Entertainment Weekly's special "Holiday Movie Preview" issue hits newsstands this week, and peering ominously from its cover is Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd. Inside the issue is a one-on-one interview with Depp and an in-depth feature looking behind the scenes of the long-awaited film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical that puts to rest any question of its star's singing abilities. You can hear for yourself when the soundtrack is released on Nonesuch December 18. For now, EW says: "Johnny Depp can actually sing."

Richard Goode will be Petroc Trelawny's guest on BBC Radio 3's Music Matters, the station's flagship classical music program, on Saturday, November 3. The two discuss Goode's 45-year career and the joy he finds in collaborating with Dawn Upshaw, with whom he'll perform next week at London's Southbank Centre. Music Matters begins at 12:15 GMT on Radio 3. 

InisdeBayArea.com examines the many ways in which Kronos Quartet has gone well beyond the confines of the traditional string quartet. "We haven't called ourselves a string quartet, I think, in the last 34 years," Kronos violinist David Harrington says. "I remember as a kid looking at the map—and at that point I had only played Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven—and thinking, 'God, what does the rest of the world sound like? I'm going to find out.'"

The Washington Post's Going Out Gurus recommend the best spots in DC for taking in some art after the Smithsonian museums close for the night. The best bet for tomorrow night, November 3, is the opening of Furnishing the Self: Upholstering the Soul, featuring works by David Byrne in homage to the common chair. The multimedia exhibit includes "Macaroni," an embroidered piece on upholstery fabric, pictured at right, and runs through December 22 at the Hemphill Fine Arts gallery, 1515 14th Street NW, Washington, DC. The opening reception will be held Saturday, November 3, from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM.

In today's Boston Globe, correspondent Siddhartha Mitter previews tonight's Caetano Veloso show at the Orpheum Theare. In Caetano's current artistic output, Mitter finds that the 65-year-old singer "still shows the restlessness that first earned him fame in the late 1960s." Yet for all the sonic surprises on the new, rock-influenced album Cê, "the man's voice is as richly seductive and thoughtful as ever, and the lyrics ... offer intellectual and cultural queries presented in the Veloso manner, suffused with yearning and ambiguous eroticism."

Last week, Laurie Anderson visited Melbourne, Australia, to present her latest work, Homeland, at the annual Melbourne International Arts Festival. In a report from the festival, the Guardian praised the piece from its "breathtaking" opening moments—"a fitting introduction to her finest show in more than a decade."

All Songs Considered has announced the next show in NPR's Live Concert Series: bluegrass masters Nickel Creek—Sean Watkins, Sara Watkins, and Chris Thile—live from their farewell tour, November 2, at the 9:30 Club in Washington. Boilen calls Thile, whose band Punch Brothers recently signed to Nonesuch, "one of the most amazing mandolin players I've ever heard."

Youssou N'Dour's Rokku Mi Rokka (Give and Take) has earned "wild applause"—the highest rating—from the San Francisco Chronicle. The review  praises its predecessor, the Grammy-winning Egypt, as "a masterpiece in a career filled with them," then names the new album "an immediate Grammy contender in its own right." "Crackling with rhythm and joy," says the Chronicle, "this is world music that truly can be heard, loved and understood around the globe."

Youssou N'Dour debuted on the top of the iTunes UK World Music Album Chart today with the release of his new album, Rokku Mi Rokka (Give and Take). The British press has been singing the record's praises, with the Financial Times, BBC Music magazine, and the Guardian all giving it highest marks. Fans in the UK had a chance to hear tracks from Rokku Mi Rokka all day on BBC 6, which made it the featured Album of the Day.

The Los Angeles Times "Gold Derby" blog is already predicting that Sweeney Todd will win the Oscar for best picture. "Sondheim's musical score is a masterpiece," says the site. "Viewers can't help but get swept up in Sweeney's lush melodies and raging drama." The blog says of the Stephen Sondheim play on which it is based: "Arguably, it's the greatest in Broadway history."

In today's Boston Herald, Caetano Veloso lays out a complex path of inspirations for his new record, Cê, from Brazilian singers of the 1930s all the way up to the Arctic Monkeys and Animal Collective today, with stops at vintage-era Talking Heads along the way. A still more personal influence on the new sound is Caetano's son Moreno, who produced the album. Caetano performs at the Orpheum in Boston this Friday.

While reports continue to pour in about the show-stealing set by Kronos Quartet and Tom Waits at last weekend's Bridge School Benefit, the group sent in a special backstage photo from the event. Here they are with Tyler, the Bridge School student whose artwork lined the walls of their dressing room to provide some inspiration before the show.