ContactMusic — A newly-discovered genus of spider has been named after rocker Lou ReedAn international group of biologists recently stumbled across the never-before-seen velvet spiders which live underground and decided to use the former Velvet Underground frontman... more info

Guardian Music — The reissue of Sleep's Dopesmoker shows musicians with the nerve to really stretch a song and take listeners on a journeyThe three-minute pop song is an undeniable design classic: short enough to fit on one side of a 7in, long enough to turn a repeat... more info

Guardian Music — It's 1972, and Greg Freeman's friends don't rate this curious young singer. In fact, he's as bad as Bob DylanMy mates were as dismissive of David Bowie as they were of Bob Dylan. This was 1972, before he was quite as chameleonic as he would soon beco... more info

Guardian Music — (Island)A hit at this year's SXSW, former Feist guitarist Afie Jurvanen's tropical pop arrives as lazily and beautifully as crashing waves. Somewhere between Jack Johnson and early Lou Reed, Jurvenen crafts stripped-down, harmony-brushed songs with g... more info

Guardian Music — Justin Bieber and Lou Reed listed in villain of the year categoryYou Me at Six, Enter Shikari and Justin Bieber are among the nominees for this year's Kerrang! awards. More than 280,000 votes were submitted to determine the magazine's shortlists, whi... more info

Guardian Music — SCUM Amber Hands (Mute) This glorious four-minute dollop of swirling shoegazey prog-bobbins sees SCUM moving further away from the Horrors' nonsensically-coiffured shadow. It's a taut, swooshing cloud of grubby psychedelia that wafts about your head ... more info

Guardian Music — (No Evil)Young New Yorker Devin Therriault is unashamed of his love for the city's rock'n'roll heritage: "I pretty much exclusively listen to music that's before my time," he has said. That's apparent throughout his debut album – hints of the New Y... more info

Guardian Music — Teenage angst has paid off well … with this RR playlistYouth is wasted on the young, as jealous old George Bernard Shaw once said. But that didn't seem true of the subjects of many songs you suggested last week. Anyway, with grownups hurling so man... more info

Guardian Music — Xan Brooks reveals the second of seven films to be offered for free to Guardian Extra members through Curzon on Demand. Julian Schnabel's film of a 2006 performance of Lou Reed's 10-song tragedy captures all the greatness of this bleak and beautiful ... more info

Guardian Music — From Ricky Martin on Broadway to Ashlee Simpson and Melissa Etheridge, many pop stars struggle in the theatre. Maybe it's time they steered clearRicky Martin has jaunty hair, shockingly white teeth, flexible limbs, shakeable hips, and a voice as smoo... more info