With a 25-year career spanning successes with shoegaze outfit Slowdive, country-rock group Mojave 3 and his own solo albums, it’s no wonder Neil Halstead has been described by Allmusic as “one of Britain’s most respected songwriters.” When he was only 17 years old, Halstead helped found and fronted cult shoegaze band Slowdive, which morphed into country-folk outfit Mojave 3. Mojave 3 released a string of highly celebrated albums that merged jangly alt-country with dusky indie-pop.

Whether fronting glam-rock pioneer group Mott the Hoople or releasing politically charged albums nearly forty years into his career, Ian Hunter has never been one to hold back.

Bloc Party are back. The British band whose debut album, Silent Alarm, was a critical sensation in 2006 released their new album Four this year after a few years hiatus. The band’s latest, Four, arrived in August, a departure from recent electronic forays and a return to the artful post-punk rock of the band’s heyday. The new album is raw, vibrant and palpably aggressive

After 15 years as Death Cab for Cutie frontman, Benjamin Gibbard has finally released his first solo album. Former Lives often goes beyond the indie pop confines of Death Cab for Cutie, touching on genres including Latin, alt-country, and ‘70s power pop.

Terry Callier passed away on Saturday so we are re-airing a portion of our 1998 interview with him on Friday’s show. David, this begins with him talking: “All of these things are gifts as far as I’m concerned…” You had just asked him about how he feels about songwriting, in particular with the song “Lazarus Man” (which he performs after giving his answer).

One of the leading alternative rock bands in the 90s. The band has only recently reunited for live performances in 2012. One of the most critically acclaimed bands of the 90’s, the Afghan Whigs are Vocalist/rhythm guitarist Greg Dulli, lead guitarist Rick McCollum, and drummer Steve Earle who met while attending the University of Cincinnati. The fourth member, bassist John Curley, was a photographer at the Cincinnati Inquirer and happened to meet Dulli at a friend’s apartment. The quartet formed Afghan Whigs in 1986 and had a dedicated cult following until the dissolution of the band in 2001.

In this 22nd segment of our Latin music series - Latin Roots - Jasmine Garsd from NPR's Alt-Latino talks about Nuevo Cancion, a broad style of Latin music concerning social and political issues. Nueva Cancion means "new song" and it's an audio/ideological style was born in the 60s and 70s when many Latin countries were being ruled by repressive dictators.

Nick Waterhouse made waves with his debut record Time’s All Gone earlier this year, establishing himself as one of music’s most refreshingly rough-around-the-edges soul men. On his debut, Waterhouse draws from the classic sound of ‘50s American pop music with a distinctive voice of his own, shouting and growling throughout the record’s 11 tracks with infectious vigor.

Kinky is a five-member band from Monterrey, Mexico, formed in 1998 and consisting of Gilberto Cerezo, Ulises Lozano, Carlos Chairez, Omar Góngora, and Cesar Pliego. Legendary DustBrother John King, who has worked with Beck, the Rolling Stones and the Beastie Boys, produced their latest album, Sueño De La Maquina (Dream Machine) which was released on September 4.

With his self-titled album entering the Top 5 of iTunes’ R&B/Soul charts last year, soul singer/songwriter Allan Stone has come a long way from not being allowed to listen to secular music as a child. Instead, Stone was exposed to religious music at a young age growing up in Washington because his father was a pastor.