Vivid LIVE, the two-week festival of music, theater, and visual arts curated by Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed in Sydney, Australia, kicked off last night with a special lighting of the iconic Sydney Opera House featuring Anderson's art. Homeland, her forthcoming Nonesuch release, earns four stars in Uncut, which calls it "hauntingly powerful." Q picks the album track "Only an Expert," available now as a 12" vinyl single, as a Q50 Essential Track.

Timothy Andres's debut album, Shy and Mighty, tops the list of Recommended New CDs from Alex Ross, the music critic of The New Yorker, on his site, The Rest Is Noise. The Awl calls the album "gorgeous" and is streaming the track "How can I live in your world of ideas?” Andres will perform the piece next month at New York's Merkin Hall as part of the Tribeca New Music Festival.

Tony Allen's Secret Agent is a "brilliant" and "splendid album," says PopMatters, which rates it a 9 out of 10. Given his seminal role in the creation of Afrobeat, Allen "is a deservedly legendary figure in popular music history," yet remains "very much a figure of the present," as with the new album. Secret Agent "showcases Allen’s distinctive drumming style," says PopMatters, "and represents his considerable skills as a producer and arranger."

Congratulations to The Black Keys, whose latest Nonesuch release, Brothers, sold over 73,000 copies in its first week out. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Current Albums Chart and No. 3 on the Billboard 200—the highest position on the chart ever for the band and the label. The Black Keys follow up last night's spot on The Late Show with David Letterman with a performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight on NBC.

Natalie Merchant has kicked off her UK tour and appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. The Times of London says: "Merchant’s voice retained a pure, spine-tingling quality that turned the lullabies, fairytales and nonsense rhymes into wonderfully evocative modern folk songs." The Guardian gives a perfect five stars to her show at The Sage Gateshead: "This is an evening of the magical power of words and music ... Merchant may be in her prime."

Tony Allen, who made his World Circuit / Nonesuch Records debut with the release of his new album, Secret Agent, last month, will perform on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on June 10, the show has just confirmed. The Late Night performance will kick off the legendary drummer's North American tour, which includes sets in Toronto, Madison, Chicago, Cambridge, New York, City, Brooklyn, Seattle, and Boonville, California.

David Byrne will be honored at the Spring Gala Benefit for The Kitchen, one of New York City’s oldest nonprofit performance spaces, tonight. The Honorary Chairs for tonight’s event include Caetano Veloso and Nonesuch President Robert Hurwitz. Set to perform are Dirty Projectors, Doveman, Nico Muhly, and St. Vincent, a featured vocalist on Byrne’s latest Nonesuch release, Here Lies Love.

Laurie Anderson's latest Nonesuch release, Homeland, is out now. In the month leading up to release day, Nonesuch released one short video clip featuring Anderson's male alter ego, Fenway Bergamot, every Tuesday. In the inaugural clip, Bergamot revisits the early days of the 2008 financial crisis. BAM has announced that Anderson will give the NY premiere of her new work, Delusion, at the Next Wave Festival this fall.

John Adams's music has been the subject of much public attention of late, in a The Kennedy Center focus, as score to the new film I Am Love, and in Gustavo Dudamel’s first US tour with the LA Philharmonic, which included Adams's City Noir. Adams, in his Hell Mouth blog, muses on the often difficult transition between the public and private life of a creative public figure.

Tony Allen's Secret Agent was named a CD Pick of the Week by WNYC's Soundcheck. Allen "leads a crack ensemble, and even sings on a song or two," says host John Schaefer. "But it's his drumming, a fiery blend of West African percussion and James Brown funk, that propels you headlong through the record." The Boston Globe, previewing Allen's forthcoming tour, says he remains "vibrant as ever."

Last week saw the release of The Black Keys' new album, Brothers, and performances from the duo at various NYC venues, including opening for Pearl Jam at Madison Square Garden. This week, it's The Late Show with David Letterman on Tuesday and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal 's Speakeasy Blog says it "can’t get enough of the Black Keys." Consequences of Sound calls the new "Tighten Up" video "pretty much the greatest music video ever"; MTV's Buzzworthy Blog calls it "awesome."

Pat Metheny brought a close to the current US leg of his Orchestrion tour at New York's Town Hall, as new dates have been added this fall. The New York Times says of his one-man band that Metheny "made that machine prove itself ... [I]t seems to push robotic humanism to the limit." His show in Boston "was a spectacle almost beyond belief," says the Boston Herald. "Even so,  the standing ovations that Metheny inspired came not for the spectacle and technological feat, but for what a single guitar in the hands of a legend can create."