Joni Mitchell

Possessed of a delicate yet powerful voice, indie folk singer Laura Marling was only 16 when she first started gaining notice in 2007, and she still sounds far beyond her years on her addictive third album, "A Creature I Don't Know. " Marling, who is occasionally reminiscent of Joni Mitchell, sounds lovely backed by banjo, brushed percussion and strings, but it's when she gets a little more sinister on electric-backed songs such as "The Beast" that she really shines. The Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd.

Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell says her new "Travelogue" album, due Tuesday, will be the final destination on her three decade-plus pop music journey. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer tells W Magazine in its December issue that her disgust with the music industry's relentless pursuit of trendiness has prompted her to give up songwriting. "What would I do?... Get hair extensions and a choreographer?" she asks in the interview. "It's not my world."

Joni Mitchell "Shine" (Hear Music) * * * ½ Herbie Hancock "River: The Joni Letters" (Verve) * * * ½ Joni Mitchell has often been described as elusive. This is partly because she has frequently retreated from the public eye, most recently taking a nine-year hiatus from writing music, which she's now broken with the album "Shine," to be released Tuesday on the Hear Music label.

You'll talk about: "Heroes." It may not have won big (or at all) at the Emmys, but "Heroes" can boast of being one of the few shows last season that was a commercial success while racking up critical acclaim ("Ugly Betty," we haven't forgotten you!). This week, the show that turned Hayden Panettiere into a tabloid star returns. (Monday) You should already be talking about: "Dancing With the Stars." It's an awesome lineup this year!

Joni Mitchell is the latest focus of Starbucks-Hear Music's "Artist's Choice" series, which devotes an entire CD to songs that inspired the album's subject. Mitchell is also saluted in a Hear Music collection in which various artists have chosen their favorite Mitchell song. Here are some selections from "Joni Mitchell: Songs Chosen by Her Friends & Fellow Musicians" and the artists' feelings about them.