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Professor Murder isn't afraid of cultural references: Its name comes from a character on HBO's Mr. Show, and its sound is ladled from the thick soup of post-punk/neo-new-wave bands and dub-inflected indie rockers who've traded their guitars for synthesizers.

Even when she was singing in the poppy punk band Tiger Trap, Rose Melberg had a flair for sad, gentle melodies. During a career evolution that's taken her through stints as leader of Go Sailor and the appropriately named Softies, those melodies have only gotten sadder and gentler.

A Glaswegian rock band that punctuates its guitar-fueled rock blasts with moody interludes and bits of esoteric instrumentation, The Twilight Sad makes epic songs that sound both punishing and pretty. Singer James Graham paints a vague but distinct portrait of alienation.

Fionn Regan's "Put a Penny in the Slot" has to be one of the most shyly nonchalant songs ever written from the perspective of a clinging ex-lover. Along the way, he casually slips in his underlying meaning: "I can't help from crying / I wish you were mine."

Great Lake Swimmers hasn't abandoned its short but grand tradition of marrying sweetness and sorrow: Whether examining someone's tortured psyche or traversing the mountains and lakes of "Your Rocky Spine," it's unafraid to explore forbidden and forbidding terrain.

On "The Plot," White Rabbits' members demonstrate a fondness for twinkling keyboards, room-filling rock and snarling but seductive vocals. Playing a kind of pitch-perfect indie-soul, they draw inspiration from disparate sources like calypso and ska along the way.

The band's quaint pop sound, as heard on "Winter on Victoria Street," recalls an era before psychedelic rock, earning comparisons to the boy-meets-girl love songs of the early to mid-'60s.

The Hold Steady might just be the best bar band in America. With its riff-heavy mixture of classic rock and Craig Finn's lyrically dense storytelling, the group crafts intricately detailed musical universes that have already made it a critical darling and fan favorite.

A highlight of Peter, Bjorn and John's forthcoming Writer's Block — a concept album about the trials and tribulations of relationships — "Young Folks" is a breezy, melancholic slice of infectious pop.

What do you get when you cross a grocery store, an amusement park, and the United Nations? Jungle Jim's, a soon-to-be four-acre international food emporium outside Cincinnati, Ohio. NPR's Susan Stone braved the jungle to send an audio postcard.

The Mountain Goats' John Darnielle is best known for his searing songs about troubled souls: speed freaks, co-dependent couples, abusers and the abused. "Sometimes I Still Feel the Bruise" displays his gifts as an interpreter, as well.

Hamas presented a proposed cabinet on Sunday. It gave itself key ministries after failing to persuade more moderate parties to join in a coalition that could have softened its militant image.

The stories in Neko Case's Fox Confessor Brings the Flood are the opposite of tidy narratives: They're fragmentary bits that isolate and freeze moments in time. One such episode pops up in the second verse of "Hold On, Hold On," a transfixingly slithering rocker Case recorded with The Sadies.

Imbued with a catchy hook, irrepressible energy, and a freewheeling confidence, Magneta Lane's "Secrets Aren't So Bad" commands attention from the song's opening seconds. With a brassy voice that recalls Debbie Harry in Blondie's heyday, Lexi Valentine exudes boundless charisma.

The Austin, Texas indie-rock group What Made Milwaukee Famous are redefining what can be accomplished for an unsigned band. A strong word-of-mouth reputation for their live shows coupled with the critical endorsement of many influential music blogs has positioned the band as one of 2006’s inevitable breakouts.

The French band Phoenix's "Long Distance Call" is a lovably catchy power-pop nugget informed by early-'80s pop grooves, the insouciance of the '70s rock band Pablo Cruise and a flood of Hall & Oates sing-alongs.

Broadway has been a showcase for controversial political themes for generations. With the GOP convention only blocks from the Great White Way, NPR's Bob Mondello looks at the history of politics in Broadway musical theatre.

Marc Broussard has the husky voice of a Motown legend, but he's just a Louisiana boy at heart. His debut CD, Carencro, is named for his hometown. He chats with NPR's Jennifer Ludden.

With a sound that's part '70s art-rock and part '60s California chamber-pop, The Montreal collective members draw from the Brian Wilson school of arranging.