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One of the best years for kids' music in recent memory includes releases from artists with feet firmly in both kid-friendly and adult-oriented worlds. Old favorites went in new directions, while emerging artists gave a glimpse of the future of a genre as diverse and unpredictable as kids themselves.

On her latest release, Shake Away, Lila Downs explores her mother's indigenous Mexican roots. The resulting folkloric soundscape includes unexpected flashes of blues, country twang and even klezmer music. Hear a session recorded by World Cafe.

Operas, no mater how lurid or violent, generally champion lofty ideals and traditional values — but not this time. In Monteverdi's The Coronation of Poppea, the most noble and virtuous characters wind up dead or deported, while the lustful and villainous are rewarded with wealth, power and passion.

Music critic Ken Tucker reviews Fearless the second studio album by country-music singer/songwriter Taylor Swift. It debuted as number one on Billbaord's Top Country Music Albums.

At 19, Mayfield has a mature sound that seems evolved beyond her years, and she's already attracted attention as a featured vocalist with her friends in The Black Keys. She performs music from debut album, With Blasphemy, So Heartfelt, in a session from WXPN.

Though the Congolese music known as soukous was Africa's biggest pop-music style in the '70s and '80s, it only reached the U.S. in bits and pieces. But a new anthology by the musician known as Franco goes a long way toward completing the puzzle.

It's fair to say that this music, recorded live at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C., is the best new material from Brian Wilson in more than 30 years.That Lucky Old Sun is a song cycle based on a tune with its spiritual roots in slavery. That song is about hardship, but this semi-autobiographical song cycle is about nostalgia. It's what life in California means to Wilson, and what Wilson means to California.

Etran Finatawa is a remarkable musical collaboration between members of two nomadic African cultures in Niger. With three songs exclusive to the Web, the group showcases its eclectic sound, which features a variety of modern and traditional instrumentation, strong polyphonic vocals and high tenor solos.

Last year, Benjamin Curtis and twin sisters Ally and Claudia Deheza left the bands they were in, set up a home recording studio and launched an all-consuming music project. Ally Deheza says the arrangement mixes life and art in new ways.

Though he remains a solo artist, LaMontagne branches out on his new album, Gossip in the Grain, taking some touring bandmates into the studio with him. In a session from WXPN, he reveals why he wrote a song about White Stripes drummer Meg White.