Music

When you name your band after a Mercyful Fate song, you'd better damn well live up to it, especially when that song swears "henceforth to be a faithful servant of his most puissant arch-angel, The Prince Lucifer." Thankfully, The Oath sounds something like the two bad-ass women in Heart raised on a healthy dose of King Diamond. So embrace the darkness and listen to "Silk Road."

Fear in Bliss. That's the name of the debut album from the psychedelic folk-rock band Horse Thief. Originally from Denton, Texas, the band moved to Oklahoma City to attend the Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma. The academic woodshedding was extremely fruitful, and Horse Thief caught the attention of The Flaming Lips' management and a high-profile independent label.

Dirty Projectors, heard here during the band's debut appearance on World Cafe in 2009, is led by Dave Longstreth, a New Haven townie who went to Yale. He studied music and then dropped out to pursue his ideas with what became Dirty Projectors in 2003.

Singer-songwriters Aimee Mann and Ted Leo are often at opposite ends of the volume knob. But what started as separate sets during a mutual tour, then a few walk-ons during Leo's solo set, is now an adventure in collaboration and mutual songwriting — and the birth of The Both. Months after this Tiny Desk Concert, which we recorded in February, there's an album.

Mountain Stage celebrates its 30th anniversary with a special appearance by singer-songwriter Todd Snider.