Guardian Music — If Darth Vader was in a band, then this would be his chosen instrumentWhat is it? In our previous column, we looked at synthesisers that pretend to be guitars. Now we take a look at the keytar's evil 1980s twin-synthesisers pretending to be guitars. ... more info

8/1 — MP3: Various Artists - Perfect Day ACT LINES Lou Reed Just a perfect day, drink sangria in the park... Bono (of U2) And then later, when it gets dark... Sky (of Morcheeba) We go home.. ... more info

Guardian Music — Kanye West and Courtney Love among artists mourning fashion designer that styled Bjork, Rihanna and David BowieThe music world has been rocked by the death of fashion designer Alexander McQueen, who created clothing for artists including Bjork, David... more info

Guardian Music — (Virgin)The covers album has a bad reputation: it is seen as something that gets released in lieu of something else, evidence that a songwriter's creative juices have dried up. In the case of Peter Gabriel, that's a state of affairs compounded by the... more info

Rolling Stone — Photo: Marsland/WireImage The music world’s connection to fashion designer Alexander McQueen, who died of an apparent suicide today, run deep. The British visionary, who was 40, was responsible for putting Lady Gaga, Björk, Madonna, Rihanna, David... more info

NME — McQueen also worked with David Bowie and The Duke Spirit more info

The Telegraph — For his new album, Peter Gabriel has collaborated with the likes of David Bowie and Lou Reed on a series of lunar cover versions. more info

The Music Fix — News Flash: First gigs in fifteen years."I just want to make intelligent, exciting pop records and wrestle it back from what it's become, because in the last ten years it's been seen as this inferior thing that is associated with Pop Idol and X Facto... more info

MTV.com News — Victoria Beckham, Sandra Bullock also fans of the late designer's edgy fashions.By Jocelyn Vena Lady Gaga in the "Bad Romance" music video Photo: Interscope/Universal Alexander McQueen's avant-garde designs left an indelible mark on the wo... more info

Stereogum — You've heard Gabriel's orchestral takes on the Arcade Fire, Magnetic Fields, and Bon Iver, among snippets of others. Now you can listen to the entire covers album -- from Bowie through Radiohead -- and wipe away a stray tear at The Guardian . more info