Half-Light, the debut album from Rostam, will be released September 15, 2017, on Nonesuch Records. Rostam is known for his work in Vampire Weekend and produced each of their three albums. His kaleidoscopic debut album features fifteen songs that were written, produced, and performed by Rostam in his Los Angeles home studio. Half-Light is available to pre-order now with an instant download of the album tracks "Gwan" and "Bike Dream." Nonesuch Store pre-orders also include an exclusive print, a limited number of which will be signed by the artist. Tour dates are still to be announced.

Rhiannon Giddens was a guest on NPR's World Cafe. She and Dirk Powell, with whom she co-produced her new album, Freedom Highway, spoke with NPR Music's Ann Powers and performed three songs from the album: "At the Purchaser's Option," "The Love We Almost Had," and "Freedom Highway." "There are very few artists who can bring the past into the present in a way that captures both the nuance of history and the immediacy of now," says World Cafe host Talia Schlanger. "But Rhiannon Giddens has done it, beautifully, on her second solo album, Freedom Highway."

Congratulations to Pat Metheny, who has been named a 2018 NEA Jazz Master, the nation's highest honor in jazz, along with Dianne Reeves, Joanne Brackeen, and Todd Barkan, "for their lifetime achievements and exceptional contributions to the advancement of jazz." A concert will be held in tribute to the honorees at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on April 16, 2018. "The NEA Jazz Masters represent the very pinnacle of talent, creativity, innovation, and vision," said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. "We look forward to celebrating these four new Jazz Masters and their many contributions to jazz."

Folk Songs, a new album joining Kronos Quartet with Nonesuch Records labelmates Sam Amidon, Olivia Chaney, Rhiannon Giddens, and Natalie Merchant is out now. The artists on the album first came together to perform these songs, most of which are traditional with contemporary arrangements, when Nonesuch celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014 with festivals at the Barbican Centre and Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). The group later recorded the songs with Doug Petty as the album's producer. You can take a quick look at the project in an album trailer here.

Pat Metheny takes quartet tour to NYC, Boston … Rhiannon Giddens plays Spoleto, Chicago fests … Tigran Hamasyan concludes world tour in Germany … Shye Ben Tzur, Rajasthan Express perform Junun in Stockholm, London … Kronos Quartet is in California … Lake Street Dive opens for Jack Johnson … Randy Newman performs at Riverfest … Punch Brothers play across Midwest … Joshua Redman performs in Germany … The Staves close out tour in London … 

The New York Times has published a list of the 25 Best Films of the 21st Century So Far, and among them are three films for which Nonesuch Records released the soundtrack: Paul Thomas Anderson's 2007 film There Will Be Blood, which tops the list (and features a score by Jonny Greenwood), Richard Linklater's 2014 film Boyhood, and Joel and Ethan Coen's 2013 film Inside Llewyn Davis.

Fleet Foxes' highly anticipated third album, Crack-Up, is due out next Friday, June 16, but you don't need to wait till then to hear it: the album is streaming in full here as an NPR First Listen. "Making this together was the highlight of our lives so far and we're so glad to finally share it," says the band. "All love."

Fleet Foxes have released "If You Need To, Keep Time on Me," a third track from their forthcoming album, Crack-Up, due June 16. You can hear the song, which premiered as a World Record on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 show, here. "If You Need To, Keep Time on Me" and the previously released tracks "Fool's Errand" and "Third of May / Ōdaigahara" are available to download now with pre-orders of Crack-Up.

Punch Brothers begin a US tour with a performance at ACL Live at the Moody Theater in Austin tonight. The two-week tour includes concerts in Dallas, Kansas City, Boulder, Denver, and Nashville, as well as festival sets at Blue Ox, Telluride Bluegrass, and more. The band will join forces with I'm With Her (Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, and Aoife O'Donovan) and guitarist Julian Lage for the American Acoustic tour in July and August.

Conor Oberst will extend his Salutations tour into the fall with a month of concerts in the US West and South. The newly added dates start at the Eccles Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 1 and include stops in Nashville, Athens, Charlotte, Charleston; five cities in Florida; and shows in Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. Oberst, backed by The Felice Brothers, begins the summer tour in Denver on June 30, plays across the US through July, heads to Europe in August, and returns to the States to play in September and October.

The Magnetic Fields bring 50 Song Memoir to Primavera Sound in Barcelona, where Shye Ben Tzur and the Rajasthan Express perform Junun …. Tigran Hamasyan is in Australia … Emmylou Harris headlines Nelsonville Music Festival … Lake Street Dive takes US tour down South … Pat Metheny concludes European tour … Conor Oberst brings Salutations South … Joshua Redman Trio tours Germany … The Staves are in Ireland … 

Offa Rex, the new project from Olivia Chaney and The Decemberists, has shared its take on "Blackleg Miner," from its debut album, The Queen of Hearts, due July 14. You can watch a studio performance video of the track, which premiered on Billboard, here. "Blackleg Miner" is available to download now with pre-orders of The Queen of Hearts, along with the previously released title track.