The Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt gave Amoeba Music a look at what he's been listening to as part of its series What's in My Bag? (Home Edition), including Eartha Kitt, Elke Sommer, Bessie Smith, and more. Merritt filmed the episode on a mini-golf course in upstate New York, so he also gives us all a look at his putt-putt skills. You can have a look here.

Lianne La Havas performed "Bittersweet," from her new, self-titled album, for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's online series Play at Home. The video was filmed at La Havas's recent one-night-only concert at London's Roundhouse. You can watch it here.

In this essay, composer Sarah Kirkland Snider shares the story of (and behind-the-scenes photos from) her collaboration with video designer Deborah Johnson / CandyStations on Mass for the Endangered. The Mass, with a libretto by poet/writer Nathaniel Bellows, is a celebration of, and an elegy for, the natural world, an appeal for greater awareness, urgency, and action. The recording, on which the English vocal ensemble Gallicantus performs the piece, is due September 25. 'Sanctus/Benedictus,' from the piece, is available now, as is Johnson's video for it.

Devendra Banhart, whose new EP, Vast Ovoid, is out now, performed "Taking a Page," from his 2019 album Ma, for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's online series Play at Home. The video was filmed at his home in Los Angeles by Consuelo Althouse. You can watch it here.

The Magnetic Fields got together separately to perform songs from their new album, Quickies, for Rough Trade's Transmissions series on IGTV. As on the album, Stephin Merritt and other Magnetic Fields band members Sam Davol, Claudia Gonson, Shirley Simms, and John Woo are joined for the session by longtime friends and collaborators Chris Ewen, Daniel Handler, and Pinky Weitzman. You can watch it here.

Lianne La Havas, whose self-titled new album is out tomorrow, performed a few songs from home for MPR's The Current and spoke with host Sean McPherson about the new album. You can watch the full session, including her performance of "Courage" and "Bittersweet" from Lianne La Havas and "Green & Gold" from 2015's Blood, and the conversation here.

Lianne La Havas has released a video for her cover of Radiohead's "Weird Fishes," from her new, self-titled album, out this Friday. You can watch the live, full-band video, which was filmed at London’s 123 studios in Peckham, here. La Havas says: "In the deepest ocean, / The bottom of the sea, / I did this cover of Radiohead / I hope they don’t sue me!" La Havas plays a one-off solo live show this Wednesday, July 15, at London’s Roundhouse, that will be broadcast globally.

Pianist and composer Tigran Hamasyan has released "New Maps," the second song from his upcoming album, The Call Within, due August 28 on Nonesuch Records. The video, directed by Vahan Stepanyan and featuring archival footage from the Public TV Company of Armenia and the US Library of Congress, can be seen here. The track is available to download, along with the previously released track "Levitation 21," now.

Composer Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Mass for the Endangered, performed by the English vocal ensemble Gallicantus led by Gabriel Crouch, will be released on September 25 on New Amsterdam and Nonesuch Records. A video for “Sanctus/Benedictus” from the Mass, made by Deborah Johnson / CandyStations, can be seen here. Snider’s Mass, with a libretto by poet/writer Nathaniel Bellows, is a celebration of, and an elegy for, the natural world—animals, plants, insects, the planet itself—an appeal for greater awareness, urgency, and action.

Lianne La Havas has released a new video for the song “Can’t Fight” from her forthcoming self-titled album. Created in collaboration between La Havas and director Kevin Morosky, the video documents her cultural roots, influences, memories of love and loss, and daily passions, taking the viewer on a visual journey through her beloved South London. La Havas says, “I’ve finally made a video for ‘Can’t Fight’ navigating the social distancing guidelines, and had a lot of fun doing so. Enjoy.”

Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi performed "At the Purchaser's Option," the opening track to Giddens' 2017 album, Freedom Highway, from home in Ireland for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's online series Play at Home today. You can watch it here.

David Byrne helped kick off the Aspen Ideas Festival's 2020 online edition in a conversation with Ford Foundation President Darren Walker on Sunday. The two discussed the role of the artist in difficult social times such as this. "Music can unite people," Byrne says. "It can make people feel that they belong, that they’re not alone." You can watch their conversation here. Also on the festival's opening day were conversations with Anthony Fauci and Stacey Abrams.