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The artist performs four songs surrounded by household appliances and a handful of his closest collaborators.

"Fear Country" is the sort of polemic that would come off as clumsy in lesser hands, but singer/producer T Bone Burnett smartly juices the song with sinister, shuffling rhythms that somehow maintain the intensity while taking the edge off.

A high-tech machine that monitors infants' brain cells as they listen to speech reveals a key element in how babies go from hearing sounds to speaking them.

NPR's Puzzlemaster Will Shortz quizzes one of our listeners, and has a challenge for everyone at home. This week's winner is Steve Wersan from Ridgecrest, California. He listens to Weekend Edition on member station KNPR in Las Vegas.

Hear the quirky and ever-addictive Clap Your Hands Say Yeah recorded live in concert from Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club.

Musician and actor Seu Jorge's songs are much like his native Rio de Janeiro — lyrical and soaring at times, but with a hint of hoarse sadness... His new CD, Cru ("raw" in Portuguese) captures the spirit of the slums with stripped-down arrangements and surprising sonic touches.

Jenny Lewis traffics in spiky pop and sad country music as leader of Rilo Kiley, and she left a memorable impression as a backing vocalist on "Give Up," the hit debut of electronic duo The Postal Service. Both bands showcase Lewis's flair for bold but relatable confessionals.

Crude oil prices hit record highs of more than $70 a barrel. At the end of trading Tuesday, the price settled at $71.60 -- a 95-cent increase over Monday's record close. President Bush, saying he is concerned about higher gas prices, promised the government would stop any price gouging.

In Jerusalem, talks are under way between United Nations and Israeli officials on the possibility of a cease-fire in the weeklong violence between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah. U.S. Marines helped Americans evacuate the region between Israel and Lebanon.

Bill Frisell's guitar sits front and center, teasing out references to gritty desert rock, and slinky upstroke strums of dub and reggae. Inventive studio tricks add languid, ethereal atmosphere.

"Return of the Prodigal Son," like the parable from which it draws its name, is a homecoming story. Eight years have passed since Brian Blade Fellowship's last release, and during that time, Blade himself has been more prodigious than prodigal.

William Bolcom's searing opera, based on a play by Arthur Miller, is a sometimes bleak yet always vivid drama set in the Italian-American community of Red Hook, Brooklyn, in the 1950s.

"Willow Tree," from VanGaalen's new album Soft Airplane, finds hope in the sweet release of his own demise. But the song's warm, loping arrangement makes the morbid sentiment ("When I'm dead / that's when I'll be free") go down as smooth as a tall glass of iced tea.

Back to Now, the reunion release from Patti Labelle and her partners in Labelle, finds their piercing mid-'70s sound fitting perfectly amid today's music scene. In "Candlelight," the seemingly nonsensical title even makes sense: It looks back while sounding as fresh and funky as ever.

"Colors" is the buoy that floats to the top of Smith's new record: It's an up-tempo jaunt that illustrates one side of a long-distance relationship, not lamenting the isolation but instead looking fixedly to the future. Both a plea for the separation to end and a promise to remain steadfast, "Colors" is at least as much a ballad of heartfelt yearning as it is a stomp-and-swagger jam.

Beethoven only wrote one opera, but he spent as much time on it as some composers did on entire, operatic portfolios — and it shows. Fidelio is one of opera's greatest stories of salvation, both literal and spiritual.

In Mozart's final opera, an entire city burns to save a single love affair. Though written on demand, to humor a preening monarch, the score is Mozart at his best — shot through with startling innovations and great beauty.

Lytle's new solo album, his first since Grandaddy disbanded in 2006, doesn't skip a beat: Yours Truly, The Commuter sounds like a Grandaddy record in everything but name.

Jewellery, Micachu and the Shapes' full-length debut, finds a sweet spot between disjointed pop and busker garage. Both clangorous and poppy, "Calculator" may be the easiest introduction to the band's music.

Kay Thompson was a musical director for MGM Studios, the author of the Eloise children's books and the star of her own long-running nightclub act. Liza Minnelli pays tribute to her real-life godmother in her latest, sold-out revue.