Conor Oberst, Emmylou Harris play free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco … John Adams conducts LA Phil New Music Group, Timo Andres … Sam Amidon, The Staves play Berlin festival … David Byrne headlines Roots Picnic in NYC … Kronos Quartet performs in Oregon … Lianne La Havas hits Midwest with Leon Bridges … Lake Street Dive takes US tour east … Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau are in NYC, LA … and more …

Conor Oberst's new album, Ruminations, is due out in two weeks, on Friday, October 14. But you don't need to wait till then to hear it: the album is streaming in full here as an NPR First Listen. "Oberst's distinctive warble is set against a spare patchwork of acoustic guitar, piano and the occasional harmonica, drawing most of the attention squarely to his words," writes NPR's Stephen Thompson. His "songwriting remains on point ... [T]hese are some of Oberst's darkest and most personal songs ... That unsparing quality helps Ruminations stand out, no matter how simple its adornment."

Nonesuch Records releases the Metropolitan Opera's performance of Alban Berg's Lulu on Blu-ray and DVD together in one package on October 28, 2016. The Met's new production, directed by acclaimed South African visual artist William Kentridge, premiered in 2015 and starred Marlis Petersen in her final performances as Lulu, a role she has made "hers and almost hers alone" (Opera News) in ten different productions over eighteen years. The New York Times called it "a stunning and searing production." The production will be presented at English National Opera in November 2016.

Conor Oberst will mark the release of his new album, Ruminations, by performing the record in its entirety for an audience of contest winners at NYC's Housing Works Bookstore Cafe on release day, Friday, October 14. NPR Music will webcast the show live on its site and Facebook page as part of the First Listen Live series. Ruminations will be available to stream in full beginning this Friday, September 30, as part of NPR Music's First Listen series. Conor Oberst will be the musical guest on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! on October 24 and begins a tour of intimate solo shows this week.

Robert Plant has confirmed that he will join Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, The Milk Carton Kids, and more for select dates on the previously announced Lampedusa: Concerts for Refugees tour, October 12–21, 2016. Lampedusa is an eleven-stop concert tour intended to raise awareness of the unprecedented worldwide refugee crisis. Funds raised by Lampedusa will support educational programs for refugees around the world.

Devendra Banhart, whose new album, Ape in Pink Marble, was released on Nonesuch Records on Friday, has unveiled the official music video for the album track "Saturday Night." The video was directed by Jon Beasley and Isabelle Albuquerque of Osk Studio. Banhart says: "I'm so excited and honored to have had Osk Studio make this music video for 'Saturday Night.'" Watch it here.

The four-LP, vinyl-only, limited-edition The Randy Newman Songbook box set is out now. The Songbook series—solo recordings of songs from throughout Randy Newman's five-decade career—previously included two volumes on CD; the box set marks their first vinyl release. Sixteen additional songs from a newly released third volume, along with five bonus tracks, join those first two volumes in a new, thematic sequencing, to create a complete Songbook box set. The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. 3 is also available as a stand-alone CD and digital album produced by Mitchell Froom and Lenny Waronker.

Devendra Banhart's new album, Ape in Pink Marble is out now. The album, Banhart's ninth, was written, produced, arranged, and recorded in Los Angeles by the singer / songwriter / guitarist with his longtime collaborators Noah Georgeson and Josiah Steinbrick, both of whom also worked on Banhart's most recent album, Mala (2013). Q and the Times of London give the album four stars; Uncut calls it "excellent." Banhart will mark the release of the album with sold-out shows at Rough Trade in Brooklyn tonight and at Club Bahia in LA this Tuesday, September 27.

Kronos Quartet's acclaimed 1992 album Pieces of Africa is now available on vinyl for the first time, from Nonesuch Records. The vinyl edition features the album on two 140-gram LPs. This "potent new brew of folk influences, Minimalism, and European forms by eight black, brown, and white African composers," as Time described it, became a cross-cultural and commercial landmark: the first album to top both the classical and world music Billboard charts.

Emmylou Harris's Grammy-winning album Red Dirt Girl is now available on vinyl for the first time, from Nonesuch Records. The vinyl edition features the legendary singer's Nonesuch debut release on two 140-gram LPs and includes a digital download of the complete album. Harris, dubbed "the most captivating female artist ever in country music" by the Los Angeles Times, offers her first set of self-penned material on the album. "In songs about lonely journeys and lost companions," said the New York Times, "Ms. Harris has found herself."

The Best of the Gipsy Kings is now available on vinyl for the first time, from Nonesuch Records. The vinyl edition features this popular collection from 1995 on two 140-gram LPs. The initial success of this 18-track compilation, chronicling the first seven years of the group's Nonesuch career, illustrated just how popular the Gipsy Kings had become: It held the top spot on the World Music charts for a full year.

Kronos Quartet, Rhiannon Giddens join forces in Austin … Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass collaborate in California … The Arcs play Pilgrimage Music Festival in Tennessee … Devendra Banhart gives album release show in Brooklyn … Jeremy Denk continues UK tour … Lianne La Havas is in California … Lake Street Dive tours Midwest … Pat Metheny plays home state of Missouri … Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau launch tour in Midwest … Caetano Veloso, Teresa Cristina perform in Rio … and more …