Dan Auerbach brings his tour to New York City's Webster Hall tonight. Things kicked off last week in Columbus, Ohio, with what UWeekly calls "a very intimate show and one that you should be kicking yourself for if you missed it." The Boston Herald calls Monday's set at the Paradise in Boston an "exhilarating" show, at which "Auerbach opened the sonic floodgates."

While Kronos Quartet was in New York City last week for a performance at Carnegie Hall, it's unclear whether members of the group stopped by this particular New York food-cart vendor to sample the city's finer fare. Though we at the Nonesuch Journal are unprepared at this time to endorse this product, we are happy to heed its advice and always "Ask for a Kronos!"

Nonesuch Records is set to release Realism, the new album from The Magnetic Fields and the band's follow-up to the 2008 album, Distortion, on January 26, 2010. More information will be forthcoming very shortly, but in the mean time, we've got the cover at left and a list of the album's 13 track titles.

As Wilco’s European tour continues, the vinyl reissue of the band's catalog is now complete with today's release of Being There, the band's second studio album. Upon its original release, The Independent's Andy Gill compared it favorably to the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street. Today, Gill praises Wilco's recent London show, which closed with a special take of a song off Being There, "a magical, moving conclusion to one of the best gigs of the year, by one of the best bands in the world."

Natalie Merchant heads to London this week for the first of several performances in the UK and Continental Europe in the coming weeks. To mark these events and Natalie's forthcoming Nonesuch debut, due out in early 2010, Nonesuch.com is taking a look back at the singer-songwriter's career in a special video piece, available now at nonesuch.com/media.

The Low Anthem is closing out its month-long US tour with Blind Pilot in Boston on Thursday. There's much more ahead, including shows in Europe and back in the States for several dates with Josh Ritter and a WFUV benefit with Rosanne Cash. Now, the band announces a two-week, ten-city tour with The Avett Brothers, across the Midwest, in February and March 2010.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops were in California last week for a number of shows, including a small session at Santa Monica's Village Studios, where a select few got a taste of what's to come on the band's forthcoming Nonesuch debut, out early next year. "Boing Boing will be all over it like gravy on grits," says the site. "They were amazing." Boing Boing Video also shot some post-concert jamming with band member Dom and special guests.

Paste magazine, which has already included Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot among the decade's best albums, has now chosen its Ten Best Producers of the Decade. Making the list are three producers whose work during that time includes several projects on Nonesuch, as producer and otherwise: Tucker Martine (Laura Veirs, Bill Frisell, Robin Holcomb), T Bone Burnett (Sam Phillips, solo), and Danger Mouse (The Black Keys).

Tony Allen—best known for his work as drummer and musical director for Fela Kuti—will make his Nonesuch debut with the release of Secret Agent on April 13. Following the album's European release on World Circuit earlier this year, The Guardian proclaimed, “There is no question that Tony Allen is a genius, one of the greatest percussionists in the history of popular music,” while Observer Music Monthly said, “If you’re wondering why Afrobeat is hip, start here.”

Bill Frisell "keeps stirring up fine and fresh new ideas" ... the St. Lawrence makes "big news" with Adams's String Quartet ... Dan Auerbach takes tour to Canada ... Carolina Chocolate Drops do three dates in California ... Shawn Colvin plays Portland, Maine ... Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe are in Osaka ... Kronos plays Reich at the Kimmel Center ... The Low Anthem, Blind Pilot visit Virginia ... Brad Mehldau Trio tours France, Spain ... Youssou N'Dour docu delivers in Denver ... Nicholas Payton plays St. Louis ... Wilco bookends Baltic Rolling Stone fest with sold-out sets ... and more ...

Caetano Veloso has won the 2009 Latin Grammy Award for Best Singer-Songwriter Album for his latest release in Brazil, Zii e Zie. The Guardian, in its four-star review of the album, describes its songs as "intimate and surprising." Caetano was also recognized for his work on a video celebrating the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim. The 10th annual Latin Grammy Awards ceremony was held last night in Las Vegas.

John Adams's new blog, Hell Mouth, has been given a "cheers" in The Guardian, which describes the blog as both "hilarious" and "brilliant." The St. Lawrence String Quartet continues its world tour with the String Quartet Adams wrote for the group in 2008, in concerts in Des Moines and Ann Arbor this weekend. The Detroit Free Press says "the appearance of a new Adams string quartet is big news."