Robert Plant was the guest on The Colbert Report last night. He joined his host for a conversation about his new album, lullaby and... The Ceaseless Roar, his endless musical quest, and more. Plant and his band, The Sensational Space Shifters, then gave an on-air performance of the new album's first single, "Rainbow," plus a web-exclusive take on "Little Maggie." You can watch the interview and performances here. Plant and the band closed out their North American tour with a late-night show at Brooklyn Bowl last night. Following their recent tour stop in LA, the LA Times concludes: "The singer and his Shape Shifters succeeded in fusing an untouchable legacy with a passion for experimentation."

David Byrne is in London as his musical with Fatboy Slim, Here Lies Love, is in previews at the National Theatre’s Dorfman Theatre, set to open officially on Tuesday, October 14. He stopped by the BBC studios to chat with BBC Radio 2’s Jo Whiley for the special program An Evening With … David Byrne, in which he shares the stories behind the musical, spins some tunes that inspired some of the songs of Here Lies Love, talks about his early career with Talking Heads, and more. You can listen to the interview here.

Laurie Anderson talks with Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs), for the latest episode of The Talkhouse Music Podcast. "By turns funny and poignant, and always insightful," says The Talkhouse, "the conversation between these two creative powerhouses ranges from coping with sudden fame, 'the art police,' the healing power of puppetry, their love/hate relationship with technology, the aesthetics of bubble gum, dehydrated kale bars and… hotel hotdogs." Anderson and Kronos Quartet perform her piece Landfall in Columbus, Ohio, and Austin, Texas, in the days ahead and joins The New Yorker's Alex Ross in conversation for The New Yorker Festival on Sunday.

Sam Amidon's new album of reimagined folk songs, Lily-O, was released last week to critical acclaim. Now, the New York Times' Nate Chinen adds his praise, calling it "hauntingly beautiful." He cites the take on Rosa Lee Watson's "Your Lone Journey" as the song that "brings out the album’s most moving performance. Mr. Amidon sings in a muted voice, trusting the lyrics to make their own impression. The song arrives near the album’s close, so its heavenward glance doubles as a seamless transition." Amidon kicks off a fall tour of US and Europe this Saturday, October 11. 

Music photographer Danny Clinch has published his first-ever monograph, Danny Clinch: Still Moving, which chronicles his work, including images of several artists familiar to readers of the Nonesuch Journal—The Black Keys (pictured), Chris Thile, David Byrne & Brian Eno, and Jeff Tweedy—among many others, like Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, and Neil Young. Danny Clinch: Still Moving is published by Abrams and is available now.

Kronos Quartet has been named Artists-in-Residence at the 2015 Big Ears Festival, which will be held in downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, March 27–29, 2015. Throughout the festival weekend, Kronos will weave an array of performances, presenting classic contemporary works and a multi-faceted array of musical collaborations with other festival artists. A limited number of specially priced Big Ears weekend passes go on sale tomorrow, October 8. The initial Big Ears Festival 2015 lineup will be unveiled on Tuesday, November 4, with passes going on sale November 7.

Some 800 lucky fans will have the chance to see Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters in one of their most intimate gigs to date. This Thursday, October 9, 2014, they will play a late-night set at the Brooklyn Bowl. Heading straight to the venue after an appearance on The Colbert Report that night, they will take the stage just after midnight. The special event will feature a DJ set from Questlove to start off the night. Tickets will go on sale this Tuesday, October 7, at 3pm ET.

John Adams will lead the Yale Philharmonia in a concert at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City on Sunday, October 19. The program opens with Stravinsky’s Orpheus, followed by Adams’s Beethoven-inspired piece Absolute Jest (also featuring the Brentano String Quartet in its debut year as Yale’s quartet-in-residence), and Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major. The artists will also perform the program at Yale University's Woolsey Hall on Friday, October 17. 

Conor Oberst, Shawn Colvin, Emmylou Harris play free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park ... Devendra Banhart art exhibit opens in LA ... Bombino concludes tour in Spain ... Jeremy Denk joins Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for Beethoven ... Kronos Quartet premieres new piece at Stanford ... Brad Mehldau, Mark Guiliana take Mehliana to Kennedy Center ... Pat Metheny Unity Group kicks of Asia tour in Seoul ... Robert Plant plays Denver ... Joshua Redman Trio has trio of shows at SFJAZZ Center ... Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer tour South ... 

Pat Metheny Unity Group launches a tour of Asia at the Sejong Center in Seoul on Sunday. The band then heads to Japan for a three-night run at Sumida Triphony Hall in Tokyo and stops in Osaka, Nagoya, and Kobe, and to China for a headline set at the JZ Music Festival in Shanghai. The Unity Group then begins a four-city tour of Australia, with stops in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Canberra, culminating at the Sydney Opera House. From there, it’s up to Singapore for a show at the Esplanade Concert Hall. The band kicks off the next leg of its North American tour in November.

Today marks the release of composer Steve Reich’s album Radio Rewrite on Nonesuch Records (October 6 in the UK). The album features the first recording of the 2012 title piece, which references two songs by Radiohead and is performed by Alarm Will Sound led by Alan Pierson; Electric Counterpoint (1987), performed by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood; and Piano Counterpoint, a 2011 transcription by Vincent Corver of Reich’s 1973 Six Pianos, performed by pianist Vicky Chow. 

Lily-O, a new album of reimagined folk songs by Sam Amidon is out now (with vinyl to come October 28).The album was produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson and features jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, bassist Shahzad Ismaily, and drummer Chris Vatalaro. "As well as being master craftsmen," says fRoots, these musicians "create atmosphere—cinematic, mesmeric and groove-rich." The Guardian gives the album four stars, calling it "a compellingly quiet, intense affair ... subtle and intriguing." The Independent, in its four-star reivew, says Amidon's "ability to imbue traditional songs with an ahistorical immediacy has never been better realized than on Lily-O." Esquire UK calls it "magical." MusicOMH gives four-and-a-half stars to this "gorgeous" album.