Philip Selway spoke with the Associated Press about his forthcoming solo debut album, Familial, for an interview broadcast live online via the AP Livestream channel you can watch here. Selway talks about the impetus behind the solo project, his under-the-radar writing process, the source of the title, and how working with a new set of musicians on Familial differed from working with his longtime bandmates in Radiohead.

Laurie Anderson will be signing copies of her latest Nonesuch release, Homeland, at New York's Other Music record store tonight at 8 PM. Tonight's event will feature a performance from Fenway Bergamot, Anderson's male alter ego, plus a raffle for tickets to Anderson's performance at BAM this fall. VenusZine says: "To call her a legend is to understate the obvious."

The Black Keys are back in the US after a European tour, ready to launch their North American summer and fall tour. Before they hit the road, the band performs "Tighten Up," off their latest album, Brothers, on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno tonight. Also featured on tonight's episode are actor Zac Efron and "supernatural entertainer" Lior Suchard. Tune in at 11:35 PM ET on NBC.

Natalie Merchant's summer tour continues this week, as she and her eight-piece band head to Philadelphia, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis. Merchant will sign copies of her new album, Leave Your Sleep, at Borders in Chicago on Thursday. The Chicago Sun-Times says the album "is as gorgeous as it is ambitious ... Leave Your Sleep reawakens the soul to the spirit of poetry."

Punch Brothers' US tour takes them far north to the Alyeska Resort in Alaska this weekend. The Huffington Post compares the band to the Beatles as artists who "redefine a genre of music for the ages," calling Chris Thile "a compositional genius" and saying all five band members "play with an energy and a passion of trailblazers." Billboard says the band "is building a case for bigger fame" with their new album, Antifogmatic.

Audra McDonald follows her stellar Tanglewood performance with a trip to Washington, DC, to perform at A Broadway Celebration, hosted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House, tonight. Tune in to a live web stream of tonight's event starting at 7 PM EDT on whitehouse.gov. The show will be broadcast on PBS stations across the US starting October 20.

Laurie Anderson played the fourth and final concert in her brief tour with music from her album Homeland at The Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia, on Friday. The Washington Post calls Homeland "one of her best ... more contemplative, as well as prettier than Anderson's best-known work." She will sign copies of the new album at Other Music in New York City on Wednesday.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops brought the latest leg of their US summer tour to a close with a free outdoor concert in Milwaukee and return to the States in late August. Up next, the Drops head to Europe for a brief festival tour, with stops in the UK, Norway, and Belgium. The trio sat down for a quick video chat about the tour you can watch here.

Christina Courtin performed at Joe's Pub in New York City on Friday night and performs again in New York later this month for the Reclaim the Coast concert at City Winery to benefit the Gulf Restoration Network. Courtin recently performed two songs off her self-titled Nonesuch debut album in Brooklyn for La Blogotheque's "Take-Away Shows." You can watch the resulting videos here.

Kronos Quartet, Philip Glass perform his Dracula score in Germany ... Alarm Will Sound are in residence at Mizzou New Music Fest ... Laurie Anderson brings Homeland to The Birchmere ...  Ben Folds guests with Utah Symphony ... Marlboro Music opens under Richard Goode's artistic direction ... Gidon Kremer's Lockenhaus Fest concludes ... The Low Anthem, Allen Toussaint play Green River Festival ... Audra McDonald debuts at Tanglewood ... Natalie Merchant continues at Town Hall ... Punch Brothers tour Michigan ... Joshua Redman's Double Trio tours Europe ... and more ...

News of the engagement of Bristol Palin (Sarah Palin's daughter) and Levi Johnston comes on the heels of the forthcoming Nonesuch release of the Ben Folds and Nick Hornby album Lonely Avenue, featuring the track "Levi Johnston's Blues," which Folds and Hornby were inspired to write after the young couple's introduction to the world at the 2008 Republican National Convention. The Huffington Post calls Lonely Avenue "one of the most interesting collaborations of the year." Listen to the album track and read the lyrics here.

The new film I Am Love, featuring the music of John Adams, has now opened in movie theaters across the US, with still more to be added in the coming weeks. The Huffington Post says that wonderful as it is, what "was truly powerful was the music used in the film." The Arts Desk calls the soundtrack album "an excellent single CD introduction to one of our greatest modern composers," complete with "impulsive, inventive and melodically rich post-systems gems."