Steve Reich's Double Sextet was given its New York premiere last Thursday at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall by eighth blackbird. The New York Times says that the "vigorous" new piece "begins with Mr. Reich's signature chugging rhythms but quickly moves a fair distance, as intricate rhythmic counterpoint and thickening harmonies displace the repetitive opening figure." Following its West Coast premiere last Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times said it creates "the kind of explosion of fractured rhythms that never ceases to amaze the ear."

The Brad Mehldau Trio's two-disc Live album receives three and a half stars from the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It is way cool to follow the flights of pianist Brad Mehldau and his trio on this live two-disc recording," says the Inquirer. "Mehldau proves he can weave a groove as well as anyone. It's satisfying to hear him pick intense lines in some remote corner of a long tune or pile on one note repeatedly, because his rhythmic drive is so strong."

k.d. lang continues her Australian Watershed tour with three shows in Melbourne this week. Following a recent set in Perth, Perth Now said that despite the autumn chill, there was a warm reception all around at this "magnificent" set. "Long live the queen," the paper declared, saying k.d. "is charm personified ... When she soared through the chorus of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' it was like you were hearing the song for the very first time."

The Black Keys rocked out on the Late Show with David Letterman last night, leading Stereogum to remind readers that it "gave props to Attack & Release" even before the record's release at the beginning of the month. The site gives props this time around to the "plow through the anvil-slamming, scuzz-blues riffage of 'I Got Mine'" the band brought to the show last night. JamBase, in an interview with producer Danger Mouse, calls the album "an incredible piece of work."

Nicholas Payton's Nonesuch debut, Into the Blue, set for release this Tuesday, receives four stars from The Guardian, which contends that listeners who think they know what to expect from the New Orleans trumpeter "might be very surprised" by his latest work. Into the Blue "is full of inspired ballad-rhapsodising, unhurried uptempo improvisations that pulsate with feints and twists, and original compositions and reshaped modern urban and Latin grooves that reveal an incisive creative intelligence."

"Delightful, and close to flawless." That's how the Sydney Morning Herald describes k.d. lang's performance Wednesday at Sydney's State Theatre. The Australian concurs, writing: "In concert, k.d. lang comes so close to perfection that it's hard not to dissolve into gushing cliches." This week, as k.d.'s new album, Watershed, reached No. 1 in Australia, she and her band have been touring the country.

k.d. lang's "Shadow and the Frame," off her recent Nonesuch release Watershed, joins an eclectic mix of song selects on USA Today's Playlist this week, which also includes the likes of the Rolling Stones and Ray Davies. USA Today says k.d. sings "elegantly, painfully" on the track, with its "spare and exquisite string arrangement." You can hear the song on a video clip that is the first of six webisodes launched in January, available here.

Toumani Diabaté's latest release, The Mande Variations, his first solo recording since his debut album 20 years ago, "is a welcome surprise," says Banning Eyre on NPR's All Things Considered. "In the hands of a master like Diabaté," Eyre concludes, "the kora belongs to an African classical art form that has been evolving and growing for hundreds of years. With this work, Diabaté defines the very state of that art." Toumani is in London this week for three shows with Björk at the Hammersmith Apollo.

On The Mande Variations, Toumani Diabaté has recorded his first solo kora album in two decades. Pitchfork gives it an 8.3 rating, calling it "the real thing, casually captivating from start to finish." It's also "haunting stuff ... in the awe inspired by hearing music this pure woven from the hands of a man."

"Few string quartets on the scene today are as intrepid as Kronos in the exploration of unconventional form and methods to extend the reach of a centuries-old instrumental configuration," says All About Jazz in its review of the Quartet’s latest release, Terry RIley's The Cusp of Magic. "Few composers possess a body of work defined by such a rich palette of references as Riley ... It's no surprise, then, that Kronos and Riley have collaborated so often and so well, with The Cusp of Magic providing further evidence of a truly rare musical symbiosis."