Music

Tonight on the next Galactic Travels,  a month-long focus on Modulator ESP begins  The Featured CD at Midnight will be the self-released title "The Unknowing."

Hailed as a "legend in the making" by guest DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad, experimental producer Flying Lotus — born Steven Ellison — came to New York City's (Le) Poisson Rouge Wednesday night to drive the point home. Even if you're a fan of his albums, it's hard to know what to expect from Flying Lotus' live show, as he tends toward mellow sounds on record but is often lively and unpredictable in concert.

Singer-songwriter Melissa Mitchell makes her first appearance on Mountain Stage, recorded live on the campus of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.

When listening to Diana Krall's fun, smart new recording Glad Rag Doll, it's helpful to consider a question recently posed by Gyp Rosetti, the sensitive psychopath lending sparks to this season of HBO's Prohibition-era series Boardwalk Empire.

Transcript

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And now it's time for the occasional series we call In Your Ear. That's where guests of our program tell us about songs they listen to for a little inspiration. Today, we are hearing from Clara Ma. She won an essay contest when she was 12, which earned her the right to name NASA's Mars rover. She called it "Curiosity." And here's what's playing in her ear.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I WANT THE SKY")

CLARA MA: My name is Clara Ma, and this is what's playing in my ear.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I WANT THE SKY")

There just aren't many bands like Antibalas. These are jazz players making dance music: Their music is big and fun, and their guiding spirit is Fela Kuti, the brilliant big-band leader and Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer. Afrobeat is a musical style featuring nearly endless songs, mixing funk and jazz, grooves and riffs, with the rhythm carried by not only the drums, but everyone. Everyone — horn players, bass players, guitarists — plays rhythm in Afrobeat music.

Hear tracks from the latest albums by North American artists who work to expand the reach of Celtic traditions.

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