Randy Newman stopped by NPR in Washington, DC, to perform a Tiny Desk Concert for Bob Boilen and the staff at NPR and NPR Music. The set included four songs from his new album, Dark Matter: "Putin," "She Chose Me," "It's A Jungle Out There," and "Wandering Boy." "I think Randy Newman is a national treasure," says Boilen. "Randy Newman paints lasting portraits of places and people, all the while poking fun and highlighting injustice, stupidity, power and humanity and he's been doing it for half a century." You can watch the set here.

Rostam followed his performance on Conan last night with a forty-minute set and interview with KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic today. He spoke with host Jason Bentley about his just-released debut album, Half-Light, and was joined by the Calder Quartet to perform several songs from the new album. You can watch the full session here.

Offa Rex (Olivia Chaney and The Decemberists) was on NPR's World Cafe. Chaney and The Decemberists' Colin Meloy were in the studio to talk with host Talia Schlanger, who calls Offa Rex a "trans-Atlantic musical love story set in harpsichord heaven," and the full band performs four songs from its debut album, The Queen of Hearts, recorded live at the XPoNential Festival. You can hear the interview and the live set here.

Fleet Foxes' Robin Pecknold was a guest on NPR's All Things Considered. He discusses the band's new album, Crack-Up, and shares some of the experiences he had in the years since the release of the group's previous album. "Anything can teach you a lesson that you apply to what you make," says Pecknold. "And I still feel that way. I still feel like the more experience I have outside music, the closer my music is to what I want it to be. And it's just about chasing those experiences." You can hear what else he has to say in the interview here.

Sam Amidon was on WNYC's Soundcheck to talk with host John Schaefer about his new album, The Following Mountain, and perform three songs from it live with electric guitarist Grey McMurray: "Juma Mountain," "Warren," and "Another Story Told." You can listen to the interview and performance here. Earlier this week, Amidon announced a fall tour of North America and added new Scandinavian dates to his previously announced European tour.

Randy Newman was a guest on NPR's Morning Edition. He performed in the NPR studio and spoke with host Steve Inskeep about his new album, Dark Matter. You can hear the on-air piece and their extended, full interview here. The album has been named WFUV's New Dig. "Dark Matter arrives at the right time and delivers the commentary and insight we crave from Newman," says WFUV. "The man is one of the era’s great songwriters, composers, and storytellers, and Dark Matter perfectly fits in his legacy." WFUV recently recorded a live session with Newman at NYC's Electric Lady Studios; it airs tonight and is available now at wfuv.org.

Randy Newman, whose new album, Dark Matter, is out on Nonesuch tomorrow, was on WNYC's Leonard Lopate show today. He spoke with Lopate and performed songs from the album live in the WNYC studios. You can hear the conversation and performances here.

Olivia Chaney's solo show at Joe's Pub in NYC tonight comes amidst her tour opening for The Decemberists, her partners in the new project Offa Rex, and is today's Gig Alert from WNYC's Soundcheck. Chaney and The Decemberists' Colin Meloy are also on the latest episode of Soundcheck. They talk with host John Schaefer about Offa Rex, its origin and inspirations, and perform the title track to the group's debut album, The Queen of Hearts. You can hear the conversation and performance here.

NPR Music has published a list titled Turning the Tables: The 150 Greatest Albums Made by Women, and among them are Emmylou Harris's Wrecking Ball, Laurie Anderson's Big Science, k.d. lang's Ingénue, and the Bulgarian State Radio & Television Female Vocal Choir's Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares. "This list, of the greatest albums made by women between 1964 and the present, is an intervention, a remedy, a correction of the historical record and hopefully the start of a new conversation," says NPR.

Devendra Banhart was on BBC 6 Music's Lauren Laverne show today, ahead of his concert at Hackney Empire in London tonight. He spoke with guest host Nemone about his new album, Ape in Pink Marble, among other things, and performed two songs from the record live: "Middle Names" and "Themes for a Taiwanese Woman in Lime Green." You can listen to the full session and watch the performance of "Middle Names" here.

Offa Rex, the new project from Olivia Chaney and The Decemberists, released its debut album, The Queen of Hearts, on Friday. Chaney was on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday yesterday to discuss the project, the origins of which can be traced to a tweet from The Decemberists' Colin Meloy. You can listen to the interview and even hear Chaney give an impromptu a cappella performance of an old Jewish hymn here. Chaney and Meloy will be on BBC Radio 2's The Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe on Wednesday.

Fleet Foxes were the guests on NPR's World Cafe on Friday. Host Talia Schlanger says the band's new album, Crack-Up, is "a lush and dense album with the harmonies and folky feel you expect from Fleet Foxes and a structure that's pretty unexpected." She spoke with Robin Pecknold about the album, and the band performed several songs from the album live. Find out what Pecknold had to say and hear the performances here.