Pianist Tigran Hamasyan's second Nonesuch album, An Ancient Observer, is out now. It includes ten new compositions, two of which are based on Armenian melodies. Some are through-composed and completely written out, while others are composed with ample space for Hamasyan to improvise. He cites a wide range of influences—from Baroque dance to hip-hop grooves adapted to piano—and the sounds of his native country of Armenia are present, as always. DownBeat exclaims: "It's simply breathtaking." The Huffington Post calls Hamasyan "one of jazz's most dynamic artists" and the new album "outstanding."

Dan Auerbach will release Waiting on a Song, his second solo album, on June 2, via his new label, Easy Eye Sound. The album is Auerbach's much anticipated follow-up to 2009's Keep It Hid and is a love letter to Nashville. As such, he recruited some of Nashville's most respected players to write and record his latest, including John Prine, Duane Eddy, Jerry Douglas, Pat McLaughlin, and Bobby Wood and Gene Chrisman of the Memphis Boys. Auerbach said about working with his musical heroes: "Living in Nashville has definitely changed the way I think about music and the way that I record it. I didn't have all of these resources before. I am working with some of the greatest musicians that ever lived." You can watch the video for the album's first single, "Shine on Me," here.

Sam Amidon's new album, The Following Mountain, will be released May 26, 2017, on Nonesuch. The album represents a new approach for Amidon, who shifts here from his previous norm of re-working traditional folk songs and presents nine wholly original compositions, with some lyrics drawing on traditional sources. The Following Mountain was created with producer Leo Abrahams and frequent Amidon collaborator Shahzad Ismaily, with a rare guest appearance by drummer Milford Graves. Nonesuch Store pre-orders include an exclusive autographed print and an instant download of the album track "Juma Mountain." You can watch a lyric video for the song here.

Record Store Day, the annual celebration of independent record stores, is set to take place on Saturday, April 22, 2017, and included among the releases on that day are The Allen Toussaint Collection, a compilation of tracks from his first four albums in its first-ever vinyl release; Emmylou Harris's Queen of the Silver Dollar: The Studio Albums, 1975–1979, her first five studio albums on vinyl and a bonus 45 RPM; and Randy Newman's Lonely at the Top: Studio Albums, 1968–1977, his first five studio albums on vinyl and a bonus 45 RPM.

Conor Oberst's new album, Salutations, is out now. The album, a companion to 2016's lauded Ruminations, comprises full-band versions of the ten tunes from that solo album plus seven additional songs. Salutations was recorded with The Felice Brothers, legendary drummer Jim Keltner, who co-produced the album, and special guests. "The results are quite simply sublime," says Sunday Express. "This is songwriting of the very highest quality, Oberst’s lyrics rarely less than astonishing. Wonderful." It "works exceedingly well," raves Q. "Both retaining the spirit of the original yet also transcending it, this was a risk worth taking." "Salutations is an absolute treat," exclaims Drowned in Sound. The Independent says it's "probably the best work of the singer’s career."

The Magnetic Fields’ 50 Song Memoir, chronicling the 50 years of songwriter Stephin Merritt’s life with one song per year, is out now. It's "quite an achievement," says NPR Music. "Some of its wordplay is truly remarkable ... More importantly, Memoir is a tour-de-farce of melody and arrangement." Pitchfork calls it "an immersive, incisive listen," with "his catalog 50 songs richer as a result." It's "a highly entertaining summary of pop culture of the past half-century," says the Wall Street Journal. "50 Song Memoir is a treat." Exclaim! exclaims: "Stephin Merritt is a genius." The video for the album track "'68 A Cat Called Dionysus" premiered today and can be seen here.

Conor Oberst's new album, Salutations, due out next Friday, March 17, is streaming in full till then as an NPR First Listen. Salutations, a companion piece to 2016's lauded Ruminations, comprises full-band versions of the ten songs from that solo album plus seven additional songs. Reflecting on the two recordings of the songs on Ruminations and Salutations, NPR says "it turns out both approaches serve these songs well. This remains some of Oberst's most personal and reflective material, written in a harsh winter after a health scare, so it was worth letting the songs breathe for a few months before revisiting them. They still sound full of life, and still feel ragged at times, but they shine in new and different ways."

Fleet Foxes will release Crack-Up, its long-awaited and highly anticipated third album, June 16 on Nonesuch Records. It comes six years after the release of Helplessness Blues and nearly a decade since the band's self-titled debut. Crack-Up is eleven songs, all written by Robin Pecknold, and was co-produced by Pecknold and Skyler Skjelset. Nonesuch Store pre-orders include an instant download of the album track "Third of May / Ōdaigahara" (a lyric video for the song can be seen here) and an exclusive print. The band has announced new tour dates, including its first North American shows since 2011.

The Magnetic Fields' new five-LP / five-CD collection, 50 Song Memoir, is due out on this Friday, March 10. But you don't need to wait till then to hear it: the album is streaming as an NPR First Listen, with the songs from one disc—one decade of singer/songwriter Stephin Merritt's life—being added each day. It's "quite an achievement," says NPR Music. "Some of its wordplay is truly remarkable ... More importantly, Memoirs is a tour-de-farce of melody and arrangement."

Freedom Highway, Rhiannon Giddens' follow-up to her highly praised solo debut album, Tomorrow Is My Turn, is out now. It's a "rich collection," says NPR. "[H]ope comes back to life in Giddens' music." Pitchfork exclaims: "Rhiannon Giddens emerges as a peerless and powerful voice in roots music on her second solo album." The AP calls it "a rich tapestry with threads of blues, folk, gospel, soul, country and jazz ... rootsy and relevant, delivered with crystal-clear emotion and understated musical skill." Uncut names this "remarkably wise and timely new album" its Album of the Month. It earns four stars in American Songwriter, Irish Times ("a record for and of our times"), Observer, and Guardian, which calls it a "powerful and timely set."

Rhiannon Giddens's five-song EP Factory Girl, first released on vinyl and digitally in late 2015, is now available on CD for the first time. The EP, which is up for Grammy Awards for Best American Roots Performance and Best Folk Album, is culled from the T Bone Burnett–produced sessions that yielded Giddens's acclaimed solo debut album, Tomorrow Is My Turn. "It's a clutch of tunes that work together like the cards in a winning poker hand," the New York Times says of Factory Girl. "Her accompaniment … points to an ageless gold standard for American roots music." "Deftly curated, gorgeously sung," says NPR, "this EP is America." Her new album, Freedom Highway, is due February 24.

The Staves, who kick off a four-week tour of North America next week, release the double A side "Tired As Fuck," a previously unreleased tune, and "Train Tracks," a re-mastered version of a bonus track from their 2015 album If I Was. The former was "written in the midst of a relationship breaking down," says the trio. "Lamenting the lack of some sort of guidance, but also accepting and resigning yourself to fact that you have to soldier on. Keep going. There is no helping hand. 'Train Tracks' is the beginning of something new and how confusing and difficult that can be when you're really just as clueless as anyone! The two tracks bookend each other in that respect." You can watch a video for "Tired As Fuck" here.