Rokia Traoré, who performs at the Brooklyn Academy of Music tonight as part of the Nonesuch Records at BAM series, stopped by WNYC's Soundcheck to perform and talk with host John Schaefer. "It's impossible not to be transported by Rokia Traoré's voice and unique adaptation of rock," says the show. "The daughter of a diplomat, Traoré spent her childhood traveling to Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Belgium, and France, and her travels exposed her to jazz, classical, Indian music and rock. Those early transformative experiences especially translate into her newest release, 2013's Beautiful Africa." Hear the segment here.

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 was recently featured on BBC Radio 2's The Chris Evans Breakfast Show and spoke with BBC Radio 6 Music's Shaun Keaveny, discussing his forthcoming album, lullaby and… The Ceaseless Roar, and more. You can listen to both interviews here. Plant and his band the Sensational Space Shifters tour Japan this weekend. Pre-sale tickets for their fall North American tour are available now for Citi cardmembers; general on-sale begins Friday, August 15.

Nickel Creek is featured on today's episode of On Point, from NPR member station 90.9 WBUR in Boston. The group performs songs from its recent Nonesuch Records debut album, A Dotted Line and talks with host Tom Ashbrook about the new album, the group's evolution, and the various projects the band members have been working on in the years since the last Nickel Creek album. This year marks 25 years since the formation of the trio, dormant since 2007, and, says Ashbrook: "Now they’re back together, with a great sound." Hear the episode here.

Conor Oberst, who, backed by LA band Dawes, performs at SummerStage in NYC's Central Park under a beautiful mid-summer sky tonight, played in the similarly picturesque outdoor surroundings of the Newport Folk Festival over the weekend. NPR Music recorded the set, which is now streaming in full. "Conor Oberst has settled into his 30s as a wise and wizened elder statesman," says NPR. "He's come to channel his youthful intensity into real showmanship, especially onstage, while continuing to mine powerful emotions and a sort of fearless poignancy in his songwriting." His new album, "the very fine Upside Down Mountain ... finds him pairing inward-looking observations with outward-facing arrangements that project genuine soul and panache."

Nickel Creek performed at the famed Newport Folk Festival over the weekend, and NPR Music was there to capture the set, which is now streaming in full. The band's new album, A Dotted Line, "naturally reflects its members' creatively ambitious recent pursuits," says NPR's Stephen Thompson. "As with everything the band does, it blends playful lightness with remarkable musical chops." The band heads to the West Coast for the next leg of its tour starting this weekend.

Robert Plant's forthcoming album, lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar, and the track "Rainbow" are featured on NPR's All Songs Considered. "Trying to think of artists who’ve made music from the past who make relevant music, or at least music that expands the boundaries of what you’re used to hearing from them … making something fresh," posits host Bob Boilen. "The artist that came to mind is Robert Plant. I’m so in love with what he has tackled in the last decade or so and the projects he’s done. He’s got a new one called lullaby and… The Ceaseless Roar … It is just one great record … The sounds are fabulous."

Natalie Merchant kicked off her US tour over the July 4 holiday weekend. In advance of the tour start last week, she discussed the tour, her new ablum, and much more on public radio's The Diane Rehm Show, which calls the new album "the fullest expression of her songwriting voice to date," the CBC's Q with Jian Ghomeshi, and FUV Live from New York public radio station 90.7 WFUV.

John Adams's Saxophone Concerto, as heard on a new album with the title piece, City Noir, "is a gleaming vehicle for virtuoso saxophonist Timothy McAllister," says NPR's Thomas Huizenga. "He nails the fluent angularity and punchiness in the music with a lyrical touch somewhere comfortably between jazz and classical styles ... You can hear the influence of swing music, and the more frenetic pacing of great bebop sax men like Charlie Parker, over Adams' pulsating orchestra." McAllister gives the West Coast premiere of the piece at the Cabrillo Festival in August.

Nickel Creek recently stopped by Last.fm to discuss their new album, A Dotted Line, and the band's officially reuniting for the first time since its 2007 self-described "indefinite hiatus." The trio—Chris Thile, Sara Watkins, and Sean Watkins—also performs two songs from the new album, "Destination" and "Rest of My Life." You can watch the interview and performances here and catch the band live on tour in the US this summer. 

Natalie Merchant was featured on two radio sessions over the weekend: NPR’s World Cafe Friday, performing four songs from her new, self-titled album, “Lulu,” “Texas,” “Giving Up Everything,” and “Ladybird,” and on BBC Radio 2’s Bob Harris program Sunday, performing “It’s A-Coming” and “Texas” from the album, plus “Kind & Generous,” from 1998's Ophelia. Merchant, says Harris, has “one of the most beautiful and distinctive voices in the whole of rock and pop music.” Hear the Harris session here.

Conor Oberst, who performed songs from his new album, Upside Down Mountain, at Rough Trade NYC in Brooklyn last night, recently stopped by WFUV, 90.7 FM, in NYC to discuss the album and perform three songs from it for WFUV Live: "Hundreds of Ways," "Double Life," and "Time Forgot." You can watch them here. "For someone looking for a primer on the talents of Conor Oberst as a poet and songwriter," says FUV, "one need not look any further than Upside Down Mountain ... [He] has established himself as one of rock’s preeminent creative minds."