There's one month to go before the August 31 Nonesuch release of Philip Selway's solo debut album, Familial, now available for pre-order. Selway spoke with Pitchfork about the new project, which it describes as "10 hushed folk songs in the shadowy tradition of Nick Drake. The album is quiet, but there's an unnerving sense of dread that connects the material to his main gig; it's music for a foreboding twilight."

With Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music back on Broadway, and the legendary Elaine Stritch having joined the cast as Madame Armfeldt, the New York Times looks at the women to have taken on the iconic role; the Times also profiles the small London theater where this revival began. The San Jose Mercury News calls the cast album "extra-clear and intimate." The BBC Proms celebrates Sondheim's music this Saturday; The Times of London calls him "the man who has revolutionised the musical ... sardonic, jaded—and touched with genius."

Christina Courtin recently performed a number of songs off her Nonesuch debut album for a Daytrotter Session, now available online. The session features the songs "Green Jay," "Foreign Country," "Jackson," "Bundah," and "Hedonistic Paradise." Says Daytrotter: "There's sadness in her pretty voice, but there's also this kind of big-eyed wonder in it."

Laurie Anderson will be among the jury members of YouTube Play, a video biennial from YouTube and the Guggenheim Museum meant to search for and showcase talent in online video. Other jury members include Animal Collective, Darren Aronofsky, Takashi Murakami, Shirin Neshat, and Stefan Sagmeister. The deadline for submissions is July 31. The jury's selections will be presented at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in October.

The Black Keys' Tonight Show performance of "Tighten Up," off their album Brothers, is now at nbc.com. With their US tour set to start tomorrow, Time Out New York selects the three New York City concerts the Top Live Show (or, rather, shows) for the week.Time Out says "there’s a realness to what the Black Keys do, along with a lack of pretension that sets them apart from pretty much every other act in Billboard’s top ten (Brothers entered the chart at No. 3)."

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."

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.

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.

Alarm Will Sound is the resident ensemble of the inaugural Mizzou New Music Summer Festival, taking place all this week at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. The school’s Mizzou New Music Institute selected eight composers from around the world to participate in workshops and master classes and have their work premiered by Alarm Will Sound in the festival's culminating concert this Sunday.

The Low Anthem kicks off its summer tour this weekend, starting three weeks of shows along the US East Coast, from Virginia to Vermont. Following a Sunday set at the Green River Festival in Massachusetts, the Providence-based quartet heads back to its hometown to headline a benefit concert for Congressional candidate David Segal. The band returns to Rhode Island at the end of month to perform on the Newport Folk Festival's Main Stage.

Laurie Anderson performs the song "Only an Expert," off her new album, Homeland, on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight. She will sign copies of the album at New York's Other Music shop next week. AnOther magazine calls Homeland "art of the highest order; daring and poetic it speaks truth where other important artists of the day have not, and, ultimately, shows us that Anderson is still at the top of her spy game."

Laurie Anderson brings the music of Homeland back home to New York City. Anderson performs a song from the album on the Late Show with David Letterman Wednesday night. The Washington Post picks her concert at The Birchmere this Friday as the must-attend concert this week. Interview says "Anderson proves that time has only sharpened her critical eye," calling Homeland "harrowing and hilarious ... a gift of perspective."