Stephen Sondheim's latest musical, Road Show, receives its European premiere at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London tonight. This production is directed and designed by Tony Award winner John Doyle, who also directed the original production of Road Show at New York's Public Theater in 2008, which New York called “a boisterous picaresque about two brothers flimflamming their way from the Yukon to Boca Raton at the turn of the 20th century.”

Randy Newman is the guest on Words and Music from Studio A from New York's NPR member station WFUV tonight. Newman performs songs from his new album, Songbook Vol. 2, and talks with host Claudia Marshall about the project, which takes a fresh look at both classic and more recent work in new solo takes on 16 of his celebrated songs. Newman is the subject of a week-long series of articles from Filter, which says of the Songbook albums: "These stripped-down versions expose the complexity of Newman’s piano phrasing and put his lyrics at the forefront."

Jessica Lea Mayfield is the guest on today's episode of NPR's World Cafe. She and her band perform four songs off her new album, Tell Me, and Mayfield talks with the show's host, David Dye, about the album, which was produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach. Mayfield is currently on a cross-country tour of the United States. Starting this coming Sunday, Mayfield joins up with The Avett Brothers for more than a week's worth of tour dates out West.

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."

Chris Thile and Sara Watkins are guests on A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, live from Tanglewood ... Cincinnati Opera performs Adams's A Flowering Tree ... Björk continues Manchester Biophilia residency ... The Black Keys tours Canada, Midwest ... Carolina Chocolate Drops play free set in Dayton ... Wanda Jackson rocks the Montreal Jazz Fest ... k.d. lang celebrates both Canada Day and July 4 in concert ... Jessica Lea Mayfield tours the Midwest ... and more ...

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."

Caetano Veloso has been named the Guest Director of the 2011 Telluride Film Festival. Veloso has been invited to select a series of films to present at the festival, now in its 38th year, to be held over Labor Day weekend. Among the festival's past guest directors are Stephen Sondheim, Laurie Anderson, and Peter Sellars, who recommended Veloso as guest director. In keeping with Telluride Film Festival tradition, Veloso’s film selections, along with the rest of the Telluride lineup, will be kept secret until the festival's Opening Day, September 2.

The Cincinnati Opera performs John Adams's opera A Flowering Tree tonight and Saturday, reuniting the world-premiere cast featured on the Nonesuch recording of the opera: soprano Jessica Rivera, tenor Russell Thomas, and bass-baritone Eric Owens. The Cincinnati Enquirer says "Adams takes a striking new path" with A Flowering Tree, "combining an exotic story of magical transformation and love with ravishing music ... lyrical, lush and dreamlike." Watch a preview of the production and go backstage in videos here.

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."

Laurie Anderson gives a free performance with bassist/producer Bill Laswell at Castle Clinton in NYC's Battery Park tonight as part of the River to River Festival. "Many musicians might bill a performance as a chance to 'build on new ideas and forms,'" says the Wall Street Journal, "but few could make as good on the prospect as Laurie Anderson and Bill Laswell." The New York Times describes the performers as "unusually fearless; expect something high-concept and possibly explosive."

Björk today announces Biophilia, her most ambitious and interdisciplinary project to date, with the release of the lead single, "Crystalline," on iTunes. Biophilia is a multimedia project, comprising a studio album, apps, a new website, custom-made musical instruments, live shows, and educational workshops. The Biophilia live show will have its world premiere tomorrow as part of the Manchester International Festival, where Björk is in residence for a three-week run.

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."