Seishin Takeno's "Echoes," a sonic postcard from Kanagawa. Nine instrumental pieces, I've been told. Not nine songs, mind you – more like nine shaded windows into a particular kind of quiet. This isn't music that yells; it leans in, like a friend confiding a secret you half-hear on a summer porch. Immediately, you're not so much listening as remembering. Or maybe anticipating. It feels...

It's only fair that a young vocalist with as much potential as Nini Uppuluri gets all the praise she can get. You can't possibly dispute that she is who she claims to be. The energetic performer has just released a new single called "Carafe - Bittersweet v2," which is a highly engaging and entertaining piece of music. Her voice is as luscious as sugar and as...