Two New York Times music critics have Nonesuch albums on their Top Ten lists: Rokia Traoré's Tchamantché and Oumou Sangare's Seya. The Washington Post has Alarm Will Sound's a/rhythmia in its Top Ten classical albums; the Denver Post has Richard Goode and John Adams. Two Boston Globe critics have Wilco (the album) on their lists, while others there add BlakRoc and Seya. MTV includes Wilco plus Amadou & Mariam's Welcome to Mali. PopMatters and American Songwriter cite Wilco as well, while the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle lists Allen Toussaint's The Bright Mississippi.

BlakRoc, the album that brought together The Black Keys, Damon Dash, and a star-studded lineup of hip-hop MCs, is now available digitally at nonesuch.com for fans in the US and Canada at the same audiophile-quality 320kbps MP3s available throughout the site. The A.V. Club gives the album an A, saying it "defeats all odds by sounding both organic and cohesive." The Houston Chronicle gives it four stars, calling it "a sinewy masterpiece."

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."

BlakRoc, the collaboration between The Black Keys, Damon Dash, and some of the biggest MCs in hip-hop, was released on Friday; NPR marked the event on Morning Edition. The Washington Post describes the Keys' contribution as "a mix of gritty, jazzy and psychedelic beats that ... often resemble those of Wu-Tang Clan." The Wall Street Journal says unlike some earlier efforts to bring rock and hip-hop together, the Keys offer "the credibility needed to attempt such alchemy." The Village Voice says that here, "they actually improve one another." The Observer gives the album four stars.

BlakRoc, the brainchild of The Black Keys and Damon Dash, releases on “Black Friday” (a.k.a. "Blak Friday"), November 27, the day after Thanksgiving, featuring music by The Black Keys with a star-studded line up of MCs including Mos Def, Q-Tip, RZA, Raekwon, Pharoahe Monch, Jim Jones, NOE, Nicole Wray, and Billy Danze. The Seattle Times calls it the "most interesting hip-hop approach" of the year.