Milk Oolong is a type of Chinese oolong with an aroma and flavor combination that suggests cream, and even, to me, a hint of milk chocolate. After a couple of sips, my palate had adapted to it; after a cup, I was a convert.

When we think of Surrealism, we think of poetry and visual art, not music. But a surreal evening came to pass nonetheless the other night at the Baryshnikov Arts Center.

Four musicians including world-famous cellist Mischa Maisky gathered for a concert commemorating the 100th anniversary of the start of the Armenian genocide. Music by Russian and Armenian composers made up a program that asserted the power of art to challenge cruelty and violence.

Finn's dark, drama-drenched writing mixes nicely with Kelly's more straightforward folk and folk-rock songs; the optimism of Kelly's work is a pleasing counterweight to the seriousness of the sublime pop Finn has crafted over the decades. Both singer-songwriters are in excellent voice on this live recording from 2013.

Two recent albums that do new things with very old music.

Monasteries, wineries, even whole cities – all dug out of soft volcanic rock over thousands of years. With the occasional canine companion, of course.

This gothic tale, set in anarchist-haunted, war-drained, superstitious Barcelona just prior to World War I, is a fictionalized account of the notorious real-life career of Enriqueta Martí, a serial child-killer and pimp.

Despite some narrative weakness, this new musical from the writers of 'Bedbugs!!!' is well worth seeing for its great music, wacky (true) stories, and fabulous cast.

ISIS? ISIL? Islamic State? Daesh? What's in a name? A lot.

Stavreva champions composers from her native Bulgaria, plays a mean Chopin, and is unafraid to perform her own works of rumbling, percussive intensity.