Ben Folds and Nick Hornby are in New York City this week for a few special events to celebrate their new album, Lonely Avenue, including appearances at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe and Union Square Barnes & Noble, plus a spot on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. The Financial Times gives Lonely Avenue four stars, saying of Folds/Hornby, "Both are excellent: witty, sophisticated lyrics about love and loss set to a range of styles." And, finally, Folds and fellow Chatroulette sensation Merton offer a joint public service announcement you can watch here.

AfroCubism is out in the UK today on World Circuit; it's out in North America November 2 on Nonesuch. The Guardian sees the album as "a joyfully ebullient meeting point between traditional Malian music and the kind of Cuban rhythms the Buena Vista Social Club brought to the wider world," and gives it four stars, saying these musicians "have recorded an elegant, gently exquisite album." The Observer calls it "A delight." The Financial Times gives AfroCubism four stars as well; MusicOMH gives it five stars, citing the "wonderful results."

The Black Keys play Austin City Limits Festival, close out tour in Tulsa ... Alarm Will Sound celebrates Lennon's 70th birthday ... Timothy Andres premieres new septet ... Carolina Chocolate Drops play close to home ... Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica return to the Baltics ... Wanda Jackson plays Brooklyn and New Jersey ... Kronos premieres works in NYC ... Natalie Merchant launches orchestra tour ... Pat Metheny continues Orchestrion tour ... Punch Brothers play Nashville ... Joshua Redman Trio concludes St. Louis residency ... Sara Watkins plays Unplugged in the Park ... and more ...

Rhys Chatham made his Nonesuch debut last month with the release of A Crimson Grail, featuring the 200-guitar version recorded at the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival. The New York Times says: "It might justly be considered 'music to pray to.’” Now you can experience that music through a short film set to music from the album, shot on rolls of expired, unexposed Kodachrome Super 8mm film. Watch it here.

Wanda Jackson, whose new Jack White-produced album, The Party Ain't Over, in January 25, performs outside Boston tonight. The Boston Globe quotes Rosanne Cash, who described Jackson "as the prototype, the first female rock star," adding that "Jackson is still kicking out the jams." She performs at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn on Friday, leading The New Yorker to note "her growly vocals, remarkable energy, and boundless good humor." Jackson spoke with Y'all Wire at last month's Americana Honors & Awards for an interview you can watch here.

De Profundis, the new album from Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica, receives five stars from Audiophile Audition. It's a program "of such sheer delight and exquisite beauty that I felt emotionally ravished when it was over," raves the reviewer. "One of the best collections of its kind that I have ever heard." The album is a Pick of the Week on WNYC's Soundcheck and CD of the Week from KBAQ, which says the music creates "a deep feeling of hope."

Natalie Merchant's latest album, Leave Your Sleep, has been endorsed by the organizers of National Poetry Day in the UK, which is being celebrated today in schools, libraries, and bookshops across the country. On the album, Merchant sets the work of both well-known and obscure British and American poets to music. She kicks off a Northeast US tour tomorrow, performing with full symphony orchestras.

The Black Keys have been on a roll on their sold-out headlining US tour, which concludes this weekend. At this week's stop in Portland, The Oregonian says, "the whole show rocked." The crowd at Sunday's show in Vancouver "couldn't have asked for more," says the Vancouver Sun. "The Keys were unrelenting, sweaty and wild right from the very beginning ... Mind-blowing stuff." Following Saturday night's Seattle set, Seattle Weekly says the songs off their new album, Brothers, "were sensual and shit-kicking all at once."

Steve Reich's new album features Double Sextet and 2x5 performed by eighth blackbird and Bang on a Can, respectively. The Wall Street Journal calls Double Sextet "irresistible," saying that while Reich had "already won a place in music history ... [his] appeal to successive generations of performers is equally assured." The Philadelphia Inquirer gives the album an A, calling it "fascinating ... And yeah, it's really rocking!" Gramophone calls 2x5 "Steve Reich’s smartest, most sonically nourishing recording for years ... like an exploding diagram of the inner mechanics of a rock band playing at full tilt."

San Francisco's Golden Gate Park was teeming with hundreds of thousands of music fans this past weekend for the 10th annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival. Among the artists contributing to what Rolling Stone called an "eclectic and vital" event were T Bone Burnett, Punch Brothers, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Randy Newman, and Emmylou Harris. You can see several photos from their performances at nonesuch.com/media.

There's just over a week to go to submit entries in the contest to remix "Beyond Reason" off Philip Selway's solo debut Familial. Rolling Stone, in its album review, writes, "News flash: Radiohead officially have another songwriter." The Wall Street Journal takes a look at Selway's dual roles as Radiohead drummer and singer-songwriter and says: "The thoughtful 43-year-old has a way of making the unexpected decision seem just right ...  Selway's compositions echo elements of Radiohead, but their themes tell us they are his own."

UK internet sensation Charlie McDonnell offers a video of Ben Folds and Nick Hornby's song, "Saskia Hamilton" from the album Lonely Avenue. Time Magazine spoke with Folds and Hornby about the project and tracks "the beauty of Lonely Avenue," back to the special pairing of the English novelist with the American singer-songwriter.