D.D.R. (Divorced Dad Rock) hits the pavement running on "Blinded By the Blonde: Chapter One", turning the jagged debris of romantic wreckage into pure kinetic energy. The seven-song collection marks the latest outing from Indiana-based novelist and songwriter Stephen Paul, whose philosophy of "universal specificity" treats private heartbreaks as open-source emotional blueprints. Rather than wallowing quietly behind closed doors, Paul channels the soaring melodies...

Norway's many fjords are responsible for the birth of a celebrity. Ella Lockert, with her boundless vitality and undoubted skill, has always been a force to be reckoned with from the day she was born. Imagine a little Ella illuminating the stage as the smallest Santa possible in the song "Putti Plutti Pott." Add to that her singing in the children's chorus at the Norwegian Opera,...