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Tinariwen formed in the refugee camps of Libya and Algeria. They've carried instruments and rifles in their lives, and fought for the freedom of their Tuareg people. Their music is a mix of North African blues and at times reggae-influenced. Chris Nickson reviews their CD, Amassakoul.

Tom Waits' change in approach on Real Gone can make the new album a challenge to hear, but worth digging into. Hear critic Tom Moon.

Akin Fernandez's obsession with "numbers stations" — broadcasts of seemingly random numbers sequences that still remain officially a mystery — led to a CD set compiling off-air recordings. It's become a cult hit. Matt Cowan reports.

NPR's Robert Siegel talks with violinist Jennifer Koh about her new CD Violin Fantasies, a concept album on which she plays four fantasies by Schubert, Schumann, Schoenberg, and Ornette Coleman.

Musician Joey Burns of the band Calexico talks about his song "Sunken Waltz" — a tune about the rampant suburban sprawl growing in the outskirts of the band's home base of Tucson, Ariz.

Plant formally fronted the band Led Zeppelin. His new solo CD includes tracks he recorded before Zeppelin and after. It's called Sixty Six to Timbuktu. (The interview continues through the end of the show.)

Tom Terrell reviews a CD of funk collaborations between Quincy Jones and Bill Cosby, The Original Jam Sessions: 1969, and a companion CD called The New Mixes Volume One. He says while the 1969 tracks were fairly ordinary, the remixes are full of musical surprises.

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews The Great Divide, the new CD by saxophonist Von Freeman.

Grammy-award winning keyboardist-composer Don Grusin pulled together 18 of the most respected musicians of the day to record an album that incorporates sounds from the jazz, pop and world music scenes. He recently had a conversation with NPR's Allison Keyes about the DVD of the group's performances, The Hang.

Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone magazine reviews The Dirty South, the latest CD from southern rock band The Drive-By Truckers.