Kent Owens, a name that sounds like it should be on a library card next to “Hemingway,” but instead it's on the digital shelf next to my slightly messy playlist. This Cambridge-based creator of soundscapes – I’m resisting calling them songs, but…well – just released “Fade Away,” a single that feels like an open window after a long winter. It’s a soft rock hum...

Peter Xifaras’s new album, “Adagio Grooves”, treats musical history less like a timeline and more like a room where everyone is invited to the same party. Initially, The Budapest Symphony lays out the fine china and polishes the silver, establishing a world of symphonic grace. It’s a sound full of discipline and grand, beautiful spaces—the kind of music that makes you feel you should...