James Farm and their self-titled debut album are featured on NPR's All Things Considered today. "New bands don't come along every day in jazz," says NPR's Tom Moon. "But listen to these unusual compositions, and to the lively exchanges that erupt inside of them. Even though these players can only make a partial commitment of time to James Farm, they're fully committed musically." The Los Angeles Times says: "While the term 'supergroup' may be a loaded concept, it's hard not to consider James Farm one ... The new ground covered by [Joshua] Redman and cohorts casts a spell of its own."

As Björk's Biophilia residency at the Manchester International Festival continues, so too does the critical acclaim for her. The Guardian says as a pop innovator, "Björk is peerless" and "remains an icon: tiny but titanic, thanks to the size of her voice and the scope of her imagination." The Daily Telegraph gives the performances four stars, citing the music's "transcendent beauty." The Financial Times says "Biophilia’s songs are some of the best Björk has written for a long time." Independent on Sunday calls it "brilliantly original and ambitious." The Quietus calls her "an international treasure." Björk is the guest editor of the entire 200th issue of Dazed & Confused, out Thursday.

Pat Metheny's new album, What's It All About, receives four-and-a-half stars from Audiophile Audition. "What makes his latest CD special is that he makes familiar popular songs that most listeners will recognize come alive," raves Audiophile Audition. "[T]he acoustics here are stunning ... This CD has Grammy written all over it." The BBC says Metheny's guitar "provides a sumptuous setting" for the songs on the album. The Lexington Herald Leader says it makes for "some glorious new summer music."

Björk gave the world premiere of her Biophilia live show last night, launching the Manchester International Festival. The New York Times says: "The new songs juxtapose hovering textures of choir and organ with sparse pointillism and sudden eruptions of breakbeat drumming, all set against Björk’s idiosyncratic melodies." The Guardian gives the concert four stars: "Bjork's voice still sounded gloriously childlike and otherworldly, a voice from what at times literally felt like a parallel dimension." The Times of London gives four stars as well: "For all the gadgetry and theatricality of this show, the elemental voice at its core was still the most remarkable instrument." The Manchester Evening News calls it "extraordinary."

Kate and Anna McGarrigle are featured on a new stamp released by the Canada Post today. The stamp is the latest in a series honoring outstanding Canadian singer-songwriters and performers who have won accolades in Canada and abroad. American Songwriter gives the three-disc McGarrigle set Tell My Sister four stars. SPIN rates it a nine out of ten, citing the sisters' "eccentric genius." Uncut credits their "sublime voices, combined in the effortless harmonies that only siblings seem able to provide."

The Black Keys kicked off their trans-Canadian summer tour with sold-out shows in Vancouver and Calgary. There are several more sold-out Canadian dates to follow in the coming weeks, plus a few select shows in the US. Band mates Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney are "in top shape," says the Vancouver Sun of Monday's tour launch. "The Black Keys are a better band than they've ever been ... Auerbach and Carney just nailed it." Vancouver's Straight calls it "a blistering, glorious motherf*cker of a set."

The Low Anthem is featured on the cover of the inaugural issue of Paste magazine's new weekly digital, multimedia mPlayer, which includes a cover story on the band, exclusive photos, a download of "Boeing 737" off the band's new album, Smart Flesh, and a short documentary video shot at the band's album release concert at the Rhode Island pasta sauce factory in which the album was recorded. The Independent says the band was "kicking up a storm" at Glastonbury this weekend, "enjoying themselves to an almost fevered extent ... Playing to this audience seems to be as special as being in it."

Randy Newman will perform at the new ACL Live at Austin's Moody Theater on September 19; the show will be recorded for future broadcast on PBS's Austin City Limits, launching its 37th season this fall. American Songwriter gives his new album four-and-a-half stars. "You can hardly make a better case that songs can be the equal of any art form than the classics on display in The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 2. The album is essential listening for those who care about American music (not just the popular variety)." The Los Angeles Times says that, "like a Picasso line drawing, he can convey mountains of emotion with the simplest of notes, chords and melodic lines ... In committing the bare bones versions to disc, he's preserved them for the ages, which is where they belong."

Chris Thile and Michael Daves will be the guests on WNYC's Soundcheck on Wednesday, July 20, performing before a live audience at WNYC's Greene Space in downtown Manhattan. Later that night, the duo head out to Brooklyn to perform at the Bell House. Rolling Stone calls the debut album from "mandolin God Chris Thile" and "hot-shit Brooklyn guitarist Michael Daves" a "ridiculously blazing set ... The uptempo jams are wild-picking shred fests, and the ballads cut deep."

Jessica Lea Mayfield's Tell Me tops the Los Angeles Times list of the best records released so far in 2011. "The British-born Adele may be getting all the attention for her merging of soul, rock, r&b and country," says the Times, "but another young singer, Jessica Lea Mayfield, has released an equally assured Muscle Shoals-inspired soul album ... Mayfield’s ability to capture private vignettes and draw them with unguarded honesty makes Tell Me essential listening. It’s rough and honest, strong but also delicate and vulnerable." Mayfield is set to launch her US summer tour next week and has added several new dates through September.

The 38th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival took place this past weekend, and among the highlights were "the dove-like voice of country legend Emmylou Harris and the sharp wit and ridiculous talent of Chris Thile," says Reverb; a "pick-off" launched by The Decemberists with Béla Fleck, Jerry Douglas, and Punch Brothers' Noam Pikelny; and a Punch Brothers set that provided what Reverb calls "one of the fest’s most charming musical moments." For photos, visit nonesuch.com/media.

k.d. lang and the Siss Boom Bang kicked off their North American tour at the Rochester Jazz Festival last week, followed by a free outdoor concert at Toronto's Luminato Festival; the tour lands at New York City's Beacon Theatre tonight. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle says lang's "voice was potent from the get-go." The Toronto Sun gives the Luminato set four-and-a-half stars, calling lang's voice "one of the world’s best." The Independent says lang's new album, Sing it Loud, is "an elegant, understated LP that contains nods to the singer's country-pop roots and brims with warmth and contentment."