Devendra Banhart launches a four-concert tour of Australia with a performance at the Factory Theatre outside Sydney Wednesday night, followed by a show at the Prince Bandroom outside Melbourne Thursday, and two sets at the 25th annual Byron Bay Bluesfest (pictured) this Saturday and Monday. The weekend's sets mark Banhart's Bluesfest debut. Also performing at the festival are Iron and Wine and Dr. John. In May, Banhart joins Rokia Traoré to kick off the Barbican's month-long celebration of Nonesuch at 50.

"Turn Blue," the title track of The Black Keys’ forthcoming album, premiered earlier today on Patrick Carney’s SiriusXM show, Serious Boredom, and can be heard here. The song, as well as the first single, "Fever," are both included as free instant downloads with LP, CD, and digital pre-orders of the album in the Nonesuch Store and at the band's site, and with iTunes pre-orders.

Conor Oberst performed seven songs from his forthcoming album, Upside Down Mountain, live at the Greene Space in NYC last Wednesday night as part of Gigstock, a mini festival from WNYC's Soundcheck. You can watch Oberst's performance here. "If the songs he played at Gigstock are any indication," says CMJ, "Upside Down Mountain is going to be a hell of a record."

Nickel Creek celebrated the release of its new album, A Dotted Line, earlier this month with a number of TV and radio performances, including WNYC's Soundcheck, on which the band performed three tracks from the album—"Destination," "21st of May," and "Rest of My Life." You can hear the full show and watch the three song performances here. "Remarkably, while each member's distinctive musical voice comes through, the chemistry between Thile and Sara and Sean Watkins when they play together has never felt stronger," says the show. "While A Dotted Line documents a more mature Nickel Creek than it once was, yet that joyfully rebellious spirit that so many of us fell for still shines through." 

Natalie Merchant's new self-titled album is due May 6. The video for the song "Giving Up Everything," directed by Dan Winters and featuring the first music to be heard from the album, has premiered on NPR's First Watch. "Rarely is an artist as honest and revealing as Natalie Merchant in her new video and song, 'Giving Up Everything,'" says NPR Music's Bob Boilen. "Watch the video, let it settle in your bones, and watch again." You can do so here.

Nonesuch Records releases City Noir—comprising the title piece by composer John Adams and the debut recording of his Saxophone Concerto—on May 6, 2014. Both pieces are performed by the St. Louis Symphony led by Music Director David Robertson. Saxophonist Timothy McAllister is featured on both pieces. The City Noir album is available to pre-order in the Nonesuch Store.

The Barbican's Contemporary Music Podcast offers a taste of what's to come in the Barbican's marathon weekend, Explorations: The Sound of Nonesuch Records, and wider Nonesuch celebration in May. The latest edition of the podcast is devoted to these events, featuring interviews with Nonesuch Records President Bob Hurwitz, Carolina Chocolate Drops' Rhiannon Giddens, and composer/pianist Timo Andres. "Musical visionaries and true pioneers have been recorded by the label in the last 50 years," says the Barbican, "and here we celebrate their legacy, their free spirit and what's still to come." Listen to the podcast here.

Today marks the reissue of Emmylou Harris’s groundbreaking album Wrecking Ball, produced by Daniel Lanois. It features the remastered original album, a bonus CD of previously unreleased material, and a DVD of the behind-the-scenes documentary Building the Wrecking Ball. The San Francisco Chronicle calls the album "one of the crowning achievements of both of their careers, one of the finest albums by anyone in the past two decades." The reissue earns five stars from Mojo and Uncut, which calls it "ambitious and audacious ... a masterpiece." Harris and Lanois are on tour now, performing music from the album.

Nonesuch celebrates Kronos Quartet, long known as interpreters of music from around the world, in its 40th anniversary year with two releases: Kronos Explorer Series, a box set of five classic albums from five different parts of the world, and A Thousand Thoughts, a new album that looks at Kronos’s geographically wide-ranging sources, featuring music from 14 different countries. Both are out today in North America (international release April 21). Kronos continues its anniversary celebration at the Switchboard Music Festival in its hometown of San Francisco this Saturday.

Nickel Creek's new album, A Dotted Line, debuted at #7 on the Billboard 200, the band's highest chart position to date! It's been a busy week for the group, with performances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, WNYC's Soundcheck, CBS This Morning Saturday, and A Prairie Home Companion. Nickel Creek, which begins its first US tour in seven years next week, has announced a new batch of tour dates for this summer. A limited pre-sale for most of the newly announced dates begins Wednesday, April 9, at 10 AM local time.

Toumani Diabaté, widely recognized as the greatest living kora player, and his eldest son Sidiki, release the recording Toumani & Sidiki on World Circuit on May 19. The Guardian has called it "the finest Toumani collaboration since his classic work with Ali Farka Touré." The album, produced by World Circuit’s Nick Gold with engineer Jerry Boys, is a set of unaccompanied kora duets, featuring both obscure, almost forgotten kora pieces and a new look at some Mandé classics from Mali. With this album, Toumani aims "to show the positive side of Mali," to reassert the legacy of a country with access to untold musical riches. 

Bombino kicks off the latest leg of his world tour with two sets at the Savannah Music Festival in Georgia, tonight, alongside Fatoumata Diawara. His month-long North American tour heads next to the TransAtlantic Festival in Miami, out West and back down South, including festival sets at Coachella, New Orleans JazzFest, and more. Bombino also plays a number of European and North American festivals this summer.