Search results for

Madonna's new single, "4 Minutes," is an airtight, spit-polished production loaded with current stars, designed to send the message that Madonna still matters. Music critic Tom Moon reviews the pop icon's latest album, Hard Candy.

R.E.M. isn't exactly religious, but spiritual themes do creep into its music. Singer Michael Stipe says he comes from a "place of faith," and that generations of men in the Stipe family have been Methodist ministers. Widely billed as R.E.M.'s best album in ages, Accelerate takes inspiration from religious issues.

Fresh Air's world-music critic reviews The Mande Variations, the new CD from Malian kora player Toumani Diabate. Diabate says he descends from 71 generations of griots, or traditional song-storytellers.

Half of the mostly defunct band The Moldy Peaches, Green has put out his fifth solo full-length CD. The album's genre-jumping and stream-of-consciousness lyrics make the title, a term for disarray, seem apt. But the songs are melodic and imaginative.

Bibb grew up amid the New York City folk scene in the 1950s and '60s, a scene he calls "a magical world that I was born into and never left." But Bibb has since become a blues guitarist and songwriter in his own right. His latest album, Get On Board, pays tribute to his heroes.

In his short but brilliant career, he pioneered a new standard of rapid-fire virtuosity on the electric bass and helped bridge the jazz and pop music of his day. Close collaborators offer a retrospective on Jaco Pastorius.

From the musical buzz in pre-WWI Vienna to the experimental New York scene of the 1960s and on through today, Alex Ross reveals the story of 20th-century music in his new book The Rest Is Noise.

Rock historian Ed Ward reviews the new classic rock box set Rockin' Bones: 1950s Punk and Rockabilly. Hits from Elvis, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee light up this 101-track, four-disc collection produced by Rhino Records.

Hear a preview of the 50th annual Monterey Jazz Festival, which includes Gerald Wilson's specially commissioned piece, Monterey Moods. Wilson and many other jazz luminaries, including Dave Brubeck, celebrate the festival's half-century mark this weekend.

Sophie Milman has a classic jazz voice that evokes smoky lounges, softly clinking glasses and the cool of the night. Her second CD, Make Someone Happy, contains her interpretations of many jazz standards, but also includes some surprising choices.