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."

Conor Oberst was musical guest on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on NBC last night, joined by Dawes to perform "Zigzagging Toward the Light," off his just-released album, Upside Down Mountain. He recently stopped by Last.fm to talk about and perform "Hundreds of Ways" and "Double Life" off the new album. Watch all of these performances and the interview here. The New York Times says: "All of Mr. Oberst’s gifts align on Upside Down Mountain." He can be heard on NPR's World Cafe this afternoon and performs at Rough Trade NYC in Brooklyn tonight.

Natalie Merchant's new, self-titled album was released earlier this week to great critical acclaim. The New York Times describes the album as "a set of dark, brave, thoughtful and serenely startling songs." NPR's All Things Considered says: "This record gives full rein to Natalie Merchant's voice, which is stronger than ever, especially in her magnificent lower register." A USA Today feature finds Merchant "driven by the same sense of empathy that has always motivated her." Refinery29 says the new album marks "the return of one of music’s most illustrious voices." 

The Black Keys stopped by the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in London to talk with Zane Lowe and perform three tracks from their forthcoming album, Turn Blue: the first single, "Fever"; the title track; and an exclusive new track from the album, "Bullet in the Brain." You can watch the performance of "Bullet in the Brain" here. The band was on Later … with Jools Holland live on Tuesday and will be on the full show Friday night.

The Black Keys, after performing “Fever,” from their new album, Turn Blue, on Che Tempo Che Fa in Italy Sunday, performs on BBC Two’s Later … with Jools Holland tonight and Friday. On Wednesday, The Black Keys perform on BBC Radio 1’s Zane Lowe. The band is featured on the cover of the new issue of Mojo magazine (pictured at left), and Turn Blue is Album of the Month in Uncut, which exclaims: “Turn Blue turns out to be The Black Keys’ sneakiest, subtlest and most seductive album.” The Independent gives it five stars, calling it "a post-modern blues-rock marvel."