Wilco (the album) comes at a time when Wilco front man Jeff Tweedy is as content as he's been in years, and, says a Maxim magazine profile, that is a very good thing, resulting in the "most confident album of Wilco’s career ... a focused collection of poetic, emotionally direct songs that explore fear, loss, and love from a midlife perspective." Ultimately, "The triumph of Wilco (the album) ably rebuts the tortured-artist ideal."

Christina Courtin begins a weekly series of gigs in California this month, at The Little Room at Largo in Los Angeles tonight. A second Little Room date follows next week, and then a third Largo event, at the Coronet Theater, on the 17th, with Grant Lee Phillips. In between the latter two events, she'll head up north to play San Francisco's Café du Nord.

For his most recent Nonesuch release, Disfarmer, Bill Frisell created a set of songs inspired by the images of photographer Michael Disfarmer. Frisell first set music to film 15 years ago with scores for three Buster Keaton movies. JamBase looks at these and Disfarmer, "one more remarkable piece of work that adds to the diversity and intrinsic curiosity that resides firmly in all of Frisell's music, a player for whom the whole expanse of sound is open and eagerly explored."

When Joshua Redman's MoodSwing was originally released, back in 1994, it was Redman's first to feature both his own band—pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Brian Blade—and all original tunes. Now, as those collaborations continue to flourish, MoodSwing returns in a new Nonesuch vinyl reissue. "Redman finds ingenious ways of creating a mode of acoustic jazz that is both entertaining and enlightening," Entertainment Weekly wrote upon the album's initial release. "MoodSwing plays like an artistic journey."

Wilco wrapped up its summer tour in Dublin last week, with the US tour picking up again at the University of Iowa October 1. Just three days later, the band will perform at the annual Farm Aid benefit concert, which, DIRECTV has just announced, will be broadcast live and in HD exclusively on its The 101 Network. DIRECTV will also match donations from its customers up to $50,000 to support Farm Aid in its efforts to support family farms.

The Low Anthem stopped by the NPR studios in Washington, DC, this weekend for an appearance on the Sunday edition of All Things Considered for an exploration of their music, which NPR describes as "shimmering Americana." The band discussed their recent Nonesuch debut, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin; listened to a few tracks off the album; and performed "Ticket Taker" live in the studio.

Tune in to NPR's All Things Considered this Sunday, August 30, to hear an interview with and live performance by The Low Anthem.

The Low Anthem's Plymouth Waterfront concert was canceled due to weather, but Sunday's WXPN Artist to Watch concert is on in PA ... Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed play Helsinki Fest ... Carolina Chocolate Drops celebrate North Carolina's musical heritage ... Bill Frisell continues at the Vanguard with Paul Motian, Joe Lovano ... Youssou N'Dour is in Brazil for Back2Black ... Allen Toussaint plays NYC ... Dawn Upshaw premieres Golijov in London ... Wilco closes out Europe summer in Dublin ... and more ...

Youssou N'Dour is in Brazil this weekend for the Back2Black Festival, a three-day international event celebrating Africa through political discussions and cultural events, with events taking place in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia. In Rio, he'll perform in a concert with Marisa Monte tonight and participate in a conference on culture and development tomorrow; on Sunday, he'll be in Brazilia for the festival's closing concert.

Christina Courtin's "Foreign Country," off her recent eponymous Nonesuch release, has been chosen as NPR's Song of the Day. "Courtin's self-titled debut is mercilessly charming," says NPR, "a conflation of sweet and sad that manages the neat (and difficult) trick of being endlessly effervescent without inducing tooth decay." The selected song is described as "twinkly, jaunty and blithe," one that "suggests an intriguing future for Courtin."

Dawn Upshaw joins the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, led by David Zinman, at Edinburgh's Usher Hall tonight as part of the Edinburgh International Festival. In 1991, Upshaw and Zinman came together for the the now-famous Nonesuch recording of Górecki's Third Symphony. Scotland's Herald takes a look at this "global smash" as part of a closer look at the career of the singer who helped make it such a success.

Wilco's set at the Troxy in London last night was the first of three sold-out shows with Blitzen Trapper in Britain and Ireland this week (and marked Jeff Tweedy's 42nd birthday). The Evening Standard gives the show four stars, praising "the quality of the tunes" from throughout the group's seven-album repertoire, Tweedy's "bittersweet vocal and the band’s brilliant musicianship."