Music

Together nearly 30 years, the reggae band Third World is one Jamaica's most popular and decorated musical acts, with listeners around the world and 10 Grammy nominations to its name. Partly responsible for mainstreaming reggae music, the group formed in 1973 and built a solid following playing the Kingston reggae scene, making its debut at Jamaica's Independence Day celebration.

A performer who perhaps best personifies the genre known as Americana, Jim Lauderdale has seen success in both country music and bluegrass. As a young man, Lauderdale studied acting at the North Carolina School of the Arts, but before long found himself in a music career that would take him all over the American soundscape.

We're a few weeks and a few polls into our summer search for the albums everyone can love, and so far the results have challenged some of our long-held assumptions. Most of you have never heard Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova's soundtrack to the film Once (we thought it was wildly popular).

For New York Polyphony, it's location, location, location. The four-man vocal ensemble thrives on music from the Renaissance, much of it designed for cavernous, reverberant spaces. Think voices soaring through arched cathedrals. But madrigals by Flemish composer Orlando di Lasso, with their more intimate storytelling vibe, are suited for smaller venues — like, say, the living room of New York Polyphony bass Craig Phillips.

A Blog Supreme's editor — um, hello — is now away on vacation. But A Blog Supreme will still be active with features from NPR Music partners, so don't go anywhere.

David Lynch must know something we don't. There's a name for people like him — not director, not writer, not producer, not even photographer, but auteur. Lynch thoughtfully combines images and music, working with composer Angelo Badalamenti to breed a unique atmosphere in creations such as the TV series Twin Peaks and the film Blue Velvet.