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With an exotic fiddle, a viola, a classical guitar and a drum kit, the quartet called QQQ creates something like Appalachian folk music — albeit filtered through Brooklyn experimentalism and rural Norwegian flavor. The band plays a special session in Studio 4A.

The brooding dub-rock of South Africa's BLK JKS (pronounced Black Jacks) is a formidable addition to the musical landscape of indie-rock, with potential to appeal to the audiences enchanted by the likes of Vampire Weekend and TV on the Radio. PRI's Marco Werman interviews the band about their "post-apartheid" music.

The energetic indie-pop band's members were only 20 when their debut, Be He Me, was released in 2006. For their sophomore album, songwriter Adam Baker has discovered new depth, borrowing from ska, psychedelia and country on the colorful and appropriately named Such Fun.

From his early days obsessed with Metallica, to playing in a mambo band called Latin Pimps in college, to actually running away with the circus to play the guitar, Robert Gomez has had a colorful musical history.

Millions have discovered the now-familiar landmarks of California's Yosemite Valley through the extraordinary black-and-white photographs of Ansel Adams. Now, jazz legend Dave Brubeck aims to bring musical emotion to the experience of viewing Adams' work with a new piece.

The Mexican electronic rock band Kinky performs songs from its latest album Barracuda. Lead singer Gil Cerezos talks with host Michel Martin about the band's collaborative spirit, and how it's managed to win over a devoted international following despite little commercial radio airplay.

It seems almost like a trend today for artists to hide behind a wall of reverb and distortion they have carefully constructed, but The Pains of Being Pure at Heart has found another way. With a healthy dose of fuzz and an ear for tightly crafted, utterly blissful pop songs, this Brooklyn quartet hits the sweet spot by combining the best of The Manhattan Love Suicides and The Lucksmiths.

Thanks to a new recording by former Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, anyone can hear a sound that was cloistered in Himalayan monasteries for centuries.

In the 1940's, Aaron Copland developed lighter, clearer, more open textures for his ballets like Appalachian Spring. Hear critic Ted Libbey explain how the San Francisco Symphony puts those ideas across best, in a full-fledged recording.

The music of Mates of State has always been playfully innocent and unabashedly upbeat. But on their latest CD, Re-Arrange Us, Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel show that they've grown a little older and wiser, with their richest and most reflective collection of songs to date. Hear a full concert by the band, webcast live on NPR.org from the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. Also on the bill: Florida-based co-headliner Black Kids.