Randy Newman performed every song off his forthcoming Nonesuch release, Harps and Angels, this past Wednesday in a special, intimate showcase at the new LA venue Largo at the Coronet. Variety's Steven Mirkin writes that "both the concert and the wonderful new album ... show Newman to be at the height of his powers, writing some of the most acerbic and heartfelt songs of his career."

Laurie Anderson gave the first of five performances at Lincoln Center of her latest piece, Homeland, last night. The New York Sun's Joy Goodwin calls it "the work of a consummate artist at the highest level of her craft" and "the natural extension of what Bob Dylan and the Byrds were doing" in the 1960s, "taking on the establishment with words and melodies, and holding an audience in the palm of their hand."

The Magnetic Fields recently complete a sold-out, five-night stint at London's Cadogan Hall to which The Independent gives a perfect five stars, calling the band "masters of the pocket symphony" and finding the roots of Stephin Merritt's songwriting in Cole Porter and Tom Lehrer. NME asserts that with the concerts, the group "proved themselves the greatest band in operation today without even breaking a sweat."

k.d. lang is back in the British Isles to close out her European Watershed tour with a string of dates that began last night in Oxford and continue from tonight in Sheffield through Dublin, Ireland, on Monday to the last stop, Brighton, a week later. The Guardian features an extensive interview with k.d. that asserts: "First and always foremost, there was her voice, as pure and wide and open as Canadian skies."

Punch Brothers, fresh off a successful tour of Ireland and the UK, are back in the States and set to play tonight in downtown New York City as part of the River to River Festival of free summer concerts. After last week's London show, the Financial Times called the group among the "foremost practitioners" of "progressive bluegrass," and their music "Americana played with adventure and accomplishment." Please note: due to tonight's inclement weather forecast, the concert has been moved inside, to Stuyvesant High School, across the street from Rockefeller Park.

Laurie Anderson brings Homeland, her newest performance piece, to New York's Lincoln Center this week for a five-night run as part of the acclaimed Lincoln Center Festival of music, theater, and dance. Her band for the performances, which will be held at Lincoln Center's Rose Theater, includes Joey Baron, Rob Burger, Greg Cohen, and Eyvind Kang.

Also as part of the Festival, Laurie will participate in a symposium in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse, prior to Thursday's performance. For the event, she will discuss Homeland with Elizabeth Diller of the prestigious design firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

On the Lincoln Center website, you can find more information on these events and watch a video of "Only an Expert" from the broadcast A Lincoln Center Special Night: A Gala Night at Alice Tully Hall, which originally aired on May 3, 2007. Visit lincolncenter.org.

Here is our weekly list of just some of the many events going on across the globe this weekend featuring Nonesuch artists ...

Here is our weekly list of just some of the many events going on across the globe this weekend featuring Nonesuch artists ...

Here is our weekly list of just some of the many events going on
across the globe this long, holiday weekend featuring Nonesuch artists ...

Orchestra Baobab's Made in Dakar tour of the States culminated last night with a concert at the intimate Dakota Cafe in Minneapolis that lead Minneapolis City Pages reviewer Peter S. Scholtes to exclaim: "Orchestra Baobab is the kind of band that makes critics (at least this one) resort to hyperbole and sociology: They sound like God ..."

Orchestra Boabab continues its US tour, bringing music from its latest release, Made in Dakar, to New York City for two free shows, today and tomorrow. This evening at 7 PM ET, the seminal Senegalese band will perform at Rockefeller Park on the Hudson River in downtown Manhattan as part of the summer's River to River Festival of free outdoor performances. Tomorrow, the group will head to Brooklyn's MetroTech center for a noon event as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Rhythm & Blues Festival.

Harps and Angels, Randy Newman's first album of new music in nearly a decade, is due out on Nonesuch August 5, and already, CBS Sunday Morning's Bill Flanagan is calling it one of the summer's best.