A week in the unique life of Laurie Anderson has been documented in the UK's Observer magazine through photos Anderson took earlier this summer for the magazine's Show and Tell feature. Under the Radar reviews Anderson's new album, Homeland. "Laurie Anderson has a gift for creating evocative recordings," says the magazine. Homeland's "rewards come from setting aside the time to settle in for the full flight."

Ben Folds will perform in a live fundraising event to benefit victims of the floods in Pakistan, which airs online at live4pakistan.tv today starting at 4 PM GMT / 11 AM ET. The event, led by singer/songwriter Imogen Heap and Sir Richard Branson, will feature live music and open discussion. Other performers include Heap, Amanda Palmer, KT Tunstall, and Josh Groban. Contributions are being accepted for UNICEF, OXFAM, and Architecture for Humanity.

Laurie Anderson and Brad Mehldau are featured on New York magazine's list of The 20 Most Anticipated Events of the Fall in classical music and dance. Anderson tops the list with the New York premiere of her piece Delusion, which opens BAM's Next Wave festival. Brad Mehldau comes to New York as holder of the Debs Composer's Chair at Carnegie Hall, for the New York premiere of Highway Rider.

Björk is in Stockholm to receive the 2010 Polar Music Prize in a gala ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall tonight. His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden will present her with the prize. The awards ceremony at Stockholm Concert Hall includes performances by Sweden's own Robyn and others and will be broadcast live on Swedish TV4 and via TV4 Play at 5:30 PM CEST / 11:30 AM EST.

Emmylou Harris and The Low Anthem are coming together to tour the US East Coast this fall. Starting at the Byham Theater in Pittsburgh on November 9 and concluding at the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina, on November 21, The Low Anthem will open for Harris, with stops along the way in Buffalo and Albany, New York; Northampton, Massachusetts; Wilmington, Delaware; Roanoke and Charlottesville, Virginia; and Frederick, Maryland.

The Black Keys are set to open for the Kings of Leon for three weeks in September. SPIN caught up with the band at an earlier gig with the Kings, in London's Hyde Park, for a feature profile examining the Keys' career, "as their music has expanded from raw-boned basement blues-rock into spookier, swampier, sexier territory." The Keys are also featured in Relix, which takes a look at the making of "the best record of their career, Brothers."

Björk has co-written a new song with Icelandic poet Sjón for the animated Finnish film Moomins and the Comet Chase, based on the Scandinavian children's book series and TV show. The track, titled "The Comet Song," is coming soon to the iTunes US store, with proceeds from track sales going to support UNICEF's efforts to aid children in Pakistan. You can watch the video for the song now.


    

Happy Birthday to Brad Mehldau, who turns 40 years old. Mehldau celebrated a few hours early when he joined John Mayer on stage at the Hollywood Bowl last night. Mehldau's next performs with his Trio at the Chicago Jazz Festival over Labor Day weekend, the last Trio date before the November premiere of Highway Rider with Joshua Redman, Matt Chamblerain, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Rhys Chatham's A Crimson Grail, due out September 14, is now available for pre-order in the Nonesuch Store. This outdoor version of the piece—featuring 200 guitarists, 16 bassists, five conductors, and one percussionist—was performed for the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival. As with almost all Nonesuch Store CD orders, A Crimson Grail includes downloads of the complete album as high-quality, 320-kbps MP3s, starting release day.

Ben Folds has announced the first two fan interviewers in his series of live online video interviews leading up to the release of his collaboration with Nick Hornby, Lonely Avenue: Josh Sondock and Lauren Gardier, who will interview Ben Wednesday, August 18. The following day, Ben will speak with the inimitable Mr. Bob Saget. Lonely Avenue is available for pre-order now.

The Times of London has published a profile of Philip Selway, calling his forthcoming album, Familial, "remarkably assured." The Word says: "The whole thing is rather beautiful." MOJO and MusicOMH give the album four stars, the latter calling it "incredibly folky and intimate" and proclaiming: "Selway can sing." Q concurs, saying Selway is "blessed with a warm and gentle voice"; Uncut calls Familial "moving and accomplished."

Natalie Merchant's US summer tour came to California last week for a number of concerts, including stops at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles and the Spreckels Theatre in San Diego over the weekend. Merchant had previously performed in the Bay Area and stopped by 826 Valencia, Dave Eggers' writing program for students. The San Francisco Chronicle described the event as "a kind of 'master class' for high school kids."