Over his decades-long career, Davis High School Graduate Michael Franti has spanned a plethora of musical genres, blending hip hop, rock, reggae, funk, and even jazz. On his latest LP, SOULROCKER, Franti adds an electronic dance element to his music, branching out even further from his more acoustic past. This new style comes through best on "We Are All Earthlings," which wouldn't sound out of place at a Miami beach party. The album retains  quite an optimistic tone throughout in regards to both the pleasing pop melodies and the inspiring lyrics, especially on relaxed jam "Still Standing" and the upbeat and energetic "My Lord." While this album is defenitely a new direction for Michael Franti and Spearhead, their are clear connections to their older works. "Summertime Is In Our Hands," recalling the hopeful summertime jams the group became famouos for, sounds like it was taken straight from 2010 LP The Sound of Sunshine. "Good To Be Alive Today" blends the political activism of Franti's career with unrelenting optimism on a very inspring mellow hip-hop track, a clear standout on the album.

Bernard Herrmann would be 105 years old this June 29th.  He composed the music for “Psycho.” But Gary Chew, who hosts and programs Third Streaming, will give as good a taste in motion picture music as Herrmann's “Psycho” score with Bernie's earlier work for the 1966 film “Fahrenheit 451.” That's Ray Bradbury’s dark, futuristic tale that lets you know at what temperature the pages of library books burst into flames. Gary has also placed a classical/jazz reading into his Friday mix that comes from Leo Delibes’ opera “Lakmé.” Gary Burton and Makoto Ozone perform. The rest of the program is taken up with the smooth, luxurious sounds of bossa nova. Bireli Legrene’s guitar leads off the set; following is the late, great jazz singer Susannah McCorkle's recording of Jobim's “Outra Vez.”  Violinist Aaron Weinstein closes with giving undivided attention to Luis Bonfa’s “Samba de Orpheu.”  Your ear deserves it.

St. Germain, the stage name for french musician Ludovic Navarre, has been recording music since the early 1990s, but his latest, self-titled work is only his 4th full-length LP to be released, and his first in 15 years. While St. Germain's earlier album blended jazz and pop, his latest album brings Afro-pop sounds into the mix with a plethora of exotic instruments while still maintaining clean and high quality production. Several tracks on the album utilize the staccatto sounds of the N'goni and Kora instruments, while multiple others have African vocalists on the few non-instrumental tracks. However, it is the instrumental tracks where Navarre's skill as a producer really stand out, building towards choruses with several layers of melodies, from the steady drums to the meandering string solos. The standout instrumental track is "Hanky Panky," a funky tune that illustrates St. Germain at the top of their game. In the end, St. Germain is nothing if not original, full of new sounds and daring writing and production.