The Low Anthem's new album, Smart Flesh, is due out next week, on February 22. Until then, you can listen to the album streaming in its entirety as an NPR First Listen on npr.org. The band makes records "worth discovering slowly and embracing with loving care," says NPR's Stephen Thompson. Smart Flesh "showcases a band that's never been on surer footing," he says. "Alternately rustic and relevant, these songs sound haunted in every possible way ... beautiful through and through." Clash Music says: "this is the human condition set to music."

Jessica Lea Mayfield and her album Tell Me were featured on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday. "Meeting, matching, looking for love and struggling to keep it are all subjects for songs on Jessica Lea Mayfield's new album," says host Scott Simon. Mayfield performs those songs at First Avenue in Minneapolis tonight, the final stop on her tour with Justin Townes Earle. Up next are three shows with the Avett Brothers. Watch Mayfield performs the song "Sometimes At Night," off of Tell Me, in a video here.

Sara Watkins kicked off her tour with The Decemberists last week and continues through the coming months. Prior to the launch of the tour, Watkins was given the very special opportunity to serve as guest host of the beloved radio show A Prairie Home Companion. Her appearance on WNYC's Soundcheck, in which she discusses her guest-hosting gig, was originally slated to air last week but will air today instead.

The Black Keys will be the guests on today's episode of NPR's Fresh Air to talk about their music, not least their latest Nonesuch release, 2010's Brothers, which is nominated in six categories at next month's Grammy Awards and recently garnered the band a Gold record. On The Black Keys' tour schedule are two sold-out shows in Las Vegas and the Coachella festival. Rolling Stone placed Patrick Carney at No. 3 among the 50 Top Tweeters in Music.

Tune in to NPR's Fresh Air today to hear Wanda Jackson's 2003 interview on the show. Consequence of Sound gives Jackson's new Jack White-produced album four stars, saying "The Party Ain’t Over proves to be a bold success." The Louisville Courier-Journal calls Jackson "the hottest thing that ever came out of Oklahoma, counting oil-well fires and Wayne Coyne," and says with her new album, she "proves there's no age limit on fun." Jackson gives a free concert in her hometown of Oklahoma City tonight.

With just over a week to go before the Metropolitan Opera premiere of John Adams's Nixon in China and the Nonesuch reissue of the original cast recording, Q2— the online new-music stream of New York public radio station WQXR—celebrated last week with a weeklong immersion in long-form works by the composer. The series proved so popular, Q2 will air an encore presentation starting today, featuring El Niño, A Flowering Tree, Doctor Atomic Symphony, Nixon in China, and The Death of Klinghoffer.

Wanda Jackson's new Jack White-produced album, The Party Ain't Over, is due out January 25; until then, you can listen to the album streaming in its entirety as an NPR First Listen on npr.org. "Jackson's partnership with White proves to be exciting and imaginative, but also entirely appropriate," says NPR. "Both musicians are true innovators who set a new standard for cool. It's like hearing a collaboration between 1958 and 2011, and they get along great."

Sara Watkins is no stranger to NPR's A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. She has appeared as a guest on the show several times and joined Keillor and cast on tour last summer. This weekend, Watkins embarks on a historic first for both her and the show as its first-ever guest host. "I've never gotten to see the show myself," says Keillor. "I've always been standing in the wings and thinking about what I'm supposed to do next. For once in my life, I want to stand in the back of the hall and watch for a few minutes. And Sara is a smart and funny and hugely gifted young woman." Watkins calls it "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Carter Burwell will be the guest on Soundcheck from New York public radio station WNYC today. In today's episode, titled The Western Frontier, Burwell talks about his score for True Grit, the new film from Joel and Ethan Coen starring Jeff Bridges, and the 19th-century hymns that inspired it. Also on the air today, the Coen brothers will appear on NPR's Fresh Air to discuss the new film.

The Low Anthem will be the guests on WNYC's Soundcheck today, performing songs from their forthcoming album, Smart Flesh. The band is in New York to play a sold-out concert for Lincoln Center's American Songbook series, then heads West to perform at the Sundance Film Festival and to Los Angeles for a show with Iron & Wine. Following an intimate set for a home-state crowd this past weekend, the Visible Voice blog says Ben Knox Miller "is leading the pack in a new generation of songwriters."

Youssou N'Dour has been named among the world's 50 Great Voices according to NPR, a diverse list that also includes Björk, Asha Bhosle, Billie Holiday, Maria Callas, Robert Plant, and dozens of others—"awe-inspiring vocalists from around the world and across time." On NPR's All Things Considered, contributor Banning Eyre says that throughout his long and varied career, "N'Dour has remained on top, without question Senegal's most beloved singer."

Sara Watkins and her brother Sean were featured on NPR's Folk Alley over the holiday week. Sara discussed the many projects with she has been involved since her earliest days in Nickel Creek, not least her 2009 self-titled Nonesuch debut album, from which the two perform a number of songs live. She will guest-host A Prairie Home Companion on January 15 and will tour with The Decemberists starting later this month.