"I started thinking about old-time music, because I was bringing my kids to see my parents, and my dad was playing the banjo in his chair, playing these old songs," Joachim Cooder says in a new video about the making of his upcoming album, Over That Road I'm Bound. "I started playing along with him, and slowed it down a little ... and thought, 'This would make a really great record.'" You can see what else he has to say about the album, including working with his band Ry Cooder, Rayna Gellert, Juliette Commagere, Sam Gendel, and others, here.

Tigran Hamasyan, whose new album, The Call Within, was released on Friday, has released a video for the album track "The Dream Voyager." The video features collages by Nanuka Tchitchoua and animation by T. Wade Ivy. You can watch it here. "This song is dedicated to my father, who has an ability to see places in his dreams where he has never been before," Hamasyan says. "Every once in a while, he visits these places following the memory of the details of his dreams."

Pianist/composer Tigran Hamasyan's new album, The Call Within, is out now. On the album, he performs ten original compositions, with Evan Marien on electric bass and Arthur Hnatek on drums. Produced by Hamasyan, the album is a journey into his dreamlike inner world, taking inspiration from his interest in maps from different eras, poetry, Armenian folk stories, astrology, geometry, ancient Armenian design, rock carvings, and cinematography, and creating what Record Collector calls "a kaleidoscopic tapestry of sound." Jazzwise exclaims: "An exceptional recording for exceptional times." You can take a look inside the vinyl edition in an unboxing video here.

A limited-edition, 45-RPM version of The Black Keys’ chart-topping ninth album, “Let’s Rock," will be available from independent record stores this Saturday, August 29, for part one of this year's Record Store Day. The new Record Store Day edition of “Let’s Rock” is pressed on two 180-gram vinyl discs and comes in a deluxe holographic gatefold jacket, with each piece individually numbered. Also out this Saturday are two special k.d. lang vinyl releases from Warners: Angel with a Lariat and Drag. Due to Covid-19, Record Store Day, usually held in April, is being replaced this year by RSD Drops, three separate title drop dates August 29, September 26, and October 24.

Lianne La Havas spoke with NPR's Ari Shapiro on All Things Considered for its Play It Forward series, in which artists share musicians who inspire them. The previous week, spoken word poet Kae Tempest had selected La Havas, saying: "There is something that happens when I hear her sing, which is so uplifting ... this wash of pure melodic brilliance." Shapiro, in describing the song "Bittersweet," from La Havas's new album, says: "I feel like this summer, everyone is kind of trying to do their best to just keep it together. And when the chorus of this track hits, it's like you're not even pretending anymore. Like, the mask drops, and it just feels very real."

Yola gave an NPR Music Tiny Desk Home Concert outdoors in Nashville accompanied by guitarist Jordan Tice of Hawktail, performing songs from her debut album, Walk Through Fire, and more. You can watch it here. "Yola is an electrifying performer," says NPR's Bob Boilen. "This is a rare Yola moment in her temporary quarantine home, so put the whiskey aside, grab a glass of iced tea and chill."

Tigran Hamasyan, whose new album, The Call Within, will be released on Nonesuch Records this coming Friday, has released a video of him performing the album track "New Maps" at the piano, set to the other elements from the album recording, featuring Evan Marien on electric bass and Arthur Hnatek on drums. You can watch it here.

David Byrne’s American Utopia will debut October 17 at 8pm ET/PT on HBO and HBO Max. The special event, directed by Spike Lee, presents a one-of-a-kind, dynamic film that gives audiences access to Byrne’s critically-acclaimed Broadway show that played to sold-out, record-breaking audiences. The filmed version was recorded during its late 2019 to early 2020 run at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre in New York City. You can watch a first look from it here.

Rhiannon Giddens has released a new original song, "Don’t Call Me Names," about rejecting toxic behavior. The track debuted on the inaugural episode of Southern Craft Radio, Kelly McCartney’s new show on Apple Music Country, and can be heard here. "The framework in the song is a love affair, but it can happen in any kind of connection," Giddens says. "The real story was accepting my inner strength and refusing to continue being gas-lit and held back; and refusing to keep sacrificing my mental health for the sake of anything or anyone ... When I listen to it, the anger that I felt then now is the anger I feel at my entire country being gas-lit, held back, and sacrificed. We have to keep saying NO to toxic behavior, no matter how small or large the stage, and keep saying it nice and loud.”

Composer/multi-instrumentalist Jeff Parker and drummer Jamire Williams performed the inaugural concert of With Love From LA, a new monthly online series for which they recently participated in a conversation. You can watch the masked, socially distanced, outdoor concert here.

Devendra Banhart will perform four ticketed, live-streaming concerts on Wednesdays this September, from four locations across Los Angeles, in a series titled OLA: Devendra Banhart plays songs in the order they were written. Banhart hand-picked the locations for their cultural, historical, and emotional significance: the Mountain, Bob Baker Marionette Theater, The Broad, and the Underground Museum. The concerts explore—in chronological order—songs from his catalog of ten albums. Moses Berkson directs the series; each show will feature one of Banhart’s frequent musical collaborators—including Noah Georgeson, Josiah Steinbrick, Gregory Rogove and Todd Dahlhoff—on a selection of songs.

Composer Sarah Kirkland Snider has released 'Kyrie,' the opening movement on her upcoming album, Mass for the Endangered, due September 25, along with a video for it by CandyStations, aka Deborah Johnson, who is making a video for each track on the album. The 'Kyrie' video features original artwork and hand-drawn animations by Nathaniel Bellows, who also created the libretto for Mass for the Endangered and its cover art. You can watch it here.