The Barbican's Explorations Weekend celebrates Nonesuch at 50 with Jonny Greenwood, Kronos Quartet, Brad Mehldau, Timo Andres, Sam Amidon, Natalie Merchant, Rhiannon Giddens, Olivia Chaney ... The Black Keys, Conor Oberst perform at Hangout Music Festival in Alabama ... Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Timothy McAllister play John Adams's City Noir ... Shawn Colvin performs in Pacific Northwest, as does Nickel Creek ... Jacob Cooper plays from Silver Threads in NYC ... Jeremy Denk, Richard Goode play Beethoven in California ... Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica tour Central Europe ... Pat Metheny is in Germany ... Joshua Redman tours Japan ... and more ...

Natalie Merchant joined The School of Life founder and philosopher Alain de Botton for a public conversation about her new, self-titled album, last night in London. During the event, she unveiled a new video for the album track "Lulu." The video features film excerpts from Pandora's Box, the 1929 silent film directed by G.W. Pabst and starring Louise Brooks, the subject of the song. Watch it here. Merchant returns to Later ... with Jools Holland tonight on BBC Two.

This weekend, the Barbican presents its 2014 marathon weekend celebrating Nonesuch Records at 50. Entitled Explorations: The Sound of Nonesuch Records, this curated weekend of events includes five London concerts taking place in LSO St Luke's, Milton Court Concert Hall, and the Barbican Hall. Featured among the weekend's events are Jonny Greenwood, Kronos Quartet, Brad Mehldau, Timo Andres, Sam Amidon, Natalie Merchant, Rhiannon Giddens, Olivia Chaney, and others performing works by Greenwood, Mehldau, Andres, Steve Reich, John Adams, Philip Glass, Frederic Rzewski, Louis Andriessen, Henryk Górecki, Donnacha Dennehy, and more. Satellite events continue later in the month from Jeremy Denk, Emmylou Harris, Caetano Veloso, and Toumani & Sidiki Diabaté.

The Black Keys marked the release of their new album, Turn Blue, yesterday with an appearance on The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. The band spoke with Stephen Colbert about the new album and performed the single "Fever." You can watch the interview and "Fever" plus a web-exclusive performance of the album's title track here. Patrick Carney will chat with iTunes via Twitter today at 2 PM ET and lead a Reddit AMA at 3 PM ET.

Malian kora master Toumani Diabaté is joined by his eldest son, Sidiki, for the new father-and-son recording Toumani & Sidiki. The album, due out next Monday, May 19, in North America, is streaming in full all this week via the Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy blog. Toumani and Sidiki Diabaté will embark on a US tour starting at BAM in Brooklyn, September 24, and running through October 3.

The Black Keys' new album, Turn Blue, is out now. Rolling Stone gives the album four-and-a-half stars, calling it "the best, most consistently gripping album The Black Keys have ever made." The AP hears "the sound of a band operating at the peak of its power." Turn Blue is Album of the Week in the Guardian, the Times, Metro, and Independent, which gives it five stars, calling it "a post-modern blues-rock marvel." Mojo says it "underlines the fact that The Black Keys are the most vital rock band in the world right now." The band performs on The Colbert Report tonight, and Patrick Carney leads a Reddit AMA on Wednesday. Ticket pre-sale for the fall tour began this morning; general on-sale begins this Friday.

In honor of the 50th anniversary of Nonesuch Records, the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) presents a wide-ranging series of concerts, September 9–28. Part of the 2014 Next Wave Festival, these diverse engagements—featuring 23 evenings of music—underscore the longstanding relationship between Nonesuch artists and BAM. Performs include Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Timo Andres, Brad Mehldau, Chris Thile, Dawn Upshaw, Alarm Will Sound performing works by John Adams, Youssou N'Dour, Rhiannon Giddens, Devendra Banhart, Stephin Merritt, Iron and Wine, Kronos Quartet, Natalie Merchant, Sam Amidon, Olivia Chaney, Laurie Anderson, Rokia Traoré, Toumani & Sidiki Diabaté, Caetano Veloso, and Robert Plant.

The Black Keys returned to Saturday Night Live this past weekend as musical guests, performing two songs from their new album, Turn Blue. The band returns to late-night TV with a performance on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight and an appearance on The Colbert Report tomorrow. Earlier today, The Black Keys will be on the webcast concert series Live on Letterman, performing live from the Ed Sullivan Theater in NYC, webcast on CBS.com, after 7:30 PM ET. 

Conor Oberst's new album, Upside Down Mountain, due out next Monday, May 19 (with vinyl due to arrive May 30), is streaming in full all this week as an NPR First Listen. The album is "artful and beautifully realized," writes NPR's Tom Moon. "Upside Down Mountain suggests that Oberst is growing, rapidly, as a craftsman ... [H]e's brokering interior thoughts, choosing clusters of words for the ways they thrive, or sometimes disappear, inside the sonic swirl." Oberst is on tour now with special guest Dawes.

Natalie Merchant performed two sold-out shows at Milton Court Concert Hall in London over the weekend and stopped by BBC Radio 2's Weekend Wogan for a live session. She performs on BBC Two's Later ... with Jools Holland Tuesday and again on Friday. She joins philosopher Alain de Botton in East London on Thursday to discuss her new album and returns to Milton Court on Sunday for another sold-out concert, this time with several label mates, for a celebration of roots music for the Barbican’s Explorations: The Sound of Nonesuch Records.

The Black Keys perform from their new album, Turn Blue, as musical guests on Saturday Night Live ... Natalie Merchant performs two sold-out shows in London and is on BBC Radio 2’s Weekend Wogan ... Richard Goode plays Beethoven in Minneapolis ... Iron and Wine plays Shaky Knees Festival in Atlanta; Conor Oberst does too and tours the Carolinas ... Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica tour Germany ... Kronos Quartet premieres new works in Sweden and Ireland ... Brad Mehldau Trio concludes six-night residency at NYC's Village Vanguard ... Pat Metheny Unity Group tours Scandinavia ... Nickel Creek tours Midwest ... and more ...

Natalie Merchant's new, self-titled album was released earlier this week to great critical acclaim. The New York Times describes the album as "a set of dark, brave, thoughtful and serenely startling songs." NPR's All Things Considered says: "This record gives full rein to Natalie Merchant's voice, which is stronger than ever, especially in her magnificent lower register." A USA Today feature finds Merchant "driven by the same sense of empathy that has always motivated her." Refinery29 says the new album marks "the return of one of music’s most illustrious voices."