Free Album Streaming: New Music from Florence & the Machine, Laura Veirs, Meshell Ndegeocello, & More

"What the Water Gave Me" from the new Florence and the Machine album

The new Florence and the Machine album heads the list of interesting new albums available for streaming this week. Called "Ceremonials,"the album is streaming at MySpace Music, a source that I hadn't really thought of for playing full albums. Although MySpace has been shedding users, it does offer some good album streams, so from now on I'm making it one of the sources that I check weekly.

Also streaming this week are a children's album from Laura Veirs, an EP of outtakes from the "King is Dead" sessions by Veirs's sometime collaborators The Decemberists, and a new album by bassist and singer Meshell Ndegeocello. And if you missed last week's NPR preview of the new Girl in a Coma album,it's up on Spinner this week.

For those interested in classic rock and pop, there's a 40th-anniversary edition of Jethro Tull's "Aqualung"and the official release of "Smile" by the Beach Boys—the 1967 album that had never fully seen the light of day until now.

There's also the first album by filmmaker David Lynch ("Eraserhead," "Blue Velvet") and, for fans of jazzy vocals, "Brainchildren," the new albumby singer and trombonist Elizabeth Dotson-Westphalen, who performs under the name Elizabeth.

MySpace Music:
"Ceremonials" (Deluxe Edition) by Florence and the Machine

NPR First Listen:
"Tumble Bee" by Laura Veirs
"Crazy Clown Time" by David Lynch
"Weather" by Meshell Ndegeocello

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Long Live the King" EP by The Decemberists
"SMiLE" by The Beach Boys
"Nightlife" by Phantogram
"Aqualung" 40th Anniversary by Jethro Tull
"Exits And All The Rest" by Girl in a Coma

The Watson Twins & Laura Veirs at NYC's Bowery Ballroom, Sept. 14th (PHOTOS)

Above: Leigh (left) and Chandra Watson at Bowery Ballroom.

Here are some belated photos from Tuesday's Bowery Ballroom show featuring The Watson Twins and Laura Veirs. Although Veirs was the headliner and the better-known act, I was at the show to see the Watsons, who I've been fans of since I heard of them in 2006. That was the year that Leigh and Chandra, identical twins from Louisville, Kentucky, made the "Rabbit Fur Coat" album with Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley, which was one of my favorite albums of that year (an opinion shared by many music critics).

That same year the Watsons, who now reside in Los Angeles, came out with their debut recording, the excellent EP "Southern Manners." The sisters have since come out with two full-length albums, most recently the soul-inflected "Talking to You, Talking to Me," which came out earlier this year.

The Watsons are currently on tour with Veirs as a three-piece outfit (the sisters plus a keyboardist). Their voices are lovely, and as you can imagine their harmonies are gorgeous, reflecting a lifetime of singing together. (Check out the video below.)

Below, the Watson Twins and band perform "The Devil in You" (from their latest album) live in the studios of KCRW Radio.

I've heard various tunes from Laura Veirs (below) over the last few years, but only at Tuesday's show did the range of her music become apparent to me. Her songs can be simple, stripped-down acoustic Americana with Veirs on banjo, or folk-influenced indie pop.