Laurie Anderson brings her latest piece, Delusion, to the Brighton Festival with a performance at the Brighton Concert Hall Thursday night, preceded by a conversation there tonight about her work, her influences, her collaborations, and her thoughts on art, language, and storytelling. She spoke with BBC 6 Music about Delusion, which the BBC calls "a highlight of this year's Brighton Festival." The tour continues in Germany this weekend, followed by shows in Spain, Portugal, Greece, and beyond.

Bob Dylan celebrates his 70th birthday today, and what better occasion than that to revisit Wanda Jackson's take on the legendary songwriter's "Thunder on the Mountain," as heard on her new, Jack White-produced album, The Party Ain't Over. Dylan himself, who once described Jackson as "an atomic bomb with lipstick," had suggested Jackson record the song, and it paid off with what HitFix called a "motorcyle-movie nasty" rendition of the tune. Watch the video here. Jackson performs live this week in Little Rock, Memphis, and Knoxville.

James Farm band mates Joshua Redman, Aaron Parks, Matt Penman, and Eric Harland continue their tour across Europe, with stops in Norway, France, and Benelux before returning to the US for four nights at NY's Jazz Standard in June. JazzTimes, in a review of James Farm's self-titled debut album, says: "The band reaches out to a wider world through 10 diverse, intriguing originals that boast melodic clarity, rhythmic allure and improvisational concision ... James Farm is a very cool album."

John Adams received an honorary doctorate from the Juilliard School, gave the commencement address ... Laurie Anderson performs Delusion in Germany ... The Black Keys, up for Billboard Music Awards, play the Hang Out Music Fest ... James Farm tours Europe ... Ben Folds tours Australia ... Wanda Jackson hits Houston, New Orleans ... Kronos Quartet performs in Phoenix ... The Low Anthem talks to Marketplace ... Philip Selway plays a set at Liverpool Sound City ... Chris Thile and Michael Daves are in Annapolis ... and more ...

Jonny Greenwood's orchestral piece Doghouse, featuring music used in his Norwegian Wood film score, receives its US premiere in performances by Ensemble Signal with the Wordless Music Orchestra and conductor Brad Lubman at the New York Society for Ethical Culture tonight and tomorrow night. Tonight's concert will be webcast live on Q2. The Wall Street Journal says the Radiohead guitarist's "sideline role as a composer of orchestral music might just trump what he's been up to with his band."

Ben Folds has three more shows in his Australian tour, before heading to Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea. He spoke with 774 ABC Melbourne radio about working with Nick Hornby on their album Lonely Avenue, which The Australian calls "a fine ensemble of adult pop songs ... He has a gift for seizing on the minutiae of everyday life and wrapping them in well-crafted melodies." The Brisbane Times says: "The musician's feel for the rhythm and emotional arc of a good story perfectly complements the novelist's lyrics."

Emmylou Harris will serve along with Tennessee's Governor and First Lady as honorary co-chairs for the 73rd Annual National Folk Festival in Nashville over Labor Day weekend. The festival is free. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, reviewing her new album, says: "Few weave stories like Emmylou Harris. Her Hard Bargain is a collection of tales that can make us feel whole again." The Boston Phoenix says Harris is "still singing and writing beautifully after all these years ... Hard Bargain is a gorgeous album."

Jessica Lea Mayfield, who heads to Europe on tour next week, has added a number of new dates to her US spring and summer tour. Her first set upon returning to the States is at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival on June 10, which will be followed by shows through the tail-end of summer, including six shows supporting The Avett Brothers and a set at the Belleayre Music Festival with label mates Punch Brothers. Esquire includes Mayfield's "Blue Skies Again," off her new album, Tell Me, on its list of "30 Summer Songs Every Man Should Listen To."

Chris Thile and Michael Daves are in the midst of their US tour, performing songs from their debut album, Sleep with One Eye Open. The Daily Telegraph gives the album four stars, calling Thile and Daves "a fine vocal duo ... but even more astonishing is their instrumental virtuosity." The Sunday Herald says that "whether they’re working their fingers to the bone or singing their hearts out, this is music of wonderful vitality." Birmingham says "the duo captures the vigorous vibe of the bluegrass jams that originally drew them together and the raucous nature of lives that often inspire such tunes."

The Austin City Limits Festival has announced the complete line-up for the 10th anniversary edition of the three-day festival to be held in Austin's Zilker Park this September, and, says BlackBook, "Austin's just showing off now." Among the performers: Randy Newman and Wanda Jackson. Austin 360 includes Newman among the festival's best "gets," placing him at no. 3, just after Stevie Wonder and Kanye West. The Wall Street Journal calls Jackson's new album "one of this year's unexpected treats."

Kronos Quartet was in Glasgow, Scotland, this past weekend for Kronos in Glasgow, a mini-festival in which Kronos was joined by special guest collaborators, hand-picked by the Quartet, for an international program of events taking place all weekend across Glasgow's Concert Halls. The Herald Scotland gives a perfect five stars to Friday's main Kronos concert in Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, which featured "Reich's remarkable multi-layered response to 9/11." STV calls the concert "a triumph ... nothing less than entrancing and massively entertaining from start to finish."

Carolina Chocolate Drops play WMNF’s Tropical Heatwave and choose new logo ... James Farm launches tour in Tel Aviv ... Ben Folds plays two nights in Sydney ... Emmylou Harris celebrates Kate McGarrigle in NYC and baseball in Nashville ... Wanda Jackson opens Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's Women Who Rock exhibit ... Kronos Quartet holds Kronos in Glasgow festival ... The Low Anthem plays Pacific Northwest ... Jessica Lea Mayfield closes out tour in Chicago ... Chris Thile, Michael Daves head South ... Dawn Upshaw joins Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall ... and more ...