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Marc Ribot Isn't Trying To Comfort Anyone

Ceramic Dog is Marc Ribot, Ches Smith and Shahzad Ismaily. Barbara Rigon/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Barbara Rigon/Courtesy of the artist

Marc Ribot Isn't Trying To Comfort Anyone

Marc Ribot has spent nearly three decades as a guitarist on the margins. Critic Robert Christgau explains why Ribot's new hard-rock album with Ceramic Dog ranks among his most daring pieces of music.

Marc Ribot Isn't Trying To Comfort Anyone

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Jonny Fritz: A Country Jester Gets Personal

Jonny Fritz's third solo album, after two under the alias Jonny Corndawg, is called Dad Country. Josh Hedley/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Josh Hedley/Courtesy of the artist

Jonny Fritz: A Country Jester Gets Personal

On his new album, Dad Country, the Nashville singer-songwriter emerges from behind the moniker Jonny Corndawg to reveal a more serious side. In several songs on the new record, he draws on a year he spent trying to salvage a relationship.

Jonny Fritz: A Country Jester Gets Personal

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Dawes' Story Gets A Fine New Chapter

Dawes' new album is titled Stories Don't End. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Dawes' Story Gets A Fine New Chapter

The L.A. roots-rock quartet is often described as a band on the verge of greatness. Its new album, Stories Don't End, features disarmingly beautiful, refreshingly unflashy songwriting. It may not make the musicians superstars, but that's just fine.

Dawes' Story Gets A Fine New Chapter

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Brad Paisley's 'Wheelhouse' Of Good Songs — And Intentions

Brad Paisley's new album is titled Wheelhouse. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Brad Paisley's 'Wheelhouse' Of Good Songs — And Intentions

Fresh Air

"Accidental Racist" launched an Internet firestorm and threatened to overshadow everything else on the country singer's fine new album, Wheelhouse. Even in that polarizing song, Paisley's biggest sin is that he's well-meaning in a way that topples too easily into sentimentality.

Brad Paisley's 'Wheelhouse' Of Good Songs — And Intentions

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Earl Hines: Big Bands And Beyond On A New Box Set

Earl "Fatha" Hines' band featured the likes of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Express/Getty Images hide caption

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Express/Getty Images

Earl Hines: Big Bands And Beyond On A New Box Set

Fresh Air

Mosaic Records has released Classic Earl Hines Sessions 1928-1945, a seven-disc showcase for the jazz pianist and bandleader. Hines' right hand played lines in bright, clear octaves — and his left hand had a mind of its own.

Earl Hines: Big Bands And Beyond On A New Box Set

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Freshlyground: Polished African Pop On The Global Dance Floor

Take Me to the Dance is the latest album from Freshlyground. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Freshlyground: Polished African Pop On The Global Dance Floor

Driven by Zolani Mahola's powerhouse voice, the band is one of the most talked about musical acts out of post-apartheid South Africa. Although its latest album features an American producer, its desire to hang onto the past while establishing a place in the future is decidedly South African.

Freshlyground: Polished African Pop On The Global Dance Floor

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Johnny Cash's Columbia Catalog Out Now — As A 63-Disc Box Set

A new 63-disc box offers a complete retrospective of the Man in Black's storied career. Sony Music hide caption

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Sony Music

Johnny Cash's Columbia Catalog Out Now — As A 63-Disc Box Set

Fresh Air

Cash spent half a century in the limelight as a country singer turned American icon. Between 1958, when he first recorded for Columbia, until 1986, when it didn't renew his contract, he recorded more than 50 singles and 60 albums for the label.

Johnny Cash's Columbia Catalog Out Now — As A 63-Disc Box Set

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Brad Paisley Ventures Out Of Country's 'Wheelhouse'

Brad Paisley's new album is titled Wheelhouse. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Brad Paisley Ventures Out Of Country's 'Wheelhouse'

With tracks like "Southern Comfort Zone" and "Accidental Racist," the superstar's new album performs a balancing act of cultural examinations. But there are still enough twangy guitar solos and all-purpose love songs to engage country-music tradition.

Brad Paisley Ventures Out Of Country's 'Wheelhouse'

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Bombino: A Desert Rock 'Nomad' Rolls Into Nashville

Bombino's new album is titled Nomad. Ron Wyman /Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Ron Wyman /Courtesy of the artist

Bombino: A Desert Rock 'Nomad' Rolls Into Nashville

The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach produced the Tuareg guitar virtuoso's latest album and adds sonic heft rarely heard on African guitar recordings.

Bombino: A Desert Rock 'Nomad' Rolls Into Nashville

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Kacey Musgraves: Country's Blunt And Poetic New Voice

Kacey Musgraves' "Merry Go 'Round" was one of NPR Music's favorite songs of 2012. Kelly Christine Musgraves/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Kelly Christine Musgraves/Courtesy of the artist

Kacey Musgraves: Country's Blunt And Poetic New Voice

Fresh Air

The talented young singer-songwriter has as much in common with John Prine as she does with Kenny Chesney. With any luck, Same Trailer, Different Park is the start of a long career that will make both Musgraves' core audience and other open-minded listeners sit up and take notice.

Kacey Musgraves: Country's Blunt And Poetic New Voice

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Kacey Musgraves: A Millennial Musician Reframes Country

Kacey Musgraves' major-label debut is titled Same Trailer Different Park. Kelly Christine Musgraves/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Kelly Christine Musgraves/Courtesy of the artist

Kacey Musgraves: A Millennial Musician Reframes Country

On her major-label debut, the 24-year-old singer-songwriter explores themes steeped in tradition, yet views them through the lens of youth culture.

Kacey Musgraves: A Millennial Musician Reframes Country

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Barry Altschul: The Jazz Drummer Makes A Comeback

Drummer Barry Altschul writes tunes that play complex games with rhythm. Dmitry Mandel/Courtesy of TUM Records hide caption

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Dmitry Mandel/Courtesy of TUM Records

Barry Altschul: The Jazz Drummer Makes A Comeback

On his new album, The 3dom Factor, Altschul is great at mixing opposites: abstract melodic concepts with parade beats, open improvising and percolating swing. The album is the sort of comeback that reminds you how much good music the artist made the first time around.

Barry Altschul: The Jazz Drummer Makes A Comeback

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Justin Timberlake's Musical Vision Isn't '20/20'

Justin Timberlake performed Saturday at the Myspace Secret Show during the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas. His new album — his first in seven years — is The 20/20 Experience. Jason Kempin/Getty Images hide caption

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Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Justin Timberlake's Musical Vision Isn't '20/20'

The multifaceted star's first solo album since 2006, The 20/20 Experience, offers a muddy view of pop. Critic Tom Moon says Timberlake "is a celebrity feeling out his place in 2013, and you hear his worry."

Justin Timberlake's Musical Vision Isn't '20/20'

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