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McCartney and Youth returned to work as The Fireman for their third and latest release together, Electric Arguments. McCartney entered the studio, without any material, and recorded 13 songs in 13 days. The legendary artist reveals how his alter ego allows him the freedom to experiment.

Two Austin musical institutions — Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel — have teamed up on a new album to showcase classic western swing. With horns, fiddles and a pedal steel guitar, the music takes Nelson back to his roots. The project has been in the works for a while, having hatched from the mind of the great Jerry Wexler more than 30 years ago.

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 mid-1960s, an electrician converted his basement into a jerry-built, custom studio he dubbed Double U Sound. Between 1967 and 1981, Felton Williams recorded more than 300 reels of tape. Downriver Revival is the first in a series of compilations focusing on the recordings of these local studios.

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.

When it's inducted on Saturday, RUN DMC will not be the first rap group to make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — that was Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. But RUN DMC did achieve a number of historic firsts during its heyday in the 1980s.

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.

When singer-songwriter Jill Sobule found herself without the financial support of a record label, she found a way to circumvent the business — by getting her fans to donate enough money to fund the recording of her new CD. Here, Sobule talks about the creation of California Years.

Recent developments in understanding the interaction between music and the brain might help us avoid the stress inherent in sending one's hard-earned tax dollars to Manhattan and Detroit and Baghdad. With the right music in the background, preparing taxes might feel about the same as drinking cucumber water in a swank spa, or doing tai chi as the sun rises over the seashore.

Blind Pilot conducted its first tour on a pair of bicycles, riding from Vancouver to San Francisco. Though the group now tours in a van, its members look back fondly on their early days, which included campfires and unexpected attention from truckers.

Electro-acoustic wizard Dan Deacon made his name as a frenetic one-man band who embedded his act on the dance floor. But on his new album, Bromst, he's aiming for a meaningful sort of pop — and employing a 15-person touring ensemble.

A few years ago, the banjo master Fleck set out to explore the birthplace of his instrument: West Africa. The results of his cross-cultural explorations are collected on a new album. He describes and performs some of his findings, with Malian kora virtuoso Diabate.

The two Cuban singers and rappers grew up in a remote town poised between the Castro regime and an American military base. Their debut album, La Corona, is full of the struggles and passions of their peers — set to some of the freshest new sounds from the island.

The small, family-run record label from the south of France has thwarted the downward slide in classical music sales by choosing unorthodox recording projects and trusting its musicians. While other labels' sales have collapsed, Harmonia Mundi is thriving.

Music may or may not make babies smarter. But for new parents who are passionate about music, picking the first song their children will hear upon entering the world remains of great importance. A DJ, a critic and a musician talk about what they played for their newborns.

Two years after her sudden dismissal from Damien Rice's band, in which she sang backup for seven years, the Irish singer has crafted her first solo album. Literally, crafted: Not only did Hannigan write the music, but she also hand-stitched the liner notes.

Eddie Argos, the 29-year-old leader of London band Art Brut, has made a career out of not growing up. On the group's latest album, Art Brut vs. Satan, that may be for the best, according to critic Robert Christgau.

Pianist Ben Folds has crafted a series of alt-rock hits over the past 15 years. For his pseudo-"greatest-hits" package, he's commissioned new arrangements of those songs from university a cappella groups across the country. Folds and host Jacki Lyden compare and contrast the various versions of his songs.

In Vancouver, drug users run their own safe injection sites. Public health officials are taking note of how they operate — peers helping each other stay alive in a judgment-free zone.

The 1,000-mile Iditarod sled dog race is the quintessential Alaska institution. But for the past four years, Norwegians have been dominating the race. Alaskan mushers are being forced to adjust their strategies, and are even rethinking long-held notions about training and dog breeding. Gabriel Spitzer of the Alaska Public Radio Network reports.

The lawsuit is over whether local governments have the right to ban pot businesses otherwise permitted under state law. The ruling could strike down the framework for regulating and selling pot there.

The judge's order halts enforcement temporarily while lawyers for a north Louisiana clinic and other supporters of abortion rights pursue a lawsuit challenging the legislation.

The monks of Heiligenkreuz Abbey in Austria sing ancient Gregorian chants in their 12th-century church — and then post them to YouTube. Their technological savvy landed them a record deal, and now their album is storming the European charts and arriving in America. Father Karl Wallner talks to host Andrea Seabrook about balancing pop stardom with the religious life.

A week after Lil Wayne's latest album was released, it had sold a million copies. Robert Christgau says the phenomenal success of Tha Carter III, especially in these dismal times for the music industry, is due to the risky marketing techniques Lil Wayne employed and the playful way he treats traditional gangsta rap themes.

Villages along the northwestern Alaskan coast are facing widespread erosion and flooding that not only threatens homes, but also artifacts and archeaological treasures clustered near the beach. From Alaska Public Radio Network, Gabriel Spitzer reports on efforts to save ancient dwelling places and artifacts.