Bay Area Mixtape King Balance explains that hyphy has faded because its natural progression of album releases was disrupted. There were simply no releases. Balance, who also works as Rasputin’s urban music buyer, says that this summer may kick start hyphy again with plenty of albums to look forward to.

A forum with hyphy insiders - Mistah F.A.B., DJ Backside, Sean Kennedy and Krystal Cooper (Publicist & Artist Relations of The Six Five Entertainment Group). They talk about what lead to the Bay Area brand of hip-hop dissipating. They point to bad business, radio politics and the overall hyphy culture.

The trio that made its first musical mark in the ’80s with an inspired combination of punk, country and everything in between is back. Singer-guitarist Curt Kirkwood spoke to arts and entertainment reporter Mark de la Vina about reuniting with his bassist brother Cris and preparing for the release of the group’s new album, “Rise to Your Knees.”

Music critics Marian Liu, Shay Quillen and Jim Harrington go through the concerts and make their favorite picks which include: Arcade Fire, Diana Krall, Gwen Stefani, Roger Waters, Squeeze, Rock the Bells and Crowded House.

“To Catch a Thief” and “Big” are the focus of movie critic Bruce Newman’s discussion this week.

Rich Scheinin, classical music writer at the San Jose Mercury News, interviews Tom Colohan, music director of the Santa Clara Chorale. They talk about the May 11 performance of “Carmina Burana” at Santa Clara University. For more information and tickets, visit the chorale’s Web site, www.scc.org.

SMC Recordings co-founder Will Bronson talks about how hyphy lost out because it did not have the same leadership as other hip-hop hubs. SMC Recordings is a local independent label, out of San Francisco, that has worked with artists such as Mistah F.A.B., Keak Da Sneak and Dem HoodStarz.

Dean Takahashi and Mike Antonucci discuss “Fracture,” a new military action game by LucasArts, set for release in 2008. Dean also talks about is visit to the LucasArts campus in Marin County.

Calls to emergency 911 dispatchers following the gasoline tanker accident at the MacArthur maze in Oakland on April 29, 2007.

Jonah, a waiter at Chili’s restaurant in Milpitas, gets his own reality series. In a little more than a week, the first two episodes of the show have gotten more than 12,000 hits. Check out why he chose music and hear samples of his songs.