Steve Reich's new album, WTC 9/11, is out this week. The album includes the title piece, Reich's reflection on the 2001 World Trade Center attacks, performed by Kronos Quartet, as well as Mallet Quartet, performed by Sō Percussion, and Dance Patterns, featuring members of Steve Reich and Musicians. BBC Radio 3's CD Review finds the title piece "startling, emotionally charged and moving." BBC Music says "Reich is as eloquent as ever." The Independent gives the album four stars.

Ry Cooder was the guest on the BBC World Service arts program The Strand, discussing his new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down. "When it comes to American music legends, they don't come much bigger than Ry Cooder," says host Anna McNamee. "What I love about this album is that in so many ways it's a distillation of some great American musics."

Steve Reich's new piece, WTC 9/11, was featured on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday, in the show's coverage of the tenth anniversary of the attacks. KQED's The California Report spoke with Reich and Kronos Quartet's David Harrington about the piece, which Kronos performs on the forthcoming album. There's one more day to listen to the entire album—which also includes Mallet Quartet, performed by Sō Percussion, and Dance Patterns, performed by members of Steve Reich and Musicians—as an NPR First Listen. The Seattle Times calls WTC 9/11 "a stunning work." Sequenza21 calls it "unflinchingly eloquent."

Ry Cooder recently stopped by Pacifica Radio's KPFK in Los Angeles to discuss his new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, sharing insights on channeling the voice of John Lee Hooker and much more. "This is a fantastic album," says host Jon Wiener, who is joined in his praise by the Irish Times, which gives the album four stars, saying: "Cooder again defies the belief that music with a message can’t be fun." Sweden's Sydsvenskan credits it with "the most godlike groove you'll ever hear on a protest record." The New Zealand Herald gives it a perfect five stars, calling it "exceptional."

Ry Cooder's new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, was released to great critical acclaim and a few choice tweets, not least yesterday's from Billy Bragg, who recommended the track "No Banker Left Behind" as a way to celebrate Labor Day. The album has received three more five-star reviews. "Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down is a stunning return to form for one of America's most original and talented musicians," exclaims the Daily Telegraph. Cooder "has been inspired anew by 21st-century social ills to produce one of the best albums of a distinguished career." The Observer says: "He's become a Woody Guthrie for our times." Scotland on Sunday names it the Release of the Week, saying: "Cooder has now made one of the best records of his considerable career."

Steve Reich's forthcoming Nonesuch album, WTC 9/11—featuring the title piece performed by Kronos Quartet, Mallet Quartet performed by Sō Percussion, and Dance Patterns from members of Steve Reich and Musicians—is now streaming in full as an NPR First Listen. NPR cites the "haunting power" of WTC 9/11, adding: "Here again and as ever, Kronos plays with fierce beauty and deep intelligence." The Boston Globe asks: "The musical memorials to 9/11 are still arriving but, in the end, how many will match the dark power of Steve Reich's WTC 9/11, finally here in a recording by the Kronos Quartet?"

Ry Cooder's new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, receives perfect five-star reviews from the Guardian and the Independent. "Magnificent," exclaims the Guardian. "Cooder returns with a solo project that is as refreshing, brave and original as his early recordings in the 70s." The Independent says he offers "the modern-day equivalent of the kind of dust-bowl ballads with which Woody Guthrie once hymned the poor and skewered the wealthy." The Boston Herald finds it's "just what America needs in these uncertain times." The Morton Report says "it's obvious there isn't anything he can't do ... and the way Cooder builds his own musical world continues to thrill." The San Francisco Chronicle, reviewing Cooder's two sold-out shows there this week, says "Cooder is a true master of the guitar."

Ry Cooder's new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, was released yesterday, prompting David Dye, host of NPR's World Cafe, to tweet that the album "just shot to my best of list. Ry got pissed off enough to make another masterpiece." Cooder performs two sold-out shows at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall, tonight and tomorrow, and is today's guest on NPR's Here & Now. The BBC calls the album "a powerful state of the nation address" that "is about as good and sustained a riposte to the grubby, grabbing times we live in as any artist has mustered, which makes it essential listening."

“Virus,” the latest single from Björk’s forthcoming album, Biophilia, is today’s Top Tune at KCRW in Los Angeles, free to download at kcrw.com. The Biophilia album is already receiving critical acclaim in early reviews from the UK, with Uncut, MOJO, and Q all giving it four stars. Q says: "Biophilia is a wonderful record in the most literal sense: it overflows with wonder." The magazine includes "Virus" on its list of "Q50 Essential Tracks," saying it "harks back to the lavish frost-sparkle beauty of Vespertine."

There's just under a week to go before the release of Ry Cooder's new album, Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down, on August 30. Until then, you can listen to the album in its entirety exclusively on Slate. MOJO and Q give the album four stars; Uncut gives it a perfect five, calling it "one of his best albums ever." Cooder is the subject of a feature article in the magazine, which calls the new album "an impassioned portrait of 21st century America and its injustices" in which Cooder is "remade as a modern-day Woody Guthrie, fearless and funny, for like Guthrie he nails his targets with droll humour while empathising with society's underdogs."

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."

The first recording of John Adams's Son of Chamber Symphony was released on Nonesuch earlier this year, performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble, paired with his String Quartet, performed by the St. Lawrence String Quartet. The Boston Globe says the former piece "has a madcap wit, an infectious rhythmic energy and vitality, and a beautifully wrought slow movement." The Detroit Free Press gives the album a perfect four stars, calling the latter piece "a major addition to the repertoire." The New Haven Advocate says it's "a first recording that seems likely to remain the benchmark."