Steve Reich spoke with WNYC's New Sounds and shared music from his season-long Carnegie Hall residency, which resumes with a performance of his Tehillim tonight and the upcoming Three Generations, a four-concert, Reich-curated exploration of the changing direction of concert music from the mid-20th century to the present. You can hear the episode and get concert details here.

Stephin Merritt is a guest on the latest episode of the public radio show Studio 360 from PRI and WNYC. He talks with host Kurt Andersen about the making of the new Magnetic Fields album, 50 Song Memoir, which chronicles the 50 years of songwriter his life with one song per year, and performs solo takes on two songs from the album: "'71 I Think I'll Make Another World" and "'91 The Day I Finally ..." You can hear the interview and performance here and on public radio stations across the US.

Rhiannon Giddens's new album, Freedom Highway, was released on Friday to great critical acclaim. Giddens spent the day at Sing Sing prison, working with and performing for inmates as a part of Carnegie Hall's Musical Connections program. "Giddens is an immensely talented singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist with the instincts of a musical historian," says WFUV, which named Freedom Highway its New Dig of the week. "On this new collection, she expertly and powerfully tells the stories of those who could not and bears witness to their struggle ... Freedom Highway is welcome, relevant and important." The Los Angeles Times says: "It’s a powerful collection made all the more visceral by the stripped-down instrumental accompaniment around full-force-gale vocals in big moments, and delicate pleadings when songs are at their most intimate."

Chris Thile, the host of A Prairie Home Companion, welcomed label mate Brad Mehldau to the show as a special guest this past weekend. They performed two songs from their debut duo album: Mehldau's tune "The Watcher" and the David Rawlings / Gillian Welch song "Scarlet Town." You can watch their performance of the latter here. Mehldau also contributes a solo improvisation to the episode, which you can hear at prairiehome.org. 

Chris Thile and Brad Mehldau were the guests on NPR's World Cafe. They spoke with host David Dye and performed three songs from their just-released debut duo album together: Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," David Rawling and Gillian Welch's "Scarlet Town," and Elliott Smith's "Independence Day." "It is extraordinary," says host Dye of the new album. "Two players from different genres, bluegrass and jazz, further the thinking that genres are just not that important to improvisers." Find out what they had to say and hear the performances here.

Conor Oberst stopped by WFUV in NYC last month to perform three songs from his new album, Ruminations—"A Little Uncanny," "Mamah Borthwick (A Sketch)," and "Gossamer Thin"—and talk with host Carmel Holt for an FUV Live session. You can watch the performances here and hear the interview on the air tonight on 90.7 FM. Oberst takes his US tour to the one and only Carnegie Hall in NYC this Wednesday night, followed by two nights of sold-out shows both in Chicago and LA.

Devendra Banhart took the Marketplace Quiz, answering the public radio show's questions and offering insight in his own inimitable way. "It's okay not to know, and it's okay to ask for help," Banhart says when asked what advice he wished someone had given him before he started his career, advice he doesn't feel he took at the time. "I feel like it was all about 'No, I know, I know, I know, and I don't need anyone's help. I need to prove I can be independent.' But that isn't really how it works and you definitely don't know everything, and not only that, but it's okay not to know everything, and asking for help doesn't suddenly make you intrinsically dependent or co-dependent. It's a dance." You can hear the Quiz here.

Portuguese singer Mariza, who is currently touring North America with songs from her Nonesuch debut album, Mundo, was the guest on NPR's World Cafe yesterday. She spoke with host David Dye about Mundo and performed two songs from the album, "Rio de Mágoa" and "Saudade Solta," from what Dye calls a "triumphant" concert in Lisbon. Find out what Mariza has to say about her music and hear the performances here.

Conor Oberst performed his new album, Ruminations, in its entirety at NYC's Housing Works Bookstore Cafe last Friday; the performance was webcast live via NPR Music's Facebook page. You can now watch three songs from the set: "Tachycardia," "Gossamer Thin," and "A Little Uncanny." "Ruminations is one of Conor Oberst's most personal records," says NPR Music's Bob Boilen, "a collection of brave, dark songs ... that are unmistakably moving and contain some of Oberst's best lyrics and imagery." NPR Music will soon post the full concert, but these three tracks "establish the sound of the record, spare and lyric-based. These are the sounds of hard moments, elevated through beautiful music and a true poetic touch." Boilen includes "A Little Uncanny" on the latest episode of All Songs Considered. Ruminations is BBC Radio 6 Music's Album of the Day today.

Devendra Banhart spoke with NPR's All Things Considered on Saturday about his songwriting, from his new album, Ape in Pink Marble, all the way back to the first song he wrote and performed for his family at nine years old. "Banhart has made a name for himself as something of a musical sponge, drawing on traditions from blues to salsa to psychedelic folk," says host Lakshmi Singh. "But he'll be the first to tell you that his work is as much about writing, acting and storytelling as it is about the music itself." Hear the conversation here.

Rhiannon Giddens was a guest on NPR's Mountain Stage, returning to the show to perform from the Augusta Heritage Festival in Elkins, WV, earlier this year. "T Bone Burnett mentions her with some very serious company—Nina Simone, Odetta, and others—and I think that she deserves that mention," says Mountain Stage host Larry Groce. "She's at home with many different kinds of music: traditional, non-traditional, blues, jazz, whatever she wants to sing." You can hear why here.

Steve Reich turned 80 years old last week, an occasion that is being celebrated in concerts across the globe. NPR marked the milestone with a feature on Weekend Edition Sunday yesterday, in which Anastasia Tsioulcas spoke with the composer and examines works that span his career. "When he began, Reich was an outsider," Tsioulcas concludes. "Now his work is embraced by temples of high culture around the world." You can hear the piece here.