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Bruce Warren

Bruce Warren is assistant general manager for programming of WXPN in Philadelphia. Besides serving as executive producer of World Café, Warren also contributes to Paste magazine and writes for two blogs: and WXPN's .

  • Aaron Behrens and Thomas Turner, who perform as Ghostland Observatory, play electronica with the ferocity of great rock 'n' roll. The Austin duo's music presents a beguiling synthesis of new-wave-influenced bands like The Rapture and the progressive dance-floor musings of Daft Punk.
  • A concert favorite of Deadheads, "Stella Blue" doesn't seem like natural turf for Willie Nelson and producer Ryan Adams, but the cover plays out as a guitar-soaked country power ballad, with Nelson digging into the vocal with longing and resignation as Adams lays down guitar feedback.
  • Years after breaking through as one of the most innovative and musically gifted acts in hip-hop, The Roots' members return with Game Theory, another groundbreaking collection of stellar and often political material.
  • A highlight of Peter, Bjorn and John's forthcoming Writer's Block — a concept album about the trials and tribulations of relationships — "Young Folks" is a breezy, melancholic slice of infectious pop.
  • For all its slowly gyrating seductiveness, "Gotta Be With You" serves as the hot centerpiece of an album that delivers on the promise and premise of its title. Sultry and soulful, Ronald Isley's falsetto remains commandingly rich and intoxicating.
  • Hot Chip is clearly made up of geeky music obsessives, each far-reaching in his musical ideas. A quirky, intelligent collection of songs, the band's new album The Warning owes as much to Prince and Aphex Twin as it does to The Beach Boys, New Order and Beck.
  • "Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken," from the Glasgow chamber-pop sextet Camera Obscura's recent album Let's Get Out of This Country, serves as a gloriously bubbly answer to Lloyd Cole's "Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken," one of the all-time great breakup songs.
  • British singer-songwriter Alexi Murdoch doesn't exactly rewrite the classic folk songbook on his first full-length studio album. But with his rich, hypnotic ballads and tender acoustic guitar work, he's created a timeless folk-pop record that's likely to endure.
  • The French band Phoenix's "Long Distance Call" is a lovably catchy power-pop nugget informed by early-'80s pop grooves, the insouciance of the '70s rock band Pablo Cruise and a flood of Hall & Oates sing-alongs.
  • With its insidious cloud of warm keyboards and droning sitars, Thievery Corporation's "This Is Not a Love Song" qualifies as hipster electronica: It's "Chariots Of Fire" for the indie-rock set, yet palatable enough for those who enjoy the music on VW commercials.