Punch Brothers' new album, Who's Feeling Young Now?, is out in just a matter of days, and in the UK, the Guardian, the Sun, Scotland's Daily Express, and Maverick all give it four stars. The album shows "why they are so special," says the Guardian. "This is a remarkable band." The Sun calls it "Nicely off-kilter yet bang on the money." Hear Punch Brothers' Celtic Connections set on World on 3 tonight on BBC Radio 3. Back in the States, the Aspen Times says: "Punch Brothers are exhibiting the sort of freedom that Radiohead brings to the music—a willingness to rethink structure, melody and tradition. They don't break down boundaries, but play as if there were no boundaries to contend with, like music was a clean canvas."

Kronos Quartet's new album features the work of contemporary Russian composer Vladimir Martynov. The Los Angeles Times calls his Schubert-Quintet (Unfinished) a "masterpiece. The performance, exquisitely recorded, is radiant." The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette calls it a "hauntingly beautiful work, a masterwork ... This is an album brimming with warmth and emotion, of flesh and spirit, that is romantic and beautifully played." The album comes "highly recommended" from All Music, which says: "Nonesuch's sound is clean, warmly immediate, and vibrant." The Winnipeg Free Press says "the Kronos crew deliver a stunning exploration that sends chills."

The Black Keys launched the UK leg of their European tour with sold-out shows in Nottingham Friday and Edinburgh on Saturday. Up next are more sold-out shows in Manchester, followed by a three-night run in London. The Keys got the "crowd rocking madly, a tight mass of bodies punching the air" at Friday's show, notes the Independent in a perfect five-star review. The band has "turned an old-fashioned sound into something timeless," says the Guardian in a four-star review. "As Nottingham roars its approval, it's another fine victory for pop's unlikely lads." STV calls Saturday's show "spectacular."

Björk launched her ten-show Biophilia residency in NYC with a performance Friday night at the New York Hall of Science in Queens. Five more shows at the unique venue are ahead, with four to follow at Roseland in Manhattan. Björk's "dazzling style" was on display on Friday's premiere, says NPR, which proved to be "a lesson in the scientific art of music, and how limitless it can be." Rolling Stone says of her voice: "Unearthly in its range and force, yet absolutely natural and frank in its ardor and hope, it is the vital human tissue connecting everything else." Fuse calls the show "jaw-dropping," explaining "it was evident that one of those special, unforgettable concert moments had just occurred."

The Black Keys' European tour brought the band to Germany over the weekend. Saturday's show in Berlin was "positively devoured by the German crowd," reports MTV News. "Drawing heavily from their breakout Brothers album and the equally successful El Camino, the duo, aided by backing band for extra oomph, tore through 90-plus minutes of sweaty, snarling stuff, a full-bore workout for their triumphant run of U.S. arena shows, which kicks off in March." Up next are shows in Italy, Switzerland, and the Netherlands before seven in the UK.

Brad Mehldau is set to perform an intimate solo set in Washington, DC, this weekend. The Washington City Paper says: "His performances are wondrous, and this one promises to be no different." The Washington Post, reviewing the new Brad Mehldau Trio box set The Art of the Trio Recordings: 1996-2001, cites "an intuitive and highly interactive level of performance" in the set. JazzTimes says the retrospective offers "a fresh vantage point on a body of music by enabling the listener to experience it whole. The best art requires time to release all of its revelations." Jambands calls it "a solid reminder why Brad Mehldau has earned his place amongst the true masters of the jazz piano."

Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau were in Australia last week for a brief duo tour, including two concerts in Sydney for the 2012 Sydney Festival and one in Melbourne. Mehldau's "capacity for setting up a steady rhythm at fast pace was mesmerising, helping to drive Redman's playing on tenor and soprano to delirious heights," says The Australian of Friday's Sydney show. "It works at the highest level and is deeply human: full of delight, surprise, even ecstasy." The Brisbane Times gives Saturday's Melbourne show four stars: "It was playing of the highest order."

Punch Brothers played songs from their forthcoming album, Who's Feeling Young Now?, at Bush Hall in London last night. The Guardian calls it "an exciting, wildly original set," giving it four stars. Chris Thile "provided acrobatic, sometimes fragile vocals and virtuoso mandolin work, with intricate changes of direction that were perfectly matched by his colleagues." The Times of London gives it a perfect five stars, exclaiming: "Brilliant, audacious, original and, above all, entertaining; Punch Brothers put on a show that pushed the boundaries of excellence in contemporary music performance in virtually all directions."

Steve Reich joined Bang on a Can All-Stars for the start of the group's 25th anniversary tour and a celebration of the composer's 75th birthday with an all-Reich concert at LA's Walt Disney Concert Hall on Tuesday. "A retrospective of Reich, performed by musicians who live and breathe his music, made attendance at this kind of event one of music's memorable experiences," says the Los Angeles Times. Reich is "as close to a rock star as a composer can get these days." Variety describes the performances of Music for 18 Musicians as "nothing short of transcendent."

Chris Thile and Michael Daves brought the music of their debut duo album, Sleep with One Eye Open, to the picturesque Allen Room overlooking New York's Central Park as part of Lincoln Center's American Songbook series. "They’ve been playing small club shows downtown, and they brought that informality to the Allen Room," says the New York Times, "punctuating dazzling virtuosity with bluegrass-aficionado banter and 'Fiddle Tune Request Time.'” Thile and Daves "sing and play the daylights" out of the tunes, says the Times, playing both with "breakneck" speed and "with restraint and delicacy."

Brad Mehldau joins his Trio—featuring bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard—for a six-night residency at NYC's famed Village Vanguard, starting tonight. "[T]his iteration of his pace-setting trio," says the New York Times, "has evolved into a graceful powerhouse, equally savvy about groove and harmony. There’s still no better place to hear the band than the Village Vanguard, a special room for Mr. Mehldau and for his devoted base." The BBC, reviewing the newly released Art of the Trio Recordings box set, says of Mehldau: "It is his genius, his dash of daring, his exceptional touch, and his ability to conceive a performance lasting over several minutes as a compositional entity that mark him out."

The Brad Mehldau Trio’s seven-disc box set The Art of the Trio Recordings: 1996–2001, featuring longtime Brad Mehldau Trio bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jorge Rossy, earns four stars in the Guardian, which says "the trio created a private world for their listeners to get lost in, and this is the definitive representation of it." The review cites the trio's "almost telepathic intuitiveness" that led to a "mind-boggling" performance. The Financial Times gives it four stars as well, saying it "documents Mehldau’s virtuosity" and confirms "this trio as both yardstick and model for contemporary piano jazz." The Buffalo News calls the set "indisputably great." KPCC says: "Mehldau makes renegade jazz, and this comprehensive collection shows him at his finest."