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Just how intimate can this sound? That's the question Patty Griffin set forth to answer when recording her seventh solo album, "American Kid."

Johnny Marr, whose ringing guitars and melodies inspired obsessive fandom and countless imitators as one of the founding members of the Smiths, gets back to his roots on his first solo album, "The Messenger," out Feb. 26. Here, the self-described eternal "teenybopper" shares the seminal firsts that shaped his expansive career.

The music supervisor to HBO's "Girls," Manish Raval of Aperture Music opens up about the music that made a lasting impression on him.