The Magnetic Fields and k.d. lang have both been nominated as Outstanding Music Artist in the 20th annual GLAAD Media Awards for their 2008 Nonesuch releases, Distortion and Watershed, respectively. The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their lives.

While 2008 may go down as one of the more turbulent years in recent (or distant) memory, or, more optimistically, a time of change, there is much to celebrate in the year in music. Nonesuch artists across all genres have contributed to that and, accordingly, have made their way onto many critics' lists of the year's best. For the final Nonesuch Journal article of the year, we offer an overview of just some of that year-end critical praise.

Leonard Cohen's classic "Hallelujah" has lately become resurgent in the UK pop world as the featured song on the finale of British TV singing contest X Factor. The song has been interpreted, famously, by countless performers, from Bob Dylan to Jeff Buckley to k.d. lang. k.d. recorded the tune for her 2004 Nonesuch debut, Hymns of the 49th Parallel, and it has become a highlight of her live performances, called “downright transcendent” by the Boston Herald and “mesmerizing” by The Guardian. The BBC has put together a multimedia quiz "Do You Know Your Hallelujahs?" testing readers' knowledge of the song's various incarnations.

k.d. lang returns to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno this evening to perform a song from her latest Nonesuch release, Watershed. Also scheduled to appear on tonight's episode are actor Will Smith and Food Network celebrity chef Paula Deen. Coincidentally, Smith recently made Barbara Walters's list of the year's "most fascinating people," a distinction inaugurated in 1993 by, among others, k.d. lang.

The current run of k.d. lang's Watershed tour brought her to the Dallas-Ft. Worth area last night for a performance at Bass Performance Hall that the Star-Telegram called a "superb 90-minute set ... A wondrous, multilayered instrument seemingly assembled from smoke, cinders and a husky yearning, the voice ranged over a multitude of moods." Next up is a show at the Paramount Theatre in Austin tonight.

Fresh off their performance at New York's historic Apollo Theater in Harlem last night, k.d. lang and her band head up to Connecticut tonight to perform at the Fairfield Theatre in Bridgeport. And tomorrow morning, fans across the US can tune in to ABC's Good Morning America to watch k.d. perform the song "Coming Home" from her latest Nonesuch release, Watershed.

k.d. lang performs at New York's historic Apollo Theater tonight in Harlem as part of her Watershed tour, which stopped at Birmingham, Alabama's Alys Stephens Center Saturday. The Birmingham News gives the performance four stars, calling k.d. "an awesome talent ... well deserving of her reputation as one of the most unique and powerful vocalists of this generation ... Lang's abundant gifts served her well throughout the evening. Gorgeous vocal tones were a constant, matched by exquisitely expressive interpretations of lyrics."

With just over four weeks left until election day in the United States, November 4, a number of Nonesuch Records artists will be participating in some very special campaign events. This Monday, k.d. lang will perform at an intimate, in-home fund-raising concert for Obama in New York City with Democratic Vice Presidential nominee, Joseph Biden, and renowned chef Alice Waters. The following evening in New York, composer Ricky Ian Gordon and Tony Award–winning actress Victoria Clark perform at a stellar Obama/Biden fund-raiser at the home of television producer Tom Fontana. On October 10, Brad Mehldau and Chris Thile perform works by Bach as well as their own works at an Obama benefit concert at New York's Poisson Rouge.

Congratulations to k.d. lang, who was inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame this past Saturday night in a gala ceremony held at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto. Among the other honorees were actor Michael J. Fox, director James Cameron, and the comedy group The Kids in the Hall. Fellow Canadian singer/songwriter Ron Sexsmith introduced k.d., who received a standing ovation.

k.d. lang is back in the British Isles to close out her European Watershed tour with a string of dates that began last night in Oxford and continue from tonight in Sheffield through Dublin, Ireland, on Monday to the last stop, Brighton, a week later. The Guardian features an extensive interview with k.d. that asserts: "First and always foremost, there was her voice, as pure and wide and open as Canadian skies."

k.d. lang received an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree from the University of Alberta in her native Canadian home province. In her acceptance speech during the university's commencement ceremonies in Edmonton, k.d. exhorted the university's graduates to dedicate their lives to helping others.

k.d. lang's extensive tour of Canada with songs from her latest Nonesuch release, Watershed, continues this week, after several stops across the expanse of her native land, which recently announced that she would be among the newest inductees to Canada's Walk of Fame. "Still thrills, this voice," says the StarPhoenix's Joanne Paulson, after last week's show in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.