Music

I guess it's not that big of a surprise, but according to last week's poll, 67 percent of you haven't heard Big Star's #1 Record. One of the nice side benefits of doing this series is that it gives people a chance to discover great albums they've never heard before, so if you're part of the 67 percent that hasn't heard Big Star, take some time to listen. You'll love it.

Enjoy an hour dedicated to some great solo artists and duos that deliver uncluttered, pure acoustic arrangements.

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Last week we asked you to do some musical soul-searching — and boy, did we get responses. In the first day, 250 people commented on the blog post "You Are What You Hear: What Your Favorite Music Says About You." Several thousand more comments have since rolled in via social media.

For Tell Me More's occasional series, "In Your Ear," guests talk about the songs that they turn to for inspiration. NPR's Africa correspondent Ofeibea Quist-Arcton shares the tracks she plays on repeat when she's on assignment or when she's at home in Dakar.

Celtic musicians Karan Casey and John Doyle appear on Mountain Stage, recorded on the campus of Ohio University in Athens. Natives of Ireland, both Casey and Doyle were living in America when they helped found the traditional supergroup Solas, which was lauded by The Boston Herald as "the first truly great Irish band to arise from America."

Since beginning his "open-source" musical project in the 1990s, Lorin Ashton and his Bassnectar alias have become nearly superhuman. Bassnectar is associated with a community of devoted Bass Heads, several non-profit and charity organizations and shows of such epic proportions, they're called Bass Centers. Ashton describes his music as "the motion of [his] cells bouncing back at the world," and tens of thousands of people connect with it as a deeply human pursuit, as well. Last year, he sold out a New Year's Eve show attended by 10,000 fans.

Aimee Mann's eighth studio record, Charmer, comes out in a month. Charmer is also the title — and subject — of the album's first video, which features a robot double of Mann played by three-time Academy Award-nominated actress Laura Linney of The Truman Show, The Squid and the Whale and The Big C.

The video, directed by Tom Scharpling, deals lightheartedly with the idea of fame and persona with Mann playing herself and Linney playing her robot double.

As much as its music pervaded my high school existence, I never attended Warped Tour — the sneaker-sponsored touring festival that has dipped into rap, Top 40 pop music and metalcore, but for the most part has stuck to its skater-friendly punk roots. On a recent mid-week day-off in late July, however, I was extremely tempted to hitch a ride to Merriweather Post Pavillion for the largely teenage-populated festival to see one band: Title Fight.