Kronos Quartet's latest Nonesuch release, Floodplain, has been named one of the Ten Best Albums of 2009 by Songlines. "There are few musicians on earth that encompass a range of music like Kronos," says Songlines, praising its "mastery of classical string playing" and "engagement with traditional sounds and contemporary geo-politics." The group reunites with its former cellist, Joan Jeanrenaud, in concert at UC Berkeley this Sunday.

Orchestrion, the forthcoming album from guitarist Pat Metheny, is due out on Nonesuch early next year, but you don't have to wait till then to hear music from the record. Pat Metheny Radio, available on patmetheny.com, is offering fans an exclusive first-listen excerpt, now through December 14. You can also pre-order the album with a limited-edition 9" x 12" print signed by Pat only at nonesuch.com.

Q2, the new 24/7 music stream from New York public radio's WQXR dedicated to contemporary classical music, kicks off its first full festival, Maximum Reich: A Celebration of Steve Reich, today. This weeklong immersion into Reich's work will include a presentation of his recorded works, explorations of the influences both on and of Reich, recent videos and exclusive downloads, and interviews and music recordings from the archives of WNYC, the new owner of WQXR.

Rolling Stone has announced its 100 Best Albums of the Decade, and five Nonesuch releases have made the list, including two albums from Wilco and one each from The Black Keys, Amadou & Mariam, and Brian Wilson. Wilco is also on the magazine's list of the decade's Top 100 Songs, for "Jesus, Etc.," joined by Randy Newman, for his Harps and Angels track "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country." OMM includes the Amadou & Mariam album and Ali Farka Touré's Savane on its list of the decade's Top 50.

Pat Metheny once again explores new territory with his forthcoming project, Orchestrion, a “solo” recording that pairs the composer-guitarist with a phalanx of remarkable, custom-made instruments played via solenoid switches and pneumatics. Following the album’s January 26 Nonesuch release, Metheny will embark on an extensive solo tour. A limited-edition, signed 9"x12" print of the cover image is available now with CD or LP pre-orders, exclusively in the Nonesuch Store, to the first 500 customers.

The Times (UK) weighed in on the decade's best music late last month, including Nonesuch albums in each of four categories. Now, the Sunday Times  offers its list of the best albums of 2009, and Nonesuch artists are one again represented across genres: Wilco for Wilco (the album) in rock/pop, Kronos Quartet's Floodplain in world, and Allen Toussaint's The Bright Mississippi in jazz. SPIN includes Wilco (the album) and Amadou & Mariam's Welcome to Mali on its own list of the year's best.

Brad Mehldau begins a five-night residency at New York's Birdland tonight with a quartet the New York Times calls an "all-star package"—Lee Konitz, Paul Motian, and Charlie Haden—to celebrate the venue's 60th anniversary. In January, Brad returns to New York to perform two solo sets at the Highline Ballroom to benefit JazzReach, a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, performance, creation, and teaching of jazz.

The LA Phil's West Coast, Left Coast festival concludes tonight, after more than two weeks of performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall, with a celebration of the Beat poets featuring Joshua Redman, among others. The Los Angeles Times praised Kronos's "enthusiastic" Friday performance and the LA Phil's Sunday performance of Adams's "ecstatic" Dharma at Big Sur, led by the composer, in which Leila Josefowicz "played brilliantly ... rising to heights of rapture."

Music from I Bring What I Love, the film that documents the reception of Youssou N'Dour's 2004 album Egypt at home in Senegal, is out now. The New York Times Travel section took an extensive musical tour through Senegal's capital city of Dakar, enjoying live sets by Youssou, for whom "an ecstatic roar explodes" from the audience; "local legend" Orchestra Baobab; and "longtime local favorite" Cheikh Lô.

After its Black Thursday release in the US, BlakRoc is now out in the UK. The Times, Independent, Financial Times, and Guardian all give it four stars; the Independent, quoting a lyric, says: "The Black Keys got so much soul." Back in the US, the New York Times describes its sound as "hard but loose, rooted in sinewy beats by Patrick Carney ... and spooky riffs by Dan Auerbach"; the Washington Post calls it "inspired." It gets an A from the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Consequence of Sound says it's "simply incredible."

Steve Reich unveils Mallet Quartet in Budapest ... John Adams-curated LA Phil fest continues with Kronos, Brian Wilson ... Christina Courtin plays two shows in Brooklyn ... Richard Goode performs Beethoven with Iván Fischer, Cleveland Orchestra ... Low Anthem closes Josh Ritter mini-tour ... Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau National Christmas Tree Lighting set airs on PBS ... Punch Brothers play Prairie Home Companion ... Sara Watkins joins Tom Brosseau at Largo ... and more ...

Punch Brothers will perform twice at New York City's Town Hall this weekend in live performances of MPR's A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. They'll play both tonight and Saturday afternoon, with the latter show to be broadcast live to NPR stations across the country. Coming up, you can catch Punch Brothers' recent CMJ performance at The Living Room on Sirius/XM's The Loft.