Ry Cooder's new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, is out now on CD and digitally, with the vinyl LP to follow on September 13. Cooder was the guest on Marketplace from American Public Media, where the album is now streaming in full. "From rock n’ roll to country to Dixieland jazz," says the show, "Cooder has mastered multiple genres on many albums. He does it again with his latest production ... His songs’ lyrics are a statement on our current economic times, but the music offers a tour of the country’s musical heritage." The New Yorker's Alec Wilkinson offers an extensive appreciation of Cooder. "I can’t write briefly about Ry Cooder," writes Wilkinson. "Admiration for his accomplishments, his singularity, and the longevity and diversity of his career intervene."

Emmylou Harris joined Daniel Lanois and Friends in concert at the inaugural Harvest Picnic in Dundas, Ontario, last weekend, contributing to its "memorable moments" (Hamilton Spectator). While much of the set focused on Wrecking Ball, her 1995 Lanois-produced album, it also included songs from her new album, Hard Bargain. Harris recently stopped by the Rolling Stone offices to perform a couple of songs off the album and to discuss her collaborations with Levon Helm and Gram Parsons. Watch her perform "My Name Is Emmett Till" here.

Kronos Quartet will receive the Polar Music Prize in a ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall on Tuesday. King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden will hand out the awards to Kronos and their fellow laureate, Patti Smith. The ceremony is part of a week-long celebration, which includes a photo exhibit, talks with the artists, a music industry conference, and the Polar Music Prize Concert featuring Smith. Earlier this year, Kronos received the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize, making the group the first-ever recipient of both prizes.

Ry Cooder's new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, is out tomorrow. The album, which Uncut calls "one of his best albums ever," is available to stream in full till then at Slate. Cooder will celebrate the record's release with two sold-out shows at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall later this week. He spoke with the San Francisco Chronicle about the new album and the back-to-back concerts, at which he'll be joined by a 17-piece band.

Concert listings are subject to change due to severe weather expected along the US East Coast this weekend ... Punch Brothers, Jessica Lea Mayfield are due to share a double bill at the Belleayre Music Festival in upstate NY ... Carolina Chocolate Drops' show in Raleigh has been canceled ... Emmylou Harris joins Daniel Lanois' Harvest Picnic in Ontario ... The Low Anthem plays LouFest in St. Louis ... Pat Metheny concludes his Summer Music Workshop ... Joshua Redman joins The Bad Plus at Austria's Saalfelden Jazz Fest ... Sara Watkins closes out tour with the Decemberists, launches tour with Garrison Keillor ... and more ...

It was 10 years ago this week that Laurie Anderson made her Nonesuch Records debut with the release of Life on a String. On the album, Anderson returned to playing violin on record for the first time since her debut album, Big Science, and featured guest turns from Lou Reed, Bill Frisell, Van Dyke Parks, and Dr. John, among others. In conjunction with its release in 2011, Nonesuch commissioned filmmaker Steve Lippman, aka FLIP, to create a short film showcasing songs from the album; the film went on to screen as an official selection at film festivals around the world. Watch it again here.

Sara Watkins closes out her months-long tour as a guest band member with the Decemberists outside the band's hometown of Portland, Oregon, at McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheatre's Concerts on the Lawn tonight. But there's not much in the way of down time for Watkins, as she heads straight into her next set of performances on Sunday: with Garrison Keillor and the cast of public radio's A Prairie Home Companion for their cross-country Summer Love Tour.

New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity dedicated the newly finished Musicians’ Village Toddler Park today in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans, made possible through the support of Nonesuch Records / Warner Music Group, New York Life, and The Talbott Foundation. The central walkway, Hurwitz Way, is named in honor of Nonesuch president Bob Hurwitz. In 2005, Nonesuch released the benefit album Our New Orleans, which raised 1.1 million dollars, donated to New Orleans Habitat for Humanity to create new housing for the Musicians' Village.

“Virus,” the latest single from Björk’s forthcoming album, Biophilia, is today’s Top Tune at KCRW in Los Angeles, free to download at kcrw.com. The Biophilia album is already receiving critical acclaim in early reviews from the UK, with Uncut, MOJO, and Q all giving it four stars. Q says: "Biophilia is a wonderful record in the most literal sense: it overflows with wonder." The magazine includes "Virus" on its list of "Q50 Essential Tracks," saying it "harks back to the lavish frost-sparkle beauty of Vespertine."

Chris Thile and Michael Daves, while in Newport for what NPR called a "sizzling set" at the Newport Folk Festival last month, took some time out to perform two songs for Paste—"Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms," off their album Sleep with One Eye Open, and another traditional tune, "Darlin' Corey"—now available to watch in the latest issue of Paste's online mPlayer. Thile and Daves are on the road again next month, touring the Midwest, UK, and Ireland, following Thile's current tour with Punch Brothers.

There's just under a week to go before the release of Ry Cooder's new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, on August 30. Until then, you can listen to the album in its entirety exclusively on Slate. MOJO and Q give the album four stars; Uncut gives it a perfect five, calling it "one of his best albums ever." Cooder is the subject of a feature article in the magazine, which calls the new album "an impassioned portrait of 21st century America and its injustices" in which Cooder is "remade as a modern-day Woody Guthrie, fearless and funny, for like Guthrie he nails his targets with droll humour while empathising with society's underdogs."