A lot of musicians, mostly rappers, appear all the time, and I can confidently say that not all of them have Trady's level of elegance. Trady is a rapper from the United Kingdom, specifically Billingham. His lyrical style reminds me of the early days of Eminem, the great slim shady. It's no surprise that he cited Eminem as an influence, along with Joyner Lucas...

Take Jack Horton, a Portland-based singer-songwriter whose path to folk-Americana included stops at Japanese law school, Tokyo piano bars, corporate boardrooms, and government offices. His latest EP, "Imperfections," feels like finding someone's private journal set to music. And that someone happens to write really, really well. The five-song collection opens with "Set Me Free," a piano-driven confession that might surprise anyone expecting typical breakup bitterness. Horton...