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."

The Barbican's John Adams Focus series begins with a New York Philharmonic performance of The Wound-Dresser on Thursday. In the coming months, Adams leads the LSO in the UK premiere of Doctor Atomic Symphony and City Noir; the St. Lawrence String Quartet performs his String Quartet; and a new production of I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky opens. The Toronto Symphony's 2010-11 season also includes an Adams-focused festival with Adams leading the Canadian premiere of City Noir. His Nixon in China will be performed in Vancouver and Los Angeles this March.

Tune in to the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson tonight for a performance from Wilco. The band is in L.A. for Grammy Week, which culminates in Sunday's awards ceremony; Wilco (the album) is up for Best Americana Album of the Year. Other Nonesuch nominees include Allen Toussaint, Shawn Colvin, Amadou & Mariam, and Oumou Sangare. Wilco will join k.d. lang, Emmylou Harris, T Bone Burnett, and others Friday night in honoring Neil Young as MusiCares Person of the Year.

Carnegie Hall announced, with its 2010-11 concert season, a season-long residency by Brad Mehldau as holder of Carnegie's Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair, the first jazz artist to hold this position. Included in his residency are the live, NY premiere of Highway Rider; a solo program; an expanded version of his Love Songs with Anne Sofie von Otter; and the world premiere of a new work. Among other season highlights: a celebration of Steve Reich's 75th birthday and a Carnegie Hall 120th anniversary concert with Audra McDonald and the New York Philharmonic.