Blog: Underwurld Music

Another great new song from the new REM album Collapse Into Now...

The lead track from the new REM album Collapse Into Now is called Discoverer and available for free! It's a bit of a Stipe shouty number mixed with whiny guitar work to start with and has echoes of What's The Frequency, Kenneth? from Monster. Let's hope the album isn't as bad as that. The song is not great but it's not completely terrible either. Download it here:

Musicians have gathered to 'record' a cover of John Cage's silent piece 4:33 in a vain attempt to keep Simon Cowell and the X Factor machine from bagging the Christmas no. 1 (again!). It is an audacious campaign that brought together the likes of Orbital, Suggs and Pendulum to 'do nothing' during the recording. Pete Doherty didn't turn up. And in an attempt to relive last year, they have named the project Cage Against The Machine . I'm all for upsetting the X Factor ethos but this is a step too far. Cage's 4:33 is not the [...]

New Film. About Creation Records. Excellent. Official website . YouTube trailer .

There is a fascinating new book out by a Pearl Jam obsessive Jason Leung who followed the band on tour in 2005 and 2006. The website is here . As a huge Pearl Jam fan I will certainly get a copy and there is a wealth of information on the website including a chat with Vedder and McCready about the project. If you order from the website, a portion of the money goes to Pearl jam's Wishlist foundation.

A band I have been following for a few years, back before they were well known and the BBC pushed them through their breakthrough acts programme, The Duke Spirit is back with a free download track from new Kasuma EP, Everybody's Under Your Spell. This is a brilliant return to form; vibrant and filled with dirty guitars. Also read a great article and listen to another new song Villain [...]

The Cure will headline Bestival next year in what will be the band's only European show. Also featuring will be Primal Scream as part of their Screamadelica tour and Brian Wilson. Read about it here .

I used to be a big Coldplay fan. And in a lot of ways I still am. The début Parachutes is good, A Rush Of Blood To The Head is fantastic and X&Y showed the likes of U2 how to make a stadium album again. But it all went wrong with Viva La Vida. So now Coldplay have released a Christmas single: Christmas Lights. Judge for yourself. I think it's better than the songs they have released recently but the wheels fall off in the second half when Martin seems to think [...]

To promote the new single Okay, Jason Ward has released the b-side as a free promotional download You're A Fool. Much slower and longer than Okay but filled with more delicious multi-layered vocals. And lyrically it compliments the single in both feeling and subject. The sudden Dylan-esque harmonica break is a bit of a surprise and doesn't quite fit but it helps break things up. More good vibes for the forthcoming album.

Jason Ward has released a new single entitled Okay. As great as anything from his last album Almighty Row, this is fairly upbeat (for Jason!) and a pleasant alt-country/indie pop song. It's a love song about forgiveness and retribution, and understanding someone's discretions. Excellent production, including some gorgeous strings and backing vocals to create a deeper sound. Jason says he's written 30 new songs since the Graceful Bow EP. I can't wait for the new album. Okay is released on iTunes on 6th December 2010.

Only one release in November but it's a beauty...in every sense of the word. Kate Rusby's Make The Light - a new album of all original compositions. It is a definite contender for album of the year and straight into the top five. I Speak Because I Can by Laura Marling The Suburbs by Arcade Fire Brothers by The Black Keys High Violet by The National Make The Light by Kate Rusby This Is Happening by LCD Soundsystem Special [...]

November's new tune from Thea Gilmore for all Angels In The Abattoir fans is something very special. Thea describes Lovers as a song about relationships, decline and longing but also adds that she hopes it has 'life beyond her' which is an odd thing to say but makes perfect sense. I think every singer wants their music to continue through others, not ripped-off and used as an easy option but given new breath from new blood. As for the song, Lovers is a beautiful ballad with a sweet premise and wonderful melody. Again Nigel Stonier provides [...]

American musician Suzanne Vega continues her self-examining rerecording of her own songs with volume two of four Close-Up albums, subtitled People & Places. Like volume one, the songs are taken from four albums: two are chosen from the eponymous debut, four from Solitude Standing, four from 99.9F ° , three from recent album Beauty & Crime, and one song not featured on any of her studio albums. These means nothing again from Vega's third record Days Of Open Hand. And Nine Objects of Desire and Songs In Red and Gray are not used at all, but given that Close-Up Vol. [...]

PJ Harvey has a new album out in February 2011 entitled Let England Shake. Read about it on Pitchfork here .

If you don't have it already, check out the new expanded version of High Violet by The National. News by Pigeons & Planes here .

The track list for the new REM album entitled Collapse Into Now has been confirmed. It is... Discoverer All The Best Uberlin It Happened Today Every Day Is Yours To Win Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter Walk It Back Mine Smell Like Honey That Someone Is You Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I Blue The album is set to be more like Automatic For The People than last [...]

Hawk is the third collaborative album from ex-Belle & Sebastian cellist/pianist Isobel Campbell and ex-Screaming Trees front man Mark Lanegan. During a turbulent life, both musically and personally, including five years with Queens Of The Stone Age, Lanegan has made six solo albums. The last and best of these is the wonderful Bubblegum, released in 2004 and coinciding with the start of this, the fourth chapter of his career. Where Bubblegum is Lanegan's finest hour as an individual (albeit with help), the trio of albums combining his exquisite baritone rasp and the delicacy of Campbell's celestial tones outclasses most [...]

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Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie sings the US national anthem before Game 3 of the NLCS at AT&T Park. Watch it here .