The Staves' new album, If I Was, "is perhaps the most achingly beautiful album released this year," exclaims New York NPR member station WFUV, which has named it New Dig of the week. "If I Was is a heavenly blend of soft, billowy folk and grand anthems of yearning, desire and heartbreak ... Discovering toughness and tenderness concurrently on this handsome release, The Staves are bright stars illuminating the pop music landscape." The trio will be at Justin Vernon's Eaux Claires Festival this weekend.

Steve Reich's Clapping Music is now an app. Developed by the London Sinfonietta, Queen Mary University of London, and Touchpress, Steve Reich’s Clapping Music offers an interactive experience in learning and understanding rhythmic patterns through Reich’s seminal work. In the new app, users learn to play the iconic piece, in which two performers clap a single but constantly shifting pattern for the entirety of the work. For those who perfect their Clapping Music skills, there is the opportunity to pit themselves against London Sinfonietta percussionists in competitions to perform live with the ensemble.

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell return to Europe; their Austin City Limits set re-airs on PBS ... The Bad Plus Joshua Redman plays jazz fests in Turkey and Netherlands ... Jeremy Denk plays Mozart in Quebec ... Rhiannon Giddens performs at festivals in Germany and Netherlands ... Tigran Hamasyan is in France ... Brad Mehldau Trio plays in Poland and Italy ... Robert Plant kicks off European tour in the UK ... Punch Brothers tour East Coast ... and more ...

The Arcs second vinyl 7-inch, featuring the song "Outta My Mind," off their forthcoming debut album, Yours, Dreamily, b/w "My Mind," a track exclusive to this vinyl release, is out now on Nonesuch Records. The 7-inch is available in the Nonesuch Store, Amazon, and independent record shops, and as part of the deluxe vinyl bundle at thearcs.com. This follows their first vinyl 7-inch, "Stay in My Corner" b/w "Tomato Can," and precedes the arrival of Yours, Dreamily, due September 4.

The Bad Plus Joshua Redman, which kicked off the European leg of its tour over the weekend, stopped by the KPLU-FM studios in Seattle during the recent US leg of the tour to discuss and perform from their just-released self-titled debut album, which host Abe Beeson calls "the jazz album of the year so far." Watch the band's KPLU performances of the album's first two tracks, "As This Moment Slips Away" and "Beauty Has It Hard," here.

This July 4th weekend, The Bad Plus Joshua Redman tours Europe ... Sam Amidon has two nights at Montreal Jazz Fest ... Jeremy Denk plays Mozart in Santa Barbara ... Jonny Greenwood performs his film scores in Poland ... Lianne La Havas is at Essence Festival in New Orleans ... Brad Mehldau Trio tours Europe ... and more ... 

The Bad Plus Joshua Redman has unveiled a brief video of the group—saxophonist Joshua Redman and The Bad Plus, bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson, and drummer David King—at Brooklyn Recording studio as they made their just-released self-titled debut album. You can watch the short piece, set to an excerpt of the album track "As This Moment Slips Away," here. The band kicks off the European leg of its tour this weekend.

Conor Oberst closed out his recent US tour with a performance at the Rock the Garden festival, presented by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and MPR's The Current, earlier this month. The set, for which he was backed by the Felice Brothers, featured songs from his Nonesuch Records debut album, Upside Down Mountain, and more. Fans around the world can now watch their performance of "Hundreds of Ways" here and hear the full set at thecurrent.org.

The Arcs have unveiled a new track, "Outta My Mind," from their forthcoming album, Yours, Dreamily, due September 4. You can hear the song here and download it now when you pre-order the album, along with the previously released track "Stay in My Corner," which NPR noted for its "slinky, timeless feel, propelled with alluring ease by [Dan] Auerbach's falsetto and a lush instrumental backdrop." A 7-inch single featuring "Outta My Mind" will be released on July 10. The Arcs are Dan Auerbach, Leon Michels, Richard Swift, Homer Steinweiss, and Nick Movshon. Also on the album are Kenny Vaughan and Mariachi Flor de Toloache.

Rhiannon Giddens's album Tomorrow Is My Turn is among NPR Music's 25 Favorite Albums of 2015 (So Far). "The first thought that takes over during a listen to Rhiannon Giddens' solo debut is: This woman can sing anything," exclaims NPR. "Stop marveling for a moment and this impeccably constructed, hotly executed collection reveals the brain and soul that feed the extraordinary voice." She kicks off a European tour in London on Tuesday. Also on the list is the debut album from Congolese band Mbongwana Star, From Kinshasa. The album, a World Circuit release distributed in North America by Nonesuch, "is at once earthy and totally futuristic," says NPR. "[Y]ou hear the band's metamorphic power throttling straight into the fringes of the great beyond."

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell's new album, The Traveling Kind, released earlier this year to critical acclaim, is now available on vinyl. The LP edition is pressed on 140-gram, audiophile vinyl and includes a download of the complete album. "Here, they consciously embrace the full breadth of their expression," says NPR. "This is what it sounds like when true equals, both deep into their journeys, draw out the best in each other." Rolling Stone says: "Their creative partnership sounds stronger than ever."

Kronos Quartet celebrates Terry Riley's 80th birthday with three-night Terry Riley Festival at SFJAZZ ... Sam Amidon is at Wilco's Solid Sound Fest ... The Bad Plus Joshua Redman plays Montreal Jazz Fest ... David Byrne's Contemporary Color comes to Brooklyn ... Olivia Chaney plays Glastonbury ... Rhiannon Giddens, Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell's White House performance on The Gospel Tradition airs on PBS ... Harris, Crowell are in Sydney ... Brad Mehldau plays in Amsterdam ... Randy Newman tours Northern California ... Punch Brothers tour the Midwest ... and more ...