PASSION PIT TO TOUR NORTH AMERICA THIS SPRING In celebration of the release of their new album Kindred, out April 21, Passion Pit will tour North America this spring, playing intimate venues in the U.S. and Canada. The band will make stops including SXSW, Buku and Big Guava Music Festivals, Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre, two nights at Washington D.C.’s 9:30 Club and many more. See below for full tour routing—fan presale begins Tuesday, February 24 at 10:00 a.m. local time, with the public onsale Friday, February 27 at 10:00 a.m. local time.

FLORENCE + THE MACHINE’S HOW BIG HOW BLUE HOW BEAUTIFUL OUT JUNE 2, 2015 For Florence Welch, the success of her first two Florence + the Machine albums Lungs (2009) and Ceremonials (2011) meant five years of back-to-back recording, promoting and touring. Lungs ran straight into the making, promoting and touring of the Grammy-nominated Ceremonials, an album written while on the road and recorded straight after coming off tour. The shows were getting bigger, the hair redder, the success wider and wilder.

Björk to add two performances at Kings TheatRE in Brooklyn Two additional Björk performances have been added to her residency of New York dates that begins with Carnegie Hall on March 7. The Kings Theatre, newly renovated and reopened just this month, will round out the theater dates.

CHRIS STAPLETON PREMIERES ALBUM TITLE TRACK “TRAVELLER” AT NPR MUSIC Chris Stapleton’s new song “Traveller” premiered today at NPR Music and can now be heard/shared here. Of the track, NPR Music’s Ann Powers praises, “‘Traveller’ gives Stapleton’s loyal admirers what they’ve been craving: a consummately crafted song that’s also vibrant and immediate, traditionalist without being the least bit fussy about it…He’s a treasure who deserves the kind of genre-spanning audience a song like this one courts. Southern rock, Americana, country, long-haired soul—call ‘Traveller’ whatever feels right. It belongs in all of those categories. It belongs in your day, whatever kind you’re having.” .

BAM and Barclays Center present Contemporary Color, Conceived by David Byrne BAM and Barclays Center present Contemporary Color, a performance event created by music icon David Byrne, co-commissioned by BAM and Toronto’s Luminato Festival, and inspired by the high school phenomenon of color guard, known as “the sport of the arts.”

STURGILL SIMPSON RETURNS TO THE “LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN” Sturgill Simpson recently returned to the “Late Show with David Letterman” performing his rendition of the Buford Abner classic, “Long White Line.” The performance comes in the midst of Sturgill’s extensive sold-out North American tour, which includes upcoming dates in D.C., Boston, Philadelphia, Austin, San Francisco and Toronto among many others. Of his recent sold-out show at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom, the Village Voice praises, “Their best was more than twenty songs, delivered with passion, perfection, and pathos…Glad I got to see him before he hits Madison Square Garden, which, given the strength of this show, seems a very real possibility in the not-so-distant future.”

SUFJAN STEVENS DEBUTS “NO SHADE IN THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS” “No Shade In The Shadow Of The Cross,” the first track from Sufjan Stevens’ Carrie & Lowell, debuts today. Listen to it via YouTube HERE. Carrie & Lowell will be released March 31 on Stevens’ own Asthmatic Kitty Records. Watch a trailer for the album HERE and preorder the album HERE. Additionally, Asthmatic Kitty Records will host local listening parties with independent record stores and venues between now and mid-March. See below for details and visit http://www.carrieandlowell.com/listen for further announcements.

TORO Y MOI’S VIDEO FOR “EMPTY NESTERS” DEBUTS ON PITCHFORK Toro y Moi’s video for “Empty Nesters,” the first track from his forthcoming album What For?, is out now, watch it on Pitchfork.TV here and via YouTube here. Bundick directed, wrote and shot the video himself in Berkeley, CA.

THE BLACK KEYS RESUME TOURING IN APRIL The Black Keys will resume their worldwide tour on April 2. The dates celebrate the band’s newest album Turn Blue, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and continues to receive acclaim. Most recently, Turn Blue was nominated for three Grammy Awards, bringing the band’s total Grammy nominations to 16. The album was also named #3 Best Album of 2014 by Rolling Stone, which called it “the sound of America’s most innovative arena rockers in full command.” In addition, the band recently taped an episode of Austin City Limits to celebrate the program’s 40th anniversary season, watch the full performance here. And furthermore Raffle tickets are now available for Dan Auerbach’s childhood guitar, signed by both Patrick Carney and Auerbach. All proceeds benefit the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank.

JD MCPHERSON’S NEW ALBUM LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL OUT FEBURARY 10 ON ROUNDER RECORDS Let The Good Times Roll, the highly anticipated new album from acclaimed musician, songwriter and performer JD McPherson, will be released February 10 on Rounder Records. As a special preview, the album track, “Bossy,” recently premiered at The Huffington Post and can be heard/shared via soundcloud. Of the song the site praises “…he shows new growth, blending breakneck blues with modern indie cues to hang a tonal tightrope that’s a pleasure to watch him walk.”

THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS CONFIRM 2015 TOUR DATES The New Pornographers will continue their nationwide tour this winter, including a series of U.S. shows in February. The tour celebrates the band’s new album, Brill Bruisers, which is out now on Matador Records (available for purchase here). The record is the highest charting album in the band’s career and continues to receive widespread critical acclaim—Rolling Stone praises, “…exuberant, synthpop-infused set…” while NPR Music asserts, “With its wrecking crew of songwriters and singers, The New Pornographers’ long-running marriage of craft and immediacy puts this group of musicians right in line with Brill’s expert hit-makers,” and Billboard proclaims, “…the album features the group’s most beautiful, whimsical harmonies yet.”

PHILIP GLASS: THE COMPLETE PIANO ETUDES DEBUTS AT #1 ON ITUNES CLASSICAL CHART Philip Glass: The Complete Piano Etudes, performed by acclaimed pianist Maki Namekawa, debuts today at #1 on the iTunes Classical Chart following a five-week exclusive pre-order period. The 20-track double album of solo piano pieces was mastered for iTunes, and is available at http://bit.ly/1r9XVN2. A 20-track double CD package is also now available from Orange Mountain Music: http://amzn.to/1ybPWW5.

MEREDITH MONK KICKS OFF 50TH SEASON NOVEMBER 20 WITH PIANO SONGS AT LE POISSON ROUGE Legendary composer, performer, vocalist, director and choreographer Meredith Monk kicks off her 50th season on November 20 (her 72nd birthday) in NYC with a concert of her Piano Songs performed by Ursula Oppens and Bruce Brubaker at Le Poisson Rouge. The program features music composed by Monk between 1972 and 2006—highlighted in her recent ECM album release of the same name—with several new arrangements created by both Monk and Brubaker.

KATY GRANNAN: THE NINETY NINE AND THE NINE AT SHERRICK & PAUL Sherrick & Paul Gallery is pleased to present the Ninety Nine and the Nine, portraits by acclaimed photographer and filmmaker Katy Grannan. The exhibition opens March 5 and runs through April 25 marking the first major showing of her work in the south at large. The exhibition is free and open to the public during regular gallery hours.