Randy Newman's forthcoming Nonesuch release, Harps and Angels, earns four stars from both The Times (UK), which names it Album of the Week, and The Sun, which says: "This is the real Newman—dark, cynical, and very funny." The paper calls it "a winning mix" of musical styles that's "been worth the wait." The Guardian calls Randy "a true master of popular song."

With Harps and Angels, Randy Newman's first album of new music in nearly a decade, due out next week (August 4 in the UK, the following day in the US), Randy will be the featured guest on two British television shows in the coming days: tonight at 11:10 PM GMT on ITV1's Soundtrack to My Life with host Cat Deeley and Sunday at 10:30 AM on Sky News's Sunday Live with Adam Boulton.

Kronos Quartet Artistic Administrator Sidney Chen recently spoke with the Future of Music Coalition for a podcast, in which he discusses the role the internet has played in the life of Kronos. From allowing for greater connectivity with existing fans and accessing new audiences via social networks and blogs, to opening the Quartet to new sounds and even new collaborations, the freedom and openness of the internet has had a significant impact on the group. "Having an open internet has provided inspiration to Kronos," says Chen. "We don't hear the world in a boundaried way, and the internet has allowed us to remove a lot of those boundaries."

When Punch Brothers played the Ravinia Festival outside Chicago last week, it was something of a coming home for the band's banjo player, Noam Pikelny, a native son of the city. Chicago Tonight, from public television station WTTW, profiles Noam and the band whose Nonesuch debut, Punch, "takes bluegrass where it has never gone before."

In her review of Sam Phillips's latest Nonesuch release, Don’t Do Anything, USA Today's Elysa Gardner writes of Sam that her "wonderfully fuzzy vocals and wry, lyrical songwriting are two of the world’s underappreciated wonders." Gardner says that the "gorgeously quirky sensibility" of Sam's previous releases, is matched on the new record, which also features songs with "a dusky beauty that’s distinctly their own."

"In the years since TONY adopted its rating system," writes Time Out New York (TONY) music critic Jay Ruttenberg, "I had resisted granting an album six stars, the magazine’s unconventional 'it goes to 11' grade. Now, I relent: Randy Newman’s Harps and Angels ... confirms his place among our best living songwriters ... It's an outstanding album ..." Rolling Stone says, "Harps and Angels is reason to wrap yourself in the flag and cheer."

During their UK tour earlier this month, Punch Brothers recorded a few performances for The Daily Telegraph's online Telegraph TV during a sound check for their London show. You can now watch the group perform the first movement (part 2) of The Blind Leaving the Blind and "It'll Happen" from their Nonesuch debut, Punch, as well as an interview with the Telegraph's Iain Gray.

Orchestra Baobab headlined the Womad Festival in England this past weekend, performing songs from their latest release, Made in Dakar, for an audience of 30,000. The Times (UK)'s Stephen Dalton writes: "Sunday peaked with the West African veterans Orchestra Baobab ... whose undulating rhythms and mellifluous harmonies cross easily across national and generational borders. Perfect Womad headliners."

Randy Newman is the subject of a feature profile in today's Guardian (UK), in which his forthcoming Nonesuch release, Harps and Angels, is described as having "Newman's signature blend of sumptuous melodies, devastating pathos and the thorny, irony-laden character songs ..." Earlier this month, The Observer gave the albums five stars, with reviewer Tim Adams writing: "His albums have always been brilliant missives from an overly examined emotional life and this one is no exception."

Nicholas Payton's recent release, Into the Blue, his Nonesuch debut, is among "a great wave of important new jazz recordings" out this summer, according to Chicago Tribune music critic Howard Reich. He points to "a lyric melancholy" that pervades the album and which Payton uses "to haunting effect" throughout.

Emmylou Harris's US tour is now heading down the West Coast, bringing songs from her latest album, All I Intended to Be, and throughout her varied career, from Seattle to San Diego. After her recent performance in Seattle, the Seattle Times wrote: "Emmylou Harris proves on her latest release that she still has one of the best voices in the business ... The grace of her vocals and the restraint of her songwriting and song choices is what we've come to expect from Harris. The fact that she continues to deliver makes it even more impressive ..."

During the last leg of their US tour, The Magnetic Fields played several nights at The Town Hall in New York. While there, Stephin Merritt invited the folks at Other Music backstage to discuss the new record and tape a few solo performances—just him and his bouzouki—of “The Nun’s Litany,” from the new album, and “This Little Ukulele,” from his soundtrack for the 2000 film Eban & Charley. You can watch the videos now ...