Bill Frisell's latest release, History, Mystery, receives five stars from the Manchester Evening News (UK). On the album, Bill's "mellifluous guitar, enhanced by pedals and switches, interacts with a genteel string trio and flesh and blood drummer." For the "ethereal/beautiful" music on History, Mystery, "Frisell creates a world full of mystery, enigma and romance, transforming classic Americana like "A Change Is Gonna Come" along the way. Two CDs doesn't seem to overstretch a great artist at his peak."

The Black Keys have closed out the UK leg of their Attack & Release tour and will soon be heading south for stops in Australia and New Zealand in mid-June. Reviewing the new album, JamBase describes it as music that "crawls into your marrow and disturbs your rest. It's not the blues but it's gone drinking with them. For sure, it's rock 'n' roll but with a haunted echo behind even the good time pronouncements ... [T]he imagination and talent gathered on Attack & Release make it a shoe-in for Best of 2008 lists everywhere. Often that sounds like hype but in this case it's just a statement of fact. Once in a while quality just shines out in a way that can't be denied."

David Byrne's latest project, Playing the Building, is set to open this Saturday in downtown New York City. Byrne has created a sound installation in which he's turned an entire building, the early 20th-century Battery Maritime Building, into a working instrument that visitors can play. Admission is free, with an opening reception Saturday evening at 6 PM and the exhibit open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through August 10. 

Many a fan of the TV series Gilmore Girls, which ran from 2000 to 2007 on the WB network, got to know the music of the show's composer, Sam Phillips. Sam wrote original music throughout the series' seven-season run; the show also featured songs from her Nonesuch debut, Fan Dance, and its follow-up, A Boot and Shoe. And Sam herself even joined Lorelei and Rory Gilmore in fictional Stars Hollow, Connecticut, as a troubadour of sorts. Now, with Sam's third Nonesuch album, Don't Do Anything, set for release this Tuesday and available for pre-order now, fans of the show can enter to win a free, signed and personalized copy of the CD at GilmoreGirlsNews.com. The contest is on now and runs through June 5. 

Emmylou Harris's new Nonesuch release, All I Intended to Be, is due out June 10. Crawdaddy!'s Steve Matteo calls "Harris's recent albums, including this new one, some of the best music she has ever made ... [H]er voice remains the heart of her music. The aching compassion with which she sings reveals a voice as real as any in music today." Matteo concludes with high praise for "this superb recording": "It would appear that Harris is simply incapable of making a bad album."

T Bone Burnett's recently released Tooth of Crime earns 3.5 out of 4 stars in the Boston Phoenix, which calls the album "a sonic adventure thanks to Burnett's current signatures: booming drum kits sans cymbals, knotty guitars, lyrics sung through amplifiers, and an open, airy quality that's the antithesis of modern rock production."

Made in Dakar, Orchestra Boabab's first album of new recordings since 2002, was released last week. Billboard says the collection of new songs and new takes on classic Baobab tunes proves to be "a great retrospective" on the band with "no shortage of stylistic turns." The review calls it "a major thrill" to have the chance to rediscover some of the many hard-to-find classics, "retracked in grand fashion" for the new album.

Earlier this year, Steve Reich joined Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore for a discussion of the composer's career at the annual South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. Pitchfork Media's new video site, pitchfork.tv, recorded the event back in March and has now posted it as a two-part special presentation you can watch here. Moore opens the interview by claiming the pioneering minimalist composer as one of his own, declaring: "Whether he knows it or not, he's kind of a rock 'n' roller." Moore says that the 1971 piece Drumming was his introduction to Reich's music.

Tune in to the Sundance Channel tonight at 9 PM to catch David Byrne on the latest episode of the show Big Ideas for a Small Planet, titled "Transport." Byrne, a longtime advocate of urban bike use, will be part of a segment focusing on efforts to make cities more bike friendly. There's also word on his collaboration with Dirty Projectors for the forthcoming edition of the Red Hot compilation album to benefit AIDS research. Also on the album are Feist, Sufjan Stevens, Grizzly Bear, Sharon Jones, The Decemberists, and The National, whose Bryce Dessner is producing the collection.

Steve Reich selected Japanese composer Yuichi Matsumoto as the first-prize winner in this year's Toru Takemitsu Composition Award this past Sunday. It was the culminating event in Composium 2008, a several day affair at Tokyo Opera City featuring works by Reich, including the Japanese premiere of Daniel Variations and a performance of Music for 18 Musicians with the composer as guest artist.

The Black Keys' in-studio performance and interview on NPR's World Cafe last week is now available online. "With their newest record, Attack & Release," says the show, "the two-man band of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney has created a spot-on mix of blues and rock ... The resulting collection takes their minimalist sound into a new dimension with unexpected arrangements and expanded instrumentation."