Alex Ross on a dangerous situation for arts criticism currently brewing in Atlanta. Alex neatly summarizes a reported piece by Steve Dollar that ran this morning on the subscriber-only news page at MusicalAmerica.com. And Mark Stryker boils the entire controversy down to a single, pointed question.

Darcy James Argue on the concert by Sam Rivers, Dave Holland and Barry Altschul last Friday at Miller Theatre. I had to leave town for the weekend immediately after the show, but Darcy offers an overview so vivid, substantial and comprehensive that I have absolutely nothing to add. Nice photos, too.

A few recent albums I’ve felt strongly about, and said so in Time Out New York:

Maria McKee – Late December (Cooking Vinyl)

Myra Melford and Tanya Kalmanovitch – Heart Mountain (Perspicacity)

Satoko Fujii Min-Yoh Ensemble – Fujin Raijin (Victo)

Fennesz Sakamoto – Cendre (Touch) + David Toop – Sound Body (Samadhi Sound)

Playlist:

Willie Nelson – Phases and Stages (Atlantic/Rhino)

godspeed you! black emperor – Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (Kranky)

Amy LaVere – Anchors & Anvils (Archer)

New Ruins – The Sound They Make (Hidden Agenda)

Nile – Ithyphallic (Nuclear Blast, due July 17)

Arcade Fire – Funeral (Merge)

Cassandra Wilson – Blue Light ‘Til Dawn (Blue Note)

King Crimson – Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (DGM/Virgin)

Alexandra Gardner – Luminoso (Innova)

Johann Sebastian Bach – The Well-Tempered Clavier, Books I & II – Wanda Landowska (BMG Classics)

Various Artists – Guitars of the Golden Triangle: Folk and Pop Music of Myanmar, Vol. 2 (Sublime Frequencies)

Gustav Mahler – Symphony No. 3 – Michelle De Young, Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Bernard Haitink (CSO Resound)

Grateful Dead – Dick’s Picks, Vol. 3: Pembroke Pines, FL 05/22/77 (Grateful Dead)

Redhooker – The Future According to Yesterday (Soft Landing)