Now Streaming: New CDs from Fiona Apple, Glen Hansard, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, & More

The wait is over for streaming one of the most anticipated albums of the last few months: Fiona Apple's first album in seven years, "The Idler Wheel..." (the full title is more than 20 words long). We first got a taste of some of the songs when she performed at SXSW earlier this year, and as more songs have been heard the album has been making a number of critics' best-of-the-year-so-far lists.

Watch the video for "Every Single Night" below, which starts with Apple wearing an octopus on her head and goes on to show her cavorting with snails and other sea creatures. Oh, and what looks like a human brain.


Video for "Every Single Night" by Fiona Apple.

Apple comes from a stellar singing and show-business background: her grandfather was vocalist for the Harry James Big Band, and her parents literally met on Broadway (they were both performing in the musical "Applause"). Apple's sister, Maude Maggart, is an in-demand cabaret singer who appears on "The Idler Wheel..." (and is performing at Feinstein's at Loews Regency in New York through Saturday, June 16th).

Also new this week is a solo album by Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard, a member of The Frames but better known as half of The Swell Season, the stars and musicians from the movie "Once" (which had quite a good week as a Broadway musical, winning eight Tony awards on Sunday).

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are back with a new album, as are The Bouncing Souls, Wintersleep, These United States, and more. You'll also get another chance to stream Metric's new album "Synthetica," and Hot Chip's "In Our Heads," which are available on Spinner this week.

Many of these acts are out on the road promoting their new albums, so watch for them at a concert call or festival near you.

NPR First Listen:
"The Idler Wheel..." by Fiona Apple
"Rhythm And Repose" by Glen Hansard
"The Cherry Thing" by Neneh Cherry and the Thing

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Synthetica" by Metric
"The Lion The Beast The Beat" by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
"Comet" by The Bouncing Souls
"In Our Heads" by Hot Chip
"The Plot Against Common Sense" by Future of the Left
"Traps" by Jaill
"Hello Hum" by Wintersleep
"These United States" by These United States
"The Elle King EP" by Elle King
"Ode to Sentience" by Emily Jane White
"O'Doubt O'Stars" by Ruby Throat

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"Life Will Write the Words" by The Rocket Summer
"Songs From the Laundromat" (EP) by Drivin' and Cryin'
"Heartbreakers" by Phoebe Jean & the Air Force

Concert Notes: Fiona Apple at SXSW (Video), SXSW Podcasts, The Shins & More On Sale

Fiona Apple performs "Anything We Want" last night in this fan-filmed video. 

There's lots of current concert news, and not all of it's related to South by Southwest. In fact, there are a number of interesting concerts coming up in the New York area that are going on sale tomorrow. Here's what's up:

* If you missed last night's late concerts from Stubb's at SXSW on NPR Music, they're up now for streaming or podcast download. See these links for sets Sharon Van Etten, Dan Deacon, Alabama Shakes, and Andrew Bird.

* Fiona Apple's return to the stage had people talking, and you can see videos of two new songs by her ("Every Single Night" and "Anything We Want") at the Village Voice's wrap-up of Day 1 at SXSW.

As for those NYC-area concerts (all of which go on sale tomorrow, March 16th, at 12 Noon, except for the first show):

* Chip Taylor, writer of "Wild Thing" and "Angel of the Morning," is having a record-release show March 22nd at Hill Country for his new album, "F*ck All the Perfect People." Tickets are on sale now.

* Fresh off their appearance on "Saturday Night Live," The Shins are on the road and will play three nights at New York's Terminal 5, April 29th and 30th, and May 1st.

* Like The Shins, Garbage is making a return from a number of years off with a new album and tour. Garbage plays Webster Hall on May 22nd.

* Another returning act, That Dog, has added a second show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on May 25th. The original show on the 24th is sold out.

* Beach House plays a SummerStage benefit concert on June 23rd.

* Bonnie Raitt plays the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ (with Mavis Staples) on June 19th.

* Jonathan Richman plays two shows at Bowery Ballroom, June 12th and 13th.

NPR Music's Live SXSW Webcasts Start Tonight

NPR Music kicks off its live SXSW music webcasts with nine shows on Wednesday and Thursday.

Sharon Van Etten kicks off NPR Music's schedule of live webcasts from the SXSW music festival tonight. There are four shows this evening (going late into the night), and five shows tomorrow afternoon and evening.

Van Etten's set is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Central time (yes, apologies for the very late notice here). Fortunately, most if not all of these sets will be posted online later for viewing and/or listening.

The live webcasts scheduled for tonight and tomorrow:

Wednesday, March 14th:
Sharon Van Etten, 9 p.m. Central
Dan Deacon, 10 p.m.
Alabama Shakes, 11:15 p.m.
Andrew Bird, 12:30 a.m. (Thursday morning)

Thursday, March 15th:
Bruce Springsteen (delivering keynote address), 12 noon Central
La Vida Boheme, 1 p.m.
Sugar Tongue Slim 1:45 p.m.
Polica 2:30 p.m.
Lower Dens 3:15 p.m.
The Magnetic Fields 4 p.m.

One SXSW show that happened earlier tonight that may be online later: Fiona Apple staged her triumphant return to performing with a set that had a lot of critics in attendance raving. Spinner tweeted, "Fiona Apple's first show after being away for what feels like forever is terrific, terrifying, triumphant." [Update: You can see one of the new songs Fiona Apple performed tonight here at Consequence of Sound, in a video recorded by a fan. (The song is “Anything We Want;" she also played the new songs “Valentine” and “Every Single Night.”)] Apple's new album (which is 23 words long) is set to come out in June.

The Fiona Apple set was presented or sponsored by NPR, which has said it hopes to put it online for viewing, if Ms. Apple approves.