Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer have released a video of their performing "Big Top" from their new album, Bass & Mandolin. You can watch it here. The duo kicked off a North American tour this week in Vancouver. These "two giants of contemporary acoustic music ... managed to showcase exceptional chops while never falling into any of the tedious flash virtuosi so often are taken by," raves the Vancouver Sun. "It's a rare opportunity to be captivated by two such unusual instruments in a pairing. These two are truly special."

Carolina Chocolate Drops close out the summer and kick off the fall touring season at the Brooklyn Academy of Music tonight for the Nonesuch Records at BAM celebration of the label's 50th anniversary. (Rhiannon Giddens also joins label mates Kronos Quartet and others for another concert in the series on Saturday.) The band's US tour includes sets at the FreshGrass Bluegrass Festival in Massachusetts, the LA Bluegrass Situation, and stops in the West, Midwest, and South.

The Remix Collection from "Here Lies Love", featuring reimaginings of the music from David Byrne and Fatboy Slim’s off-Broadway hit, is set for release September 30 on the Todomundo! label, available to preorder at herelieslove.com. A collection of 14 tracks remixed by Matt Stine and Justin Levine, all proceeds will be donated to Gawad Kalinga, a charity dedicated to typhoon relief and ending poverty in the Philippines for five million families by 2024. The album will also be available at Here Lies Love performances at The Public Theater in New York and Dorfman Theater in London.

Bassist Edgar Meyer and mandolinist Chris Thile, whose second recording collaboration, Bass & Mandolin, was released last week on Nonesuch Records, kick off a month-long tour of North America with a performance at the Chan Shun Concert Hall in Vancouver tonight, followed by stops across the United States, from Seattle to Los Angeles, Austin to Boston, New York, Chicago, and many more. 

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell performed songs from their 2013 Grammy-winning duo album, Old Yellow Moon, and more under at Lincoln Center Out of Doors for AmericanaFest NYC in August. You can watch the complete concert here. They return to the Americana Music Honors & Awards ceremony in Nasvhille, where they took home two awards last year, this Wednesday; Ry Cooder performs in the house band for the evening. You can watch the entire event streaming live at npr.org. Harris kicks off a fall tour at the Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion this Friday, followed by a swing through the Northeast before heading out West in October.

The New Yorker has announced the program for the 2014 New Yorker Festival, taking place October 10–12, in New York City, which includes four artists familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal: Randy Newman in conversation with Susan Morrison, Jeremy Denk giving a talk on Comedy and Convention from Mozart to Seinfeld, Laurie Anderson with Alex Ross, and Stephen Sondheim with Adam Gopnik.

As the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s celebration of Nonesuch Records’ 50th anniversary, Nonesuch Records at BAM, began with a series of unforgettable concerts from Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Timo Andres, Nico Muhly, Brad Mehldau, and Chris Thile earlier this week, NPR’s All Things Considered took a look back at the label’s history and its evolution over the decades, talking with Nonesuch President Bob Hurwitz (who celebrates his own 30th anniversary with the company this year), founder Jac Holzman, and artists Thile, Randy Newman, and Jeremy Denk. "Sometimes good things come in small packages," says NPR. Nonesuch Records at BAM continues through September 28.

Robert Plant, whose new album, lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar, was release yesterday on Nonesuch/Warner Bros. Records, has unveiled the official music video for the first single off the album, "Rainbow." The video received its world premiere yesterday via The Colbert Report, and can now be seen here.

Natalie Merchant’s kicks off a late-summer and fall tour featuring music from her new, self-title album with a performance at the Pabst Theatre in Milwaukee tonight, followed by stops Chicago, New York, Boston, Seattle, Kansas City, DC, and more through December. While on tour, Merchant joins fellow Nonesuch artists Kronos Quartet, Rhiannon Giddens, Sam Amidon, and Olivia Chaney for a special set at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House as part of the Nonesuch at BAM celebration of the label's 50th anniversary. 

Robert Plant's new album, lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar, is out now. The album's release was featured in the New York Times list of 100 "events that have us especially excited" this season. The LA Times says he's created "a compellingly eclectic landscape." The Boston Globe calls it "a kaleidoscope that shows he still has much to say." American Songwriter says he "remains as creative, curious and truly artistic as ever, perhaps more so. And this stunning entry into his already impressive catalog shows he refuses to rest on his laurels." The Christian Science Monitor finds that "these are golden days" for Plant. The album earns four stars from the Times, Independent, Financial Times, and Guardian. The Irish Herald says this "brilliant" album is "a cause for celebration" and among the "most entertaining and sonically thrilling collections of the year."

Bass & Mandolin, the second recording collaboration by bassist Edgar Meyer and mandolinist Chris Thile, is out now. The album features ten original compositions by the two artists, who have been performing together sporadically for more than a decade and made their recording debut as a duo with 2008’s Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile, which the Washington Post praised, saying “Thile and Meyer are most enthralling when they pass a melody back and forth, fingers flying.” The duo embarks on a month-long North American tour on September 16. 

The Brooklyn Academy of Music's wide-ranging series of concerts and events Nonesuch Records at BAM: Celebrating a Label Without Labels, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Nonesuch Records, kicks off Tuesday night with the first of three consecutive nights of concerts from Philip Glass and Steve Reich plus a separate solo set from Brad Mehldau and continues through September 28. The New York Times says the series "reflects the broad curiosity and high standard of a label that has had notable successes ... with no guiding criteria other than instinct and taste." In conjunction with these events, BAMcinématek presents Nonesuch Records on Film, a salute to the label’s rich catalogue of movie soundtracks.