HE'S STILL STANDING

By DAN AQUILANTE
October 14, 2008 - BETWEEN foot ache and heartbreak, Kenny Chesney knows pain. Country music's biggest star is still in recovery from his marital split from actress Renée Zellweger, but with today's CD release of "Lucky Old Sun," this twanger, best known for carousing beer ballads, has written a decidedly beautiful album showing that - after three...

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• TRAGEDY WON'T QUIET RIOT

  By MARY HUHN

  HOW'S this for a setup to recording your debut album: You form an indie band in college and - less than a year later - your pop sextet...more >

• MPFREES

  By MAXINE SHEN

  Ra Ra Riot, "Dying Is Fine" The orchestral-pop band takes its indie-rock stylings to exuberant, epic and emotional places. Buy...more >

• 'LITTLE HONEY’ GETS HAPPY

  LUCINDA WILLIAMS FINDS HERSELF IN LOVE

  By BILLY HELLER

  October 12, 2008 -

  THERE'S something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue on Lucinda Williams' latest album, "Little Honey," out Tuesday. There's even a song called "Plan to...more >

• 'SCIENCE’ EXPERIMENT

  TV ON THE RADIO LOVES HI-TECH

  By LARRY GETLEN

  October 12, 2008 -

  The title of TV on the Radio's newest CD, "Dear Science," represents a true (and rare) moment of actual irony in rock music. It was taken from an letter a few members of the band wrote...more >

• CLASSICS FOR KIDS, VIA BERNSTEIN

  By BARBARA HOFFMAN

  October 11, 2008 -

  LEONARD Bernstein did so many things so wonderfully - conducting, composing, playing the piano - it's hard to believe he was lousy at anything. But did you ever hear him sing? That, says the late...more >

• SHE-JAYS

  THESE LADIES MIX THE MUSIC

  By BRIAN NIEMIETZ

  October 11, 2008 -

  MODEL Eve Salvail has been a fixture in high-end glossies such as Elle, Glamour and Marie Claire since 1989. Calvin Klein, Gianni Versace and Valentino have hired her to hock their wares. But...more >

• D'OH BRO DOUGLAS A MASTER

  By DAN AQUILANTE

  October 11, 2008 -

  THE distance between Nashville and the Blue Note just got a lot shorter, thanks to a dobro player named Jerry Douglas. At the opening of his eight-show residency at the famed Village club on...more >

• OH NO, NOT A LOSER, BABY

  By DAN AQUILANTE

  October 10, 2008 -

  BECK is a stylistic chameleon whose musical colors can change from the blues to country to folk, to funk or hip-hop as easily as flipping a switch. At the United Palace Theatre on Wednesday, at the...more >

• CAB GETS GOOD MILEAGE

  By DAN AQUILANTE

  October 8, 2008 -

  IF you've ever hailed Death Cab for Cutie, you know the Seattle quartet usually gives a smooth albeit melancholy cruise in concert. But at Radio City Music Hall on Monday, they hit the gas to...more >

• FEWER FRETS

  By ZACK GREENSPON

  October 7, 2008 -

  JON McLaughlin worries. A lot. The 26-year-old Hoosier worries about his music. He worries about touring. He worries about record sales. And then he worries about the little things, too. So how...more >

• MPFREES

  By MAXINE SHEN

  October 7, 2008 -

  Jon McLaughlin, "Beating My Heart" Charmingly poppy and heartfelt, it's a reminder to embrace what inspires you. Buy the album here. Velvet Code, "Say You Love Me"...more >

• AN OASIS FOR BEATLES FANS

  By DAN AQUILANTE

  October 7, 2008 -

  ANY Beatles lover who finds it remarkable how one band crafted so many songs that attached to the soul will appreciate Oasis' skill at making new music that smartly salutes them. It's easy...more >