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 joined The School of Life founder and philosopher Alain de Botton for a public conversation about her new, self-titled album, last night in London. During the event, she unveiled a new video for the album track "Lulu." The video features film excerpts from Pandora's Box, the 1929 silent film directed by G.W. Pabst and starring Louise Brooks, the subject of the song. Watch it here. Merchant returns to Later ... with Jools Holland tonight on BBC Two.

The Black Keys marked the release of their new album, Turn Blue, yesterday with an appearance on The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. The band spoke with Stephen Colbert about the new album and performed the single "Fever." You can watch the interview and "Fever" plus a web-exclusive performance of the album's title track here. Patrick Carney will chat with iTunes via Twitter today at 2 PM ET and lead a Reddit AMA at 3 PM ET.

Nickel Creek's video for "Destination," off their new album, A Dotted Line, received its world premiere via NPR Music's "First Watch" feature. The video was directed by Eli Cane of Normal Life Pictures and shot in New York City during release week for A Dotted Line. You can watch the video here.

The Black Keys’ music video for “Fever” premiered this morning and can now be viewed here. The single, which is #1 on AAA radio for the third straight week and #3 on Alternative radio, is from the duo’s new album, Turn Blue, which will be released May 13 on Nonesuch Records. In celebration of the release, the band will return to Saturday Night Live for their third musical guest appearance on May 10.

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.

Natalie Merchant's new, self-titled album is due out next Tuesday, May 6, but you don't need to wait till then to hear it: her sixth solo collection is streaming in full all this week in the New York Times's Press Play feature. Merchant will perform at the Beacon Theatre in NYC on September 13. Watch an in-depth video conversation with Merchant, in which she discusses the new album and the "intimate portraits" she creates in its songs, here. 

The video for Natalie Merchant's song "Ladybird," the opening track from her forthcoming self-titled album, has premiered via Rolling Stone. "A lilting lullaby for happier times, the song is vintage Merchant," writes Rolling Stone's Gavin Edwards. Merchant spoke with Edwards about the song; the new album, her first of entirely original songs in 13 years; life in upstate New York; and more. Watch the video here.

Caetano Veloso and many other celebrated Brazilian musicians, inspired to protect the rainforest of their native Brazil from further destruction, came together in Rio de Janeiro’s Floresta da Tijuca to create a music video and original composition in celebration of today, Earth Day 2014. The project supports the Rainforest Alliance, which works in partnership with Brazilian nonprofit Imaflora—as well as farmers, forest communities and cattle ranchers—to protect Brazil’s magnificent and ecologically fragile natural heritage.

Nonesuch Records marked Kronos Quartet's 40th anniversary year with two releases this month: the Kronos Explorer Series five-CD box set and a new album, A Thousand Thoughts. As a highlight of its anniversary season, Kronos was in NYC to perform at Carnegie Hall late last month and was the subject of a marathon stream of music and tributes on Q2 Music, the online new-music station from WQXR. The event culminated in a live, performance by Kronos Quartet from The Greene Space at WQXR, which you can watch here.

Conor Oberst performed seven songs from his forthcoming album, Upside Down Mountain, live at the Greene Space in NYC last Wednesday night as part of Gigstock, a mini festival from WNYC's Soundcheck. You can watch Oberst's performance here. "If the songs he played at Gigstock are any indication," says CMJ, "Upside Down Mountain is going to be a hell of a record."

Nickel Creek celebrated the release of its new album, A Dotted Line, earlier this month with a number of TV and radio performances, including WNYC's Soundcheck, on which the band performed three tracks from the album—"Destination," "21st of May," and "Rest of My Life." You can hear the full show and watch the three song performances here. "Remarkably, while each member's distinctive musical voice comes through, the chemistry between Thile and Sara and Sean Watkins when they play together has never felt stronger," says the show. "While A Dotted Line documents a more mature Nickel Creek than it once was, yet that joyfully rebellious spirit that so many of us fell for still shines through."