World Cafe

The music of this much-adored band has taken many forms since the group's late 1990s emergence. Its latest album, False Priest, found Kevin Barnes and Co. trying their hand at creating the "great pop record" in the vein of Stevie Wonder, Prince or David Bowie.

This young Seattle band has taken the Pacific Northwest by storm since self-releasing its eponymous debut last June. Since then, the group had its album reissued by Sub Pop and opened for larger acts like Vampire Weekend.

Tijoux is widely regarded as one of Latin America's best MCs for both her solo work as well as a member of Mazika. Her latest album, 1977, is a personal, auto-biographical account named after the year of her birth.

Taking their name from The Gods Must Be Crazy, !!! make music that focuses on dancing. Hear the band groove through songs from their fourth full length on World Cafe.

Bridging David Wax's musical experiences in rural Mexico and Suz Slezak's traditional folk training, the Boston group blends Latin rhythms, Mexican song structures and foot stomping folk.

The English singer-songwriter performed at open-mic nights alongside future Twilight star Robert Pattinson, then made a name for himself on the film's soundtrack. Long performs live on World Cafe.

Earlier this year, Sam Beam, who writes and performs as Iron and Wine, released his most ambitious album, Kiss Each Other Clean, on which Beam moves away from the hushed bedroom recordings for a fuller, experimental sound.

On her latest record, The Party Ain't Over, Wanda Jackson taps into her love of gospel, country and, of course, rock 'n' roll. Hear Jackson perform live with Jack White and talk with World Cafe host David Dye about her career, her fans and working with White.

Even if you've never heard of Alexi Murdoch, you know his music. It's soundtracked many films and television shows over the past decade. Now, Murdoch returns with his second full-length, Towards the Sun. Hear him perform live.

On Fixin' To Die, Philadelphia's G. Love returns with an experimental album of sorts. Ditching the hip-hop blues sounds of his previous works, Love tries his hand at folk music after working with The Avett Brothers.