After kicking off the California leg his of US tour last night in Santa Cruz, Youssou N'Dour will make two more stops in northern California before heading down to Los Angeles this Saturday. Gearing up for the concert at UCLA's Royce Hall, the Los Angeles Times praises Youssou's "inimitable vocals, with their seductive timbral span" and argues that "a pretty convincing case could be made for N'Dour as one of the world's most visible and successful international artists."

Wired magazine's pop-culture blog, Underwire, reports on, well, The Wire. For those not yet wired in, writer Erik Malinowski previews the soon-to-be-released official series soundtrack from Nonesuch Records that "fans have been clamoring for years for." He recognizes the praise the series has gotten, saying that "few people will argue that The Wire is the best show on television. By far."

The New Music Collective out of Charleston, South Carolina, begins its season this Sunday with a program called New Music, New Charleston, which will include a performance of Steve Reich's Electric Counterpoint by area guitarist David Linaburg, along with two world premieres of works by local composers. 

Ballet Theatre Afrikan begins its latest Hooked on Classics series tonight with choreographer Christopher Kindo's Sollopa, featuring the music of Giya Kancheli's Night Prayers by Kronos Quartet, at the University of Johannesburg Arts Centre. According to joburg.org.za, the official site of the city of Johannesburg, Sollopa uses the "mesmerising music" of Night Prayers to tell a tale of magic and passion in a mythical kingdom, through both classical and contemporary dance movement. Ballet Theatre Afrikan premiered the piece in 2004. 

The Sweeney Todd film site has now been fully updated to include all the latest information on the upcoming release—production notes, cast and crew bios, trailers, behind-the-scenes video, a photo gallery, and all sorts of downloads featuring the film's stars. The site also features streaming audio of songs off the soundtrack, which will be available from Nonesuch December 18.

On the same day that Nonesuch Radio has added to its playlist two tracks from Jonny Greenwood's There Will Be Blood score, The Playlist, a website dedicated to all things movie music, is streaming two additional songs from the soundtrack: "Proven Lands" and "There Will Be Blood." The film—"pretty much at the top of everyone's most anticipated list," says the site—will be in limited release December 26, and the soundtrack will be available December 18 from Nonesuch.

Youssou N'Dour resumes his North American tour tonight at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz, California. On Friday, he makes his way to San Francisco for the season finale of 25th Annual SF Jazz Festival. "N'Dour shows that he has lost neither charm nor youthful energy," says SF Weekly of his new album, Rokku Mi Rokka (Give and Take). "The rhythmically rich music works like a frame around his high-pitched voice, and the music is able to captivate even the most jaded listener, world music fan or otherwise."

Tonight marks the first night of public performances in New England Conservatory's two-day, four-concert Steve Reich festival. "Reich is that rare breed," writes Bostonist.com in a preview of the events: "the composer admired by the concert hall crowd but enjoyed by everybody." And with all of the concerts free of charge, Bostonist suggests taking in both nights, including tonight's Music for 18 Musicians and the Boston premiere of City Life and Daniel Variations on Thursday.

Last night, Pat Metheny played the last in a string of dates in South Africa with the trio from his upcoming Nonesuch release, Day Trip—bassist Christian McBride and drummer Antonio Sanchez. The Independent (South Africa)'s entertainment guide, Tonight, reports that the Sunday show in Durban was "the gig we were all itching for." After hearing the trio perform songs from Day Trip and others, the site declares: "'Gig of the year' was the general pronouncement."

This Friday night, Alarm Will Sound will make its Stanford University debut with the world premiere of John Adams's Son of Chamber Symphony, which the composer wrote for the innovative ensemble. Adams's first Chamber Symphony received its world premiere at The Hague in 1993. Also on Friday's program at Stanford's Dinkelspiel Auditorium are works by Conlon Nancarrow, Michael Gordon, and Aphex Twin. 

Jonny Greenwood's score for the Paul Thomas Anderson film There Will Be Blood won't be available for another few weeks (release date: December 18), but Nonesuch Radio is now streaming the two opening tracks off the album—"Open Spaces" and "Future Markets." To listen, click on the Nonesuch Radio icon at the top left of this screen.

Nonesuch wishes Randy Newman a very happy birthday. He turns 64 today.