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Veteran Cuban singer and member of the Buena Vista Social Club, Ibrahim Ferrer, finished recording a solo album just before he died.

Parker Longbough's new album closes with "3 Drunken Days," a tranquil folk-pop song complete with a shuffling rhythm and well-placed harmonica. It traffics in colorful imagery, as singer Matt Witthoeft recounts a three-day bender in the carnival atmosphere of New Orleans.

Southerly's "Cold Caller" opens with a beguiling combination, as piano, bass and guitar merge around bandleader Krist Krueger's assertive vocal. When an organ joins the fray four-fifths of the way through, it's clear that this is one of those songs that require multiple listens.

Nick Drake never bothered with covers on the three albums released in his lifetime. Part of that may have been due to the specific sadness at the core of his music, but the traditional ballad "Winter Is Gone" shows that his melancholy didn't sprout from nowhere.

Like many rough-voiced singer-songwriters, Forbert has done time as a potential "next Bob Dylan," but he's carved out a distinct niche in an uncompromising career that spans nearly 30 years. Hear Forbert perform a concert from WXPN and World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.

The Denver-based band DeVotchKa makes music that's been described as indie-gypsy-rock. Now it's delving into Russian chanson music — songs that originated in pre-revolutionary, anti-establishment Russia.

The diversity of songs and styles makes Dale Hawkins' LA, Memphis & Tyler, Texas an odd artifact: It's part Southern boogie and part sun-kissed psychedelic rock, yet it feels like an original stew rather than a patchwork.

Slavic Soul Party mixes the "messed-up" rhythms of the Balkans with gypsy music, funk and jazz for a sound that brings young hipsters and older immigrants together in the same room. Hear an interview with band leader Matt Moran, as well as a studio performance of new songs.

Strauss' gorgeous music in "At Sunset" is lit with the golden rays of a fall afternoon slipping away into twilight. An opening burst of orchestral color soars, but gets muted in a haze of French horns. The strings, floating high and sweet, weave a long-lined melody.

Zumpano may forever be known mostly as the answer to, "What band was A.C. Newman in before The New Pornographers?" The Vancouver group made two records for Sub Pop before Newman began his more lucrative New Pornographers pursuits.