Sun Midnight Sun, the second solo album from acclaimed singer, songwriter, and fiddle player Sara Watkins, is out today in North America, with a worldwide release on May 28. USA Today describes Sun Midnight Sun as "flawless" and gives the album four stars, "a gorgeous pop masterpiece with a string-player's sensibility ... pure musical pleasure." Watkins will celebrate the release of the album with a performance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Thursday and resumes her tour later this month.

Tune in to see Punch Brothers perform "This Girl," off their new album, Who's Feeling Young Now?, on Later Live ... with Jools Holland tonight on BBC Two. And tune in again to Friday's episode of Later to see them perform "Movement and Location" as well. The Wall Street Journal spoke with Chris Thile and Noam Pikelny about the new album for a video interview you can watch here. The New York Daily News includes the album among the Top 10 Things in Music this week; American Songwriter gives the album four stars. The Jerusalem Post, previewing the band's sets at the White City Music Festival in Tel Aviv this week, describes Punch Brothers as "one of the most acclaimed and upcoming young American bands."

k.d. lang and her band the Siss Boom Bang launch their North American tour with a performance in Thunder Bay, Ontario, tonight. lang and the band, which is featured on her latest album, Sing it Loud, released last year on Nonesuch Records, will tour the US and Canada throughout the spring and summer, including a number of newly added dates in Canada this September. For the first leg of the tour, starting with tonight's show, they will be joined by very special guest Jane Siberry.

Carolina Chocolate Drops' video for the track "Country Girl" has premiered on CMT.com. The song is from the band’s new album, Leaving Eden. Watch the video here. The Chocolate Drops are continuing their North American tour throughout the summer including a run of shows with the Dave Matthews Band. Following tonight's performance in Michigan, the tour takes the band to Virginia for three shows, starting with a concert at the Birchmere in Alexandria. The Chicago Tribune calls their recent performance "an ecstatic celebration of old-time music," in which the band "proved that the future—and the past—of American roots music is in very good hands."

Ligeti/Beethoven, the Nonesuch label debut from acclaimed pianist Jeremy Denk, is due out next week, on May 15. But you don’t need to wait till then to hear it. The album, which features Ligeti’s Piano Études, Books One and Two, and Beethoven’s Sonata No. 32 in C Minor, is streaming in full all this week as an NPR First Listen. "Throughout Ligeti/Beethoven," says NPR, "Denk plays masterfully, opening up each puzzle box in turn with vitality, wit and absolute assurance."

Amadou & Mariam will tour North America this summer for the first time since 2009, stopping at festivals including Lollapalooza, Central Park SummerStage, Outside Lands, and Osheaga, in addition to headlining theaters and clubs. On the tour, Amadou & Mariam will perform songs from Folila, the duo’s critically acclaimed new album.

The Black Keys take their North American arena tour to the West Coast, starting with two shows in California this weekend, in Oakland and Sacramento, followed by shows in Portland and Seattle, following recent successes in the Rockies and in Tulsa. The band "surpassed the lofty heights they had achieved on their most recent album, El Camino, by unleashing a beat-heavy, surprisingly groovy set that resonated in the concrete under your feet," says the Salt Lake Tribune. Their Denver show proved "a voluminous triumph," Reverb raves. "A Black Keys concert radiates with what every rock show should," says Tulsa World: "very nearly blasphemous, raw, unbridled energy." The Black Keys will appear on an upcoming episode of Comedy Central's Workaholics.

Philip Glass and Robert Wilson's Einstein on the Beach, widely credited as one of the greatest artistic achievements of the 20th century, opens at the Barbican Theatre in London tonight, marking its UK premiere. It is the first of eight performances at the Barbican and part of a major international tour. Glass and Wilson recently spoke with the Guardian about the making of the piece and were interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Today. Philip Glass is featured in The Fader's Icon Issue, which includes Wilson's reflections on Einstein on the Beach, an oral history of Glass's work, a look at his legacy, a photo essay of recent Glass performances around the world, and an interview with the composer.

Björk has been named Artist of the Year by the Webby Awards, which honor excellence on the Internet. Her latest album, Biophilia, was also released as a suite of Apps, with a dedicated App for each song on the album. Björk is also featured in today's Guardian, in which she shares an eclectic list of things that have inspired her of late, which covers art, music, literature, climate conditions, geography, outdoor activities, even coconut water.

Steve Reich made a rare visit to Australia for a residency at the Sydney Opera House that culminated in an all-Reich concert Sunday night. His Pulitzer Prize-winning Double Sextet was performed "with brilliant edginess" by eighth blackbird, says the Sydney Morning Herald in a four-star review, and with "tight-knit playing and incisive attack," says The Australian. Of Reich's seminal Music for 18 Musicians, the latter paper writes: "Performed by a collective of Australia's finest contemporary music performers, this compelling account captured its exuberance while simultaneously revealing its inventive instrumental colours." On Monday, Reich participated in a conversation and concert at the Melbourne Recital Centre.

Shawn Colvin, whose new album, All Fall Down, is due out June 5, will preview tracks from the album at NYC’s City Winery on June 4. The show will be broadcast live on New York's WFUV, 90.7 FM, streaming live at wfuv.org. A consummate, natural and engaging performer, Colvin has a run of live shows leading up to and following the album’s release, including headlining shows, duo dates with Mary Chapin Carpenter, and shows as very special guest of Chris Isaak. Fans can expect to hear much loved favorites as well as songs from the new album. 

Carolina Chocolate Drops, who joined The Chieftains for a performance on Later ... with Jools Holland on BBC Two last Tuesday, were also featured on  Friday's full episode of Later. That show included an encore broadcast of The Chieftains performance as well as a solo performance from the Chocolate Drops of the song "No Man's Mama," off of their new album, Leaving Eden. Watch the performance here. Following the weekend's "joyous, emotionally committed show" (Times-Picayune) at New Orleans Jazz Fest, the band performs in the Midwest this week.