Emmylou Harris and Buddy Miller are on today's episode of NPR's World Cafe, talking with the show's host, David Dye, and performing a few favorite tunes, including "Love Hurts" and "Red Dirt Girl." The episode comes from the 2010 Cayamo Cruise, where Harris, Miller, and a host of great songwriter/performers played for a very lucky crowd at sea for the music festival cum Caribbean cruise earlier this year.

The world has been celebrating Stephen Sondheim's recent 80th birthday in style all month and will continue to do so with upcoming events at New York City Center and Ravinia. Today, NPR's Fresh Air celebrates by talking with the composer about his great body of work, his musical influences, his writing process, and much more.

Homeland, Laurie Anderson's first studio album in ten years, is due out on Nonesuch June 15 and is now available for pre-order at nonesuch.com. In a Nonesuch Store exclusive, the first 250 orders of Homeland include a limited-edition 12" vinyl single of the album track "Only an Expert," signed by Anderson. She recently spoke with the BBC World Service program The Strand, which calls her "one of the great artistic experimenters."

Pat Metheny and Orchestrion, his latest Nonesuch release and worldwide tour, were the subject of a feature on the latest episode of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday. "Seeing the orchestrion in action is like watching Santa's workshop," says NPR, "if Santa was a jazz cat." The tour is in California this week, where the San Diego Union Tribune calls the album "dazzling" and the Santa Barbara Independent calls it "wonderful."

Here Lies Love, David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's two-CD song cycle on the life of Imelda Marcos, was featured on NPR's All Things Considered Saturday. Here Byrne is seen signing copies of the album at the MoMA Store in New York. There's also an interview with Guernica magazine about the project. The Charleston Post and Courier says the Byrne/Slim collaboration makes for "the perfect combination."

Natalie Merchant is in New York City this week to celebrate the release of Leave Your Sleep with a flurry of activity, including a performance on WNYC's Soundcheck today. The Montreal Gazette gives the album a perfect five stars, dubbing it an "instant classic." Blogcritics says: "It's like these melodies and poems had been waiting around all of these years for Natalie Merchant to notice them." fRoots exclaims: "She has triumphed ... Leave Your Sleep is one of those albums that sounds like it just belongs; timeless and classic."

Laurie Anderson is in London for four nights to perform her latest work, Delusion, at the Barbican. The Evening Standard says "Anderson drew us into her dream-like world and fed us stories, poetic anecdotes, observations and meditations" through to the "bold, exciting ending." The Guardian, Times (UK), and Financial Times each give it four stars. She spoke with the BBC about the show and her new album, Homeland, from which will sign copies of a limited-edition vinyl single on Record Store Day, Saturday.

Natalie Merchant's Leave Your Sleep is out now. It was featured on NPR's Morning Edition, and Merchant performed songs from it on ABC's Good Morning America. The BBC says that the album's many musical styles are unified by the "sheer ravishing beauty of the arrangements, combined with the tasteful, organic aesthetic." The Irish Times gives it a perfect five stars, saying Merchant "has delivered something special."

Here Lies Love, David Byrne's song-cycle collaboration with Fatboy Slim, is out now. Byrne discussed the project on the BBC World Service program The Strand, which calls it "wonderful"; it was also Album of the Day on BBC Radio 6 Music. Newsday gives the album an A-, calling it "an amazing piece of work" and "a thrilling success." The AP describes the album as "a magnificent sonic treat ... an epic, thrilling tale brimming with hair-raising harmonies, sumptuous beats and unexpected duets." It receives four stars from the Daily Mirror and Daily Express, which calls it "excitingly original."

NPR's All Songs Considered unveils its Spring Music Preview, showcasing "a whole new batch of amazing music" coming soon, starting with "Howlin' for You," off The Black Keys' Brothers. "I just heard this cut and a few others," says producer Robin Hilton, "and loved it immediately. This is gonna be a great record." Host Bob Boilen plays "Only an Expert" off Laurie Anderson's Homeland. "I like her work a lot," he says. "I think she's one of America's great storytellers and has a way of insight into very ordinary, day-to-day stuff."

The Carolina Chocolate Drops have been on a roll on their current tour of the US, playing sold-out sets along the way, including one tonight at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, North Carolina. Tune in to North Carolina Public Radio's The State of Things live at 12 PM ET to hear a chat with the band. The Raleigh News & Observer says "the best thing the Chocolate Drops have going for them is freshness, an ability to make old music sound and feel relevant."

David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's upcoming collaboration, Here Lies Love, will be released in the US on April 6. In the meantime, you can stream the album in its entirety at NPR Music's First Listen at npr.org