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Rivers Cuomo, the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the rock band Weezer, has released a solo set of at-home demos called Alone and Alone II.

Paddy Keenan is an Irish musician descended from a long line of traveling pipers. In the 1970s, Keenan cofounded the influential group the Bothy Band. The group added driving rhythms to traditional Irish music. On the CD The Long Grazing Acre, Keenan plays the Irish bagpipes. Keenan discusses his music with NPR's Melissa Block.

The singer Morrissey, who led the 1980s British band The Smiths, has just released his first recording in seven years. The CD, You Are the Quarry, reflects Morrissey's unique blend of the political and the personal, with songs like "Irish Blood English Heart" and "America is Not the World." Mikel Jollett has a review.

Joe Albany was an acclaimed bebop pianist, a band mate of legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker -- and a heroin junkie. In her new memoir, Lowdown: Jazz, Junk, And Other Fairytales From Childhood, author A.J. Albany recalls her turbulent life with her troubled, talented father. Tom Vitale reports.

The list includes the rock band Rage Against the Machine, country singer Willie Nelson and guitarist Link Wray.

A bipartisan group of five female South Carolina state senators have banded together to fight the passage of a near-total ban on abortions in a special session that's now underway.

Big Sandy is the lead singer of the Fly Rite Boys a band that combines rockabilly, western swing, and hillbilly boogie sounds. They are currently on tour and have a new album Night Tide. With it, theyve taken a darker more personal bent. Big Sandy and his Fly Rite Boys have been making music together since 1988 and have recorded seven albums all told, including Big Sandys solo do-wop tribute, Dedicated to You.

We remember Consuelo Velazquez, whose song "Besame Mucho" became a standard in many languages and styles of music. Velazquez died Saturday in Mexico City at the age of 84. "Besame Mucho" became a big band hit during World War II and was later recorded by many artists over the years, including the Beatles and Nat King Cole.

The posthumous album from Joe Strummer, a leader of The Clash, reflects many elements of his career, with a mix of rock and reggae influences. Strummer died last December at age 50, and members of his final band, the Mescaleros, helped to finish Streetcore. Chris Nickson has a review.

The Black Keys are a duo from Akron, Ohio. The band went from college dropouts mowing lawns to cult stardom. Their sound is an ultra-retro throwback to the days when Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix channeled American blues artists.