Pat Metheny begins his four-month tour of Europe and the United States this weekend with two performances at Coutances Theater in northern France. Saturday's opener will be the first time Metheny reveals the instruments and magic behind his latest Nonesuch release, Orchestrion. It "sounds really interesting on CD," says Wired, "sort of like a jazz gamelan with an extraterrestrial twist." The Independent hears elements of Nancarrow, Adams, and Zappa in the title track.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops' Nonesuch debut, Genuine Negro Jig, receives four stars from MusicOMH, which calls the album "a stunner in every sense." Following their performance at the 2010 Celtic Connections festival, The Scotsman reports: "From opening chord to closing note, this talented threesome had the audience in the palm of their hands. Impossible to pigeon hole, and equally impossible to dislike, the Carolina Chocolate Drops are first and foremost musicians" who "refuse to be tied to any one genre."

The Barbican's John Adams Focus series begins with a New York Philharmonic performance of The Wound-Dresser on Thursday. In the coming months, Adams leads the LSO in the UK premiere of Doctor Atomic Symphony and City Noir; the St. Lawrence String Quartet performs his String Quartet; and a new production of I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw the Sky opens. The Toronto Symphony's 2010-11 season also includes an Adams-focused festival with Adams leading the Canadian premiere of City Noir. His Nixon in China will be performed in Vancouver and Los Angeles this March.

Tune in to the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson tonight for a performance from Wilco. The band is in L.A. for Grammy Week, which culminates in Sunday's awards ceremony; Wilco (the album) is up for Best Americana Album of the Year. Other Nonesuch nominees include Allen Toussaint, Shawn Colvin, Amadou & Mariam, and Oumou Sangare. Wilco will join k.d. lang, Emmylou Harris, T Bone Burnett, and others Friday night in honoring Neil Young as MusiCares Person of the Year.

Carnegie Hall announced, with its 2010-11 concert season, a season-long residency by Brad Mehldau as holder of Carnegie's Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair, the first jazz artist to hold this position. Included in his residency are the live, NY premiere of Highway Rider; a solo program; an expanded version of his Love Songs with Anne Sofie von Otter; and the world premiere of a new work. Among other season highlights: a celebration of Steve Reich's 75th birthday and a Carnegie Hall 120th anniversary concert with Audra McDonald and the New York Philharmonic.

The Celtic Connections festival is underway in Glasgow with no shortage of Nonesuch artists participating. Ry Cooder joined the Chieftains in the Royal Concert Hall's Main Auditorium last night, while the Carolina Chocolate Drops played the Hall's Strathclyde Suite. The Low Anthem plays Thursday night, as does Natalie Merchant, who performed live on BBC Radio Scotland’s Global Gathering last night. Sara Watkins joins the festival's multi-artist Transatlantic Sessions this weekend.

Christina Courtin will perform a special all-acoustic set—with no mic and no amps—at New York's Rubin Museum this Friday as part of the Naked Soul series. Now, through a special offer, you can pick up tickets for just $15, 50% off the regular list price, by entering the coupon code Christina when you order. The first week in February, Christina will open for Josh Rouse in Virginia, New York, and Philadelphia.

Realism, The Magnetic Fields' latest album, is aptly titled, says NPR's Fresh Air, given that singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt—that "master of the cutting understatement, as well as the elegant overstatement"—has created in these songs "a realism that is vivid, hard-headed and never half-hearted. He does something true," perhaps even creating "a statement bigger than their creator may have intended." SPIN gives the album four stars.

Realism, The Magnetic Fields' latest Nonesuch release, is available in stores across the globe today. Last night, the band joined fans and friends to celebrate the occasion at New York's Beauty Bar, with Stephin Merritt at the DJ booth. Now we celebrate with the launch of the fifth and final segment of the video series in which Merritt and Claudia Gonson discuss the new record, here answering: "Why Realism?"

Pat Metheny's new album, Orchestrion, is out now. In a review on the ABC News site, the Associated Press says the latest project from this "inveterate tinkerer who constantly imagines new soundscapes" finds Metheny taking "the notion of a solo album to a new dimension through some technological wizardry."

Chris Thile joined the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and conductor Jeffrey Kahane for the California premiere of his Mandolin Concerto this past weekend. The Los Angeles Times compares Thile to Duke Ellington and Astor Piazzolla for his ability to move beyond the confines of genre, calling the new piece "surprising and often amazing," its composer "an astonishing exponent of his instrument" with "protean talent."

Pat Metheny's Orchestrion—which pairs him with remarkable, custom-made robotic instruments for a "solo" recording unlike any other—is out tomorrow. The Kansas City Star says that "one of the most creative performers and composers of his time, has now blazed another trail." The Lexington Herald-Leader, calls it "a grand reminder of Metheny's gift for compositional melody." All Music gives it four stars, exclaiming: "Metheny exceeds our expectations, and perhaps even his own."