On February 22, The Low Anthem will release Smart Flesh, the self-produced follow-up to their critically lauded 2009 release, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, on Nonesuch. The majority of Smart Flesh's 11 tracks were recorded in a cavernous, vacant pasta sauce factory in Central Falls, Rhode Island. The eclectic array of instruments used on the album include jaw harp, musical saw, stylophone, three antique pump organs (restored by the band), and oversized drum kits.

Jessica Lea Mayfield’s Nonesuch Records debut, Tell Me, will be released February 8. Produced by The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, the album follows Mayfield’s acclaimed 2008 release, With Blasphemy So Heartfelt, which Pitchfork gave an 8.2, calling it "fascinating and endlessly listenable." Tell Me is now available to pre-order in the Nonesuch Store, where the first 250 CD or vinyl copies include a signed 7” of the album’s first single, “Our Hearts Are Wrong.” Mayfield will tour throughout the fall, including dates with Jay Farrar and Justin Townes Earle.

Nonesuch releases its second record from North Carolina-based string band the Carolina Chocolate Drops—a four-song EP—on January 25. The record is a collaboration with the New York City–based Romanian gypsy punk band Luminescent Orchestrii. This self-titled EP is now available for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store, where the first 100 copies of the CD and the first 100 copies on vinyl will be signed by the Chocolate Drops. All pre-orders include an instant download of the record’s opening track, “Short Dress Gal.”

AfroCubism makes its much belated North American release this week, followed by a three-city tour of Montreal, Boston, and New York City. The New Yorker calls the project a "collaboration well worth the wait." The New York Times, in a feature article on the album, calls it "a rich yet subtle fusion of African and Cuban sounds." AfroCubism is also featured in a Reuters/Billboard article and reviewed by Dusted, which calls it "elegant."

With just a week to go before The Black Keys launch their European tour, the band has released an iTunes Session. Recorded in Toronto last August during the band's North American summer tour, the ten-song album includes songs from the duo’s latest album, Brothers, as well as “Your Touch” from their 2006 Nonesuch debut album, Magic Potion, and “Chop and Change,” which was featured on the soundtrack of film Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Watch the band's interview with SPIN, from the Austin City Limits festival, here.

The Ben Folds / Nick Hornby album Lonely Avenue is out today and was featured on NPR's Morning Edition. USA Today says: "Obsessive pop-music fans will fall hard." The Boston Globe calls it "musical nirvana for lovers of the deft balance of sassy snark and sincere sentiment." The New York Daily News gives the album four stars, saying "Folds' music and Hornby's words make happy, effortless lovers." The Philadelphia Daily News gives Lonely Avenue an A, calling it "a wondrous ride." The Washington Post's Express Night Out says it's "as sharp and witty as either's solo work ... yielding mini-Hornby novels re-interpreted and set to music by Folds."

The Ben Folds / Nick Hornby album Lonely Avenue is out tomorrow. "The collaboration clicks," say the Associated Press/ABC News. "There's a depth to the lyrics rare in pop songs, and they inspire top-notch work from the ever-inventive Folds." Reuters suggests one reason the partnership makes sense: "Hornby and Folds have long steered away from their usual comfort zones and explored different forms of pop culture expression." Canada's National Post calls it "an inventive success."

There are just days to go before the release of Ben Folds and Nick Hornby's album collaboration, Lonely Avenue, this Tuesday, September 28. But wait no further to hear the album the BBC described as "affecting and intelligent" and Monacle has called "this year's singer-songwriter classic": Lonely Avenue is now streaming in its entirety in a MySpace exclusive premiere. Head to myspace.com/benfolds to listen now.

The Tenth Inning, a new two-part, four-hour documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick that picks up where Burns's landmark 1994 series Baseball left off, premieres on PBS next Tuesday, September 28. In celebration of the new film, the original Baseball soundtrack is available again, featuring music by Natalie Cole, Dr. John, Bruce Hornsby, Branford Marsalis, and Carly Simon, as well as vintage recordings, historic radio calls, and the solo piano playing of Jacqueline Schwab, including "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and "Hurrah for the National Game."

Today marks the release of De Profundis, the latest album from violinist Gidon Kremer, whom the Boston Globe calls "one of the most important violinists before the public today," and his Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra. Kremer is featured in the Globe's Fall Arts Preview of Classical Music, which looks at his unconventional career, from "rebel genius" to an artist who "has retained a refreshingly unconventional musical perspective."

Today marks the release of the debut Nonesuch album from Rhys Chatham: the outdoor version of his piece A Crimson Grail—featuring 200 guitarists, 16 bassists, five conductors, and one percussionist—performed at the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival in 2009. The BBC says: "It's a remarkable, engrossing work that plays against rather than panders to expectations ... [It] achieves an immersive, exultant sense of the sublime." Audiophile Audition gives the album four stars, exclaiming: "Go immerse yourself!"