This week's 2011 mix of tunes includes the range of powerful guitar-based bands Jane's Addiction and 311, insightful songwriter Bright Eyes, interracial mix of sounds TV On The Radio, new wave rapper and Snoop protege Wiz Khalifa (pictured), sweet Danish voice (wa-ay sexier than the testosterone-driven big-voiced women that dominate the American music scene) Oh Land, smooth-sounding Jewel, acoustic stylists The Decembrists, and a surprising collection of covers by Todd Rundgren playing music by some of the artists he produced in the 80s and 90s.

If you miss my show Thursday night at 8:00 pm, be sure to get up Sunday morning and catch it at 8:00 am.

Here's my playlist.

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Remember the Sikh devotional singer, Snatam Kaur who came to Fairfield a couple years ago? You won't believe what her beautiful "Ong namah" sounds like on my show this week.

2011 saw some accomplished artists like Robbie Robertson and Todd Rundgren play music inspired by even older artists, Django Reinhardt and Robert Johnson. And new guys like ambient tune-smyth Tycho (pictured), the undefinable Brooklyn duo Tanlines, Fairfield's Wade Travis, and Pretty Lights were advancing the musical frontiers last year.

And then there's big-voiced Eddie Vedder and his tiny ukulele, straight from the shores of Hanalei, Kauai.

All the songs are here.

The music of 1962 was overtly mellow at the time, but now, with 50 years of hindsight, there are some surprising and radical gems to be discovered.

First is the classic "dance" tune: David Rose's "The stripper"--music to strip paint by. Bob Dylan released is first album, which contained the semi-original "Talkin' New York." At the time he was just a kid singing old folk songs; hard to imagine he'd be creating a new genre of music in a few short months.

Surf music was getting underway. The Beach Boys were at the heart of it, and one of the twangy, surfy guitar songs from that year was The Gamblers' "LSD-25." Who knew that that substance was at the heart of surf music?

And don't forget the original--and in some ways better--"Twist and shout" by the Isley Brothers [pictured].

The fascinating playlist is here: 1962 tunes.

I've spent most of the last 3 months helping to keep my father healthy, as he goes in and out of hospitals, rehab facilities, and psych wards, so this week I'm conjuring the magic of Todd Rundgren's albums "Healing" and "Initiation." Here's what he's singing:

I had a visitation in my sleep last night
Something was calling to me from a blinding light
And told me not to fear it; hear it.

It said "it’s time to make the world a little wiser.
There are enough destroyers and criticizers.
The world needs a healer, a healer."

and

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I've been surveying the year 1968 musically for the past few months. One of the great developments for which that year is properly remembered, is the extensive development of long, creative guitar-based (mostly instrumental) performances. After this week's show, you'll understand why.

Much of Jimi Hendrix's "1983, a mermaid I should turn to be," is a musical tone poem, at once floating to the bottom of the ocean and into cosmic space... either way, enjoy the float...

Many of the extended guitar performances were British-blues based, such as Cream's live "Spoonful" and Fleetwood Mac's "Need your love so bad."

For me the highlight of this week's show is Quicksilver Messenger Service's masterpiece, "The fool"--a climactic way to end the show.

The songs.

My musical review of the year 1968 continues with The Rolling Stones, and is followed by one of the great guitar notes (and solos) you will ever hear (I'm not revealing it here, you'll have to tune in to find out).

The Strawberry Alarm Clock were considered a one-hit wonder with "Incense and Peppermints," but this week's delightful "Sit with the Guru," is also memorable for its pseudo spiritual references. And then there's the equally good-intentioned if naive "Love beads and meditation" by The Lemon Pipers.

More musical meditations with The Moody Blues' "Om" and the entire Beatles "White Album" condensed into one 20-minute meditation, featuring the mantra "Number 9."

The rest of the play list is: here.

Fifty years ago, music was mostly ... interesting (I'm trying to be positive and find the diamonds in a rough and mediocre year). This week's show is from 1961. You'll hear the very early seeds of today's music...Ray Charles ("Hit the road jack"), Acker Bilk ("Stranger on the Shore"), Patsy Cline ("I fall to pieces" and "Crazy"), Jimmy Reed ("Big boss man"), and Dave Brubeck (yes, that was the year "Take 5" was released).

Don't get nostalgic; but get a feel for the best music you could find on the radio 50 years ago. Most of it still kicks today.

The playlist is fun.

It's that time again. That time when you're driven out of your mind by mindless Christmas music. But this week I play music that will help keep your sanity--and keep you in the spirit of the season.

Aimee Mann (left) and Michael Penn (her husband and brother of Sean) start the show off with a dreary reminder that "Christmas time" returns again. But the tone quickly shifts with the humor and good spirits of Brave Combo, Mel Blanc, and Danny Elfman. Read More....

Their music couldn't have been much different, but their friendship and love of Indian music brought George Harrison and Ravi Shankar together for several interesting musical collaborations.

More than anyone, George  introduced Indian music to European and American audiences, he did a concert to raise money and awareness for Ravi's native Bangladesh, 2 years before George's death they produced a collection of Indian chants and devotional music, and in 1974, made the surprisingly successful "Shankar Family & Friends." Featuring modern compositions, its Indian flavors, melodies, and tonalities, have western emphasis and punch. It's an idea that might make one cringe, but (with one awkward exception) really hits the mark of creativity, freshness, traditional sounds, and surprises. more

The personal and musical friendship between Ravi Shankar and George Harrison has been known and well documented for decades now. It was a friendship that was powerful enough to make an impact on the large, musical life of the late nineteen sixties and it reverberates, as clearly, even today.

– Composer Philip Glass

The playlist is hither.

The remarkable musical year 1968 saw the first release from Todd Rundgren's group Nazz, and Welsh singer Mary Hopkin [left], who followed the success of the first record released on the Beatles' Apple Records--"Those Were the Days"--with versions in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Hungarian, and German (that's the version I play on this show).

It was also the year a number of artists released stunning second albums: Cream, Janis Joplin, and Sly & the Family Stone. And even though albums fully came into their own, singles were still going strong, with the likes of The Doors, Johnny Taylor, and Johnny Cash.

Also on this week's show is a remarkable outtake from The Beatles' White Album, written by John Lennon in India, called "Child of Nature." It'll sound familiar because the lyrics were re-written a few years later and released as an altogether different song, but this one has an innocence that wasn't there in the later version.

Here's what you'll hear.