Guardian Music — (Partisan) Bombino is a singer-songwriter and guitarist from Niger, with his own take on desert blues. He has a rock-star image and sets out to target indie-rock fans as well as African music devotees. There’s nothing wrong with that, as new fusion... more info

L.A. Times - News — more info

L.A. Times - Entertainment — Over a breakfast interview last December, Ethan Hawke was, as he put it, a little "weepy," having just finished shooting "Born to Be Blue" about jazz legend Chet Baker. more info

Stereogum — In 2009, Robert Bundreau released The Deaths Of Chet Baker, a short film that explored the many myths surrounding the death of the legendary jazz trumpeter. Baker was found dead below a hotel window in Amsterdam in 1988 with serious wounds in his hea... more info

L.A. Times - Pop & Hiss — Among the many stylistic traits of Southern California cultural offerings is a certain easiness, a smooth, groove-centered vibe found both in Dr. Dre’s G-funk sound two decades ago and the dubbed out sounds of Flying Lotus, Teebs and the Gaslamp Ki... more info

Aquarium Drunkard — A portrait in black and white, indeed. 1988, 1 hour, 59 minutes. Perfect. more info

L.A. Times - Pop & Hiss — The troubled legend's singular voice commands the versatile singer's attention in her new album, 'The Book of Chet.'The dreamy, androgynous voice first caught Luciana Souza's attention many years ago. She admired the singer's dead-center pitch, his l... more info

Guardian Music — Paul McCartney's new album, Kisses on the Bottom, which you can listen to later today, sees him turning his hand to jazz-age standards. And the result, writes Jamie Cullum, is a triumphThe Beatles always had a soft spot for the era of songwriting tha... more info

Guardian Music — Stuck in Lonesome Town? Stranded on the Lost Highway? You're in good company, as our losers playlist showsMusic seems populated by losers. That's the impression you gave last week, when I asked you to nominate your favourite songs about losers. It se... more info

Guardian Music — In a year in which we questioned our obsession with all things retro, James Blake pulled off the unthinkable, taking dubstep, soul and even barbershop to create a new musical languageThis year's most talked-about music tome was Simon Reynolds's Retro... more info