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Banning Eyre has a review of Un Gran Dia en el Barrio, or A Great Day in the Neighborhood, by the Spanish Harlem Orchestra. The band is made up of veteran New York musicians, but they play together for the first time on this new CD. (Atlantic Records ASIN: B00006IZNW ) (4:00)

Meet the Slow Cities League, a band of about 30 Italian towns that are saying "no" to fast food, and other signs of globalization. These cities are hoping to preserve the easy going pace of small town life.

The documentary film Standing in the Shadows of Motown finally throws a spotlight on the Funk Brothers -- a house band Berry Gordy created in 1959 to back the parade of star singing groups that populated "Hitsville USA" through the 60s and beyond. Tom Vitale reports.

Hapa [HAH-puh] is the name of a band from Hawaii. It's made up of native Hawaiian who's part Chinese and a native New Yorker who's all Irish Catholic. Together they make music that ranges from traditional Hawaiian slack-key guitar to acoustic pop. Heidi Chang reports. There are two Hapa CD's available on the Coconut Grove label.

Music reviewer Mark Jenkins has a report on music from some of today's all-girl bands who call themselves "Riot Grrrls." (GIRLS) Their style features confrontational, in-your-face lyrics, and an uncompromisingly frank attitude about men, sexuality, and modern life. Jenkins takes a look at music from the Raincoats, Bikini Kill, and Sleater-Kinney. (IN STEREO)

Last week we had Hayseed Dixie, the bluegrass band that produced a tribute album to AC/DC. This week, we're pleased to report that the original AC/DC has just been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (:45)

Music Critic Tom Moon says a new release by the old band Blind Faith is an example of the revival of free-form rock and roll. It's called the Deluxe Edition, and it contains some previously unreleased 1969 jam session recordings. (5:30) The Deluxe Edition 2-CD set by Blind Faith is on the Uni/Polydor labels.

Banning Eyre reviews A Lo Cubano by the Cuban hip-hop quartet called Orishas. While spin-off releases related to the Buena Vista Social Club are captivating music fans outside Cuba, on the island of Cuba, the Orishas are big. This band is now based in France, though they insist they are not in political exile.

Mejla Hlavsa, founder, composer and bassist for an underground Czech rock band called the Plastic People of the Universe, has died at the age of 49. The Plastic People were at the center of a struggle for human rights under Communism in Czechoslovakia during the 1970's and 80's. Robert remembers Hlavsa's role in that fight.

Like the late Brother Theodore, the Citizen is one of those New York characters. In the 1970s, he did a show for WBAI that featured live comedy and a troupe that included John Goodman. Today the Citizen plays in the Wretched Refuse String Band and co-hosts another radio show, the Secret Museum of the Air. Jon Kalish has the story.