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Esquire music critic Andy Langer discusses the week's new releases, including albums by The Kooks, Mariah Carey, The Black Angels, and former Pixies singer Black Francis, a.k.a. Frank Black.

Ballet dancer Carlos Acosta is known for powerful leaps that make him seem to fly. Those leaps have earned him comparisons with Nureyev and Baryshnikov. He grew up in a poor neighborhood outside Havana. How that boy became a man who dances with grace and power is the subject of Acosta's memoir, No Way Home.

The former U.S. Attorney and longtime New Yorker staff writer has a new book about the nation's highest court. The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court contains new information about the 2000 presidential election challenge.

Compact and intense, the New Jersey band's songs channel the spirit of punk, but also the density of heavy rock that's had the fat cut out.

Layer of vintage synthesizers collide with slow-burning electric guitar on this remix of a new track by the Norwegian producer.

A brother-and-sister act, Angus and Julia Stone are known around the globe for their ability to mesh two strong, separate vocal styles into an artfully mixed combination: Julia's light tones intermingle with Angus' rough, emotive baritone in arresting fashion. Hear the pair perform live in concert from WXPN and World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.

Jeff Beck's new album — available here in its entirety until its release on April 13 — is a collection of songs that suit his adventurous style, with some cushioned by a symphony orchestra and another featuring the young soul singer Joss Stone.

Hamburg-born Astrid Kirchherr met the Beatles in 1960, before they were famous. She took some of the earliest photographs of the group and was engaged to Stuart Sutcliffe, the Beatles' original bassist, before he died of a brain hemorrhage in 1962.

In "I Can Change," James Murphy's vocal performance helps bring his tale of salvaging a deteriorating relationship to the next level. When he sings, "Love is an open book to a verse of your bad poetry -- and this is coming from me," it's like he's written the Facebook status updates for brokenhearted smart-asses everywhere.

The band's mix of guitars, strings and Matt Berninger's coolly dreamy delivery has attracted fans from all over the demographic map; its songs seemed written specifically for lovelorn mixtapes. Hear The National perform a live concert from WXPN in Philadelphia as part of the 10th annual NON-COMMvention.