The Amadou & Mariam song "Sabali" has grabbed a lot of attention as the opening track to their recent Nonesuch release, Welcome to Mali. Produced by Blur/Gorrillaz front man Damon Albarn, the song is listed among "the most intriguing tracks" this week, according to USA Today. RCRD LBL has chosen a Paul Epworth remix of this "electro-pop miracle" as its MP3 of the Day. Amadou & Mariam are also featured in yesterday's episode of WNYC's Soundcheck, in which New York Times writer Will Hermes follows up on his recent Times article on the changing sounds and perceptions of African music in a more diverse world.

Laurie Anderson presented the award for Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition at the Cinema Eye Honors this past Sunday night. Last fall, while on tour with her new performance piece, Homeland, Laurie participated in the Art, Technology, and Culture Colloquium at the University of California, Berkeley. As part of the event, Laurie joined the series curator, Berkeley professor Ken Goldberg, for an hourlong discussion, the audio portion of which is now available online at the Berkeley Art Museum's site. The Museum says Homeland "includes songs and stories that create a poetic and political portrait of contemporary American culture."

In an interview on ABC's World News webcast, Amadou & Mariam discuss having met at Mali's Institute for Young Blind People more than 30 years ago and explain the central role of music in their relationship's success. Also featured on ABC's site is a Pitchfork video review of the duo's new album. "Welcome to Mali is a brilliantly eclectic album," says reviewer Joe Tangari. "They have it all, really ... This is the kind of album that makes you feel more connected to the world you live in." "It’s hard to go wrong with Amadou and Mariam," concurs Dusted magazine. "[They] make great pop music, and their new album gives us more of it." The Boston Herald gives it an A.

Pat Carney, The Black Keys drummer, has teamed up with Pulitzer Prize–winning author Art Spiegelman, for an animated short video showcasing Spiegelman's latest book, Be a Nose! Carney has created what Pitchfork calls "a mordant psych-groove instrumental" for Spiegelman's animated drawings. "Vintage-sounding breakbeats you might expect to find sampled on some lost trip-hop or abstract hip-hop record help soak up guitar fuzz, heavy bass, and droning organ."

The release of Dan Auerbach's solo debut, Keep It Hid, is just a week away now. You may have heard a few of the tracks on the radio or streaming online here on Nonesuch Radio and on Dan's MySpace page. For two days only, today and Wednesday, you can listen to the complete album—all 14 tracks—streaming exclusively on MySpace. Tune in now!

The newly redesigned Nonesuch Records site, launched this past July, has been named the Site of the Day by Adobe, which explains its selection of Nonesuch.com this way: "This site goes way beyond album promotion and song previews by giving fans more ways to enjoy their favorite music." The Nonesuch Journal was recently included among 50 Beautiful Blog Designs chosen by Smashing Magazine for having designs "that literally stand out—either through their layout or through their design or through their attention to little details." Let us know what you think.

John Adams is the subject of a feature article and interview posted today on Salon.com, about Adams's "pretty marvelous book," Hallelujah Junction, and everything from his "bold and blissful work" Harmonielehre to the "electric" new production of Doctor Atomic at the Met. Says Salon: "[A]fter reading Hallelujah Junction, and learning how he consistently challenged himself to go deeper into and wider into music, and himself, it's easy to see how Adams has earned his spot on the A-List of living composers." With Doctor Atomic, writes The Times (UK), the composer "has written his most eclectic and boldest score."

Randy Newman is the subject of a Pitchfork interview, posted today, in which Randy talks about his latest Nonesuch release, Harps and Angels; the current state of affairs in the US and abroad; and how they all tie together. "Randy Newman's not the most prolific songwriter," says Pitchfork, "but when he does deign to release a new record, it's because he's got something to say. Harps and Angels is full of the satirical barbs and critical observations Newman fans have come to expect ..."

The Independent's Larry Ryan, in his round-up of the best on the web, recommends the Nonesuch site for fans of Philip Glass and prospective purchasers of the Glass Box, the new Nonesuch retrospective of 40 years of the composer's music to wrap their ears around the abundance of music. He suggests sampling the sound clips at the album page—with one available there for each of the collection's 102 tracks. Ryan also recommends tuning into Nonesuch Radio for full-length tracks by the composer and for a sampling of music from the broad array of artists on the label, "from Wilco to Amadou & Miriam to The Wire soundtrack to Glass and everything else in between."

Orchestra Boabab is on the road in Europe, playing a number of the Continent's biggest summer festivals. Pitchfork's Joe Tangari spoke with Barthélemy Attisso, one of the Baobab's founding members, whose distinctive guitar work helped create its unique sound during its heyday as, writes Tangari, "one of the world's greatest bands." Now with new recordings from the group, including this year's Made in Dakar and 2002's Specialist in All Styles, Tangari says, the world has caught on.

Kronos Quartet Artistic Administrator Sidney Chen recently spoke with the Future of Music Coalition for a podcast, in which he discusses the role the internet has played in the life of Kronos. From allowing for greater connectivity with existing fans and accessing new audiences via social networks and blogs, to opening the Quartet to new sounds and even new collaborations, the freedom and openness of the internet has had a significant impact on the group. "Having an open internet has provided inspiration to Kronos," says Chen. "We don't hear the world in a boundaried way, and the internet has allowed us to remove a lot of those boundaries."

Nonesuch Records is happy to announce the relaunch of its website, nonesuch.com. The new site will remain a great source for in-depth information on the extensive and diverse Nonesuch catalog, spanning more than 500 titles, and will include a number of new and improved features, in what we hope will be a much more user-friendly and enjoyable online experience.