Ultan’s single, "The Tempest," erupts not so much into the room as it does through the floorboards, dragging with it the scent of wet wool and imminent confrontation. This Dublin solo musician, a cartographer of past agonies, presents an energetic rock piece that feels less like a song about history and more like a fragment of it, throbbing and urgent. The main riff careers...

Los Angeles is full of stories, but none of them are nearly as interesting as Edie Yvonne's. The journey that Edie has taken has been anything but normal. She made her movie begin with Chloe Sevigny in "Kitty," which was shown at Cannes. However, in just six months, she has won our hearts not with her on-screen persona but with six audible songs that are powerful,...