A bunch of web companies and app developers have shown up here in Austin to show their stuff, and I saw a lot of them this afternoon when I spent a few hours in the exhibit hall. Did I find the next Foursquare or Gowalla? I don't think so, but I found some apps that I think might get some serious traction before next year's SXSW.

"Idol's" top pundits have been busy lamenting this year's bunch of hopefuls as less compelling than any in recent memory. They've also been dubbed "quirky." In fact, even when they're singing songs previously owned by major pop divas like Christina Aguilera or Aretha Franklin, what they are, mostly, is indie.

Apparently missing from “The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge”, and from the pop culture background of the paper’s music critics, editors and copy editors, is any perspective about the pervasiveness of Christian artists in the annals of popular music.

"I mean, there have been fans who told me the song is about Jesus Christ," says Carly Simon about her famous song, "You're So Vain." "If it can be about Jesus Christ, it can be about Calvin Klein! It can go anywhere."

The world that Shooter Jennings has created in his ambitious new album, "Black Ribbons," is more ominous than brave and more nerve-rackingly familiar than new in presenting a scenario of the dark days ahead for humankind in the tradition of Aldous Huxley's classic 1932 novel. Yet the singer and songwriter, the maverick offspring of country music outlaws Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, is putting his message across in myriad ways that Huxley wouldn't even have imagined in his treatise about a technological society in which there's little room for human connection.

Our hymn books and iPods are full of treasured songs already. Do we really need another worship song?

The Gospel Music Association announced the nominees in all but two of the 43 categories for the 41st Annual GMA Dove Awards, which will be held on Wednesday, April 21, at Nashville’s famed Grand Ole Opry House.

We’ll never stop hearing Johnny Cash, but this will be the last time – at least for the foreseeable future – that we’ll be treated to a “new release” of some of his previously unissued final recordings. “The Man in Black” made mountains of music in his final years, working with producer Rick Rubin on a series of albums beginning in 1994, and he kept recording right up until the time of his death in Sept. 2003. While most of the music was released while Cash was still alive, “American VI,” marks the final scheduled posthumous release from the series.

Deas Vail, anchored by husband-wife duo Wes and Laura Blaylock, isn't afraid to wrestle with the big questions on their new album, Birds and Cages.

In an "American Idol" first, seven contenders for the season-nine top 24 were revealed during Tuesday's show. On Wednesday (February 17), the 17 remaining semifinalists were unveiled. Now, you can reacquaint yourself with those singers before next week's live shows kick off.