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“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” gets remixed for its 50th anniversary. We’ll listen.

Mark Kozelek of Sun Kil Moon is a singer-songwriter with a lilting, folk-rock style. His band's new releasw, Tiny Cities, covers the songs of another, very different singer-songwriter: Isaac Brock, of the alternative rock band Modest Mouse.

"A Night in Tunisia" is frequently called Dizzy Gillespie's greatest composition. The Complete RCA Victor Recordings has two versions of it, as well as titles such as "Hey Pete! Let's Eat More Meat" that capture the playful humor of Dizzy Gillespie's Big Band. The album tracks Gillespie's development from 1937-1949, when he rose from an experimental soloist to a jazz legend.

Last year no fewer than eight bands from Monterrey, Mexico, were invited to play at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. Some have called Monterrey the Seattle of Latin Alternative music, in reference to Seattle's role in the early 1990s as the incubator of grunge rock.

The Little Ones' "Lovers Who Uncover" recalls the work of Built to Spill in more ways than one: It occasionally brings to mind the Idaho rock band’s odd sound, but it also spawns a similar sense of excitement and discovery.

The funk/R&B/rock group Mint Condition burst onto the music scene 14 years ago with its first album, Meant to be Mint. Now the Minneapolis-based band is back with its first CD in six years, Living the Luxury Brown.

Take a dollop of Stevie Ray Vaughan, a pinch of Santana and a helping of Ritchie Valens and you might come up with a band that sounds a lot like Los Lonely Boys. The Austin-based group of Mexican-American brothers also has country music roots and considers Willie Nelson a patron of sorts. NPR's Felix Contreras reports. Hear band members discuss one of their recording sessions and listen to selections from their debut CD.

As introductions go, The Duke Spirit's "Cuts Across the Land" is a strong one. It's the sound of five different noisemakers playing essentially the exact same part, presenting the band as a single, unitary creature fueled by its own momentum.

The English rock band Art Brut erupts with a fireball of adolescent rage on "My Little Brother." Singer Eddie Argos sneers and shouts, with sarcastic, often-humorous observations that mock, yet ultimately glorify, the unique power of rock 'n' roll.

"Runouttaluck," from the Toronto band The Golden Dogs, is the sound of pop nerds engaging in charmingly bratty displays of melodic gamesmanship. Throughout the song, the band tips its hat to pop music that can be quirky and hooky all at once.