Björk continues to roll out Biophilia with today's release of the "Virus" single and as a special feature on the Biophilia App, both available exclusively through iTunes. The app feature is part musical instrument, part sonic artwork, and part scientifically informed educational animation. SPIN calls "Virus" the album's "most intimate song yet," adding that "never has a song about human ailment sounded so seductive or beautiful." Björk discusses the project on the BBC World Service's The Strand. The two custom-made editions of the Biophilia album must be ordered by the end of the day this Thursday, August 11.

As announced last month, Modern Music, a collaboration between pianists Brad Mehldau and Kevin Hays and composer/arranger Patrick Zimmerli, will be released by Nonesuch on September 20. Now comes the album's cover, which features American Modernist painter Charles Sheeler's Classic Landscape. The album is available for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store with an instant download of the title track included at checkout. All About Jazz, reviewing Mehldau's latest solo album, Live in Marciac, raves: "It's a stunning document that somehow manages to satisfy the most basic melodic appetites while still confounding conventional understanding of human capability."

Inspired by a news headline about the Wall Street bailout, Ry Cooder began work on his forthcoming 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 songs on the album express sentiments or critiques often voiced only in private, among family or ideological allies. Here, Cooder discusses the inspiration behind these songs.

Björk continues to unveil Biophilia with today’s premiere of the music video for the song "Crystalline" from groundbreaking director and longtime Björk collaborator Michel Gondry. Watch it here. Also available today in the Nonesuch Store is the first of four 12" vinyl releases, all part of The Crystalline Series featuring variations on music from Biophilia by Serban Ghenea, Matthew Herbert, and Omar Souleyman. All five physical versions of the Biophilia album are available to pre-order in the Nonesuch Store, including the custom-made Biophilia Manual and Ultimate Edition.

After launching his solo career with the critically acclaimed Familial last year, Philip Selway returns with the Running Blind EP, which Nonesuch releases digitally in North America on August 30. (Bella Union releases it July 25 in Europe.) When Selway wrote the songs that formed the track listing for Familial, he kept back a handful that he felt worked best as a separate piece of work; these now comprise Running Blind. The digital EP includes those four songs plus a live session video of the title track. Listen to the title track here.

Björk continues to unveil Biophilia, her most interdisciplinary project to date, with today’s release of the Biophilia App for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch and first two album singles "Cosmogony" and "Crystalline" on the iTunes Store. The full Biophilia album will be released on September 27, 2011, through One Little Indian / Nonesuch Records; the five physical versions are available for pre-order now in the Nonesuch Store, including the custom-made Biophilia Manual and Ultimate Edition.

Nonesuch Records releases Modern Music, a collaboration between pianists Brad Mehldau and Kevin Hays and composer/arranger Patrick Zimmerli, all longtime friends, on September 20, 2011. The album features pieces written by each of the three musicians as well as works by Steve Reich, Ornette Coleman, and Philip Glass, performed by the two pianists in arrangements by Zimmerli. Nonesuch Store pre-orders include an instant download of the title track.

There's no denying The Black Keys' have kept themselves busy since the May 2010 release of their Grammy-winning album Brothers. Now the band tells SPIN that they've also recorded their next studio album. The new album, due out later this year on Nonesuch, was recorded in Dan Auerbach's studio in Nashville and produced by Danger Mouse. "It's the fastest we've ever played," Auerbach tells SPIN. "The new album doesn't sound like Brothers. It doesn't have that open soul feel to it. It's way more driving and the tempos are really fast."

Björk today announces Biophilia, her most ambitious and interdisciplinary project to date, with the release of the lead single, "Crystalline," on iTunes. Biophilia is a multimedia project, comprising a studio album, apps, a new website, custom-made musical instruments, live shows, and educational workshops. The Biophilia live show will have its world premiere tomorrow as part of the Manchester International Festival, where Björk is in residence for a three-week run.

Pat Metheny's latest Nonesuch album, What's It All About, is out today. The Boston Herald gives it an A-, saying: "Metheny’s thoughtful, loving approach elevates every tune he tackles to a realm of beauty." To mark the release, the album is streaming in full at MSN Music, and we've posted the third in a series of videos of Metheny performing songs on the new record: The Association's "Cherish." Watch it here.

Ry Cooder's new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, will be released by Nonesuch/Perro Verde Records on August 30, 2011. Pre-order the album in the Nonesuch Store on CD and vinyl to receive an instant download of the album's opening track, "No Banker Left Behind." You can listen to the song here. Cooder will perform with special guests Los Cenzontles at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on August 31 and September 1, 2011.