NPR Music

Sid Griffin is an "alt" kind of guy: In the 1980s, he got in on the ground floor of the alt-country music scene in Los Angeles with his band the Long Ryders.

This week, we had our ups and our downs. Missy Elliott had promised us new tracks over Labor Day weekend — instead, this Monday we got a 90-second snippet and a countdown clock for a week later. Amanda Palmer and Steve Albini tussled.

Exitmusic's Aleksa Palladino and Devon Church have forged a profound partnership: The couple came together in a romantic, cinematic way, meeting on a transcontinental train. Then, over the course of two albums — Passage came out earlier this year — they've created an artistic identity that's beautifully beguiling and darkly unsettling.