DrownedInSound — A week of DiS, as a playlist...you should probably have the gist of what this weekly digest is by now. Won't bore you, click here to open the playlist in Spotify and amongst the blathering below you'll find links to the best bits of this week... ... more info

411 Mania — From Kanye West and Jay-Z's Watch the Throne and Radiohead's King of Limbs to R.E.M.'s Collapse Into Now and more, 411's Christopher Bell counts down the 10 most disappointing albums of 2011! Check out the full article to see which albums made the l... more info

ContactMusic — R E M were not creatively out of gas when they split The Man on the Moon rockers bass player Mike Mills says their acrimonious split in September has seen them finish on a creative high and he is glad he will remain friends with ex-bandmat... more info

LargeHeartedBoy — CBC Radio interviews Stephen King about his new novel 11/22/63. R.E.M.'s Mike Mills and Michael Stipe talk to the Daily Beast about the band's decision to break up. The List of Online Year-End 2011 Music Lists was updated yesterday with... more info

ContactMusic — Recently-retired rockers R E M fought to ensure their split remained a secret before their big announcement in September 11 because they didnt want the news leaking on the internet The rockers shocked the music world in September 11 by declaring th..... more info

ContactMusic — R E M had been planning their split since 2008 The Losing My Religion rockers - Peter Buck Mike Mills and Michael Stipe - first thought about the end of the group while touring their album Accelerator in 2008 almost three years before they of... more info

ContactMusic — Rocker Peter Hook wishes New Order could have split up in a similar way to R E M insisting hes not proud of how his time with the band ended The bassist who walked away from New Order in 2007 was left furious after hearing frontman Bernard Sumner... more info

DrownedInSound — This is very good, but it’s not definitive - but perhaps R.E.M. just aren't that sort of band. Read the full story on DrownedinSound.com more info

411 Mania — It felt perfect... more info

Altsounds — R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe made a surprise appearance on last night's The Colbert Report, where host Stephen Colbert said goodbye to the iconic band by putting Stipe on his Rock and Roll Shelf of Fame (literally.) They were then joined by guest Br... more info