Steve Reich performed at London's Royal Albert Hall last night as part of an all-Reich program with Ensemble Modern for the BBC Proms. The concert is now available online. "There could be no better way of celebrating Steve Reich’s 75th birthday than with a performance of his Music for 18 Musicians," says the Independent in its five-star review, "and the packed hall for this late-night Prom testified to the size and devotion of his fan-club." The Guardian says the concert helped mark Reich's "ongoing acceptance into the pantheon of the greats of the western classical tradition."

Steve Reich performs at London's Royal Albert Hall tonight as part of an all-Reich program with Ensemble Modern for the BBC Proms. The concert, which marks the composer's 75th birthday year, will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3. "His work using looped taped voices was not only original," writes the Guardian, "but created stunning, fluid sounds which still impress today ... In a Proms season that contains many treasures, Reich's performance ... stands out." MusicOMH gives Reich's forthcoming album four stars, calling its WTC 9/11 "a stark and fascinating addition to his oeuvre."

Pat Metheny will be the guest on this week's episode of BBC Radio 2's Jamie Cullum show tonight. In this hour-long special, Metheny talks with Cullum about his career and its impact on the role of guitar in jazz. Metheny's new album, What's It All About, earns a perfect five stars in BBC Music magazine, which says: "Laymen and players alike will love this personal solo album from their personable hero."

Ry Cooder's new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, is due out in just over three weeks, on August 30. The album track "El Corrido de Jesse James," which uses the Mexican corrido tradition to comment on the Wall Street bailout, was featured on NPR's All Things Considered yesterday in a look at some favorite new sounds. NPR contributor Betto Arcos says of Cooder: "He's able to discern and bring together musical styles like no one else can."

k.d. lang and will be the guest on today's episode of NPR's World Café, talking with host David Dye about Sing it Loud, her new album with the Siss Boom Bang, and performing songs from the record. lang and the band bring their extensive North American tour back up to her homeland of Canada with performances at the Regina and Edmonton folk festivals this weekend. The Regina festival's artistic director says: "She is breathtaking."

"Crystalline," the first single off Björk's multimedia project Biophilia, is featured on NPR's All Songs Considered. "God bless Björk," says producer Robin Hilton. "We need artists like her ... Something comes along like the iPad or the iPhone, and they just see things differently. They take us in new, completely unexpected directions. They embrace technology and turn it into a new art form. I think that's just amazing." Björk discussed the project with BBC Radio 4's Front Row. Wired features an interview with Scott Snibbe, the leader of the team behind the Biophilia App, and Spinner spoke with some of the inventors behind the unique musical instruments commissioned for the project.

This past weekend, the Newport Folk Festival offered the sold-out crowd two beautiful summer days of music from performers including the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Emmylou Harris, Wanda Jackson, and Chris Thile & Michael Daves. You can now listen to all of those sets online at NPR Music, from the ever "vital and contemporary" Harris to the "blazingly intense music" of Thile & Daves. The Boston Globe says that all the music proved "compelling and indebted to what preceded it."

Chris Thile and Michael Daves will be the guests on WNYC's Soundcheck today at 2 PM ET, performing songs from their debut duo album, Sleep With One Eye Open, before a live audience at the Greene Space in downtown Manhattan. Also performing are the Del McCoury Band and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The show is sold-out and will be webcast live. The New Yorker, in a preview of their show at The Bell House in Brooklyn tonight, says: "Expect the pair to deliver a high-spirited bluegrass-infused performance full of inspired harmonies."

The Low Anthem was featured on NPR's World Cafe yesterday. The show, now available at npr.org, features concert performances of songs from the band's new album, Smart Flesh, and an interview with the band. "The Low Anthem's markedly pleasant tunes contain some of the sweetest sounds in modern Americana," says World Cafe. "The band's music features husky vocals, poetic lyrics, rich harmonies, even some heavy blues guitar." The Low Anthem announced its US fall headlining tour yesterday.

Jessica Lea Mayfield is featured on SPIN magazine's tribute to the 20th anniversary of Nirvana's Nevermind. She performs the album track "Lounge Act" on Newermind, on which SPIN asked some of its "favorite contemporary artists to cover the influential album's 13 songs, in their original order." Newermind is available as a free download till July 25 on SPIN's Facebook page. Mayfield concludes her tour with the Avett Brothers in Oakland tonight, then continues her own headline tour. Tune in to hear her perform on KFOG this afternoon.

Randy Newman's recent appearance on Words and Music from Studio A from New York's NPR member station WFUV is now available to stream on NPR Music at NPR.org. Newman performs songs from his latest Nonesuch release, Songbook Vol. 2, and talks with host Claudia Marshall about the project. "He is, simply, one of America's greatest songwriters," Marshall exclaims, "and the hour or so we spent together is among the most enjoyable radio interviews I've ever done." Newman launches his two-week tour of Australia this Friday.

John Adams is the guest on WNYC's Soundcheck today. He'll discuss the Lincoln Center Festival's Bruckner (R)evolution series, in which the Cleveland Orchestra "audaciously couples" (New York Times) his work with four of Anton Bruckner's symphonies. The series began last night, with his Guide to Strange Places, and continues tonight and Sunday with his Violin Concerto and Doctor Atomic Symphony. The Wall Street Journal, previewing the series, calls Adams "one of America's supreme composers." Watch Adams and Cleveland Music Director Franz Welser-Möst discuss Adams's "musical DNA" in a video here.