Volume one of the incredible year that was Thing a Week.

Volume two from the incredible year that was Thing a Week.

A little funny + a little sad = a lot awesome. Where Tradition Meets Tomorrow is 5 new songs about losers, evil geniuses and giant squids. Sure, it's goofy geek rock and yes it's hilarious, but listen closely and it will break your heart. Coulton's is the voice of every spooky elementary school kid who could never quite keep his shirt tucked in or shoes tied; every lovelorn mad scientist (that's right, you know who you are); every one of us who has ever spent time alone during the dreaded "Couples Skate" at the roller rink.

Singer and guitarist extraordinaire Jorma Kaukonen was a devoted aficionado of early-20th-century rural music long before he cofounded Jefferson Airplane in 1965 and Hot Tuna some years later. On his new solo album, Kaukonen has found an imaginative setting to remind listeners how a fusion of styles and influences from both black and white musicians defined American country music in its formative decades. Included here are gems, both familiar and obscure, by the likes of Jimmie Rodgers, the Delmore Brothers, Jimmie Davis, Cliff Carlisle, and other country musicians who were clearly inspired by their blues cousins. Backed by the Nashville All-Stars, a supersonic string band comprising bluegrass masters Sam Bush (mandolin), Jerry Douglas (Dobro), Béla Fleck (banjo), and Byron House (stand-up bass), all playing on vintage 1920s and '30s acoustic instruments, Kaukonen revives and vividly reinterprets these blues-drenched country classics for a new generation of listeners. —Bob Allen