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Journalist Martha Raddatz has spent extensive time covering the war in Iraq. Her new book The Long Road Home examines the First Cavalry Division's surprise battle at Sadr City in April 2004.

There's something familiar about The Ponys' "Poser Psychotic." The two guitars create a dense blare, the rhythm section throbs with low-end gristle, and singer Jered Gummere intones in a slacker drone. There's no chorus, but it's compelling nonetheless, and in ways that feel eerily recognizable.

Betty Davis could be sultry or earthy, strident or nasty. She seized heavy funk backbeats, and around them built commanding, sometimes taunting vocal entreaties that were way ahead of their time: Her work presages the stances and ideas of strong hip-hop women from Erykah Badu to Foxy Brown.

Susan Werner's musical path has taken her from opera to pop, jazz and classic American songs. In her latest album, The Gospel Truth, this singer-songwriter journeys to America's spiritual side.

Self-described troubadour Martin Sexton has risen from busking on the streets of Boston and Harvard Square to making music at his country cabin in the Adirondacks. Sexton's new CD, Seeds, offers thanks for something unusual: failure.

Previously a member of the pop band Irving, Shana Levy began experimenting with solo music in 2002, enlisting the help of friends and colleagues. The Chaos in Order, her first album under the name Let's Go Sailing, should raise the profile of her sugary pop music.

Lead singer/guitarist Pat DiNizio and drummer Dennis Diken from the band The Smithereens. Their new album, Meet the Smithereens, is a track-by-track homage to the Beatles' Meet the Beatles.

On his latest CD, Ry Cooder recounts hardships of the Dust Bowl migration through the story of a "red" cat named Buddy and his two traveling buddies. The story was inspired by a real feline who slept in a suitcase.

Bethany & Rufus play their own style of traditional American tunes on the new recording 900 Miles. The duo features Bethany Yarrow singing and Rufus Cappadocia playing cello.

Some songs have all the hallmarks of bleak dirges, but an overall effect that seems strangely uplifting. Witness Winterpills' "Handkerchiefs," which gathers steam and snappiness as it progresses, morphing into an agreeably ambling pop number.