Music

In 1927 and '28, Ralph Peer, a talent scout for the Victor Talking Machine Company, set up recording sessions in a town straddling the Tennessee-Virginia border. The resulting sessions, rock critic Ed Ward says, laid the framework for all of country music.

Diamond has sold 128 million records and written and recorded 37 Top 40 songs. But in the early 1960s, rock historian Ed Ward says, Diamond was writing songs for other musicians while struggling to get his own career off the ground.

Collins was the leader of the 1980s post-punk band Orange Juice. In 2005, he had two cerebral hemorrhages and doubted whether he'd ever make music again. But now he's back with his seventh solo album, Losing Sleep, which Ken Tucker says addresses the singer's past with "bracing clarity."

The Smithereens' music contains touches of The Beatles and Buddy Holly, with a hint of metal and prog-rock. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the new Smithereens 2011 is fresh, joyous and as "neurotically rich as a David Lynch film."

Paul Simon has again teamed up with producer Phil Ramone for his new album So Beautiful or So What, the first since 2006's Surprise. Rock critic Ken Tucker says the album succeeds in blending elements of Graceland and Simon's self-titled 1972 solo album.

The Vagrants, one of New York City's most popular bands in the 1960s, recorded only 30 minutes' worth of music. Rock historian Ed Ward explains what happened to the band and why its music is worth hearing today.

Middle Brother is a trio formed by members of other bands: Deer Tick, Dawes and Delta Spirit. Critic Ken Tucker says the group's new self-titled album reaches across decades of rock, folk and country music.

Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista has played with everyone from Paul Simon to Hervie Hancock to Yo-Yo Ma. On his album Caym, Baptista and his band interpret the music of John Zorn. Music critic Milo Miles says the album "avoid the typical downfalls of eclectic world-music albums."

It's hard to believe that Nick Lowe's second album, Labour of Lust, was out of print for over 20 years. But a new reissue by Yep Roc has remedied that situation. Rock historian Ed Ward says that it's good to have the album -- featuring the tracks "Without Love" and "Cruel to Be Kind" -- back on the shelves.

Before he was famous for popularizing bossa nova with "The Girl from Ipanema" in the early 1960s, saxophonist Stan Getz recorded with small jazz groups all through the '50s. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says a new reissue shows Getz was one of the best a playing pretty.