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At a time when jobs are anything but disposable, it's hard to imagine what it would take to drive workers out the door voluntarily. But when you're eventually pushed to the brink, you're going to need consolation and encouragement in the form of five great rock tunes.

As a kid, Halloween means dressing up with friends, looking for the spots with the best candy, and stopping for pranks along the way. As you get older, you're stuck handing out rather than filling up. Halloween may have a different sense of rhythm now, but some of the best Halloween ear candy hasn't changed.

Born in the '60s, soul-jazz is a groove-oriented style built from the bottom up. You take a strong bass line, establish a steady groove between the bass and drums, and then embellish that groove with riffs and melody lines that draw heavily from gospel, blues and R&B.

April is Jazz Appreciation Month, as well as National Poetry Month. Hear five songs that were originally written as poems to be read, not as lyrics to be sung. Each jazz artist here transformed a poem into lyrics that fit his or her particular style and phrasing, and then composed music to round out the interpretation.

Day to Day asked artists to send their musical takes on the California Dream. Among dozens of submissions, one track stood out because of its unique approach: The instruments are urban sounds. Quinn Kiesow spent 80 hours piecing together an array of noises to make "Los Angeles."

Were the 1980s the worst years for music? NPR listeners seem to think so, according to the results of our poll. When asked to pick the best year for music, nearly everyone skipped the '80s entirely.

Record collectors entranced by the otherworldly sounds of Ethiopian funk and jazz of the 1960s and 70s had only rare 45s to slake their thirst until the Ethiopiques series of albums hit US shores in the late 90s. Those albums feature some of the best music to come out of the scene, but still more albums await re-release.

In the piano trio, only three instruments are involved, so the thoughts and actions of musicians must be absolutely in sync with one another. Pianists like Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett have led legendary trios, but here are five piano-trio leaders who keep the acoustic jazz tradition alive in fresh ways.

The nation's blowhards have just a few days left to indulge in a time-honored quadrennial tradition: announcing that, if a certain candidate is elected president, they'll pull up stakes and move to Canada. Before jumping in the car and heading north, get to know some of the music that you'll soon call your own.

Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff shares some of his favorite (and fairly obscure) music with All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen.