Yesterday marked the release of T Bone Burnett's Nonesuch debut, Tooth of Crime, featuring songs based on work he began more than a decade ago for Sam Shepard's play of the same name, about the pitfalls of a fame-obsessed culture. The Dallas News calls it "a fittingly eclectic musical opus" from the multi-talented musician, and the nearby Fort Worth Star-Telegram, T Bone's hometown paper, gives the album four stars and sees in it a decidedly Texan influence, "pulling from the bewitching tangle of influences that indelibly mark the songs crafted by Texas artists---a little rock, a little country, a little psychedelia and a dose of anguish, just for good measure."

John Adams's opera A Flowering Tree receives its Midwest premiere tonight in the Chicago Opera Theater performance at the Harris Theater in Millenium Park. The composer will conduct the opening night performance as well as the second performance, this Saturday. Chicago Tribune critic John von Rhein says the piece offers "the light of hope and renewal" and concludes: "Nobody who loves contemporary opera and music theater can afford to miss it ... Adams' music is luminously beautiful, the entire opera a glorious multicultural paean to the ecology of the soul."

The Black Keys are in New York City today to perform on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. The band will perform "Strange Times" off their latest ablum, Attack & Release, which remains the No. 1 record on college radio for an amazing fifth straight week. Before that show hits the air, Patrick and Dan will be taking taking on fans in a joint gaming session of Grand Theft Auto IV with Xbox LIVE Gold members.

Laurie Anderson recently appeared on Progressive Radio, the weekly broadcast hosted by The Progressive magazine's editor Matthew Rothschild, to discuss her latest project, Homeland, and the many socio-political issues it addresses, most notably the war in Iraq and the challenges of forming a coherent opposition to it when faced with an administration so well-schooled in framing the issue, or as she sees it, story telling. In light of this, her response was to tell her own version of the story, through Homeland.

Tune in to NPR.org tonight at 10 PM ET to hear The Black Keys perform songs from their new album, Attack & Release, live from Washington, DC's 9:30 Club---their second sold-out show there in two days. Pat and Dan bring what NPR calls "a timeless mix of roots and riff-rock" to the show. NPR calls the new album "The Black Keys' richest and most diverse recording to date."

Bill Frisell's latest Nonesuch release, the two-disc History, Mystery, is out today. The Financial Times gives it four stars, as does The Times, which finds it "hard to think of an electric guitarist who has explored so much musical territory and always claimed it as his own." The Independent names it Jazz Album of the Week, calling it "full of musical contrasts, rich textures, lengthening shadows, and unexpected turns" and "consistently engaging" with a closing guitar solo that's "just wonderful."