Music

The Georgia-based rock band Blackberry Smoke has been together for more than a decade, slowly building an audience the old-fashioned way by relentless touring — around 250 shows a year.

On the next Galactic Travels, I will conclude the month-long Special Focus on the Tangent Project.  The Featured CD at Midnight will be Surface.  I will also play music from one of the many artists who will be appearing at the upcoming electro-music festival being held September 7 to 9 at the Greenkill Retreat Center in Huguenot, NY.

Two weeks ago, we premiered the video for Lord Huron's "Time to Run," in which the group ran around in the desert simulating an old Spaghetti Western — and, with the help of its director, captured the washed-out look and feel of old film stock.

Swedish singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson is a modern-day troubadour whose crooning voice and acoustic folk songs often get him compared to Bob Dylan. Matsson recently released his third full-length solo album, There's No Leaving Now, under the moniker The Tallest Man on Earth.

Retro-voiced country singer Nikki Lane makes her first appearance on Mountain Stage. A high-school dropout, Lane left her native Greenville, S.C., for Los Angeles, and found herself dabbling in the fashion industry.

Got an idea for a classical cartoon, or a reaction to this one? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Pablo Helguera is a New York-based artist working with sculpture, drawing, photography and performance. You can see more of his work at Artworld Salon and on his own site.

• In the aftermath of Marvin Hamlisch's death, Michael Feinstein is taking the reins at the Pasadena Pops in California as the group's lead conductor. Here's the twist: Feinstein has never conducted before. "He's a musician's musician, and that's what our orchestra responds to and respects," says Paul Jan Zdunek, the CEO of the Pasadena Symphony Association.

Watching the English band Alt-J perform in KCRW's studios, it was clear we were witnessing an artist on the rise. It was the group's U.S. radio debut, the morning after a sold-out show, and Alt-J's members were clearly confident. As the catchy potential pop hit "Breezeblocks" demonstrates, the band draws from a wide and unpredictable range of influences. An Awesome Wave is out now.

Watch Alt-J's full session on Morning Becomes Eclectic.