Ry Cooder’s Election Special, due out August 21, is a wake-up call as the US heads into the 2012 fall election season. "'Wasting Away in Margaritaville' was a good song in its day," says Cooder, "but we need a different kind of a song now if we’re going to make headway against the likes of Charlie and Dave." On Election Special, which he produced, Cooder plays mandolin, guitar, and bass and wrote all of the songs, co-writing one with Joachim Cooder, who plays drums on the record. Stay tuned for an exclusive Nonesuch Store pre-order offer to come.

AfroCubism—the group behind the long-awaited collaboration between Cuban and Malian musicians originally meant to take place when the Buena Vista Social Club was born—launches a whirlwind, four-stop North American tour at Bonnaroo tomorrow, followed by a free show in New York City for Celebrate Brooklyn! on Saturday, a Sunday night show at Raleigh's North Carolina Museum of Art, and free set at Toronto's Luminato Festival with Fatoumata Diawara on Tuesday.

Shawn Colvin marked the release of her new album, All Fall Down, and memoir, Diamond in the Rough, with her first-ever book reading / performance at Barnes & Noble in NYC; she'll do the same in LA on Monday, before Tuesday's concert at the El Rey. Colvin appears on NPR's Diane Rehm Show tomorrow. The New York Daily News says the music on All Fall Down is "delivered with agile vocals and finely woven folk-rock melodies." The Boston Globe says the new book is full of "humor, remorse, and gratitude ... Colvin illuminates the magical blend of craft and happenstance that leads to powerful music."

Amadou & Mariam's new album, Folila, is an Editors' Pick in the Washington Post, which dubs it the "best place to complete a degree in world music." The album track "Baro," featuring French singer Bertrand Cantat, has been named Today's Top Tune at KCRW, which says Amadou & Mariam "remain true to their roots. The husband and wife team prove that melding popular and traditional music only creates a richer tapestry." The duo will tour North America this summer.

The Black Keys performed a special rendition of their hit single “Gold on the Ceiling,” at the 2012 MTV Movie Awards last night in honor of the actor/musician Johnny Depp, who joined the band on guitar for the performance before receiving the MTV Generation Award, the MTV Movie Awards' highest honor, from Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. Watch The Black Keys / Jonny Depp performance of "Gold on the Ceiling" below.

Shawn Colvin's new album, All Fall Down, is out this week. To mark the occasion, AOL Music is streaming the album in full all week, and to kick off the celebration, Colvin is performing a special album-release concert at City Winery in New York City tonight, joined onstage by album producer Buddy Miller and bassist Viktor Krauss. The show will be broadcast live on WFUV in New York, online at wfuv.org. The Daily Telegraph calls All Fall Down as "an assured and imaginative album ... the assembled cast of musicians is superb."

Steve Reich will join the Bang on a Can All-Stars on their European tour next month, with concerts at Cité de la Musique in Paris and at the Bloc festival in London, featuring an all-Reich program. Reich spoke with the folks at Bloc for an illuminating video feature about his influences—including Ghanaian drumming and Balinese gamelan—with illustrative examples and archival performance footage of his own work. Watch the video here.

Sara Watkins' video for the song "Take Up Your Spade," the closing track off her new album, Sun Midnight Sun, has premiered on the Los Angeles Times Pop & Hiss blog, which describes the song as "a gentle benedictory ode to the notion that every moment brings with it the possibility of renewal." The video was shot at the recording session for the new album by director Reid Long and features guest vocalists Jackson Browne and Fiona Apple and producer Blake Mills. Watch it here.

Dr. John kicks off a two-week tour of the United States featuring music from his Nonesuch debut album, Locked Down, and favorite tunes from throughout the New Orleans legend's 50+ year career. Joining him for the tour will be his band The Lower 911 featuring Jon Cleary. In addition to his own headline shows, Dr. John will join Gov't Mule for several shows across the South and will be a special guest of Iron & Wine for a show at the Ravinia Festival. At the end of the month, the tour heads to Europe for several club shows and festival sets through July.

Congratulations to Carolina Chocolate Drops and Punch Brothers, who have both been nominated for Duo/Group of the Year in the 2012 Americana Honors & Awards, presented by the Americana Music Association. Punch Brothers' own Chris Thile has also been nominated as Instrumentalist of the Year. The awards ceremony will take place at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium on September 12, as part of the Americana Music Festival.

Kronos Quartet has announced the details of the fifth edition of the Kronos: Under 30 Project, a commissioning program designed to support the creation of new music by young artists. Applications are available now; the deadline is November 16, 2012. The selected composer will be commissioned to write a new work for the quartet, which will premiere in Spring 2014 as a part of Kronos' 40th anniversary season. The Kronos: Under 30 Project was created in 2003, Kronos’ 30th anniversary year.

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