Music

After a chart-topping and occasionally controversial music career, she is now turning out children's books, publishing four in just over a year. Her latest is The Adventures of Abdi. The others are The English Roses, Mr. Peabody's Apples and Yakov and the Seven Thieves. Her fifth, Lotsa de Casha, is due out in April 2005.

Ken Tucker reviews Kimya Dawson's 'Hidden Vagenda' and finds her hidden agenda might be to sing about death. He says she taps into childhood's honesty to achieve maximum adulthood.

We feature an excerpt from the radio program Leonard Bernstein: An American Life. The 11-part documentary series is about the life and work of the preeminent American composer/conductor. It's produced by Steve Rowland, narrated by Susan Sarandon, and distributed by WFMT - Chicago.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the new CD Universal United House of Prayer by Buddy Miller.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Crazy Walk, a compilation of recordings by saxophonist Tab Smith.

Hetfield is one of the founding members of the metal band Metallica. The new documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster catches the band at a time of crisis, when their bass player quits and the group hires a "therapist and performance-enhancement coach" to help them sort things out. Also during the filming, Hetfield storms out and enters rehab.

Music critic Milo Miles reviews new collections of Bollywood film music: Bollywood for Beginners, The Best of Bollywood, 15 Classic Hits from the Indian Cinema, and The Very Best of Bollywood Songs II.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads and Fugitive Songs the new CD by Stan Ridgway.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews two new albums: a punk-rock-opera by the group Green Day, American Idiot, and Rubber Factory by the group Black Keys.

Critic Milo Miles reviews the documentary about the influential recording engineer Tom Dowd, who for three decades worked with performers from John Coltrane, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and Eric Clapton. The documentary is now on DVD. It's called Tom Dowd & The Language of Music.

Rock 'n' Roll historian Ed Ward reviews Smile, the recently released album Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys began working on after Pet Sounds.

Musician Lenny Kaye is perhaps best known as Patti Smith's guitarist. But he's also a music writer, whose work has appeared in Rolling Stone, The Village Voice and Creem. His new book, You Call it Madness: The Sensuous Song of the Croon, chronicles the male singers of the 1930s known for their suave, sophisticated and romantic interpretations of song: Bing Crosby, Rudy Vallee and Russ Columbo.

Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell reflects on her life and her 30 years in music. She has two new anthologies: Dreamland collects well-known recordings; The Beginning of Survival showcases lesser-known works.

Rock historian Ed Ward comments on the burgeoning rock scene in Austin, Texas during the 1980s.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz profiles German Countertenor Andreas Scholl.

Music critic Milo Miles reviews Beautiful Dreamer: the Songs of Stephen Foster, featuring performances by many contemporary artists, including John Prine, Yo Yo Ma and Mavis Staples.

Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews End of the Century, a new documentary film about the Ramones. All members except the drummer have passed away; Johnny Ramone, the lead guitarist, died Sept. 15, 2004.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews The Great Divide, the new CD by saxophonist Von Freeman.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new three-CD box set of recordings of composer Paul Hindemith conducting his own works.

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews new reissues of Duke Ellington recordings between 1950 and 1961: Blues in Orbit, Masterpieces By Ellington, Piano in the Background, and Piano in the Foreground.