Steve Reich's latest creation, 2x5, premieres tonight on a double bill with pioneering electronic music group Kraftwerk, in a sold-out concert to open the Manchester International Festival. Bang On A Can performs the piece with the composer in the sound booth. The piece builds on the framework of Reich's 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning work, Double Sextet. The Star-Ledger writes of a recent performance of Double Sextet that "both the piece itself and the sense of lifetime achievement came through in full glory." The Guardian, in a feature on the composer, writes, "Reich has been composing for more than 40 years. In that time, he has seen the music he is most closely associated with ... seemingly emerge from nowhere to become one of the dominant musical forms of the age."

Wilco (the album) is out now, and, while the band is on tour, the celebration is on in the group's hometown of Chicago. Reviews continue to come in from the UK: The Observer says it's "undeniably lovely." The Sunday Express gives it a perfect five stars calling it "an album of delicate, compact pop so perfect that the moment it ends you’ll want to play it again." The Times gives it four stars, calling it "a definitive work" for the band, with "several of the most emotionally generous songs of [Tweedy's] life." The Contra Costa Times calls Saturday's show at Berkeley's Greek Theatre a "magic night," the band "at its musical peak," and its performance "flawless."

Allen Toussaint performs at Joe's Pub in NYC ... David Byrne closes out US tour at Berkeley's Greek Theatre with Devotchka ... Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe take the tour to Italy and Switzerland ... Christina Courtin plays first of two shows in Philly ... Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin celebrate Kate Wolf at memorial music fest ... Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica open Latvia's Sigulda Festival ... The Low Anthem plays Glastonbury and Hyde Park ... Brad Mehldau performs in Portugal ... Pat Metheny, Gary Burton Quartet are up for a flurry of festivals ... Punch Brothers play Largo in LA ... Wilco, Okkervil River head to Northern California and Tahoe ... and more ...

The Low Anthem's recent Nonesuch release, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, has made Paste magazine's list of the Best Music of 2009 (so far), assembled by Associate Editor Kate Kiefer. She dubs it her "favorite discovery this year." Drowned in Sound rates it an 8 of 10. "Part of what makes this album so compelling is purity, and purity, when done well, is hard to knock," reads the review, which hears an apt comparison to Tom Waits. "Just as Waits has the power to infuse you with familiarity with the return of a chord, so do the songs of Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, like an embroidered pillow on an old porch that says 'home sweet home.'"

Earlier this month, Amadou & Mariam enjoyed a smashing headlining tour of the Eastern US and Canada behind their new release, Welcome to Mali, and are getting ready to hit the American roads again, opening for Coldplay in July. Amadou spoke with The Onion's A.V. Club about the new album and its collaborations with Damon Albarn and K'naan. "No longer content with being classified as world music," says the A.V. Club, Amadou & Mariam "are going global ... [and] have taken advantage of their newfound celebrity to promote African unity, as well as a vision of their home continent free from outdated stereotypes and centuries-old conflicts."

Wilco played the first show in its sold-out, three-night residency at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles last night. The Hollywood Reporter sums it up as "transcending Americana for searches of the heart and soul," full of "musical riches" in a set that "truly was as far-ranging as rock can get." Saturday's set in nearby Pomona was a "superb show," says the Orange County Register, that "ranks among its best," with the band at its most content yet its music now elevated "to a whole new level of complexity and emotional richness." The Los Angeles Times would agree, insisting that "a more comfortable Wilco isn't a less daring one."

The Low Anthem recently made its Nonesuch debut with the release of Oh My God, Charlie Darwin. The band has now made its way to the UK for a special gig at London's Union Chapel presented by MOJO magazine Tuesday. The Sunday Times gives the album four stars, calling attention to the closing-track reprise: "It’s wonderful, and effectively says: 'Not only have we just made a great album, but we could, if we chose, take these songs, rework them and make another equally great but entirely different album.' I think we can safely file the Low Anthem among 'the fittest.'"

Allen Toussaint headlines the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, plays SFJAZZ ... David Byrne is out West, at Red Rocks and Red Butte ... Ry Cooder, Nick Lowe bring tour to Belgium ... Toumani Diabaté, Béla Fleck tune in to Telluride Bluegrass Fest ... Bill Frisell performs a solo set in Washington state ... Emmylou Harris goes solo at Telluride ... Pat Metheny revisits Gary Burton Quartet on the road ... Punch Brothers play bluegrass and Radiohead at Telluride ... Sara Watkins does Prairie Home Companion at Ravinia, joins WPA at Telluride ... Wilco does Vegas and Hard Rock Hotel ... and more ...

The Telluride Bluegrass Festival gets under way in beautiful Telluride, Colorado, today and runs through the weekend with a number of Nonesuch artists slated to perform and give last weekend's Bonnaroo lineup a run for its money. Performing are Emmylou Harris and Shawn Colvin with Patty Griffin and Buddy Miller for Three Girls & Their Buddy set, David Byrne, Toumani Diabaté with Béla Fleck, Punch Brothers (performing a bluegrass set and an all-Radiohead set), and Sara Watkins with Works Progress Administration. Emmylou Harris returns solo on Sunday night as the festival's final headlining artist.

Just before the big Bonnaroo performance this past Saturday, Wilco played the first stop on its summer tour of the States, at Cincinnati's Aronoff Theater Friday. Featured in the set were songs from the band's catalog and its forthcoming Nonesuch release, Wilco (the album); the Observer gives the album four stars, as does SPIN, which calls it "fantastic." The Cincinnati Enquirer writes in its concert review: "Jeff Tweedy and his collection of virtuoso cohorts are at the top of their game, staking a claim as one of America’s most innovative and entertaining bands." MTV reports: "Unwrapping a handful of tunes from their new self-titled album, the band straight-up killed it, playing to a packed house of 2,700 who sang along to nearly every lyric."

The Low Anthem, fresh off a multi-set stop at the Bonnaroo festival this weekend, are in New York City to celebrate the release of their Nonesuch debut, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin, with a performance at the Bowery Ballroom tonight. The Observer Music Monthly gives the album four stars, exclaiming, "it soars, the title track especially"; Paste's Josh Jackson calls it "one of my favorite albums this year." The New York Times writes: "[T]he quieter the music gets ... the more its music inhabits its own otherworldly place, where ghosts and angels hover just out of view."

After four days, 70,000-plus music lovers, and scores of A-list performers, the Bonnaroo music and arts festival has come to a close. Among the festival's performers were no fewer than seven Nonesuch artists. The New York Times calls the Wilco show "one of Bonnaroo’s most extraordinary sets." The Wall Street Journal describes The Low Anthem's "fine new album" as "both clever and affecting" and its live set as "moving, folk-based Americana." Pop Matters calls it "one of the most pleasant surprises" of the day and the trio's vocals "absolutely phenomenal and as pure as can be." Spinner calls them "one of the true breakout bands at Bonnaroo this year."