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With its detailed look at the pop-cultural detritus in a miserable late-night rest stop, "I-95" first appears to be just another Fountains of Wayne-ian look at someone's mundane, loveless existence. But as it unfolds, the song takes on a sincere sweetness that the band wears well.

A singer, musician, activist and poet, Patti Smith has spent the last three-plus decades as one of the most visible and iconic figures in punk and rock music. The musical icon joined WFUV host Rita Houston for an interview and in-studio performance.

The boisterous, California-based acid-jazz collective Greyboy Allstars delves deep into vintage soul on "How Glad I Am." Drawing on a snazzy groove, chicken-scratch guitar riffs and fatback horns, the song brings to mind the loose funk of Charles Wright's 103rd Street Rhythm Band.

Turandot, Puccini's extravagant portrayal of ancient China, is home to "Nessun dorma!" — one of music's most famous numbers — a soaring tenor aria that's been recorded by performers ranging from Franco Corelli and Placido Domingo, to the Twelve Girls Band and the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra.

Refined Elizabethan music might not come to mind when you think of Sting. Think again. The rock star has released Songs of the Labyrinth, a new CD of songs for voice and lute by John Dowland, one of that era's most important composers.

Just as punk rockers broke the rules in the 1970s, so did a slew of equally rebellious singers and their groups a generation earlier. Rockin' Bones, a new CD collection, features the music of 1950s rockabilly artists who were the iconoclasts of their day.

Grant-Lee Phillips' nineteeneighties would seem to be an odd creative detour — the set finds him covering '80s alt-rock classics by the likes of R.E.M., the Cure and the Pixies — but it's surprising how smoothly its tributes fit into his homespun, heartfelt catalog.

Every time Andrew Hill takes a seat behind a piano, the jazz world takes note. "Time Lines" speaks to his brilliance at teetering between the worlds of the blues and the abstract. And it's one of the funkiest compositions in Hill's massive repertoire.

At the Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus — a gothic cathedral in Cleveland — classical guitarist Jason Vieaux recently chose a new guitar. It's a crash course in how a musician selects an instrument.

Chris Isaak's more than two decade-long recording career proves that he is a man who sticks to his guns. His newest release, a greatest hits compilation titled The Best of Chris Isaak, is a carefully selected collection of Isaak's most popular fan favorites.