Ry Cooder's new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, which was released late last month on CD and digitally, is out today as a double-vinyl set, which includes two audiophile-quality, 140-gram vinyl discs plus a CD of the complete album. Ireland's Evening Herald is the latest publication to give the album a perfect five stars, saying: "The headline news is that Ry Cooder has made yet another of his trademark, cornerstone collections, dragging in the wide span of his American music influences." Canada's Winnipeg Free Press offers another five-star review and says: "This one is a classic." 

Natalie Merchant will perform two shows in upstate New York next month as part of Radio Woodstock's 13th annual Pink October Fundraiser, benefiting breast cancer research at the Dyson Center for Cancer Care at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie. Merchant will also join the Nashville Symphony in concert in November and will be honored as a 2011 New York Public Library Lion, along with Jonathan Franzen, Ian McEwan, Tony Kushner, Stacy Schiff, and Isabel Wilkerson.

Björk brought the music of Biophilia, her forthcoming album, to Britain's Isle of Wight last night, where she headlined the four-day Bestival's closing night. Q magazine says "it's clear from the off, the Icelandic singer does not do 'average' festival sets." She was the featured guest on the full hour of the CBC radio show Q. "Few artists can lay claim to being the greatest cultural export of their home country," says the show, citing her "trailblazing" new album. Björk also spoke with Studio 360 about her memories of September 11, 2001, and the ways in which the world has changed since. Listen to her comments here.

Steve Reich's new piece, WTC 9/11, was featured on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday, in the show's coverage of the tenth anniversary of the attacks. KQED's The California Report spoke with Reich and Kronos Quartet's David Harrington about the piece, which Kronos performs on the forthcoming album. There's one more day to listen to the entire album—which also includes Mallet Quartet, performed by Sō Percussion, and Dance Patterns, performed by members of Steve Reich and Musicians—as an NPR First Listen. The Seattle Times calls WTC 9/11 "a stunning work." Sequenza21 calls it "unflinchingly eloquent."

The Black Keys have announced a headline tour of Europe in January and February 2012, including dates in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Holland, and the UK. The tour follows the most successful two years in the band’s career to date, with the release of their breakthrough album, Brothers, and all that followed. The Black Keys are currently putting the finishing touches to their seventh, as-yet untitled album. It will be released, for the first time worldwide, on Nonesuch Records.

As the world pauses to reflect once more on the tragic events of September 11, 2001, on the occasion of their tenth anniversary this Sunday, many will turn to music in remembrance. Included in the many events marking this anniversary are works by and performances from a number of Nonesuch artists, including Steve Reich, John Adams, Laurie Anderson, and Ingram Marshall. Here are a few of them, followed by our regular listing of events taking place this weekend featuring Nonesuch artists.

Steve Reich is in Kraków, Poland, for the ninth annual Sacrum Profanum festival, which gets under way on Sunday with an inaugural concert broadcast on Polish Radio 2. The week-long festival offers a retrospective of some of the composer's most iconic works, along with newer additions to his repertoire, and features performances by Jonny Greenwood, Alarm Will Sound, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Ensemble Modern, Aphex Twin, Tom Verlaine, and the composer himself.

Steve Reich is featured on the latest episode of Studio 360, which looks at various artists' responses to the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Reich discusses his piece WTC 9/11 and explains how, when asked by Kronos Quartet to write a new piece, he came to create a very personal piece that would reflect on that fateful day. Listen to the Studio 360 segment here. WTC 9/11 can be heard on the latest episode of Performance Today, whose host, Fred Child, calls it an "intense piece of music and a deeply moving piece of music as well."

Ry Cooder recently stopped by Pacifica Radio's KPFK in Los Angeles to discuss his new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, sharing insights on channeling the voice of John Lee Hooker and much more. "This is a fantastic album," says host Jon Wiener, who is joined in his praise by the Irish Times, which gives the album four stars, saying: "Cooder again defies the belief that music with a message can’t be fun." Sweden's Sydsvenskan credits it with "the most godlike groove you'll ever hear on a protest record." The New Zealand Herald gives it a perfect five stars, calling it "exceptional."

Steve Reich is featured in a new New York Times video that is part of a series of videos from the Times looking at artists' responses to the tragic events September 11, 2001. Reich, whose new piece, WTC 9/11, reflects on the World Trade Center attacks, discusses how he came to write the piece and how he developed its form, pairing three string quartets with pre-recorded voices whose final vowels and consonants are elongated. He also addresses the impact of art in the face of such monumental events. Watch the video here.

Brad Mehldau, whose new album with pianist Kevin Hays and composer/arranger Patrick Zimmerli, Modern Music, is due out on September 20, launches a brief solo tour of Europe at the Montlouis Jazz Festival in France tonight. Label mate Chris Thile launches his own solo tour as well. Along the way, the two will meet up for a very special duo concert with at London's Wigmore Hall, part of the jazz series Mehldau has curated there. Michael Daves, who was due to join Thile on tour, is unable to do so due to an illness in the family.

Emmylou Harris will perform at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, tonight as part of 9/11: 10 Years Later, a special event to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks; it will stream live online at facebook.com/KennedyCenter starting at 7:30 PM ET. The event will be hosted by Christiane Amanpour and also includes performances by Denyce Graves, Wynton Marsalis, Raúl Esparza, and the National Symphony Orchestra, along with commemorative remarks and readings by Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Madeleine Albright, and others.