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This week’s picks include a cosmopolitan Ethiopian and a musical tale about the former first lady of the Phillipines. 

David Byrne and Fatboy Slim – Here Lies Love (Nonesuch)

David Byrne has collaborated with the dance music giant Fatboy Slim on an ambitious song cycle, or music-theater piece, or maybe it’s an opera of sorts. It’s called Here Lies Love, it’s based on the life of Imelda Marcos, the notorious wife of the even more notorious former president of the Philippine, Ferdinand Marcos. She is an odd source of inspiration, but Byrne and an all-star cast have created an oddly compelling work. 

Tori Amos, who lends her talents in the song “You’ll BeTaken Care Of,” is just one of 20 different guest singers on the album, which turns out to be full of surprises. Whoever expected to hear politically-minded songwriter Steve Earle taking a turn as Ferdinand Marcos? David Byrne and Fatboy Slim lead a star-studded cast in the new hardcover book and CD, Here Lies Love. - Picked by John Schaefer [Amazon]

Meklit Hadero – On A Day Like This (Porto Franco Records)

Meklit (pronounced muh-kleet) Hadero was born in Ethiopia and raised in Brooklyn, but as an artist she is a product of San Francisco’s Mission District. It was during her tenure as co-director of the Red Poppy Art House that Meklit developed her voice as songwriter and singer. She has a brave voice, one that is not intimidated to take on songs like “Feeling Good,” which was made famous by Nina Simone.

Meklit Hadero’s debut album, called On a Day Like This, features intimate songs about art and love, but also about her home continent of Africa. The song “Abbay Mado,” for instance, is a cover of an Ethiopian folk song. Having been nested in San Francisco, Meklit Hadero is ready for bigger music adventures. Her next musical stop is East Africa. - Picked by Gisele Regatao [Amazon]