Newly formed Congolese seven-piece band Mbongwana Star releases its debut full-length album, From Kinshasa, today via World Circuit, distributed in North America by Nonesuch Records; vinyl follows July 31. It's a "wonderful kind of collaboration," says NPR. "The sound is out of this world." Chicago Reader says the "album is a blast ... stunning." The Guardian gives From Kinshasa a perfect five stars, naming it Album of the Week. Says Noisey: "It's time to press play and immerse yourself in another world."

The Bad Plus Joshua Redman's self-titled, debut album is due out next week and is streaming in full till then as an NPR First Listen at npr.org. The album is "a roaring and beautiful summit meeting," says NPR's Tom Moon. "The ideas are impressive by themselves, but become more powerful as Redman and the rhythm section go about developing them ... [T]he real triumph of The Bad Plus Joshua Redman: It exhibits genuinely fresh thinking." The album, he concludes, "draws on a range of old ideas (as old as Chopin nocturnes and '60s rock) as fuel for a journey into the murky, terrifying, thrilling unknown."

David Byrne is the guest on the latest episode of WTF with Marc Maron. "For many people, including Marc, David Byrne has served as a tour guide through a new frontier of creativity," says the show. "The frontman for Talking Heads sits down with Marc to talk about forming the preeminent new wave band of the 20th century and then branching out on his own to create work in theater, film, ballet, opera and, most recently, the world of competitive color guard performances."

Olivia Chaney kicks off her spring tour with performances in Manchester, Edinburgh ... Devendra Banhart, Andy Cabic tour Spain, Portugal ... Rhiannon Giddens plays a weekend of sold-out shows at SFJAZZ ... Kronos Quartet performs in Wisconsin ... Audra McDonald sings in Virginia ... Joshua Redman quartet headlines the SLO Jazz Festival in San Luis Obispo ... and more ...

The Americana Music Association announced today its nominations for the 2015 Americana Honors & Awards, and among the nominees are Rhiannon Giddens for Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for her T Bone Burnett-produced solo debut album, Tomorrow Is My Turn; Punch Brothers for Duo/Group of the Year; and Carolina Chocolate Drops' own Hubby Jenkins for Instrumentalist of the Year. The Americana Honors & Awards return to the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on September 16.

Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell stopped by WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show to discuss their decades-long friendship and working relationship, their new album, The Traveling Kind, and its predecessor, the Grammy Award–winning Old Yellow Moon, and to perform two songs from the new album: the title track and "You Can't Say We Didn't Try." Hear it here. They also spoke with the Wall Street Journal, and Harris discussed the new album with CMT, which calls it "an endlessly elegant modern country masterwork."

Prior to the release of Mehliana: Taming the Dragon, the debut album from Brad Mehldau and Mark Guiliana's electric duo, they had been performing together for some time, including a show at Largo in LA in October of 2013, several songs from which were filmed live. The videos, directed and recorded by Alex Chaloff, released thus far include live takes on album tracks "Sleeping Giant," "Just Call Me Nige," and "Hungry Ghost." A fourth and final video, of the song "Centinela," which is not on the album, can now be seen here. Mehliana performs at the Music Meeting Festival in Nijmegen, Netherlands, on May 24, the pair's only scheduled date for the rest of the year. 

The Black Keys are the subject of the latest film in the Rolling Stone Films series Mastering the Craft, titled "The Big Come Up." In the film, band mates Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney recount their early days, discussing how they first came together to make music in their hometown of Akron, Ohio, and later went on to form the band after a random recording session. The film includes interviews with the band and their families along with their earliest demo recordings and footage from their very first concert and more. Watch it here.

Today marks the release of HIVE1, the label debut from Tyondai Braxton. Written and recorded throughout 2013 and 2014, the recording comprises eight pieces that were originally conceived for a performance work called HIVE that debuted at New York’s Guggenheim Museum in 2013. Q magazine calls the new album "a sonically absorbing experience." NPR says: "[W]hat sets this album apart is its playfulness—the feeling that experimenting with sound is a joyful game." Braxton gives the Canadian premiere of HIVE at the Mutek festival in Montreal later this month and performs the piece for three nights at The Kitchen in NYC in early June

Today marks the release of Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell's new album, The Traveling Kind, with the vinyl to follow on June 30. "This is what it sounds like when true equals, both deep into their journeys, draw out the best in each other," says NPR. USA Today names it Album of the Week. "Artists such as Harris and Crowell, of course, sustain their longevity by using time, and the experience it brings, to enrich their creative and interpretive work." "Their first duo album, Old Yellow Moon, won a Grammy," says the Boston Globe, "and this follow-up is even better." The duo has added a number of new tour dates this fall.

The Congolese seven-piece band Mbonwana Star releases its debut full-length album, From Kinshasa, next week, with vinyl to follow on June 9. But you don't need to wait till then to hear it: the album is streaming in full all this week via Vice's music site Noisey. The group stiches "together bombastic African rhythms with lithe guitars and sinuous basslines to make your body bang," says Noisey. "Mbonwana Star's debut album, From Kinshasa, features a breadth of textures and moods," the site continues. "Its strength lies in its dynamic eclecticism, a gleeful mish-mash of genres ... It's time to press play and immerse yourself in another world."

Punch Brothers, who return to the road next month starting at the Bonnaroo and Telluride Bluegrass festivals, have kicked off the sixth season of the A.V. Club's A.V. Undercover series. "First up, it’s the thoroughly awesome Punch Brothers, who covered The Cars for us way back in 2012," says the A.V. Club. "[Y]ou can never hear a banjo- and mandolin-assisted cover of The Strokes' 'Reptilia' too many times." Watch them perform it as many times as you'd like in the video here.