Congratulations to The Black Keys: the band's new album, El Camino, debuted this week at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 with sales of 206,000 units—far and away the band’s best single-week performance and their highest chart position to date! By comparison, the band’s previous best week was for Brothers, which debuted in May 2010 with sales of 73,000 units. The band will embark on the first leg of their US tour this March, with shows in arenas like Boston’s TD Garden, Chicago’s United Center, and New York’s Madison Square Garden, which sold out in 15 minutes, resulting in the swift addition of a second concert. Special guests Arctic Monkeys open on the tour.

Sara Watkins—who, with her brother Sean, is currently on tour in California with the Blind Boys of Alabama—will soon be heading back into the studio to record her second solo album for Nonesuch Records. The album, which will be produced by Blake Mills, is due out sometime next year. Watkins will be taking fans inside the recording process as it happens when she posts audio clips from each day's session to her Facebook page and website.

The Black Keys' new album, El Camino, is out now. The band celebrates with performances on The Colbert Report tonight and the Late Show with David Letterman Wednesday. "It feels a little funny to gush so outwardly about a record," says the Los Angeles Times in a four-star review. "But sometimes, a CD scratches an itch you didn't even know you had, and El Camino is that record ... Really, the only question is whether, this late in the year, this constitutes the best rock album of 2011 or 2012. It'll probably be both." Rolling Stone says "This is Their Moment," calling El Camino "the best record they've ever made." USA Today, in its four-star review, says the band's "talents coalesce with a fiery brilliance." Paste says that "by the time the record ends, there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself immediately wanting to start over again from the beginning." TIME says: "The album is packed so tightly with gems that it’s hard to pick out a favorite track."

Brad Mehldau’s seven-disc box set The Art of the Trio Recordings: 1996–2001 is out now on Nonesuch. The set includes the five original Art of the Trio albums (the fifth volume includes two CDs), released over a prolific four year period from 1997 to 2001; a seventh disc of previously unreleased material from shows at the Village Vanguard completes the box. These recordings feature Mehldau’s longtime trio with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy. All About Jazz says the set helps confirm that "Mehldau will, no doubt, take a well-deserved place ... as one of the most important pianists of any generation."

The Black Keys will embark on the first leg of their North American tour this March, with shows in arenas like New York’s Madison Square Garden, Boston’s TD Garden, and Chicago’s United Center. The shows are in support of their new album, El Camino, out this Tuesday, December 6. Concert ticket and album packages will be available via the band’s site. The band will perform on Saturday Night Live tomorrow, The Colbert Report on Tuesday, and the Late Show with David Letterman on Wednesday. MTV Hive will livestream their album release show at New York’s Webster Hall on Monday.

The Black Keys are celebrating Record Store Day's "Back to Black" Friday with the release of a special limited-edition vinyl 12-inch of their new single, "Lonely Boy" exclusively at indie music retailers. Both the lead track and the B-side, "Run Right Back," are featured on the band's forthcoming album, El Camino, which hits stores on December 6. To get an idea of what to expect on the "Lonely Boy" 12-inch and to see how the vinyl got made, check out a behind-the-scenes video here.

The video for The Black Keys' "Lonely Boy," off their forthcoming album, El Camino, made a bit of a splash when it was released last month, as you may have seen. It's just the latest in a long line of unforgettable music videos the band has released over the years. Now, "Lonely Boy" and five previous music videos from the band—representing every studio album in the band's Nonesuch catalog—are available to download all in one place as part of The Black Keys Music Video Collection, out now on iTunes.

Nonesuch Records releases Kronos Quartet’s Music of Vladimir Martynov on January 10, 2012. The album includes three works written or rescored for Kronos by the contemporary Russian composer Vladimir Martynov—The Beatitudes, Schubert–Quintet (Unfinished), and Der Abschied—and features a special guest performance from former Kronos cellist Joan Jeanrenaud. Kronos’ artistic director and founder David Harrington says Martynov’s music “straddles various points of musical history and time; the music seems to me to reflect and absorb humanity in such a beautiful way." The album is available for pre-order.

While touring in support of his 2008 album Harps and Angels, Randy Newman performed a special concert at London’s intimate LSO St. Luke’s. He was accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Robert Ziegler, and the program was televised by the BBC. The concert is out now on CD+DVD as Randy Newman: Live in London. (The UK release follows next week.) Time Out London calls it "essential viewing for fans." Newman makes his Austin City Limits television debut on PBS this Saturday and will tour Europe in February and March.

The acclaimed 1999 album Jim Hall & Pat Metheny, reissued for the first time on Nonesuch Records, is out now. Pat Metheny's duo collaboration with Jim Hall, whom he has called the "father of modern guitar playing," features 17 tracks: original tunes from each guitarist, several improvisations captured in the studio, plus six tunes recorded live in concert, including Gershwin's "Summertime." "The excellence of the playing is the heart of the matter," says the Philadelphia Inquirer of the album. "It's a privilege to listen in." The Los Angeles Times calls it "extraordinary."

Nonesuch Records releases jazz pianist Brad Mehldau’s Art of the Trio Recordings: 1996–2001 on December 6, 2011. The set includes the five original Art of the Trio albums (the fifth volume includes two CDs), released over a prolific four year period from 1997 to 2001; a seventh disc of previously unreleased material from shows at the Village Vanguard completes the box. These recordings feature Mehldau’s longtime trio with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy. New liner notes by Bad Plus pianist Ethan Iverson include interviews with all three trio members.

As you may have heard, The Black Keys’ new album El Camino will be released December 6 on Nonesuch Records. But no need to wait till then to hear some brand new music off the album. You can listen to “Lonely Boy,” the first single off of El Camino, today! Get a first listen of "Lonely Boy" in the video here. And be sure to pre-order the album from the Nonesuch Store now to get an instant download of the song.