Brad Mehldau's new 2CD/DVD solo album Live in Marciac is out today on Nonesuch. The Los Angeles Times says: "Mehldau's technical mastery can be enough to make your head spin, but the feeling is invigorating." The Financial Times gives four stars to the "enthralling" album, as does the Daily Telegraph. The Boston Globe says it showcases "what he does best." The Independent on Sunday calls it "a triumph of imagination and structure. Quite simply, he's on fire, inspired, out there, playing with the gods." The Irish Times gives the album a perfect five stars. "A joy at every level—and another contender for the year’s best." Watch an excerpt of Mehldau improvising on "My Favorite Things" here.

The Black Keys, fresh off their multiple Grammy Awards wins for the album Brothers, have announced plans for a summer tour of the US and Canada. The band will be joined for most of the dates by special guests Cage the Elephant and, for the first date in June, by Booker T. Jones, Nicole Atkins & The Black Sea. Fan pre-sale for the newly announced shows starts this Wednesday.

Wanda Jackson is set to kick off her months-long US tour in Philadelphia tonight, featuring music from her new Jack White-produced album, The Party Ain't Over. The Philadelphia Inquirer says the songs on the new album "are proof of a match made in heaven." The New York Times says Jackson "still sounds fantastic, and her gnarled, feisty vocals are a good fit with Mr. White’s scrappy production." The San Francisco Chronicle says Jackson "is, now and forever, the Queen of Rockabilly, and she shows it again and again on the album's 11 cuts." Seattle Weekly exclaims: "Holy damn, is this record a keeper."

Carter Burwell and his score to the Coen brothers film True Grit are featured on NPR's All Things Considered. Burwell spoke with guest host Linda Wertheimer about the score and why it was deemed ineligible for an Academy Award, namely its roots in earlier hymns, a source of inspiration Burwell says he found in the 1968 Charles Portis novel on which the film is based. Wertheimer says: "We liked it."

The Low Anthem and their forthcoming album, Smart Flesh, are the subject of a feature article in the New York Times, which looks at the abandoned pasta sauce factory in which it was recorded as "one of the instruments" on the album. "There is nothing idiosyncratic about what underlies their appeal," says the Times. "The songs are sticky and gorgeous, often because of Mr. Miller’s fungible, memorable voice." The Washington Post looks at the band's shared interest in "thinking outside the musical box." The Guardian says the factory's "effect is as bewitching as it is chilling." The Independent gives the album four stars and says the band's "textural palette is broader than ever on Smart Flesh."

Hard Bargain, the new album from Emmylou Harris, will be released April 26 on Nonesuch Records. The album comprises 11 new songs by Harris as well as two covers and was produced by Jay Joyce (Cage the Elephant, Patty Griffin). A deluxe edition, which includes a DVD featuring performances and interviews, will also be available. In celebration of the release, Harris will embark on a series of special performances including a showcase at SXSW.

Ben Folds kicks off the European leg of his 2011 world tour with a performance at Vicar Street in Dublin tonight, featuring music from his latest album, Lonely Avenue, a collaboration with English novelist Nick Hornby. After Saturday's stop in Birmingham, England, the tour heads to Hornby's hometown of London for a performance at the Hammersmith Apollo on Sunday. Time Out London recommends the show, calling Folds an artist "whose style suggests a Randy Newman for the iPod generation."

The Low Anthem is the subject of the cover story in the Providence Phoenix, which looks at their new album, Smart Flesh, and, the heady year that preceded it. "The subject matter on the new disc revolves around life’s inevitable end," says the Phoenix, "delivered with such poise and poignancy that it’s easily the band’s most impressive album." KCRW calls it "their best album yet ... With ghostly echoes of such luminous predecessors as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and the country side of the Rolling Stones, The Low Anthem has raised the bar for practitioners of the high-lonesome side of indie folk sounds in the new decade."

Randy Newman continues his US tour with two stops in the Midwest this weekend. Last weekend, Newman received a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for the film Toy Story 3. He's been nominated for an Academy Award for the song "We Belong Together" from the film and will perform it at the Oscars next weekend. Newman recently spoke about his scoring and songwriting on PBS's Tavis Smiley, which you can watch here.

Jessica Lea Mayfield has been a Next Big Thing by SPIN magazine. "Black Keys-approved, smart-ass country-rock ingénue." That's what SPIN says to expect from Mayfield's "stunning" new album, Tell Me. USA Today's Pop Candy podcast features her song "Blue Skies Again," saying: "Her voice really is like a patch of blue sky." The Huffington Post names Tell Me its Must-Play Pick of the Week, describing her vocal delivery as "full of detached rapture. No vocal gymnastics. Nothing too emotional. Just those words that perfectly capture the awkwardness and awesomeness of infatuation mixed with unsure bravado."

Brad Mehldau’s 2CD/DVD solo album Live in Marciac is out in just one week, on February 22. The Times of London says: "If you haven’t bought a jazz album since The Köln Concert, this would make a good follow-up." Jazzwise gives it four stars and features Mehldau in this month’s issue. He also spoke with The Huffington Post. "His breathtaking command of his instrument is undeniable," says the site. "But what he is able to say musically as a soloist within the context of each song combined with his improvisations is simply masterful."

k.d. lang's new album with the Siss Boom Bang, Sing it Loud, is due out April 12 on Nonesuch, but there's no need to wait any longer to take home music from the album: You can download the opening track, "I Confess," at iTunes now. A lyric sheet of "I Confess," printed from k.d.'s own written original, is included with pre-orders of Sing it Loud from the Nonesuch Store, a limited number of which will be signed by k.d. herself.