This Week in Music

Legendary singer Bob Dylan received a Medal of Freedom this week from President Barack Obama. Obama, a personal fan of Dylan’s music, placed this high civilian honor on him and 12 other recipients.

For those that missed Mumford and Sons the first time around, they will be touring the U.S. again this summer. They are also set to release their second album in September. Given the great success of debut Sigh No More, it is exciting to see what else they have in store.

Gwen Stefani’s No Doubt is also returning this summer. They will be reuniting on June 22 for the Teen Choice Awards.

In other news, Mary J Blige spoke out about the lawsuit against her Foundation for the Advancement of Women. Blige stated that she was unaware of unpaid wages and loans and that they are working to get the issue resolved.

Meanwhile, Randy Travis continues a lawsuit with his ex-wife, claiming she was trying to ruin his career.

Rock band Ween called it quits this week. Gene Ween, aka Aaron Freeman, is now pursuing solo work, seeing it is a next step.

Multiple Grammy award winning folk guitarist Doc Watson passed away this week, having influenced the music world with fast, expert guitar picking.

In new releases:

The unique, delightful Regina Spektor released her sixth studio album, What We Saw from the Cheap Seats.

Here is the artistic video from the urgent, engaging song, “All the Rowboats.”

Jazz singer Melody Gardot released her new album, The Absence. I received a sneak peek of it last month. It has great Latin influence and catchy rhythms. A good example is her song, "Mira," which was filmed in Brazil with vibrant colors and dancing in the street:

California band Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros released their self-recorded debut album, Here. Their sound and harmonies have a retro yet refreshing feel.

In other debut albums, X Factor finalist Rebecca Ferguson released Heaven here in the U.S. She has a wonderfully soulful voice and co-wrote all of the tracks on the album.

Here is the video from song “Nothing’s Real but Love”

The indie rock band Walkmen also released an album titled Heaven this week.

Icelandic band Sigur Ros, known for their ethereal sound, released their sixth studio album, Valtari.

Finally, Florence and the Machine released new video "Spectrum" from album Ceremonials. Dramatic, sexual and complete with ballerinas:

Which new music video is your favorite this week?