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."

"It's a rich time for Burnett fans," says the Rocky Mountain News, "with new music and new projects among the best work he's done." In its review of T Bone Burnett's Nonesuch debut, Tooth of Crime, it gives the album an A-, calling it "a strong set of songs. Burnett has been at the forefront of reimagining the recording process in the age of digitized sound. He recently made mention of it in an interview with Bob Boilen on NPR's All Songs Considered. As he explains it to Rolling Stone: "We've been fighting the limitations of digital audio since it first came out ... [I]t's just got to the point where the Dude could not abide."

Fresh off a three-day swing in the Punch Brothers' Punch tour that brought the band to the first-ever Delfest on Sunday, celebrating the musical legacy of the legendary Del McCoury, Chris Thile is back in New York City to perform in The Unnamed Music and Comedy Show at the 13th Street Repertory theater. The show is written, directed, and hosted by New Yorker cartoonist Matthew Diffee and will feature live music from Chris, stand-up comedy from Roger Hailes, and some as-yet-undisclosed special extras.