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Dmitri Shostakovich had his own personal wars with the Soviet government, but when the entire country was at risk in WWII, Shostakovich rallied for the cause with his great "Leningrad" Symphony, his Symphony No. 7.

Rock historian Ed Ward tells us the story of Wire, a British art-rock band from the late 1970s. Wire has broken up and reformed several times, but Ward focuses on the original. Three albums have been reissued and are available in stores: Pink Flag, Chairs Missing and 154.

Think the ukulele is just a cheap, plastic toy to be played under a palm tree? One listen to Jake Shimabukuro and you'll change your mind. The Hawaiian-born virtuoso visits NPR to show what the tiny instrument can do.

All week, Performance Today celebrates the centenary of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Today, cellist David Finckel of the Emerson Quartet discusses Shostakovich's set of 15 string quartets, often called the finest set in the repertoire after Beethoven's.

On a new CD, Streams of Expression, tenor sax player Joe Lovano performs three songs arranged by Gil Evans for the Miles Davis Nonet. The selections form the origins of the "cool sound" in jazz. They're part of a suite sewn together by Gunther Schuller, who played with Davis.

"Supernatural Car Lover" functions as a prototypical Robert Pollard song: Just as the song unveils its summery power-pop melody, it seems to end as quickly as it began.

The Decemberists are a rock group from Portland, Oregon, with a strange demeanor. Their lyrics sound like they were written by an expert Scrabble player, and their songs are often period pieces that suggest odd folk tales. Their new CD, The Crane Wife, takes its title from an actual folk tale, and according to critic Will Hermes, it's as remarkable musically as it is verbally.

Music critic Meredith Ochs reviews Hello Love, the third album by Canadian roots band the Be Good Tanyas. The group mixes down-home guitar picking with the harmonizing vocals of lead singer Frazey Ford and bandmates Samantha Parton and Trish Klein.

Over a plate of Texas barbecue, Alt.Latino spoke with this fast-rising Afro-Latinx artist from Miami in the midst of her unforgiving South By Southwest schedule.

Forty years ago, The Who raised the bar on rock 'n roll behavior. They were the first to smash their guitars and the first to destroy their hotel rooms. They've just released their first album in 24 years, and some threads will be familiar to longtime Who fans.