised and battered in "Morning." courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Song Of The Day

Daddy Lion: Quarter-Life Crisis

"Morning" is a stripped-down, mostly acoustic tale that finds its narrator bruised, battered and wondering if making a fresh start is worth the trouble. Eventually, all that worry gives way to an optimistic-sounding electric-guitar solo, leaving listeners to wonder if it's better to be loved and stalked, or to have never been loved and stalked at all.

'Morning' by Daddy Lion

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Animal Collective: Starring The Grateful Dead

"What Would I Want? Sky" is lush, rewarding and a welcome rebuttal to critics of music sampling. Atiba Jefferson hide caption

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Atiba Jefferson

Song Of The Day

Animal Collective: Starring The Grateful Dead

"What Would I Want? Sky" is the first song to legally license a Grateful Dead sample. And, in a smartly subtle move, Animal Collective doesn't even unveil it until three minutes in, after a dense, psychedelic junket through a sea of vocals and unintelligible sounds. The result is a colorful, lush, rewarding and, above all, a welcome rebuttal to critics of music sampling.

What Would I Want? Sky

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Tommy T: Ethiopian For The Untrained Ear

Tommy T. Linda Fittante hide caption

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Linda Fittante

World Cafe

Tommy T: Ethiopian For The Untrained Ear

XPN

After working with a number of bands, Tommy T is following a new path as a solo artist. His album The Prester John Sessions presents listeners with what he calls "music without boundaries." It features improvised arrangements with The Abyssinian Roots Collective, Gogol Bordello's Eugene Hutz and Pedro Sprazo, and famous Ethiopian singer Gigi.

Tommy T: Ethiopian For The Untrained Ear

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First Listen: Midlake's 'The Courage Of Others'

First Listen

First Listen: Midlake's 'The Courage Of Others'

This is one deep, dark, beautiful record. Midlake has been working on The Courage of Others for a few years now, even scrapping it all entirely at one point. The band stopped touring in 2007, in part, to make this album — and now, for the first time in almost three years, it's finally ready. A gentle masterwork, it's available here in its entirety for the week leading up to its release on Feb. 2.

Hear Midlake's 'Courage Of Others'

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Efterklang: Buoyantly Atmospheric Pop

Neither ambient nor explicitly forceful, Efterklang's "Modern Drift" puts all of its layers on display. courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Song Of The Day

Efterklang: Buoyantly Atmospheric Pop

Occasionally jarring and insistent, but tender in unexpected ways, Efterklang's "Modern Drift" feels like three songs in one, laced together by rhythm and lyrics but meandering all over the sonic landscape. Neither ambient nor explicitly forceful, the song puts all of its layers on display, with each note ringing out, from the plunky piano motif to the swelling horns and strings that blend perfectly with the understated vocals.

'Modern Drift' by Efterklang

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tUnE-yArDs: Pop Genius, Cleverly Obscured

"Hatari" is a noisy, threadbare patchwork, but the song shines anyway. Chrissy Piper hide caption

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Chrissy Piper

Song Of The Day

tUnE-yArDs: Pop Genius, Cleverly Obscured

Merrill Garbus has a stunning sense for assembling limited resources to spectacular effect. (On stage, she's only a microphone, some drums, a ukulele and a loop pedal, accompanied by an electric bassist.) Those miraculous vocal layers. That handcrafted, demented beat. The way the whole thing builds up to a screeching climax, before an abrupt a cappella vocal.

Hatari

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