Recollection, k.d. lang's first-ever career retrospective is due out in just a matter of days and is available for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store with an exclusive, limited-edition signed print of k.d. Among its many stand-out tracks is k.d.'s now-classic take on "Hallelujah." She discusses the song with the Australian Associated Press, which says hers "is regularly held up as one of the greatest versions of Leonard Cohen's much-covered classic."

David Byrne will present his video/audio lecture called Creation in Reverse at Bowery Ballroom in New York City tonight as part of the Stories in High Fidelity reading and music series. There will also be a special music performance by Nicole Atkins, a featured vocalist on Byrne's forthcoming Todomundo/Nonesuch release, Here Lies Love, which is available for pre-order now in the Nonesuch Store.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops are in the UK all this week to celebrate the early release there of their Nonesuch debut, Genuine Negro Jig, and perform throughout the country. It's been a whirlwind of BBC appearances, including a live BBC 6 Music interview earlier today on Nemone's early afternoon show and a performance on BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends last Saturday.

The Magnetic Fields begins its two-month tour with music from Realism at DC's Lisner Auditorium Thursday. The album opener opens the latest edition of NPR's All Songs Considered. The Christian Science Monitor recommends the album, citing Stephin Merritt's "delicately crafted pop songs with wit and deft musicality"; the Cleveland Plain Dealer gives it an A-, calling it "a fun exercise in faux-folk." Merritt speaks with the CBC about his music and his thoughts on the singing skills of label mate k.d. lang.

Alarm Will Sound will be joining Dirty Projectors for two special shows later this month, performing the latter band's The Getty Address at Lincoln Center's Allen Room in NYC and at Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA. In between these shows, Alarm Will Sound will perform music by Caleb Burhans at NYC's Poisson Rouge. This summer, the group will be featured in the first-ever Mizzou New Music Summer Festival.

Natalie Merchant was in Ireland and Scotland last week to perform songs from her forthcoming Nonesuch debut, Leave Your Sleep. The Scotsman gives four stars to her Glasgow Celtic Connections performance, saying the set "gave full rein to the mercurial potency" of her voice. The Irish Times says that through her set at Whelan's in Dublin, she remained "the apple of everyone’s eye—and rightly so." Chronogram says the new album's "genius is in how Merchant pairs the poems with just the right accompaniment."

Ali and Toumani, the last album pairing guitar virtuoso Ali Farka Touré and kora master Toumani Diabaté, is out now. On NPR's All Things Considered yesterday, host Guy Raz calls the track "Sabu Yerkoy" "such a beautiful piece of music and so easy to listen to." Betto Arcos, host of Global Village, concurs, calling it "beautiful music." All About Jazz says it "certainly joins the ranks of recordings that are 'beyond criticism.'"

Pat Metheny kicked off his Orchestrion tour in France this weekend and has now added stops in Asia in June. The New York Times calls Metheny "easily one of the most enterprising jazz musicians of his generation" and says of seeing it all in action that "the performance dazzled," not least the album's "shimmering, labyrinthine title track, an overture of palpable ambition." Billboard says Orchestrion "surprises and exhilarates." The Cleveland Plain Dealer gives it an A-; the Detroit Free Press says Metheny opens up "new avenues of creativity."

Grammy Weekend is here with Wilco, Allen Toussaint, Shawn Colvin, Amadou & Mariam, and Oumou Sangare up for awards; Wilco, Emmylou Harris, and k.d. lang celebrate Neil Young in concert ... Kronos Quartet, Tanya Tagaq perform for Vancouver Cultural Olympiad ... Carolina Chocolate Drops tours UK ... Christina Courtin plays acoustic at NYC's Rubin Museum ... Low Anthem tours Benelux ... Pat Metheny unveils Orchestrion in France ... Mandy Patinkin premieres new play at Yale Rep ... Sara Watkins goes Transatlantic at Celtic Connections ... and more ...

Kate McGarrigle passed away last week after fighting a rare form of cancer, clear cell sarcoma. Along with her sister Anna, Kate was responsible for a body of work over 30 plus years that was as striking for the quality of their songwriting as it was for the wholly unique and personal sound of their music and, especially, their intertwining vocals. Here, Nonesuch Executive Vice-President David Bither offers his own remembrance.

Pat Metheny begins his four-month tour of Europe and the United States this weekend with two performances at Coutances Theater in northern France. Saturday's opener will be the first time Metheny reveals the instruments and magic behind his latest Nonesuch release, Orchestrion. It "sounds really interesting on CD," says Wired, "sort of like a jazz gamelan with an extraterrestrial twist." The Independent hears elements of Nancarrow, Adams, and Zappa in the title track.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops' Nonesuch debut, Genuine Negro Jig, receives four stars from MusicOMH, which calls the album "a stunner in every sense." Following their performance at the 2010 Celtic Connections festival, The Scotsman reports: "From opening chord to closing note, this talented threesome had the audience in the palm of their hands. Impossible to pigeon hole, and equally impossible to dislike, the Carolina Chocolate Drops are first and foremost musicians" who "refuse to be tied to any one genre."