Rock

Lowe's newest recording is "The Impossible Bird." In the early 1970s, he played London's pub rock scene in the band Brinsley Schwarz. After they broke up in 1975, Lowe produced five albums for Elvis Costello and worked with Dave Edmunds in the group Rockpile. He begins a national concert tour this month in the United States.

Editor-in-Chief of Billboard Magazine Timothy White has written a new book that traces the evolution of the "myth" of Southern California through the lens of the Beach Boys and the Wilson family. It's called "The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the Southern California Experience."

Rock critic Ken Tucker picks his favorite pop music of 1994, running the gamut from country to rock to singer-songwriters.

Robertson was a guitarist and songwriter for The Band until their break-up in 1976. Since then, he has put out solo albums and written film soundtracks for director Martin Scorsese. His newest work is "The Native Americans," inspired by his Native American heritage.

Collins got his start with James Brown, where he "defined the finger-popping funk bass style" (Rolling Stone). He went on to work with George Clinton as part of the Parliment-Funkadelic tribe, before forming Bootsy's Rubber Band. On stage, he created alter egos, including Bootzilla, Boot-Tron, and King of the Geepies. He's put out more than 30 albums, and has just released "Blasters of the Universe," with a new band.

Author Peter Guralnick has written the first of a two part biography of Elvis Presley, retelling the story of the King's childhood "soberly, thoroughly and unsensationally" (says the ALA Booklist). "Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley" tells much of the story through quotes both from Elvis and people who knew him then. It attempts to portray Elvis' human side, rather than the mythical figure he has become.

Faithfull got her start in the English music scene of 1964, when she dated Mick Jagger and had the hit song, "As Tears Go By." In the following years she had a drug addiction that almost killed her, before recovering in 1985 and releasing new albums. Her memoir, "Faithfull: An Autobiography," tells her story of highs and lows with music and drugs.

In the 1980's, Mould pioneered alternative rock with the band Husker Du, making what was described as "angry, self-hating music." Mould went solo for a while after the band fell apart. Now he's with the band "Sugar" and they've released their third album, "File Under: Easy Listening." One reviewer writes of the new release that it "shows Mould near the peak of his power-pop form and harbors a few prominently catchy songs."

Cale was the violist, keyboardist and bassist of the 1960s avant garde band, The Velvet Underground. Since the breakup of the group in 1968, he has had a career as a solo artist. Most recently, he collaborated with former Velvet Underground member Lou Reed, on "Songs for Drella," the 1990 tribute to artist Andy Warhol. This past month, he released "Seducing Down the Door: A John Cale Collection," which is a compilation of his post-Velvet Underground solo recordings.

Cave and his band The Bad Seeds are best known for Cave's angry, twisted ballad-like lyrics. Their latest album, "Let Love In," is marked by a dark, bitter view of love and relationships. They've released eight albums to date, and have contributed songs to the last three Wim Wenders films, including "Far Away, So Close," and "Until the End of the World." Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds are performing in this summer's Lollapalooza concert.