The Carolina Chocolate Drops celebrate Memorial Day weekend in Maryland and Massachusetts ... Laurie Anderson launches Vivid LIVE festival in Sydney ... Gidon Kremer, Kremerata Baltica bring the Seasons to Berlin and Moscow ... Brad Mehldau, Anne Sofie von Otter perform his Love Songs in Oslo ... Natalie Merchant continues UK tour ... Sara and Sean Watkins headline the Strawberry Jamboree Music Festival ... Wilco closes out Europe tour ... and more ...

Vivid LIVE, the two-week festival of music, theater, and visual arts curated by Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed in Sydney, Australia, kicked off last night with a special lighting of the iconic Sydney Opera House featuring Anderson's art. Homeland, her forthcoming Nonesuch release, earns four stars in Uncut, which calls it "hauntingly powerful." Q picks the album track "Only an Expert," available now as a 12" vinyl single, as a Q50 Essential Track.

Timothy Andres's debut album, Shy and Mighty, tops the list of Recommended New CDs from Alex Ross, the music critic of The New Yorker, on his site, The Rest Is Noise. The Awl calls the album "gorgeous" and is streaming the track "How can I live in your world of ideas?” Andres will perform the piece next month at New York's Merkin Hall as part of the Tribeca New Music Festival.

Natalie Merchant has kicked off her UK tour and appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. The Times of London says: "Merchant’s voice retained a pure, spine-tingling quality that turned the lullabies, fairytales and nonsense rhymes into wonderfully evocative modern folk songs." The Guardian gives a perfect five stars to her show at The Sage Gateshead: "This is an evening of the magical power of words and music ... Merchant may be in her prime."

Laurie Anderson's latest Nonesuch release, Homeland, is out now. In the month leading up to release day, Nonesuch released one short video clip featuring Anderson's male alter ego, Fenway Bergamot, every Tuesday. In the inaugural clip, Bergamot revisits the early days of the 2008 financial crisis. BAM has announced that Anderson will give the NY premiere of her new work, Delusion, at the Next Wave Festival this fall.

Pat Metheny brought a close to the current US leg of his Orchestrion tour at New York's Town Hall, as new dates have been added this fall. The New York Times says of his one-man band that Metheny "made that machine prove itself ... [I]t seems to push robotic humanism to the limit." His show in Boston "was a spectacle almost beyond belief," says the Boston Herald. "Even so,  the standing ovations that Metheny inspired came not for the spectacle and technological feat, but for what a single guitar in the hands of a legend can create."

Natalie Merchant launches her first UK tour in eight years with a sold-out show in London on Saturday. She is featured on NPR's World Cafe, discussing and performing songs from her new album, Leave Your Sleep, which host David Dye calls "extraordinary." Billboard says it "soars with gorgeous folk arrangements and Merchant's daring creativity." In the Times of London, Alain de Botton says: "It’s poignant and tuneful and the voice is, as always, sheer genius."

Pat Metheny brings Orchestrion home to NYC ... The Kennedy Center's Perspectives: John Adams comes to a close ... Carolina Chocolate Drops play festivals in Indiana, Utah ... Bill Frisell, Kronos Quartet, Youssou N'Dour have shows in Germany ... Philip Glass Ensemble celebrates its 40th in Rome ... k.d. lang sings for San Francisco Symphony ... Natalie Merchant launches UK tour ... Punch Brothers open for Josh Ritter, play with Dierks Bentley ... Allen Toussaint Gulf Aid concert airs on Fuse ... Sara Watkins plays her hometown ... Wilco tours Scandinavia ... and more ...

The Black Keys rocked out at New York's Housing Works Bookstore Café for the lucky few fans in attendance; a few thousand more get to see the band open for Pearl Jam at Madison Square Garden tonight. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney talk about their new album, Brothers, and perform on the latest New York Times Music Popcast and NPR's World Cafe. Carney spoke with Akron's BuzzBin about the album, about which PopMatters says: "That the Black Keys are still exploring new territories with enthusiasm is cause for celebration, and Brothers is the reason why."

Timothy Andres performed the music of his new album, Shy and Mighty, in New York City on Monday. He performs again in New York today in two concerts with the Metropolis Ensemble: a free mid-day event at Trinity Wall Street and a ticketed show at the Angel Orensanz Center, featuring the world premiere of Andres's Paraphrase on Themes of Brian Eno and the New York premiere of his Home Stretch, plus works by Anna Clyne and Mozart.

k.d. lang and Tony Bennett reunite on stage this Saturday at Davies Symphony Hall for the San Francisco Symphony’s 2010 Black & White Ball benefit concert. Bennett tells the Oakland Tribune: "k.d. has a gift ... I can't ask for a more pleasant thing to listen to than to listen to k.d. sing." For her part, lang says: "To be mentored by Tony, it's the kind of thing that is irreplaceable."

Kronos Quartet has just announced its summer tour dates, which will bring the group to venues in Europe, the United States, and Taiwan. Summer being festival season, Kronos will take part in some of the best, including Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Edinburgh International, Monterey Jazz, and Cabrillo. The group will also perform with Wu Man, Alim & Fargana Qasimov, and with Philip Glass, performing his score to Dracula, and will help celebrate Terry Riley's 75th birthday.