The Magnetic Fields' Realism tour made its way through England and continues on the Continent for the next week. BBC Manchester spoke with Stephin Merritt, "a brilliant songwriter," for "one of the most honest interviews from a songwriter about how hard it is to work on the art of it." The band's set at London's Barbican Centre elicited "well earned applause," says the Evening Standard's four-star review. The Arts Desk called it "a delightful show ... what a great band; and what a lovely, sad, funny evening."

The Carolina Chocolate Drops, a smash hit at SXSW last week, have returned to their home state of North Carolina and to their roots: the Black Banjo Gathering in Boone, North Carolina, where the band first met back in 2005. The Drops will join in on workshops and performances all week. Rolling Stone says that, as a result of their SXSW performances, "Their newgrass cover of 'Hit ‘Em Up Style' has been upgraded from 'must hear' to 'must experience.'"

The Low Anthem, Carolina Chocolate Drops continue confab at SXSW ... John Adams is in Paris for Cité de la Musique Forum John Adams ... Laurie Anderson airs Amelia Earhart in Basel ... Louis Andriessen gets honorary doctorate in Birmingham ... Kronos closes Carnegie Hall Perspectives with Young Artists Concert ... The Magnetic Fields bring Realism to the UK ... Brad Mehldau solos in Netherlands ... Pat Metheny plays Orchestrion in Italy ... Signature Theatre celebrates Sondheim's 80th ... Chris Thile performs Mandolin Concerto in Delaware ... Allen Toussaint plays Rome ... Dawn Upshaw, Emanuel Ax perform in San Francisco ... and more ...

Brad Mehldau's latest Nonesuch album, Highway Rider, is out now. The album "might be his most fully realized work yet," exclaims the Los Angeles Times in a perfect four-star review. "Full of unexpected twists and lush, evocative detours, Highway Rider is most definitely a trip, and one well worth taking." The Hartford Courtant calls it "triumphant." The BBC sees it as "a work that stretches the artist’s conceptual scope without stifling his essence."

John Adams led the LSO in the European premiere of his City Noir at London's Barbican Hall last week, to which the Times (UK) gives four stars and calls "brilliant." Adams and the LSO bring to Salle Pleyel in Paris to launch Domain privé John Adams, an 11-day celebration of the composer's music there and at Cité de la musique, with six concerts, three premieres, and a forum with the composer. The Vancouver Sun describes last weekend's Canadian premiere of Adams's Nixon in China as “brilliantly effective.”

Brad Mehldau's latest album, Highway Rider, is out now. The New York Times examines this "impressive" album and the pairing of Mehldau and producer Jon Brion. Given the success of their previous project, Largo, says the Times, this brings with it "a certain expectation, one that Highway Rider meets more than halfway." The Financial Times says: "Mehldau, with his trust in his own experience, came through in spades, pulling his musical influences into orchestrated coherence, and communicating the fun he had in doing it." The Times (UK) gives four stars to this "inspired set."

Brad Mehldau and his forthcoming Nonesuch release, Highway Rider, were slated to be featured on tomorrow's episode of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday, but the segment has been postponed to a future date. The Guardian, in a five-star review of the album, calls it "the real deal," saying: "Highway Rider's contrasts and dramatic entries spring constant surprises, and show how much progress the mesmerising improviser has made as a big-ensemble composer."

Pat Metheny and his recent Nonesuch release, Orchestrion, were slated to be featured on NPR's Morning Edition tomorrow morning, but will be rescheduled for a later date. Metheny was featured on BBC Radio 3's Late Junction earlier this week. The album is full of "lush diatonic harmonies and sweetly melodic improvisations," says Sequenza21, but "what makes this disc so special" is Metheny's "interaction with a robot ensemble" and its "surprising richness and warmth."

Brad Mehldau's Highway Rider is out now, with an exclusive bonus demo track included at the Nonesuch Store. Brad's official site, bradmehldau.com, has been relaunched with a new look and lots of new material. All About Jazz describes the new album, with "its almost perfect mix of form and freedom," as "the most fully realized original music the pianist has written to date ... Mehldau the composer has clearly arrived."

John Adams and the London Symphony Orchestra gave the UK premiere of his Doctor Atomic Symphony at Barbican Hall Sunday; they perform the European premiere of his City Noir Thursday. The Times (UK) gives Sunday's "extraordinarily compelling" performance four stars, exclaiming that, with Doctor Atomic Symphony, Adams "has created a truly explosive 25-minute piece in which the listener is rocked by a sense of the compacted moral and physical turbulence of the original opera." The Evening Standard gives it four stars as well, calling it "Adams at his heart-on-sleeve best."

Nonesuch artists converge on Chicago with The Low Anthem, Magnetic Fields, Mandy Patinkin, Punch Brothers all in town Sunday; Carolina Chocolate Drops, just there, play not far in Rockford ... John Adams is in focus at the Barbican ... Laurie Anderson talks astrophysics at NYC's Rubin Museum ... Vinicio Capossela launches US tour in NYC ... Christina Courtin closes Mike Doughty tour in California ... Bill Frisell Trio plays Boston ... Natalie Merchant judges poetry ... Pat Metheny continues Europe tour ... Joshua Redman is in LA ... Stephen Sondheim converses in Minneapolis ... Allen Toussaint, Blind Boys of Alabama play LA ... Sara Watkins performs in Paducah ...

There are just a few days left on The Low Anthem's tour with the Avett Brothers, after which the band will headline its own US tour, beginning in DC. "The Low Anthem isn't the first bunch of indie rockers to experiment with older string-band instruments and echoes of the songs of pre-1940 rural America," says the Washington Post. "But no one has done it better than this Rhode Island trio on its breakthrough album, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin." The A.V. Club talks with front man Ben Knox Miller about the music.