Congratulations to all the Nonesuch artists who were nominated for the 54th Annual Grammy Awards: Ry Cooder and Emmylou Harris for Best Americana Album, Pat Metheny for Best New Age Album, Chris Thile & Michael Daves for Best Bluegrass Album, and World Circuit / Nonesuch Records artists AfroCubism for Best World Music Album. You can hear music from all the nominated albums on the new Nonesuch Radio channel "2011 Grammy Nominees."

There's still more than a month to go before 2011 comes to a close, but already the music magazines have begun to weigh in on the year's best music. American Songwriter, Paste, Uncut, Q, and Mojo have all published their lists of the Top 50 Albums of the Year, and included among them are a number of Nonesuch releases: the latest albums from Björk, Ry Cooder, Jessica Lea Mayfield, and The Low Anthem, as well as the soon-to-be-released album from The Black Keys, due out next week.

Ry Cooder's new song about the Occupy Wall Street movement, "Wall Street Part of Town," was recorded last Tuesday and premiered on Pacifica Radio's Jon Wiener show on Wednesday, a fundraiser for the Pacifica Radio Archives' Campus Campaign National Education Project. It also aired on Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman. You can now listen to the song here, download it for free, then help spread the good word. Cooder's latest album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, was inspired by the inequities that spared the few from the financial crisis while most were left to fend for themselves.

The nominees for the 2011 fRoots Critics Poll have just been announced, and included among them are Ry Cooder's new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, which has been nominated for Album of the Year, and Kate & Anna McGarrigle's three-CD collection Tell My Sister, released this spring on Nonesuch, which was nominated for Reissue/Compilation Album of the Year. Nominees are chosen by experts in the UK and worldwide; winners will be announced by BBC Radio 3 in a special edition of World On 3 on December 2.

Ry Cooder was featured on AirTalk from Southern California public radio station KPCC this morning. He spoke with host Larry Mantle about his music, his new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, and his new book, Los Angeles Stories. "With a musician’s ear for language," says the show of the book, "Cooder’s stories and the characters who people them—drifters, trolley drivers, disc jockeys, salesmen, jazz musicians and of course, cops and robbers—take us on a journey into a Los Angeles that has long gone the way of Chavéz Ravine and the red cars."

Inspired by a news headline about the Wall Street bailout, Ry Cooder began work on his new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, with the track “No Banker Left Behind,” an ode to the corrupt few spared from the financial crisis while most were left to fend for themselves. The article appeared on Truthdig, which is now giving away a copy of the album and Cooder's new book, Los Angeles Stories. Simply share your favorite protest song for a chance to win.

Ry Cooder's first-ever stand-alone written work, Los Angeles Stories, is out now from City Lights Books and available in the Nonesuch Store. "Cooder fans will enjoy the upbeat mix of music and murder," says the San Francisco Chronicle. "Aficionados of noir fiction will love the characters, all of whom have something to hide and all of whom are engaged in illegal activity." Cooder will discuss the book at San Francsico's Herbst Theatre on Wednesday. Blurt, reviewing his new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, says it "ranks not only among his very best releases, but among the best socio-political albums ever made."

Ry Cooder appeared on the latest episode of BBC Radio 2's Mike Harding show to discuss his latest album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, which Harding describes as "totally brilliant." BoingBoing places the album "in the tradition of the great titles of Woody Guthrie and Haywire Harry McClintlock ... As you'd expect from Cooder, the songs are musically tight and eminently singable and danceable."

Ry Cooder spoke with BBC Radio 4's Today about his new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down; the interview was broadcast in the US on PRI's The Takeaway. The Philadelphia Inquirer gives the album a perfect four stars, likening it to "the scrappy populism of Woody Guthrie ... set to an incredibly rich melting pot of folk, blues, country, rock, and norteno." The Chicago Sun-Times too calls him "a modern-day Woody Guthrie." Canada's North Shore News says: "Brilliant stuff."

Ry Cooder was the guest on the BBC World Service arts program The Strand, discussing his new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down. "When it comes to American music legends, they don't come much bigger than Ry Cooder," says host Anna McNamee. "What I love about this album is that in so many ways it's a distillation of some great American musics."

Ry Cooder's new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, which was released late last month on CD and digitally, is out today as a double-vinyl set, which includes two audiophile-quality, 140-gram vinyl discs plus a CD of the complete album. Ireland's Evening Herald is the latest publication to give the album a perfect five stars, saying: "The headline news is that Ry Cooder has made yet another of his trademark, cornerstone collections, dragging in the wide span of his American music influences." Canada's Winnipeg Free Press offers another five-star review and says: "This one is a classic." 

Ry Cooder recently stopped by Pacifica Radio's KPFK in Los Angeles to discuss his new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, sharing insights on channeling the voice of John Lee Hooker and much more. "This is a fantastic album," says host Jon Wiener, who is joined in his praise by the Irish Times, which gives the album four stars, saying: "Cooder again defies the belief that music with a message can’t be fun." Sweden's Sydsvenskan credits it with "the most godlike groove you'll ever hear on a protest record." The New Zealand Herald gives it a perfect five stars, calling it "exceptional."