Kompakt Turns 10

The Cologne-based label that gave us DJ Koze and Justus Köhncke celebrates 10 years of existence. Here's to 10 more! [Pitchfork]

Kraftwerk Remastered Boxset

"Electro Pioneers, living legends and globally revered masters of electronic sound, celebrate the 35th anniversary of their landmark 1974 hit 'Autobahn’ by releasing a special collector’s CD boxset featuring remastered versions of eight astounding albums on October 6th, 2009 [...]" [Altsounds]

Happy Birthday Mozzer!

"To mark the occasion NME.COM has posted up a Morrissey photo gallery featuring images of the singer, plus his most memorable quotes." [NME]

The Breeders

Jude Rogers reports on The Breeders comeback in the Guardian..."Revered by Nirvana, Blur and Radiohead, Kim and Kelley Deal of 90s indie sensations the Breeders are rock survivors. Now, after years of struggle with drink and drugs, they're addicted to good food - and music."

"It used to be about music. Now, without the drink, it's good to go back to that..." [Guardian UK]

NME's Ultimate Indie Album

NME asks you to determine the greatest indie album of all time. "From Slint to The Smiths, Pavement to Pulp, the result is up to you!" [NME]

Depeche Mode 101

As Depeche Mode prepare to release their documentary, Depeche Mode 101, Joshua Klein interviews the band in Pitchfork.

"Depeche Mode 101 lucked into capturing the British group on the cusp of global super-stardom. In that documentary, the band comes off almost shockingly young, if not entirely innocent, but that may be because all the real drama-- substance abuse, nervous breakdowns, divorces, in-fighting, and general self-destruction-- came soon after. Miraculously, Depeche Mode not only survived but continued to prove themselves creatively viable. The proof is in Depeche Mode's latest Sounds of the Universe, which captures the group on the other side of its many ordeals and hardly the sound of band lazy and complacent. In fact, when we spoke separately with members Andy Fletcher and Dave Gahan, Fletch noted with some surprise the group's longevity, and there's no reason to believe Depeche Mode doesn't have many more good years still to come." [Pitchfork]

Sonic Youth To Play NYC

Sonic Youth, The Eternal (Matador, 2009)

Venue: United Palace
Date: Friday, 7/3/09
Notes: Doors 7:00 PM / Show 8:00 PM; $38, $45

"The Eternal is Sonic Youth’s 2009 celebration of newfound freedom. After many years signed to an ever precarious corporate label, the band has been liberated and is releasing this CD with their friends at Matador. Inspirations ran high in preparation for the recording. Abandoning the time tested routine of writing and rehearsing a cycle of songs in one time period, SY changed tactics and would compose two to three tracks one weekend and record them the following weekend. After a solid month they had a dozen killers..." [The Bowery Presents]

UK Decay Reissue

UK Decay, For Madmen Only (Rough Trade, 2009)

Rough Trade reissues a compilation CD of UK Decay. A progenitor of gothic rock, UK Decay were among the first to splinter from punk in the late 1970s and incorporate the moody atmospherics that eventually came to define gothic crossover. On CD for the first time ever, the 19 tracks include the band's one and only album For Madman Only, the Rising From the Dead 12", plus tracks from The Black 45 7" and For My Country 7".

Alex James' Cheese Odyssey

Cheesus Christ! The Cheese Diaries...the making of Alex James' Little Wallop.

"I got married, and I guess that's the end of Rock and Roll really."

Missed James' obsession with fromage the first go round. In case there are others out there equally intrigued...

Alex James' Pastoral Dream Incarnate

Continuing with the Blur thread...

Here BBC Three looks back to the "Most Annoying People of 2007" - among them, former ladies' man, Blur bassist and now cheese maker Alex James.



Alex James at the Great British Cheese Festival.

Graham Coxon on Blur - podcast

Graham Coxon, solo artist and Blur guitarist, speaks to the Guardian UK's Music Weekly about Blur's temporary reunion. The band are to play a series of highly anticipated gigs in the UK later this summer!

Hedi Slimane's Coachella Diary

Hedi Slimane Diary

Slimane's favored themes of music and youth again collide as he documents Coachella 2009 with his characteristic crisp black and white photography.

Coachella 2009 Medley

Leonard Cohen, "Hallelujah"


Morrissey, "How Could Anybody Possibly Know How I Feel"


Paul McCartney, "Hey Jude"

Soundtrack of My Life: Brett Anderson

As Suede's singer, he put the glam into Nineties pop. Anderson tells Will Hodgkinson how charming Bowie is and explains why Prince is untouchable...

"The first record I bought
Never Mind The Bollocks, The Sex Pistols (1977)

When I go to sleep
Music For Airports, Brian Eno (1978)

The soundtrack to my adolescence
The Queen Is Dead, The Smiths (1986)

The record that made Suede what they were
Parade, Prince (1986)

When I got compared to Bowie
Low, David Bowie (1977)"

[Guardian UK]

JG Ballard R.I.P.

Science fiction writer who notably inspired bands such as Joy Division passes away at 78 after a long battle with cancer.

"JG Ballard's novels, disquieting, visionary and often apocalyptic fables of technological and social anarchy set him at the very pinnacle of contemporary writing. The self-professed "architect of dreams, sometimes nightmares" enjoyed a cult status, and Steven Spielberg's film of his book Empire of the Sun brought him a a popular fanbase, too. Fusing external landscapes of futuristic visions with the internal workings of his characters' minds, Ballard created a series of montages in which the world was, in turns, flooded, desiccated, crystallised and concreted over..." [BBC Obituary]