Rock

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Real Animal, the new album by Austin, Texas-based underground legend Alejandro Escovedo.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Harps and Angels, Randy Newman's first album in nine years.

Twitchy undertaker, cubicle fiend, sassy convenience-store clerk — Rainn Wilson has long gravitated toward eccentric characters. But is The Office actor attempting the leap to sex symbol through his titular role in The Rocker? Given the hair-metal coif and the still-goofy humor, probably not.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Parallel Play, the new album by Sloan. The Canadian favorites are hoping to attract an American following with this release.

The best little bar-band in Texas is back with more ballads of heartache and anthems for getting over it. The Old 97's have just released Blame It On Gravity. Front-man Rhett Miller joins Fresh Air to talk about the recording and to perform some new songs.

Inspired by Sinn Sisamouth and other Cambodian stars of the '60s and '70s, brothers Zac and Ethan Holzman created a fusion cover band — complete with a former Cambodian pop star who had recently moved to Los Angeles.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Evil Urges, the new album by the Kentucky indie-rock band My Morning Jacket. The band moves away from their Southern influences, instead using Manhattan as their muse for the album.

Singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow performs three songs from her new album, Detours, plus a portion of a song from an early album that she persuaded the record company not to release.

Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker reviews two albums from two one-named singers: Madonna's Hard Candy and the self-titled release from Swedish pop singer Robyn.

Rock historian Ed Ward looks at Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer Chuck Berry and the career that made him a star. Berry's entire record output from the 1950s was recently released on a four-disc set from Hip-O-Select titled, Johnny B. Goode: His Complete '50s Chess Recordings.

Singer-composer Nick Cave composed the soundtrack for last year's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford; he also wrote the screenplay and the soundtrack for The Proposition. Now, Cave has released a new CD with his band the Bad Seeds: Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!

Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Boo!, the new album from the band Was (Not Was). It's the band's first full-length disc since 1993.

Fresh Air's music critic reviews three new deluxe reissues on the Universal Music label: Elvis Costello's This Year's Model, Beck's Odelay and Lynyrd Skynyrd's Street Survivors.

Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the Waco Brothers' album Waco Express: Live and Kickin' at Schubas Tavern. It's the seventh album from the Chicago cowpunk outfit, but only its first live disc.

The band R.E.M. has released its first album in four years, Accelerate. Critics have been describing the disc as a "comeback," saying it's the band's best album in ages. Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills join Terry Gross for a conversation.

Fresh Air's film critic says the new Rolling Stones concert film doesn't quite penetrate the band's m--teries — but that the director is a master of style, and the band is tighter than ever.

Actress Zooey Deschanel has made a move from the big screen to the indie-rock stage, recently co-founding the group She and Him. Deschanel joins Fresh Air to discuss her music and her band's new album, Volume One.

Fresh Air music critic Milo Miles reviews music from Russian rock group Auktyon. The band is currently on tour in the U.S. Auktyon, like some other Russian rock groups, found their footing during the censorship-free period of glasnost in the former Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev.

In the past 20 years, Great Britain has produced a huge quantity of popular music that's gotten very little attention in the U.S. The Brit Box is a four-CD collection of British rock and pop, including songs by The Smiths, Supergrass, and The Boo Radleys.

Fresh Air rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Sixes & Sevens, the new album from singer-songwriter Adam Green. He co-wrote the song "Anyone Else But You" for the film Juno and co-founded the New York folk group The Moldy Peaches. Sixes & Sevens is his fifth solo album.