There is a strange gravity to those who seem entirely unbothered by the weight of expectation. They move through rooms with a careless grace, leaving a trail of minor disruptions that somehow only add to their charm. It is a phenomenon well documented in the annals of pop culture, from the brooding rebels of mid-century cinema to the unkempt guitarists of the early two-thousands indie sleaze...

It’s a rare and bewildering thrill to encounter something as organically bizarre and entirely transportive as Koradan’s newest album, "Around the World...Music". The Italian duo Alex Baccari and Marzia Di Cicco are dedicated acoustic alchemists. They build the very tools they play. Through their patented centerpiece, the "Koritas," they have physically fused materials harvested from five different continents into a single resonating chamber. You...