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Top Picks: Dan Hicks' 'Greatest Licks: I Feel Like Singin',' the Overcast app, and more

Actor Martin Clunes explores in Acorn TV's 'Martin Clunes: Islands of Australia,' the movie 'Moana' centers on a Polynesian girl who attempts to save her people, and more top picks.

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Disney/AP
  • By Staff

Comedy and swing

Dan Hicks has been gone for more than a year now. The droll, nattily dressed frontman of the beloved cult band Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks combined comedy, swing, and incisive songwriting like no one else. For more than 50 years, Hicks and his madcap band were a fixture in the San Francisco area. Greatest Licks: I Feel Like Singin’ contains all the essential good stuff, including 1969’s semi-hit “I Scare Myself” and “How Can I Miss You When You Won’t Go Away?”

Podcast organization

Are you a fan of podcasts? The Overcast app can help you stay organized with your listening habits. The app lets you listen to podcasts off-line, alerts you when your favorite has released a new episode, and adds one episode without you having to subscribe to the whole program, among other features. The app is free for iOS.

Australian experience

Actor Martin Clunes previously explored an area close to home in the TV show “Islands of Britain.” Now he’s going farther afield with the series Martin Clunes: Islands of Australia, which premières for US viewers on the streaming service Acorn TV on March 13. On the show, Clunes checks out 16 islands that represent the diversity of the Australian experience.

Book goals

Have you been meaning to read more but need some help? The Bookout app not only lets you keep track of books as you read them and add notes so you can look back later, it also allows you to put in the amount of time and the number of pages you read, among other statistics, rewarding you if you hit a monthly or yearly goal. Maybe you’ll finally be inspired to read “War and Peace.” The app is free for iOS.  

Disney hit

Disney’s latest animated film, Moana, centers on a Polynesian girl who attempts to save her people and stars Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson. (Attention “Hamilton” fans: Lin-Manuel Miranda worked on the music.) Monitor film critic Peter Rainer called the movie “one of the better Disney animated features to come along in a while.” The film is available on DVD and Blu-ray.

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