The Black Keys' Brothers has been named Album of the Year at iTunes, which says the band "hit upon a postmodern groove that honors the past while ambling toward the future." Also included among iTunes' Best of 2010 are Steve Reich's Double Sextet / 2x5, named Best Contemporary Classical Album, and Bill Frisell's Disfarmer, for Best Instrumental Jazz Album. Brothers also tops American Songwriter magazine's year-end list and NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday's Director's Cut Gift Guide.

Laurie Anderson's Homeland has made NPR's list of The Five Best Genre-Defying Albums of 2010. "Some of the most compelling music being made today comes from the increasingly blurry boundary between indie-rock and contemporary classical music," says WNYC's John Schaeffer. "And it's some of the most provocative and exciting work of the year." As dark as Homeland may be, "this is as accessible and rocking a record as Anderson has made in 25 years," Schaeffer insists. "Whether singing, speaking or doing that in-between thing she does, she is in great voice, and the production sounds awesome."

Steve Reich's 2x5 and the Nonesuch Records / Indaba Music contest to remix the piece were featured on the BBC World Service's The Strand. The composer and Dominique Leone, the creator of the winning remix, talk about the contest, the classical roots of remixing, and why 2x5 lent itself to the process. "Steve Reich's music is so based in rhythm," says Leone, "so when you can take little chunks of it and manipulate that and exploit the rhythm that's already there, it's not very difficult to make something that sounds good." Hear the remix here.

Timothy Andres's debut album, Shy and Mighty, has been named among the year's notable recordings according to The New Yorker's Alex Ross. Upon the album's release on Nonesuch in May, Ross said the album achieved "an unhurried grandeur that has rarely been felt in American music since John Adams came on the scene." Andres unveils a new piano piece, It takes a long time to become a good composer, in three concerts in New York City with the Metropolis Ensemble, starting tonight.

“I’m actually really shy,” insists Jessica Lea Mayfield. “Not musically, but personally.” This uncommonly mature 21-year-old singer-songwriter’s Nonesuch debut, Tell Me, due out in February, balances the warm-hearted with the cold-blooded. Here she talks about the making of the new album, working with producer/engineer Dan Auerbach, her early musical influences in bluegrass and '90s rock, and writing songs "about being mean to boys."

When the Philip Glass / Robert Wilson collaboration Einstein on the Beach premiered in 1976, it marked the international breakthrough for its creators and changed what audiences might expect from opera, theater, or performance art. New audiences and an entirely new generation will have the opportunity to see the rarely performed piece during a 2012-2013 international tour of major cities around the world. "For audiences, few of whom have experienced Einstein apart from audio recordings," says the composer, "this tour will be a chance finally to see this seminal work."

The Sing-Off, NBC's a cappella singing competition, continues tonight, with performances from the remaining eight teams and keen-as-ever insight from judge Ben Folds. He has added six new concerts in the US Midwest next month in support of Lonely Avenue, which the Aquarian Weekly says "is rich and filled with life’s great texture." The newly-added dates go on sale December 10; the Ben Folds Fan Club can access presale tickets now.

Christina Courtin launches a four-city tour with Aoife O'Donovan of the Crooked Still in Boston tonight, followed by stops in New Hampshire and Vermont, before hitting Courtin's home base of New York City with a Saturday night show at Rockwood Music Hall. Courtin's voice has been described by the New York Times as "uniquely otherworldly." Her self-titled Nonesuch debut album, which the Huffington Post called "a wonderful concoction," is now just $10.71 in the Nonesuch Store as part of the store-wide 3rd anniversary sale.

In October, Steve Reich, Nonesuch Records, and Indaba Music launched a search for collaborators to remix the third movement of the composer's piece 2x5, which Nonesuch had recently released on the same album as his Pulitzer Prize–winning piece Double Sextet. Reich has now chosen a Grand Prize Winner and two Runners-Up, and fans have chosen 10 Honorable Mentions, all of which can be heard here.

The Black Keys' album Brothers has landed at No. 2 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the Best Albums of 2010. "The duo boil it down on their best record yet: vivid tunes stripped bare and rubbed raw, with hot splashes of color and hooks popping through like compound fractures," raves Rolling Stone. "It's rock minimalism pushed to the max." The magazine also places the album track "Everlasting Light" at No. 11 on the list of the Best Singles of 2010.

Punch Brothers were recently nominated for two Grammy Awards, including Best Country Instrumental Performance for the song "New Chance Blues," a bonus track off their latest Nonesuch album, Antifogmatic. To celebrate the great news, you can now download a the Grammy-nominated track "New Chance Blues" for free here. The band has added a number of new 2011 tour dates to their schedule, as has Chris Thile, all of which are listed here.

Last night marked the season two premiere of NBC's The Sing-Off, with Ben Folds returning as a judge on the hit a cappella competition. "The Sing-Off Proves Ben Folds Needs His Own Television Show," declares MTV. "Though all of the judges are excellent, the show really does belong to Folds ... He has both the chops and the experience to really deliver in the judges' chair." NPR calls him "wonderful." In his blog for the show, Folds writes: "The stars of this show are the groups, and whether they leave the show on the first episode or the last, we want them to stay inspired and keep making people happy."