The Magnetic Fields' 50 Song Memoir is, just as the title says, an autobiography of songwriter Stephin Merritt, with one song for each year of his life, and a tribute to finding salvation in music.
Want to boost those neural pathways? TED Ed offers practical suggestions: Practice in concentrated bursts, work through passages slooowly -- and step away from Facebook.
L.A. Takedown is a seven-piece rock band with three lead guitarists and a love for epic shredding. It's new video for "Night Skiing" is a surreal, desert-jam odyssey.
Somehow both haunting and approachable, "A Step" is fueled by Pete Josef's sweet voice and the muted shimmer of the Hang, a cousin of the steel drum. Download the song via NPR Music's Austin 100.