Archives for July 2011

The Strokes released their classic album Is This It’ a decade ago this week, and to mark its tenth anniversary, blogs worldwide have been talking about the impact its made on modern music. Stereogum have gone one step further, producing a cover version of the entire album called Stroked which you can download for free.

So, as well as some pretty stonking Strokes and Strokes related tracks from the likes of Lou Reed to Interpol, we invited bloggers from 4clubbers and Drunken Werewolf onto the show to share with us what music they are listening to right now, as well as wrap up the rest of the musical happenings online this week.

Tracklist:

The Strokes - The Modern Age



#Digital Digest

* 6 Mix resident Erol Alkan and Jarvis Cocker have teamed up with Boys Noize on Avalanche (Terminal Velocity) and you can hear it on Phantasy Records Soundcloud. You can also listen again Erol’s latest 6 Mix - where the track debuted - at the 6 Music website.

* Gorilla vs Bear are offering up a free version of Washed Out covering Chris Isaak’sWicked Game. Recorded by Ernest Greene and his wife, you can download it from their site.

* Cult power pop four piece Fountains of Wayne release their fith album Sky Full Of Holes next week. Stream it over at their Facebook page right now.

#NowPlaying

Friendly Fires - Paris

#NowViewing

* Brooklyn band The Drums are back. With second album Portamento up on the horizon, the video for return single Money is up now on Vimeo.

* A lot of blogs have once again been mesmerised by Sufjan Stevens who did a session for WNYC Soundcheck. Playing tracks from new album Age of Adz, watch him perform Pleasure Principle on YouTube now.

* The Flaming Lips have collaborated with Lightening Bolt on track I Want to Get High But I Don’t Want Brain Damage – the video is up now on YouTube.

* Noel Gallagher’s first track is now available to hear in full. The Death of You and Me from album High Flying Birds has already racked up over a million hits on YouTube.

#Blogged - Drunken Werewolf

Laura Stevenson & The Cans - The Wait

Tristen - Avalanche

Roxy Rawson - Fingers

#NowStreaming

Azari & III - Manic

The Strokes Playlist Part 1 - with suggestions from Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, E-Mail, Text and the Drowned in Sound Forum

The Strokes - Hard to Explain

Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner

Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma

The Strokes & Regina Spektor - Modern Girls & Old Fashioned Men

Interpol - Evil

Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side

#DigitalDigest

* The death of Amy Winehouse has dominated the music world this week, with musicians including Lily Allen and Mark Ronson paying their respects on Twitter, and Russell Brand’s blog about her troubled life becoming one the most widely shared pieces online. M.I.A also paid tribute by uploaded a demo to Soundcloud called 27 and dedicating it to Winehouse’s memory.

* A ten-minute documentary detailing the rise of the Kanye West and Jay-Z partnership leading up to the release of their joint album Watch the Throne has caught the attention of many blogs including Hip Hop Stan.

* Damon Albarn and a host of producers including Dan the Automator and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs are recording an album over seven days in the Democratic Republic of Congo to raise awareness of the humanitarian struggles in the country. The first preview of their combined work – Hallo – has been uploaded to Soundcloud as a sample of DRC Music.

* The second track from The Rapture’s upcoming album has emerged online. Called Sail Away, you can listen to it over at Some Kind of Awesome.

* Laura Marling premieried the first fruits from her third album A Creature I Don’t Know this week. Sophia’is available to stream via Soundcloud. 

#NowPlaying

Outkast - So Fresh and So Clean

#Blogged - 4clubbers

Metronomy - The Bay

Sh*t Robot ft. Alexis Taylor - Losing My Patience

Benoit & Sergio - Principles

The Strokes Playlist Part 2 - with suggestions from Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, E-Mail, Text and the Drowned in Sound Forum

The Strokes - Last Night

Tom Petty - American Girl

Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse ft. Julian Casablancas - Little Girl

The Hives - Hate to Say I Told You So

The Ramones - Sheena is a Punk Rocker

Albert Hammond - I'm a Train

The Strokes - Reptillia

By Guy Hornsby (4clubbers.net)

It only seems like a few summers ago when there were only a handful festivals to choose from for the music fan. When I began attending in the early 2000s stalwarts like Reading, Glastonbury had already been alive for decades, and the likes of Coachella and Exit were barely born. These days there's a mind-boggling one hundred plus in the UK every year alone, and further afield they spring up every summer, challenging old hands like Burning Man in America to Sonar in Spain.

Every year new challengers trying to usurp them, and as the market becomes saturated Eastern Europe's found itself able to provide the holy grail of sun, booze and music cheaper and better than most.



Over the years I've been to across the world from Paris to Berlin, Sydney and Ibiza, but nothing comes close to standing in the middle of a crowd with the sun on your back. Festivals bring out the best in music of all shapes and sizes, even when I've braved the floods of Glastonbury in 2004 and 2005, or baking heat in Serbia this summer, music seems to be turned up a notch when you're in the open air with the waves of sound washing over you.



Ever since my first, at Homelands in 2000, I've been hooked.



In the last few months I've been lucky enough to catch some of my favourite music stood outside (in all four seasons), and had my ears opened to some amazing new stuff along the way. In just the last month I've seen the madness of Grinderman, Underworld's timeless tunes and the ethereal Portishead, but three things stood out above all of them and these are the tracks I've picked for the show.



Metronomy almost need no introduction. The Devon quartet may be on their third album, but something clicked in 2011 with The English Riviera, their idiosyncratic slice of electronic English pop that extols the beauty of their coastline. Single The Look was ubiquitous across 6 Music since Easter, and the album's virtually been on repeat for me since it surfaced in April.



Sh*t Robot is another recent find for me, and another in the long line of James Murphy's extended circle. His album From The Cradle To The Rave took his bleepy electronic disco to another level last summer. I caught him in the midst of a rain-dodging afternoon on the Sunday at Lovebox playing a live set at the Horse Meat Disco-controlled NYC Downlow. Amongst the classic disco it stood out, and Losing My Patience has the added bonus of vocals from Hot Chip's Alexis Taylor, splicing one of my favourite bands of the last decade to one of my newest discoveries.



I did Exit for the first time this year, and it was an epiphany. Perched in a 16th century fort in Novi Sad, nestled on the Danube in Serbia, it's without a doubt the most incredible festival setting I've ever attended. While the 40-degree heat means the day is quiet, the night erupts, and when dawn breaks, the only place to be is the dance arena. With its stage set back in the moat of the ramparts, the dancefloor extends up above it, with close to ten thousand throwing shapes until the sun beats down.



On Monday morning I caught the Rebel Rave trio closing out the weekend in astounding fashion. Their blend of sleazy, woozy sound that's been at the forefront of the US's reemergence in house music in the last year alongside the likes of Wolf+Lamb, Soul Clap and Art Department. Benoit & Sergio'sPrinciples is simultaneously euphoric, groovy, deep and melodic, and it's probably my favourite track of the last six months.

Stereogum are marking the 10th Anniversary of The Strokes’Is This It? with Stroked – a free cover album of their groundbreaking album. The title track is redone by Peter, Bjorn and John and you can download it now here.



Another anniversary, this one marking 20-years, is for Pearl Jam – a trailer for Pearl Jam Twenty, the documentary film which is released on September 20 is not up on YouTube.



Vevo have released figures detailing how people use their mobile apps. It seems 79 per cent of people use the app in the evenings and t85 million streams were accessed during May. For full figures go to Music Ally.



The Antlers have teamed up with Nicole Atkins and recorded their track Hounds. Up on Vimeo now is the hook up in the studio.



The Vivian Girls are premiering their new video for Take it as it Comes on Pitchfork TV.



Bjork has released the video fro Crystalline which will feature on her app-based album Biophillia – take a peak into the wonderful world of the Icelandic singer.

The story of coming into the world of Now Playing...

Standing in the foyer of the British Broadcasting House is kind of daunting, perhaps more so when you realize you’re in the wrong place and you’re a bit lost. That whole area is a little bit of a maze and it took me one more wrong building before I found the BBC 6 Music studios.



I had been asked to pick two songs that I had blogged about recently and that I had blogged about a lot. Anyone who’s visited the blog knows that I’ve posted rather prolifically about Foster The People, be it original songs, remixes, covers or live versions and pretty much anything I could get my hands on, so I felt that I had to play a clip of Houdini by them. The other track I chose, and the one that was played in full on the show, was The Antlers'Rolled Together from their amazing second album Burst Apart.



I was going to be interviewed during the second hour of the show but I was in the studio for the whole show and it was great to see how a show like this was put together. They have the theme for the week and some tracks already chosen to play but for two thirty minute slots it was a free for all and it was interesting hearing the discussions in the studio about which songs would be included from all the requests. It was awesome to see such a good playlist put together so quickly.



Then here came my ten minutes of fame (I’ve counted). It was a great little interview that hopefully endeared me to those listening so they’d give a few minutes to checking out the blog (which a few have and also given feedback which is great to see). What I really appreciated was that Tom Robinson had taken the time to visit the site and have a look at what I had posted and that it came across in his questions.



All in all, a great experience that I would never have imagined I could get so early in my ‘blogging career’. My advice from all this to those aspiring like me is to tell everyone you can about what you’re doing because you never know what that will lead to…



Polly H.



I Think You’ll Like This Song

@ITYLTSmusic

Damon Albarn and a host of producers including Dan the Automator, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Jneiro Jarel, XL’s Richard Russell and Actress are currently in the Democratic Republic of Congo, recording an album over seven days to raise awareness to the humanitarian struggles in the country. Well, the first preview of their work – Hallo – has been uploaded to Soundcloud featuring Tout Puissant Mukalo - the project is called DRCMusic.



Vampire Weekend took to UStream to talk to their fans and answer questions. The band fooled around and played answered pressing questions such as what their favourite pizza was, and their favourite Radiohead track. Take a watch on YouTube.



Folk songstress Laura Marling has uploaded her new track, Sophia, onto YouTube after Zane Lowe premiered it as his Hottest Record – and a number of blogs agree with it’s the New Zealander's praise..



Gorilla vs Bear are hosting an mp3 of Washed Out performing Chris Isaak’sWicked Game with wife Blair.



The video for The Drums’ new single, Money, is up on Vimeo. As well as this, Noel Gallagher’sHigh Flying Birds is debuting on YouTube, as is Snow Patrol’s Called Out in the Dark – also on YouTube.



The Black Ghosts have made their album track Diamonds from their second album When Animals Stare available to download at Soundcloud.



And a lot of blogs have been mesmerised by Sufjan Stevens who did a session for WNYC Soundcheck. Playing tracks from new album Age of Adz, watch him perform Pleasure Principle on YouTube now.

The passing of Amy Winehouse has caused widespread sadness online over the weekend. Her music touched thousands and her sad end has been met with sympathy and despair across Twitter, blogs and discussion boards. Billboard have collated a number of Tweets from her musical contemporaries, Holy Moly have her career in videos, as do Fake DIY which also gives fans a chance to leave their tribute in a comment, and MIA uploaded an unfinished demo called 27 onto Soundcloud in Amy Winehouse’s memory.



Another track from The Rapture’s upcoming fourth album called Sail Away has emerged online – have a listen at One Thirty BPM.



A ten-minute documentary detailing the rise of the Kanye West and Jay-Z partnership leading up to King of Thrones has caught the attention of a lot of blogs – check it out for yourself at Hip Hop Stan.



The Flaming Lips have collaborated with Lightening Bolt on track I Want to Get High But I Don’t Want Brain Damage – the video is up on YouTube.



Hotly tipped new female vocalist Emeli Sandé has her debut video for track Heaven up on YouTube.



And Bob Dylan’s 15-year-old grandson, Pablo, is releasing a hip-hop mixtape and calls Bob the ‘Jay-Z’ of his time – more info on Spinner.

This week the Mercury Prize nominations have dominated the music world online. At the start of the week blogs tried to double guess which 12-albums were going to be given the nod, and fight the corners of their favourites. And then came the fall out, with polls and debate arguing whether Tinie Tempah should have been nominated ahead of Wild Beasts? Or if SBTRKT should have been included? The debate has been flowing all week, and that is why tonight we are building a playlist around the albums which have been nominated since 1992.



Tracklist:

The xx - Crystallized

#DigitalDigest

* The Pixies, via Topspin, have released a pretty cool app offering fans the chance to stream Purple Tape – a selection of tracks from 1987 demos sessions; as well as watch their 2004 performance at Coachella amongst a number of other treats.

* The Rapture have made their latest track How Deep is Your Love available as a free download.

* In contrast, Noel Gallagher has told fans he won’t be offering any of his music as a free download.

* Bjork has released the long awaited app which accompanies new album Biophilia, featuring an introduction from David Attenborough and two tracks to download.



#NowPlaying

Stereo MC's - Step it Up

#NowStreaming – check out our blog on what’s streaming this week



#Blogged - We Are SME

Little B

Run Jack Run - Howl



Mercury Music Prize Playlist Part 1 - with suggestions from Facebook, E-Mail, Text, Twitter, Spotify and the Drowned in Sound Forum

Doves - There Goes the Fear

Gomez - Whipping Picadilly

Supergrass - Caught by the Fuzz

Portishead - Roads

Primal Scream - Higher than the Sun

#DigitalDigest

* Spin have curated a cover version of Nirvana’sNevermind, called Newermind, which is free to download from their Facebook page.

* Napster have launched an app for iPhones and Androids, allowing you to stream music for £10 a month or £100 for the year.

* The Flaming Lips have again turned jelly-manufactures, this time releasing gummy fetuses with a USB sticks with three tracks on hidden in the bodies.

* The first taste of Kanye West and Jay-Z’s collaboration album, Watch the Throne, is getting a lot of attention online. Otis, which features samples from Otis Redding, can be heard across a number of sites.

* M83 has released details about his new album, Hurry Up We’re Dreaming, and made Midnight City available to download and also stream on Soundcloud.

#NowPlaying

Florence + the Machine - Kiss with a Fist



#NowViewing

* The video for Kasabian’s single Switchblade Smiles is now up on YouTube.

* The Kooks are back and new track Is It Me is up on YouTube.

* Feist is the latest artist to turn to YouTube and release a mysterious short video. This one – in black and white as is the trend – shows the sun rise before a house and trees are battered by wind to the sound of drumming. Watch it at SKOA.

* In the same week as their video for Make Some Noise was nominated for best video at the VMAs, the Beastie Boys have returned with another great video for Don’t Play No Games That I Can’t Win. Watch it!

#Blogged - I Think You'll Like This Song

Foster the People - Houdini

The Antlers - Rolled Together

Mercury Music Prize Playlist Part 2 - with suggestions from Facebook, E-Mail, Text, Twitter, Spotify and the Drowned in Sound Forum 

Suede - Metal Mickey

The Streets - Weak Become Heroes

Lemon Jelly - Nice Weather for Ducks

Bat for Lashes - Trophy

Elbow - Lippy Kids

Metronomy - The Bay

By Anthony Chalmers

Why am I writing this blog about computer game music? Well, I co-run a label Robot Elephant Records and we have a compilation for Commodore 64 Music coming out late this year so they thought I might have something good to say on the subject.



I've recently developed a bit of a fascination with music made for the C64 for a few reasons. For a start it's so amazingly good, despite the composers only having the most basic of technology to work with –a SID Chip only allowed three sounds going at any one time for a start.



In addition to that each composer had to individually program each of the sounds.



There were no keys to press that made notes, each one was individually unique. Plus there was very tight deadlines for the songs as there was a huge production line of games going on.



Not to mention of course, because the games took a long, long time to load, the music was vital to the enjoyment of the game.



This was real frontier music production with brand new technology. As much as the first Synth musicians and Radiophonic Orchestra for early electronic music.



For an alternate perspective, I asked Chris Abbott from C64audio.com for the linear notes for our compilation and he put it pretty well.



“When people talk about 'Commodore 64 music', it’s easy to forget they’re not talking about a style: they’re talking about a delivery mechanism for music. What that convenient phrase hides is the sheer amount of originality and creativity that went into creating the music for games and demos on the Commodore 64.



“Composers were limited to three voices at once and often didn’t even see the game before having to compose the music! It’s pretty well documented that humans are at their best when overcoming limitations or under deadline, and the classic C64 composers pared music to its essence.



“They had their own sounds, and their own way of playing them. And since they were pioneers, the only experience they could bring was from a rich diversity of other musical genres: everything from bluegrass to funk to electronica to punk.”



I hope that you will take the time to check out the ocean of good music there is that not a lot of people hear anymore!



You can also see what I do normally up on the God Don't Like It website.

NME.com have all the Mercury nominated albums available to stream on their site, including Adele, Tinie Tempah, James Blake and Metronomy.



Little Dragon’s new album Ritual Union is streaming on NPR ahead of release on July 25. Their 2009 album Machine Dreams received wide-spread acclaim and since they have gone on to work with Gorillaz on Plastic Beach, and SBTRKT’sWildfire.



Brooklyn rapper Theophilus London has his debut album Timez Are Weird These Days out – but you can also listen to it on AOL Music now.



A packed line-up of artists including Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse) and two members of Pearl Jam, have come together to create Live From Nowhere Near You Volume Two – a benefit CD with profits going towards Outside In – listen at Some Kind of Awesome.



The self-titled debut album from American punk outfit, Cerebral Ballzy is out next week, but available to stream via their Soundcloud page now.

Noel Gallagher has released a trailer for first single off highly anticipated forthcoming album High Flying Birds. The track is called The Death of You and Me and is now up on YouTube.



Go and like Spin on Facebook and you’ll be able to download a cover version of Nirvana’sNevermind – craftily entitled Newermind. Contributions come from the Meat Puppets, Titus Andronicus and The Vaselines.



NME.com readers are suggesting 11 out of the top 12 albums this year (as decided by the Mercury panel) are at best 4.5 out of 10. A poll is up on their site to see who they think should walk away with the prize this year – Metronomy being the only album with a respectable rating of eight.



The Pixies, via Topspin, have released a pretty cool app which goes beyond the usual offering a stream of album Purple Tape and video of their performance at Coachella in 2004 among other treats. More information at Music Ally.



The first taste of Kanye West and Jay-Z’s collaboration album, Watch the Throne, is circulating online. With samples from Otis Redding, the track takes the legendary singer’s first name and sees the two share verses with Otis bubbling in the background. Have a listen at Lost in the Sound.



TV on the Radio have been re-worked by two very different artists. Firstly, rapping duo Das Racist have taken Caffeinated Consciousness, while Mylo has run his Scottish electronic fingers over Will Do – check it out on Spin.



The Rapture have made their latest track How Deep is Your Love available as a free download. A number of sites have it up including This is Fake DIY.

We thought it only right and proper that this week Now Playing reflects the wide, wonderful - and sometimes weird – acts who have been recognised over the award's 19 year history. For example: 

* The emergence of Dizzee Rascal for example, as the Boy in the Corner burst from the grime scene into popular domination

* Primal Scream'sScreamadelica as the inaugural winners...remember them losing the prize cheque too? 

* The 'robbery' of Richard Hawley when Arctic Monkeys walked away with the award in 2006

* And, who could forget Speech Debelle? Err... a lot of people actually.

Give us your suggestions for your favourite tracks from Mercury Music Prize winners or nominees past and present in the usual ways – via our new Facebook page, e-mail, Spotify, leave a comment here - or any other way you can think of getting the message to us.

Napster is back! Well, sort of. The company with a cat in headphones as a mascot has launched an app for iPhones and Androids, allowing you to stream music for £10 a month or £100 for the year. More info on their site.



The Red Hot Chili’s return single The Adventures of Raindance Maggie has leaked, and consequently has been made available to download. Listen to it on Pop Bytes and Lost in the Sound.



The Kooks are also back – to sample the sort of stuff they are going to be playing in the next couple of months watch video for Is It Me on YouTube now.



The next series of Radiohead remixes are now up. Nathan Fake has taken on Morning Mr Magpie while Mark Pritchard has edited Bloom twice – once in his own name and the other his Harmonic 313 moniker – listen at the Huffington Post.



The video for Kasabian’s single Switchblade Smiles is now up on Vimeo. Directed by Aitor Throup and with music produced by Dan the Automator it has already got a lot of people talking.



And with the Mercury nominations being announced tomorrow, The Line of Best Fit have given the first half of their alternative nominations for this year’s award - they include James Blake, Wild Beasts and SBTRKT.

Is there going to be a new Grand Theft Auto announced very soon? Well that was one of the big questions this week online, and given credibility by Official Xbox Magazine saying it was going to happen.

So this got us thinking, what is the best music from computer games? Think GTA itself, FIFA, Guitar Hero, Tetris and Gran Turismo - both songs made specifically and others licensed can make an awesome difference.

Other than looking at computer games, we invited Abeano and Data Transmission onto the show and wrap up the rest of the goings on online this week.

Tracklist:

Fatboy Slim - Rockerfella Skank

#DigitalDigest Part 1

* Jack White’s Third Man Records have unveiled two previously unreleased covers from The White Stripes - have a listen at One Thirty BPM.

* Jane’s Addiction have confirmed they’ll release a new album The Great Escape Artist on September 26, as well as playing a headline show at London’s KOKO on August 30.

* Laura Marling has confirmed details of her third album A Creature I Don’t Know. Due for release in September, you can see the artwork, tracklist and a teaser clip on loads of blogs including The Blue Walrus and Music Fan’s Mic.

* Much hyped hip hop artist Jay Electronica has sent a number of bizarre tweets this week. He tweeted on Tuesday he’s set to play a gig in Manchester with Radiohead next month, and on Wednesday said he was working with David Bowie on his new album. Bowie’s camp immediately denied the story, but there’s been no comment from Radiohead as yet.

* And after uploading a mysterious video a couple of weeks ago, The Drums have given us the first taste of their second album Portamento. Money is available on Soundcloud right now.

#NowPlaying

Broken Social Scene - All by All

#Blogged - Sian from Abeano

The Horrors - Still Life

Chairlift - Amanaemonesia

Computer Game Playlist Part 1 - suggested via Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, Text, E-Mail and this week, the Drowned in Sound froum

Bloc Party - Helicopter

Gay Dad - Joy

Bomb the Bass - Megablast

The Chemical Brothers - Chemical Beats

Dead Kennedy's - Police Truck

Run DMC - Tricky

Deerhunter - Helicopter

Battles - Atlas

#Digital Digest Part 2

* Weezer have been a hot topic of conversation online this week with the announcement that they’ll hosting their very own festival - on a cruise ship.

* Drowned in Sound have an exclusive stream of two Rufus Wainwright tracks from his forthcoming 19 disc boxset, House of Rufus.

* Dubstep duo Mount Kimbie have made a previously unreleased track, Baves Chords, available to download from Clash.

* To celebrate the new Muppets movie, Disney have put together a covers album featuring a host of acts covering tunes from the furry creatures. Weezer, OK Go, and My Morning Jacket have all contributed - hear the latters take on My World at Some Kind of Awesome.

* Hearts by I Break Horses was featured on the Pitchfork playlist this week,and the track is free to download from Soundcloud.

#NowPlaying

Elvis Costello - Pump it Up

#NowViewing

* Radiohead’s performance from The Basement TV show has been everywhere this week. The band's 55-minute set is on YouTube right now.

* Details of My Life So Far recommended young French producer Madeon to us a few weeks ago, and now his latest video, Pop Culture, which mixes 37-tracks together in just under three and-a-half minutes has racked up 650,000 hits on YouTube.

* Novelty video of the week alert, and this time it’s all about Star Wars. Eclectic Method has created a bass remix of the Imperial March and slotted in a variety of characters from the film saying Dark Side - it's on Vimeo.

* A David Lynch film used as the backdrop to Interpol’s set at Coachella has been made available online. You can see the creepy video, soundtracked by Lights over at Metablog.

* And a number of new music videos were released this week. The Some Kind of Awesome recommended The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala by the Arctic Monkeys is up, as is Hercules and Love Affair’s Painted Eyes on Pitchfork TV – but it’s the Strokes video for Taken For a Fool which has racked up half-a-million views in the past seven days.

#Blogged - Ben from Data Transmission 

Worldwide Festival

SBTRKT ft. Roses Gabor - Pharaohs

Computer Game Playlist Part 2 - suggested via Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, Text, E-Mail and this week, the Drowned in Sound froum

Grandmaster Flash - (White Lines) Don't Do It

Yeasayer - O.N.E

The Prodigy - Firestarter

JudasPriest - Breaking the Law

Feeder - Buck Rodgers

Coldcut ft. Roots Manuva - True Skool

Blondie - Heart of Glass

Drowned in Sound have an exclusive stream - via a We7 player - of two Rufus Wainwright tracks ahead of release on his 19-disc House of Rufus compilation box-set.



Jane’s Addiction have announced September 26 as the release date for The Great Escape Artist – more at The NJ Underground.



To celebrate the new Muppets movie – Disney have put together a cover album by the stuffed animals of tracks from friends of the show. Weezer and Sondre Lerche have been re-done as has My Morning Jacket – check it out at Some Kind of Awesome.



A short film by David Lynch was made to Lights by Interpol – and was projected behind the band during their set at Coachella – and is now up online to watch on the Matablog.



It seems Morrissey can’t escape the headlines – not only was he bitten by a dog the other day, but now, lots of people are finding the fact fans were searched for meat at the entrance to his Middlesbrough Town Hall gig in fear they might throw it at the vegetarian Smiths front-man.



The Line of Best Fit have the artwork and tracklist for Jay-Z and Kanye West’s highly anticipated album Watch the Throne which features Beyonce, Frank Ocean and Mr Hudson.



Toro y Moi have announced new EP Freaking Out and made track Saturday Love available as a free download which you can get on Consequence of Sound.

The first proper taste of The Drums new album, Portamento, is up on Soundcloud with track Money.



Weezer have announced not an ordinary gig, but a cruise. Leaving Miami and setting sail to Cozumel and then returning back, the Weezer Cruise will see the band perform alongside the likes of Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh, Wavves and Yuck.



One Thirty BPM have two previously unreleased covers from The White Stripes which The Third Man Records vault has uncovered. The first is a cover of Arthur Lee’sSigned D.C. and the second is a version of Otis Redding’sI’ve Been Loving You Too Long.



The Polyphonic Spree have launched an iPhone/iPad app, which claims to be an interactive music video. You play through an expansive and changing world as You-Me, for a small charge. Read more about it at Music Ally.



Pitchfork TV have the new video from Hercules and Love Affair, Painted Eyes, up-and-streaming.



Elbow will launch their own beer at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival named after their fifth album – Build a Rocket Boy. More at CMU.



Mount Kimbie have made a previously unreleased track available to download. Called Braves Chords, you can grab it from Clash.



Jamaican reggae legend Little Roy has covered Nirvana of all people – the results are up on YouTube now.

Hey listeners - good news for all of us, I reckon. We've now got a dedicated Facebook page to facilitate our online conversations with you through the week and during the show itself. As you know, we like to confer with you each week - firstly to decide on a Theme Of The Week related to one of the current hot topics in the online world - and secondly to pick tracks and artists that are more or less related to said Theme, for inclusion in that week's show.

The great thing about having our own Facebook page is that it'll alllow everybody involved to have a say about the show. Any listener can start a related discussion topics of their own there - you no longer have to wait for us to post something here and then respond to it. Obviously you're welcome to post on any topic you want on the new page, though if you're an artist it probably isn't the most effective place to get airplay for your new single - for that, head along to my BBC Introducing show instead and tell us about your tunes.

Radiohead announced the release of new album King of Limbs in pretty cloak-and-dagger fashion and are they about to do likewise with a tour this summer? Jay Electronica tweeted – it has subsequently been taken down – that he’s supporting them in Manchester next month. 

Jay Electronica's now 'removed' Tweet

The rumour mill online is suggesting Glastonbury will soon – well in a few years – be no more. Glasswerk has looked at what the future may be for ‘The Big Festival’...



Laura Marling has released a new video and tracklist ahead of new album A Creature I Don’t Know. The video goes by the same name and is up on YouTube while the tracklist can be found on a number of sites including The Blue Walrus and Music Fan’s Mic.



Lee Scratch Perry will be performing a live jam this evening, from Zurich, which you can watch live from 9pm (GMT) at Electronic Beats.



A lot of sites have been getting quite excited by the fact Morrissey has broken his finger after being bitten by a dog – Spinner is one of them.



Simian Mobile Disco have made their next EP available for streaming on Soundcloud. Called Gizzard the package includes two versions and a remix by Psycatron.



We Were Promised Jetpacks have made a track from their new album In the Pit of the Stomach available for free. Act on Impulse is free from the band’s website as well as a list of upcoming tour dates.



Red Bull are streaming the Neptunes produced track Trouble on My Mind by Pusha T ft. Tyler the Creator.

Radiohead’s performance of King of Limbs from The Basement has found its way onto YouTube ahead of broadcast around the world. The 55-minute set features tracks from their new album and has been picked up by a lot of sites.



The video for The Strokes new single, Taken for a Fool, has been uploaded to the band’s YouTube account and racked up almost 300,000 hits in two days. If you want to join this growing group – check it out yourself.



While this side of the Atlantic, the Arctic Monkeys have also been busy uploading the video to Some Kind of Awesome recommended The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala.



And there’s another return – this time from The Subways. The band have made new track, It’s A Party available as a free download. You can get it and watch the video at Fame Magazine.



Just last week we reported Eminem had been the first person to sell a million digital copies of an album in the US with Recovery – well, Adele has taken his title with 21 and gone about it in a much shorter time. Music News tells you how.



Wu Tang Clan are coming back in a big way playing a hot of festivals and album Legendary Weapons coming out on July 26. Well, We Are SME have one of the tracks from it, Meteor Hammer, up on their site now.



NOVELTY VIDEO OF THE WEEK – A bass remix of the Imperial March from Star Wars with various characters saying "Dark Side" by Eclectic Method.

Pulp have been one of the biggest talking points online this week after Jarvis Cocker and friends put on a stellar performance at Wireless in London’s Hyde Park. Not only that, but the band then announced another show at Brixton Academy in August – which sold out almost straight away – resulting in a second date being added.



We therefore built the Ultimate Pulp Playlist with you through the week and during the show.



As well as this, For Folk’s Sake and Fear of Fiction shared their musical tit-bits with us, and we wrap up everything else you needed to know about this week’s musical goings on.





Tracklist:



Pulp – Do You Remember the First Time?



#DigitalDigest Part 1

* Spotify and Virgin Media have announced a deal which will allow people to stream 13-million songs via their TV. There are also packages available to users on other online and mobile platforms with costs sitting in line with the current Spotify Premium options.

* The Beastie Boys have once again teamed up with Spike Jonze for the video to Don’t Play No Game that I Can’t Win. Featuring Santigold, the rappers have been transformed into action heroes and there is a promise of an ‘epic length’ version also coming out.

* Mumford and Sons debuted their new track Home on American radio station KBCO this week – which blogs have subsequently ripped and uploaded onto Soundcloud.

* And Ladytron have made another track available to stream online this week. Ambulances is the third track up on Soundcloud from new album Gravity the Seducer.



#NowStreaming – check out the blog post for all the latest music streaming online

The Horrors – I Can See Through You



#Blogged – Fear of Fiction

Archimedes – Everloved

The Last Days of Lorca – With All Clarity

The Black Ships – Rain Down



#NowPlaying

Ed Sheeran - The A-Team



#Ultimate Pulp Playlist Part 1 - suggested via Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, Text, E-Mail and this week, the Drowned in Sound froum 

Pulp –Pink Glove (John Peel Session Track)

Scott Walker – Jackie

Lush ft. Jarvis Cocker – Ciao

New Order – Temptation

Richard Hawley - Open Up Your Door

The Longpigs - On And On



#DigitalDigest Part 2

* Noel Gallagher announced he is releasing a new album, High Flying Birds, in a press conference, revealed he has a second ready and spoke openly about Oasis’ last night in Paris.

* The Foo Fighters were joined on stage by a gaggle of stars during their Milton Keynes Bowl gig, including Alice Cooper who performed School’s Out and I’m Eighteen.

* The Damien Hirst designed album cover for the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ I’m With You emerged online this week.

* Eminem’s Grammy nominated Recovery has just broken a pretty impressive landmark by becoming the first to sell over one million digital copies in America alone.

* Radiohead took the interesting step of testing the water in Chinese social media this week. On one of China’s leading sites, Sina.com, they launched a ‘weibo’ page which is similar to Twitter in the highly censored state. Meanwhile, the first remixes from King of Limbs are now available to stream.



#NowViewing

* NME launched NMEVideo.com this week and to celebrate ran down a list of their top 100 music videos ever.

* An audio-visual-dubstep-mash-up of Masterchef presenters Gregg Wallace and John Torode from Swede Mason has gone viral on YouTube.

* Performances from the iTunes Festival have been streaming online via iTunes this week and Linkin Park’s cover of Adele’sRolling in the Deep has been getting a lot of love.

* Sufjan Stevens’ self-animated video for new single Get Right, Get Real is now online.



#Blogged – For Folk’s Sake

The Leisure Society - This Phantom Life

Joni Mitchell – A Case of You

Laura Hocking – Talented Tailor



#NowPlaying

Moby - Honey



#Ultimate Pulp Playlist Part 2

Pulp - Babies

William Shatner - Common People

The Human League - Being Boiled

Tony Christie ft. All Seeing I - Walk Like a Panther

The Crookes - Chorus of Fools

Pulp - Sorted for E's and Whizz

Hello. I'm Lynn from music website For Folk's Sake. We cover folk and roots inspired music with news, interview, recommendations and reviews.



Some of my favourite albums of all time are concept albums. There's Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, The Mountain Goats' incredible musical diatribe The Sunset Tree and, of course, Sufjan Stevens' groundbreaking album, Illinois.



And happily, since we started FFS nearly three years ago, there seems to have been a rush of obsessively crafted, completely non-embarrassing concept albums.



Here are five of the best...



Anais Mitchell - Hadestown

Vermont's Anais Mitchell drew on the Greek myth Orpheus and Eurydice to create this beautiful and affecting album. The heroine Eurydice leaves her poor lover Orpheus for the promise of a better life in corrupt capitalist Hadestown. For the album's recording Mitchell rounded up performers including Ani DiFranco, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Ben Knox Miller (The Low Anthem). The result is an too-often overlooked masterpiece.



Darren Hayman - Pram Town

Ex-Hefner man Darren Hayman's Pram Town tells the tale of a man living in Harlow in Essex and his relationship with a London woman. The lyrics brilliantly describe the town as: 'Chicken and pushchairs and ringtones' and the chasm in their lifestyles: 'She's all sundried tomatoes, I'm all gravy and potatoes'. It's basically Philip Larkin poetry and Alan Bennett monologues set to perfect four-minute pop songs. What could be better?



Decemberists - Hazards of Love

Colin Meloy of the Decemberists tends to eschew the present day, instead focusing his lyrics on the barrow boys and legionnaires of old. In The Hazards of Love, released in 2009, he tells a story of a woman who falls in love with a shape-shifting forest dweller but they're thwarted by her jealous mother and a dastardly Rake (whose eponymous song is the album's highlight). Becky Stark from My Brightest Diamond and Jim James from My Morning Jacket both lent their vocals to the project.



Noah and the Whale - The First Days of Spring

Surely one of the most heartbreaking albums of all time. Noah & the Whale's First Days of Spring is about frontman Charlie Fink's split with fellow West London folk artist Laura Marling. It takes the listener on a journey from devastating heartbreak, through self-indulgent sorrow to cautious optimism. With a full orchestra adding to the drama, you'll need a good sit down after listening to this, but it's worth it.



Owen Pallett - Heartland

Owen Pallet used to be known as Final Fantasy, and before that he was a violin-toting member of Arcade Fire. In Heartland, Pallett narrates a story about a "young, ultra-violent farmer" called Lewis grappling with his creator, which is Pallett himself. It's beautifully orchestrated and truly creative setting of the ultimate power-struggle.



And there are so many more that didn't quite make the list. Like Stuart Murdoch (Belle & Sebastian)'s God Help the Girl, Black Sheep Boy by Okkervil River, End Times by EELS, Bill Callahan's Apocalypse and Jon Boden's Songs from the Floodplain.



Also coming soon is The High Country by Richmond Fontaine. It's billed as a musical novel about drug-addled psychopath who falls in love with a girl who works at an autoparts store all set in the rural Northwest of America. If Fontaine's past performance is anything to go by, this is one to look out for.



>> Follow @forfolkssake on Twitter.

Hello and welcome to the world of finding music that makes me want to hide in a bunker, deep underground, and press play, over and over again.



There’s no order to this list, they are just bands I love and you should love to.



Archimedes

Relatively new to the Bristol scene, Archimedes have gone from strength to strength building a great following and ever evolving sound. They have quiet intricate sections, but are very loud. They write anthemic chorus’ which are hard not to sing along with, but they will never be pop. Make sure you check them out on their upcoming uk tour.



Last Days of Lorca

Brighton based five-piece, bridging the gap between At The Drive In and early Radiohead. I’ve been listening to their new EP non stop since release, and they constantly blow me away live. The first time I ever saw them I spent about £30 on their CDs, vinyl and assorted merch. Each decade has a sound track, and if the 2011’s timeline boasting terrorism, mass revolutions and political corruption ever needed a score written, this is who they would ask.



The Black Ships

Consisting of some fairly top-notch band members, Nick McCabe and Simon Jones (The Verve) Mig Schillace (Santa Cruz / Portishead) and Davide Rossi (Coldplay / Goldfrapp) – they have produced one of the most intriguing releases this year. The three track Kurofune EP displays a staggering variety of material, while the debut album is penciled for a February release - promising to be a dark, brooding, and very unpredictable - for now you can download Kurofune for free from their website.



Little Victories

In defiance of the dull and dusty folk of Mumford and Sons, Little Victories, blend elements of Coldplay, Death Cab and Arcade Fire into something all together more vibrant. Instantly likeable pop songs, drenched with complex layers of guitars, keys and strings, they have the potential to please all comers.



Lana Del Rey

A guilty pleasure, I think, but also one of the freshest new acts, with possibly one of the best singles to be releases this year. Based in the USA, hopefully she will be doing some UK dates with the release of her debut EP. Video Games is a tragically melancholy ballad, with some of the most beautiful production I’ve heard a solo artist have in a long time.



OLO Worms

Signed to Fence Records, this is psychedelic electronica at its finest, strewn with samples and analogue synths reminiscent of The Beta Band who have immersed themselves in lots of psychedelic medication. OLO Worms are constantly taking a fresh approach to music making. If you close your eyes and make a wish, they might start playing live again soon. (Pretty please.)



For a Minor Reflection

Serving as a punch in the throat to everyone assumes you have to wait eight minutes for a post-rock song to do anything. This Icelandic four-piece have a much heavier approach while retaining the subtlety that these soundscapes require. After seeing them at one of the best gigs of my life, in the tiny space under Queens Hotel at Great Escape 2010, their album has been on constant repeat. Look out for a new EP and world tour this autumn.

Prince, Pulp or Noel. Noel, Pulp or Prince – the debate has been going back and forth on Facebook as to what we should base the playlist around for this week’s Now Playing… And by general consensus (just), passion and panache - Pulp have come out on top.



Their reunion for a series of summer gigs has been talked about a lot, and their headline slot at Wireless last Sunday has been met with a lot of online chat.



As well as this, the band immediately afterwards announced two more London gigs at Brixton Academy.



Some of the reasons given on Facebook from fans who were in Hyde Park last weekend were:



“I haven't stopped smiling ever since! It was amazing!!”



“It was stunning, a really great gigs to all the fans, Jarvis's energy was relentless and the sound was brilliant. Some more "His and Hers" would have been nice but thats a minor criticism.”



“I saw Pulp at Wireless, Jarvis was amazing and even managed to incorporate 'on this day' which was great as I've missed hearing him on Sundays.”





So, let us know your suggestions for the Ultimate Pulp Playlist. They could be:

• Tracks from the band themselves

• Sheffield bands

• Acts from Island Records

• Brit Pop acts (an opportunity for all those Noel fans perhaps)

• Side Projects/Collaborations

• … Michael Jackson?!?



Leave a comment here, join in the debate on Facebook, Tweet us, e-mail us or drag a song into our Spotify playlist.



And remember to listen to the show this Friday (July 8) from 7pm with Tom Robinson.

SuperHeavy, the group formed of Mick Jagger, Eurhythmics' Dave Stewart, soul singer Joss Stone, reggae artist Damian Marley and composer A. R. Rahman, release their first track today (July 7). Miracle Worker is available to download with their album coming out in September.



You will be able to stream 13-million songs from Spotify via your Virgin TV after a deal was announced between the two companies. Packages are also available online and on mobile platforms – Gigwise explains more.



Some Kind of Awesome have the latest collaboration between Theophilus London and Dave Sitek (TV on the Radio) available to download. Field of Dreams is thought to be on London’s debut LP, Timez Are Weird These Days, as well as his mixtape which is coming in the autumn Prince TL.



Ladytron have made another track off their new album, Gravity the Seducer, available on Soundcloud. Ambulances will feature on the LP set for release on September 12.



Chromeo have made their track with Solange Knowles, When the Night Falls, remixed by French producer of the moment Breakbot, available to download for free.



That Grape Juice have the new track, Dreamkilla, from much hyped Odd Future member Frank Ocean up to stream and are also running an opinion poll on it.

Damien Hirst's Red Hot Chili Peppers album design 

NME have released a run down of their top 100 music videos ever as they launch NMEVideo.com. The latest entry is Kanye West’sMonster which comes in at 35 amongst some utter classics – check out the full run-down at NME.com.



The Quietus are talking about the return of Noel Gallagher who has just announced a new self-titled album will be released on October 17.



Eminem has become the first artists in the US to sell one-million digital copies of an album. Recovery was the best selling album of 2010 – the Rap Up have more.



Laura Marling has announced details of a new album, A Creature I Don’t Know, and you can read all about it at The Blue Walrus.



One Thirty BPM, as well as a number of other sites, are currently hanging the new Damien Hirst designed Red Hot Chili Peppers album artwork for I’m With You.



And Linkin Park's cover of Adele, Rolling in the Deep, from the Roundhouse has been causing quite a stir - check out why on YouTube.

The Horrors would definitely win most blogged album of the week if we were to issue such accolades with their new album Skying. The tight, black trousered five piece release their LP properly next week but you can catch it now at Music OMH.

The Whip are back, and have an album sampler up on Soundcloud. Wired Together will get its proper release on September 19, coming our on Southern Fried.

Brian Eno has been dropping bits and bobs from his new album, Drums Between the Bells, ever since Now Playing started really, but now, finally, you can hear the full thing over at Wired.



After their success on the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury just gone, The Good Natured have made their new EP, Skeleton, available to stream on Soundcloud.



And for a dose of summery pop, check out Eleanor Friedberger’s debut album, Last Summer, on NPR.

Sly Stone will release a new album at the end of August, with the help of some old friends such as Bootsy Collins and Jeff Beck. He is also teaming up again with The Family for his first studio LP since 1982's Ain't But the One Way. More at Contact Music.



Morrissey has announce two new London dates next month. Gigwise have details.



Mumford and Sons performed two new tracks on KBCO which have been recorded by TwentyFourBit.com and put up on Soundcloud. Take a listen now to Home/Untitled.



Radiohead drummer Philip Selway has revealed details of his new solo EP, Running Blind. Out on July 25 it will feature four new tracks – more at Clash.



Tonight the Arctic Monkeys play the iTunes festival at Camden’s Roundhouse and you can stream the whole show from 9pm (GMT) in iTunes – in fact you can watch all the gigs and get an app on your phone.



The Beastie Boys have posted on their own blog that they have again collaborated with Spike Jonze to create the video for Don’t Play No Game that I Can’t Win. Also featuring Santigold, the rappers have been transformed into action heroes and there will also be an ‘epic length’ version.



The Hidden Cameras are streaming a Pet Shop Boys remix of their track Colour of Men - check it out on Soundcloud.



Flying Lotus had been teasing fans on Twitter before making a new mix available of some of his favourite tracks – download it from Gorilla vs. Bear.



Jess Mills has been getting a lot of attention – firstly as a vocalist for a lot of producers such as Breakage and now as a solo artist in her own right. Video for Live for What I’d Die For is up now on YouTube.

A stella-super group emerged at Seasick Steve’siTunes Festival gig, as the guitar don was joined by Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones and The Dead Weather duo of Alison Mosshart (also of The Kills) and Jack White. They performed Write Me a Few of Your Lines which is now up on YouTube.



Queen’s Roger Taylor and Alice Cooper joined Foo Fighters onstage during their Milton Keynes show at the weekend, which saw Cooper perform covers of School’s Out and I’m Eighteen – more at Gigwise.



After headlining Wireless Festival last night, Pulp have announced two shows at Brixton Academy. Fake DIY have details.



An audio-visual mash-up of Masterchef presenters Gregg Wallace and John Torode has gone viral on YouTube over the past few days. Made by Swede Mason - Masterchef Synesthesia is already nearing one million plays.



Pitchfolk have the tracklist Justice revealed to French magazine Tsugi, which includes recent 6 Music playlist track – Civilization.



The first remixes from Radiohead’sKing of Limbs are now up to stream. Abeano have the offerings from Jacques Greene and Caribou.



Meanwhile, the Oxford band are also dipping their toe into Chinese social media, having launched a weibo page (similar to Twitter) on Sina.com – China’s leading internet portal. And this has got a lot of people talking – including MSN.com.



For the price of a ‘like’ you can unlock a new/old Major Lazer track from their Facebook page to download or stream. German Elefant Killer is an oldie that hasn’t seen the light of a release until now.

It has been impossible to escape the hashtags connected to Bjork this week. On Monday it was the reaction to new track Crystalline emerging online, then her performances at the Manchester International Festival before she was announced as the third headliner of this year’s Bestival.



So we shaped the playlist around her, looking not only at her own work but also collaborations, people she has worked with and any other connections you could draw a line between.



We were also delighted to welcome our first trans-Atlantic blogger onto the show in the shape of Some Kind of Awesome, while Punktastic also chose some rather fantastic tracks for us and have written a fascinating blog post about how bands should go about their digital promotion.



Tracklist:



Bjork – Big Time Sensuality



#DigitalDigest

* Digital Music News reported how nearly $400 million has been invested in digital music start-ups this year alone, while CMU has noted how digital music album sales have reached 10 million this year, far outdoing last year which was 7.1 million at the same point.

* Roots Manuva has announced details of his new album – 4everevolution. Coming out on July 26, first taster from the 17-track LP is called Watch Me Dance and is free to download from his official site.

* The Drums have released a rather weird new video on YouTube. Titled Portamento, it is pretty grainy with footage of the band performing, cityscapes and a few random words flashing up on screen, while the music is eerie synths which wouldn’t be out of place on the X-Files – cue new material from the band.

* Wilco have made their return with new single I Might. It is the first new material from the Chicago band in two years and new album, The Whole Love will come out on their own dBpm label.



#NowStreaming

* Sheffield’s premier producer Toddla T recently locked himself in a studio for two weeks with some of Britain’s most exciting new artists. The result was a nine-track mixtape which you can stream and download from Soundcloud.

* Radio Soulwax is the latest online project from Belgium DJ duo 2ManyDJs. Available online and as a smartphone app, the virtual radio station will make a different themed audio and visual mix available to stream every week for 24 weeks.

* Brian Eno’s second album for Warp Records, Drums Between the Bells is released on Monday, but you can hear a selection of tracks from it including Bless This Space and Pour it Out on Soundcloud right now.

* Memory Tapes’ release their sophomore album Piano Player on Monday, but you can hear it streaming right now on The Quietus who also have a by-track guide from Dayve Hawk himself.

* Washed Out’s eagerly awaited full length debut Within and Without is released on July 11 but you can stream it right now on NPR. 



#Blogged – Some Kind of Awesome

Arctic Monkeys – The Hellcat Spangled Shangrilalala

Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr – Almost Lost Detroit

Danger Mouse & Danieli Luppi ft. Norah Jones – Season’s Trees



#NowPlaying

Michael Franti - Sound of Sunshine

Bjork related playlist part 1 - collated via Spotify, our Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Text and E-Mail



Bjork – Hyperballad

Bat for Lashes – Pearl’s Dream

Goldie – Inner City Life

808 State – Ooops

Gus Gus - Believe

Bjork ft. Kelis – Oceania



#DigitalDigest

* Details of Zola Jesus’ new album has been getting a lot of traction online. Conatus will come out on September 26, and you can listen to track Vessel now on Soundcloud.

* After playing a social media mogul in The Social Network, Justin Timberlake has gone a step further by investing in MySpace. As part of Specific Media’s buyout of the News Corp company, he will take an office at their Beverley Hills HQ and have a team of staff working for him.

* The return of semi-aquatic dance duo Duck Sauce has made quite an impact this week. After being debuted on Annie Mac’s Radio 1 show last week, Big Bad Wolf has a much darker feel to their previous stuff – but still maintains an air of sillyness.

* Lee Scratch Perry has recorded verses and weaved them into Gang Gang Dance’sMindkilla. The track is available as a free download on a number of sites such as Rock Feedback, Drowned in Sound and Radio ClubFoot.



#NowViewing

* Spike Jonze/Arcade Fire – Scenes from the Suburbs

* M83 – Echoes

* Coldplay – Every Teardrop is a Waterfall

* Glastonbury coverage (Janelle Monae - Tightrope)

** And check out Tom's recommended viewing from Glastonbury on his BBC Introducing blog. **



#Blogged – Punktastic

Marmozets - Collisions

Rob Lynch - My Friends and I

Blitz Kids – Story



#NowPlaying

Empire of the Sun - We Are the People

Bjork related playlist part 2 - collated via Spotify, our Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Text and E-Mail

Bjork - Venus as a Boy

Sneaker Pimps - Venus as a Boy

The Sugarcubes - Birthday

Nearly God - Joga

Aphex Twin - Film

Bjork - Play Dead

Internet Dos and Don'ts for bands from a seasoned keyboard warrior

According to Tom Aylott - editor of Punktastic.com

Though not professing to be an expert, I've been a purchaser, performer, promoter and promulgator of music at varying points during the growth of the Internet, and at a time where good self-marketing is one of the greatest weapons in that perpetual perceived artist popularity arms race, what better time than now to share a few things for half amusement, half advisory purposes?



So, here's three "Dos and Don'ts" for those fledgling bands about making the most of the Internet. It's all common sense really, but I'm working on a qualified assumption that "amount of time spent holding instrument" is inversely proportional to "amount of common sense".



Most will probably been annoyed or impressed by something on the list.





Do learn how to do things yourself



This one is absolutely huge. There are many, many people out there who can make you a website, an animated gif, put some promotional videos together, record your practice room demo or make you some CD artwork, but the truth is, most of it is not that hard - especially when it comes to having a basic website. Making websites isn't something everyone will take to, but it's worth seeing if you've got someone in the band who's that way inclined that can do a half-decent job. You will save money if you pool the knowledge and rely less on third parties. It's also really fun to be DIY, in these areas at least.





Don't use social media to vent your frustration



Being in a band can be hard. There's not really a feeling of getting a return for the time and effort you put in, and you're rather often out of pocket, AND that's without opening the whole "people sending your music to each other in mere seconds and getting absolutely nothing back" can of worms. But you know what? It could be worse.



You could have no fingers to play that guitar with. You could not even know the next time you'll have a roof above your head. The mere fact that you're reading this sentence means that you're lucky, and therefore likely enjoy the benefit of the right to moan (which no one should deny you), but just like the couple who have arguments and vent passively aggressively about their relationship via. Facebook statuses, you're not doing yourself any favours.





Do learn from what other bands do well



A key thing to remember is that 99% of the time, one band's great idea is going to be inspired by another band's great idea. There's no shame in piecing together your "online strategy" with a few "borrowed" ideas.



As long as you're not outright stealing, then you're really just being a cog in that big "idea refining process" machine we call the human race.





Don't use social media robotically



Now that MySpace is showing its age a little, bands are no longer using it as the "default" online home, and are turning to the flourishing Twitter and behemoth Facebook to connect with their fans. This allows fantastic opportunities for spamming the world with useless information. It's downright obvious to people when a band aren't running their own online activities, and if you're not one of the AC/DCs or Rolling Stones of the world, then it's likely that you have enough time to interact with people properly, and produce meaningful updates on what you're doing.



We've probably all got friends drilling out tens of Farmville items a day into our news feeds, but it's equally as annoying when bands don't seem to care and spend the whole time trying to flog their wares - and the last thing you want to be is an irritation because it detracts from your music.





Do make your music as easy as possible to post and share



This is one might not be so obvious at first glance, but all those websites you'd like to get your band covered on spend countless hours each month changing emails that simply say "Hi, my band just posted a music video on at youtube.com/blahblahblah" into something that is usable for their website.



Providing a decent photo, relevant social media links, any relevant codes to add multimedia and all the information they might need in an email will up your success rate substantially. You may not be hitting the mainstream press yet, but one you get a few places to take notice and post something, you'll find that the word will soon get around if you're good.





Don't let the numbers fool you



Once you've got a few wheels turning, and your follower count and "Likes" on Facebook have escaped the depressing doldrums of single and double figures, you might start to feel that your band has an impact out there in the wider world.



Referring again to MySpace and here specifically "play count syndrome", it's very important to remember that these types of numbers largely mean nothing if you're not making anything of it by being good live and producing high quality music. As Twitter and Facebook remain strong, pretty much every single person, band or brand is getting more "Likes" and followers, and it's objectively impossible to find out what this "means" in the real world. There's no definitive measure for how "big" a band actually is, especially with the ongoing changes in the way people listen to, obtain and purchase music, but one thing remains the same: people like good music.





In short, if you make the most of the Internet as a platform to promote your band, then you're best equipping yourself to let the music talk for itself: which is the way it should be.

Today is the day when Now Playing goes Bjork – and frankly it’s been far from All So Quiet from her this week online.



We launched the Icelandic superstar as the centrepiece of this week’s playlist off the back of her new track, Crystalline, emerging in full on YouTube – and without background van interference – on Monday, only for pictures of the rehearsals for her new live show to emerge online. Then people were going crazy for her Manchester International Festival performances.



This all before another bomb dropped this morning when she was announced as the third headliner at this year’s Bestival alongside The Cure and Pendulum - sending the already insane line-up for the Isle of Wight event this September into the stratosphere.



We already have a strong list of tracks (check them all out on Facebook), suggested by you, to play on the show tonight, but we want you to whittle them down!



Leave a comment saying which song you want to hear or drag it into our Spotify playlist or equally e-mail us.



We look forward to hearing from you and remember to join us from 7pm with Tom Robinson.