Music

The former American Idol winner has just released her fifth album, Stronger. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the record doesn't contain Clarkson's strongest material, but still shows off her powerful vocal cords.

SMiLE may be the most famous unreleased album of all time, but it's not really unreleased: bits and pieces of it wound up on other Beach Boys albums. Now that EMI has assembled a definitive collection of the session tracks, Ed Ward has listened to them -- and wonders what the shouting was about.

Deer Tick has just released its fourth album, Divine Providence. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the album takes the Rhode Island band in a more raw-sounding direction.

Lynne's new album Revelation Road contains both a torchy pop ballad and a startlingly direct song about her parents' murder-suicide. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the album is an excellent showcase for Lynne's sharp songwriting and fantastic voice.

Milo Miles reviews a compilation of overseas grooves that carry on psychedelic styles long after they were dropped in the U.S.

MacFarlane is best known for creating the animated TV shows Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show. But he's also a singer whose new album features songs from the Great American Songbook.

The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams features a number of major country and rock musicians, who craft songs around lyrics that Hank Williams left behind in four notebooks when he died in 1953. Bob Dylan, Alan Jackson, Jack White and Norah Jones are among the artists on the album.

Under Oblique — I's zigzag lines, Sorey's drums barrel along like a runaway tractor trailer.

Doin' the Gigi showcases Gigi Gryce as a swinging saxophonist and writer of quirky melodies.

A band formed by Adam Weiner from Philadelphia and Dan Finnermore from Birmingham, England, Low Cut Connie has just released its debut album, Get Out the Lotion. Rock critic Ken Tucker says it's both a throwback to early rock and a vital collection of raucous new music.

Sweetheart of the Sun is the first album in seven years by the The Bangles. The original quartet is now down to a trio: Susanna Hoffs and sisters Debbie and Vicki Peterson. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the new album is a nostalgia trip for a period that's even older than The Bangles' 1980s stardom.

Dana Spiotta's third novel, Stone Arabia, is about an aging musician who never achieved the type of success he'd have liked. Rather than giving up, he chronicles an imaginary version of his life — as a successful rock star recording his career in a series of journals.

Singer-songwriter Nick Lowe joins Fresh Air's Terry Gross for an in-studio interview and performance featuring several songs from his 13th solo album, The Old Magic.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz just attended two productions of Porgy and Bess: an operatic performance at Tanglewood and a musical-theater version in Cambridge, Mass. He says it can work either way, "as long as Gershwin's great score remains its heart and soul."

The Air Force's Bay State Winds Clarinet Quartet joins Terry Gross for a discussion of military ensembles. The group also performs several songs in tribute to the men and women who've served since Sept. 11, 2001.

In the liner notes to his new album, Ghost on the Canvas, Campbell writes that it's the last studio record he plans to make after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the album "has a melancholy air of valedictory about it."

The Chicago-based Deep Blue Organ Trio combines a Hammond organ with a guitar and drums. The group's fourth album Wonderful! pays tribute to the Stevie Wonder songbook. Critic Kevin Whitehead says more jazz musicians should cover Wonder, because his tunes are "jazz waiting to happen."

Leiber, the lyricist behind "Jailhouse Rock," "Yakety Yak" and "Stand By Me," died Monday. He was 78. Fresh Air remembers the songwriter with excerpts from a 1991 interview with Leiber and his songwriting partner Mike Stoller.

Al Green wrote "Take Me to the River," but it was his labelmate Syl Johnson who first made it famous. Rock historian Ed Ward traces Johnson's early career, which started in Chicago blues clubs in the 1950s.