Ode & Ballade by Skye Consort & Emma Bjorling brings stories of medieval saints and sacred wells, fair maidens outsmarting presumptuous knights, beautiful or boisterous drinking songs, thieves meeting their fate, heartbreaking love songs, groovy dance tunes, and celebrations of the return of Spring. The album combines elements from world music and classical traditions to narrate poems, tales, legends, and sonnets from Sweden, Ireland, Scotland, France and more.

Gifted with an expressive and powerful soprano, charting and platinum-selling fado singer Mariza is a superstar of the fado movement with a global following. Though she always works within fado's traditional boundaries, she takes chances by engaging elements of folk traditions from her native Mozambique, the southern reaches of her home in Portugal, Brazil, and even further afield: Her repertoire, while firmly rooted in classical and contemporary fado, has grown to include occasional Cape Verdean mornas, R&B and Motown classics, and any other music she holds dear at any given time. With the release of her debut album Fado Em Mim in 2001, her reputation in Portugal was equaled internationally.

Despite its age, this collection remains the best introduction to the wonderfully bizarre sounds of Jethro Tull – a unique combination of folk music, progressive rock, heavy metal, and of course, Ian Anderson's ubiquitous flute. Drawing exclusively from the band's '70s heyday, opener "Living in the Past" sets the retrospective tone, leading the way into the signature guitar riff of "Aqualung," the band's multifaceted pièce de résistance. Though lyrically indecipherable, "Locomotive Breath" is equally timeless, and the moment when John Evan's fanciful piano intro gives way to Martin Barre's guitar feedback remains thrilling. With his acoustic guitar in hand, Ian Anderson becomes a medieval bard, drawing the listener into worlds of legend both threatening ("Sweet Dream," "Witches Promise") and joyously carefree ("Thick as a Brick," "Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day"). The unbelievable kaleidoscope of sound which makes up "Songs from the Wood" is simply too original and intricate for words to describe.

Johnny Cash's fourth project with producer Rick Rubin continues on the same path as many of their previous releases: Cash's warm and rumbling baritone over minimal production and gentle duets with some surprising guests. One of the things that sets American IV: The Man Comes Around apart from the others is Cash's song selections. The success he experienced with his previous interpretations of contemporary songwriters (Soundgarden's "Rusty Cage," Nick Cave's "The Mercy Seat") is applied to this album with varying degrees of success. His throaty reading of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" easily fits into his "Man in Black" persona, and the spiritual conviction underlying Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" is certainly powerful.

All 37 songs from Europe's favourite TV show contest together on this official compilation. This 68th edition of the competition will take place in Malmö, Sweden, in May.

Just Like Leaving bears a powerful authenticity that prompted Rolling Stone to praise White's songwriting as "sublime Appalachian heartbreak." In sculpting the album's sparse but lushly detailed sound, White worked with a lineup of musicians she encountered through years of making the rounds at roots-music festivals, including Reed Stutz on mandolin/vocals; Julian Pinelli on fiddle/vocals, and Robert Alan Mackie on bass.

The songs on Solitude Standing, Suzanne Vega's second album, had years listed beside them on the lyric sheet, so you could see that some of them dated back to 1978. But that bold admission heralded the album's triumph – its diversity was what made it so good. Partially, that was because the old songs were the equal of anything on the first album – tunes like the a cappella slice-of-life "Tom's Diner" and the warmly romantic "Gypsy" simply wouldn't have fit thematically on the debut. On Solitude Standing, however, they became part of an album of story songs set in a variety of musical contexts; many had band arrangements, and in fact, members of Vega's touring band often were credited as co-writers. Additionally, Vega had developed more as a singer without losing the focused intonation that had made her debut – one of many compelling elements which helped make "Luka," a character song about domestic abuse, a fluke hit.