With just one week to go before the release of the Ben Folds / Nick Hornby collaboration Lonely Avenue, which Monocle magazine says "exceeds the sum of its parts" and has dubbed "this year's singer-songwriter classic," the project is the subject of a feature article in The Observer. The Irish Independent gives the album four stars and finds Hornby "in inspired form." The Scotsman gives it four stars as well, saying: "Two great writers, one great album of 'musical short stories.'"

Allen Toussaint kicks off fall with six solo sets supporting Neil Young. Four of these dates are Gulf Coast benefit shows, for which Young has teamed up with Tyson Foods to fight hunger in Gulf Coast communities affected by the oil spill. Young is asking concertgoers to bring non-perishable food items to the concerts. All donations will be given to the Bay Area Food Bank, which serves communities in Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi.

Philip Selway, Nonesuch Records, and Indaba Music have launched a search for collaborators to the song “Beyond Reason” from his debut solo album Familial. For four weeks beginning today, remixers can visit Indaba to create their own version of the song. From October 14 to 28, fans and a panel of judges, including Selway, will review the submissions. Indaba will announce the jury’s choices on November 11, as well as the public’s top ten.

Laurie Anderson will be the guest on WNYC's Soundcheck today at 2 PM ET. Tune in to hear Anderson perform live in studio and discuss her latest stage work, Delusion. She will give the New York premiere of the piece at BAM's Harvey Theater in Brooklyn this Tuesday, September 21, kicking off BAM's Next Wave Festival with two weeks of Delusion performances. There's still time to win a pair of tickets at nonesuch.com.

AfroCubism, the long-awaited collaboration between Cuban and Malian musicians, is the subject of an article from Reuters, which spoke with the album's producer, Nick Gold. "Gold has brought the story full circle," says Reuters, "and gathered together the original invitees to make an album mixing the tight rhythms of Cuba with the snaky guitars and desert drums of Mali." Says Gold: "Maybe this huge wait that had taken 14 years. This music seemed to just pour out."

In honor of Stephen Sondheim's 80th birthday this past March, the Roundabout Theatre Company announced that it would rename its Henry Miller's Theatre, on West 43rd Street in New York City, The Stephen Sondheim Theatre. In a public ceremony tonight, the composer lights the marquee renamed in his honor. Among those scheduled to appear are Patti LuPone and librettist John Weidman.

Ben Folds is set to tour the US throughout November in support of Lonely Avenue, a collaboration between him and novelist Nick Hornby, due September 28. Folds’ 13 tour dates feature performances at a number of beloved venues including Chicago’s Riviera and Atlanta’s Tabernacle. The tour concludes with a Thanksgiving weekend homecoming performance at Nashville’s Tennessee Performing Arts Center to benefit the Nashville Symphony. Members of the Ben Folds Fan Club will have advance access to pre-sale tickets and ticket bundle opportunities for Ben’s upcoming tour on September 15 at noon ET. 

Laurie Anderson opens BAM's 2010 Next Wave Festival next week with the New York premiere of her new piece, Delusion. The festival includes 12 performances of the piece from September 21 to October 3. Nonesuch is giving away three pairs of tickets to a weeknight performance. Read more to find out how. Anderson's new album, Homeland, has landed at No. 1 on The Believer's Real Life Rock Top Ten. Consequences of Sound says Homeland "sums up the artistry of Anderson: indefinable yet avant-garde music at its finest."

T Bone Burnett will premiere The Speaking Clock Revue, a multi-artist concert event, in Boston and New York this October. Punch Brothers will perform, as will Elton John & Leon Russell, John Mellencamp, Elvis Costello, Gregg Allman, Ralph Stanley, Jeff Bridges, Karen Elson, The Secret Sisters, Neko Case, and Jim James. The events will benefit The Participant Foundation, supporting music and arts education programming in public schools.

Congratulations to The Black Keys, winners of the Breakthrough Video Award at last night's MTV Video Music Awards for their video to "Tighten Up." The band was on the road on tour with Kings of Leon and The Whigs; more group shows and headlining sets are scheduled for this week in North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida.

As The Black Keys continue their tour with Kings of Leon on the East Coast this weekend, their music will be well represented at Sunday night's 2010 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles. The video for "Tighten Up," off The Black Keys' album Brothers, has been nominated for Breakthrough Video. MTV says, while it's up against some heavy hitters, "it was the Black Keys' clip that made the biggest impression." Watch it here.

Third Man and Nonesuch Records announce the release of the new album from Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Wanda Jackson on January 25, 2011. The Party Ain’t Over, produced by her friend Jack White, is a retro modern collection of music that showcases Jackson, now in her seventh decade and sounding as wickedly charismatic as ever. Jackson, credited with being the first woman to ever record a rock and roll song, will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2010 Americana Music Awards in Nashville tonight.