Ben LaMar Gay shares a new video for “Mestre Candeia’s Denim Hat,” off his upcoming album Open Arms to Open Us, out November 19 on International Anthem / Nonesuch. An homage to improvisatory and rhythmic elements of the Brazilian “Partido Alto” tradition, “Mestre Candeia’s Denim Hat” sees Gay lay a Chicago-style free-jazz synth raga over a swinging, fractured march. The title is a nod to the insight and style of master sambista and partideiro Antônio Candeia Filho. You can watch the video, directed by Andrea Rodea and Erik Mares of the Mexico City based Rhizomes Films, here.

"Laurie Anderson Has a Message for Us Humans," Sam Anderson's New York Times Magazine feature on Laurie Anderson in last week's issue of the magazine, is today's episode of The Sunday Read from the Times podcast The Daily. Before reading his article, the writer conveys five questions Laurie Anderson had shared with him, "a sort of test that uses to figure out whether a piece that she's working on is good or not ... 'Is it complicated enough? Is it simple enough? Is it crazy enough? Is it beautiful enough? And finally, Is it stupid enough?' And I thought that was kind of a great criteria for proceeding with life, with whatever you are doing."

Lake Street Dive's Rachael Price and Mike Calabrese are on the Environmental Defense Fund's Degrees podcast, which has as its theme song the band's 2018 tune "Shame, Shame, Shame." They discuss the challenges of being a green band and the intersection of art and activism, including the climate-change focused song "Making Do," from their latest album, Obviously. "Full disclosure," says host Yesh Pavlik Slenk: "I have producers making sure I stay objective here, because Lake Street Dive is my very favorite band." You can hear their conversation here.

Ben LaMar Gay has released “Oh Great Be the Lake," the second single from his upcoming new album Open Arms to Open Us, out November 19 on International Anthem / Nonesuch. The new track is a ballad penned by Gay to his memories of jumping off the rocks into Lake Michigan on Chicago’s Southside; you can watch the video by Chris Strong here. Supported by delicate, minimal flute accents by Rob Frye and wordless backing vocals by Ayanna Woods, Gay croons encouragingly, repeatedly: “Learn how to swim.” This song also birthed the album title, which is taken from the lyrics in the second verse.

"A Gradual Dazzle," from Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion's new album, Let the Soil Play Its Simple Part, and the poem it sets, Anne Carson's "Room in Brooklyn," are the subject of the latest episode of the podcast Resounding Verse. You can hear it here. "Caroline Shaw is one of my favorite young composers," says host Stephen Rodgers. The new album "is a series of intimate, haunting, beautiful songs."