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Nirvana's Bleach (reissued this month) didn't make much of a splash when it was released in 1989. But with hindsight, the album shows a band clearly hurtling toward greatness. A mere two years later, Nirvana headlined England's Reading Festival; by then, the greatness was obvious.

The Baltimore Symphony conductor chooses a season of music built on the belief that understanding where we come from, and celebrating diversity, can create a sense of continuity, history and belonging — not to mention some great concerts.

He wrote the words, and sometimes the music, for more than 1,500 songs, among them "Skylark," "Blues in the Night" and "Moon River." He had a few hits himself on Capitol Records — which he started. He was a great American lyricist, and today marks the 100th anniversary of his birth.

On his sophomore album, Everything Is New, Penate exudes a refreshing sense of insight and experimentation. While the music has a gloomy undercurrent, each track is still fun and dance-floor-friendly, colorfully blending classic soul and pop with hints of Afrobeat.

The German composer utilizes powerful orchestral sounds, as well as silence, to elicit a psychological and emotional response from the listener. Who better than conductor Daniel Barenboim, a veteran of the opera pit, to pull it all off?

Sometimes, an idea is so perverse and bizarre that it needs to be carried out and followed to its logical end.

Irish singer Imelda May is a walking, talking, singing embodiment of the 1950s. She wears leopard-print sweaters, tight bad-girl jeans and her hair in a ponytail. Although May has won numerous awards in 2009, her music harkens back to a style that was popular in the '50s: rockabilly.

Here in this intimate Tiny Desk Concert, Avi sings three hushed lullabies, including what has become one of her signature songs: a cover of Morrissey's "First of the Gang."

The group One eskimO is an audio-visual endeavor, and its self-titled debut album includes a full animation. But while the band's idiosyncratic, self-produced videos are a notable component of its work, its expressive music is the heart and soul of the enterprise.

A sophisticated songwriter with a knack for wordplay, Landes has also worked as a recording engineer on several movie soundtracks. When she isn't behind the boards in the studio, she's singing her own indie-rock tunes. Her third studio album, Sweet Heart Rodeo, ties together classic tales of love and loss with the metaphorical device of the rodeo.