The Staves recently stopped by Yellow Couch Studio in Pittsburgh while on their US tour and performed two songs for the studio's sessions series: "Make It Holy," from the 2015 album If I Was, and a take on Jackson Browne's "These Days." "It's hard to imagine a more enchanting and talented trio than The Staves," says Yellow Couch. "A regular heap of rare and impressive talents, The Staves are!" You can watch the performances here.

Stephin Merritt, currently on tour with The Magnetic Fields performing 50 Song Memoir, recently took director Barbara Anastacio on a tour of his home in Hudson, New York, for the latest episode of the Nowness series My Place. "If I'd known they'd be tacking on buzzy trumpets," says Merritt, "I would have enunciated and declaimed." You can watch it here.

The Magnetic Fields have unveiled the video for "'01 Have You Seen It in the Snow?," from their new album, 50 Song Memoir. The song is one of fifty on the five-disc set that chronicles the fifty years of songwriter Stephin Merritt's life with one song per year. You can watch the video here. The video was created by Alex Basco Koch and José Zayas, produced by Ghost Corporeal. It was originally created for the Magnetic Fields' 50 Song Memoir concert tour directed by Zayas.

Rhiannon Giddens brings Freedom Highway tour to Amsterdam, Brussels … Tyondai Braxton tours UK … Jeremy Denk joins Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra … Tigran Hamasyan performs in France … Kronos Quartet is at Notre Dame … The Magnetic Fields bring 50 Song Memoir to Big Ears Festival … Conor Oberst plays Midwest … Joshua Redman takes Still Dreaming to SFJAZZ … Chris Thile rounds out European tour in London, Hamburg … Caetano Veloso, Teresa Cristina perform in São Paulo ... and more ...

Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile, and Edgar Meyer have shared their recording of J.S. Bach's Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645, from their forthcoming album, Bach Trios. You can hear it here and download the track now when you pre-order the album, along with a previously released track, the first movement of Bach's Trio Sonata No. 6 in G Major, BWV 530. Bach Trios, due April 7, comprises works by Bach originally written for keyboard instruments, plus one sonata for viola da gamba.

Steve Reich spoke with WNYC's New Sounds and shared music from his season-long Carnegie Hall residency, which resumes with a performance of his Tehillim tonight and the upcoming Three Generations, a four-concert, Reich-curated exploration of the changing direction of concert music from the mid-20th century to the present. You can hear the episode and get concert details here.

The Magnetic Fields' 50 Song Memoir, which chronicles the fifty years of songwriter Stephin Merritt's life with one song per year, is available in five-LP and five-CD editions including a 100-page book with an extensive interview by Daniel Handler and facsimile handwritten lyrics by Merritt, and as a standalone book with a full-album download card. Now you can take a quick look inside the package in a new "unboxing" video here.

The Magnetic Fields have unveiled the video for "'92 Weird Diseases," from their new album, 50 Song Memoir. The song is one of fifty on the five-disc set that chronicles the fifty years of songwriter Stephin Merritt's life with one song per year. You can watch the video here. The video was created by Stephanie Beattie, Alex Basco Koch, and José Zayas; produced by Ghost Corporeal. It was originally created for the Magnetic Fields' 50 Song Memoir concert tour directed by Zayas.

Record Store Day, the annual celebration of independent record stores, is set to take place on Saturday, April 22, 2017, and included among the releases on that day are The Allen Toussaint Collection, a compilation of tracks from his first four albums in its first-ever vinyl release; Emmylou Harris's Queen of the Silver Dollar: The Studio Albums, 1975–1979, her first five studio albums on vinyl and a bonus 45 RPM; and Randy Newman's Lonely at the Top: Studio Albums, 1968–1977, his first five studio albums on vinyl and a bonus 45 RPM.

The Magnetic Fields' 50 Song Memoir album is out, the tour is on, and we're giving away a copy of the 5-LP vinyl set and a life-sized Stephin Merritt standee! For your chance to win: 1. Visit the merch table at any stop on the US tour. 2. Take a selfie with the cardboard Stephin standee standing there. 3. Post the pic to Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook with the hashtag #StephinStandee. Can't make it to a show? Tour not coming to your town? To enter, print out this photo of Stephin at home (it doesn't need to be life-sized!), then follow steps 2 and 3 above. 

Audra McDonald, who can currently be seen in theaters across the globe in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, was a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday. She spoke with Colbert about her new baby, who recently provided a unique delivery device for grits, and about a slight snafu during the White House ceremony at which she received the National Medal of the Arts from President Barack Obama. You can watch the interview here.

The Magnetic Fields have unveiled the video for "'88 Ethan Frome," from their new album, 50 Song Memoir. The song is one of fifty on the five-disc set that chronicles the fifty years of songwriter Stephin Merritt's life with one song per year. You can watch the video here. The video features illustrations by Alexander Petrowsky and animation by John Erickson. It was produced by Alex Basco Koch and José Zayas for Ghost Corporeal. The video was originally created for the Magnetic Fields' 50 Song Memoir concert tour directed by Zayas, which began last week.