Guardian Music — From RZA's tale of lean cuisine to Aerosmith eating the rich, take nourishment in our playlist of songs about hard timesThere's no shortage of songs about shortage. But paradoxically, reduced circumstances have often spawned great musical riches. Rea... more info

Totally Fuzzy — glenn said... Another 60s (sort of) kitchen sink mix of everything obscure to not so obscure. Try it, you'll like it -). Thanks Fuzz team! http://bornintyme.blogspot.com 1. "Red Light" - The Sands of Time - Sterling 1082, 1966? 2. "Sha La La" - The ... more info

NME - In The Office — Broadcast were many things – terribly underappreciated by all but those who knew, warily innovative, consistently good, often great (2003’s career best 'Haha Sound' is testament to that) – but more than anything, Broadcast were a cool band. Thi... more info

Guardian Music — Sean O'Hagan picks the year's best, including 50 years of rock photography, the war images of Don McCullin and Larry Sultan's strange take on his adopted home stateBest music bookA Star is Born: Photography and Rock Since Elvis (Steidl £26)A provoca... more info

Guardian Music — The Sage, GatesheadBelle and Sebastian used to play so quietly that a rustling crisp packet could be louder than the band, perhaps because they wished to avoid the aural havoc that cranked-up rock PA systems could wreak on their painstaking creations... more info

Guardian Music — (Crammed)Five years ago, the Kinshasa-based band Konono No 1 released their Congotronics album, with extraordinary results. They used DIY instruments, some made from junkyard scrap, mixed highly amplified, wildly distorted traditional likembe thumb-p... more info

Guardian Music — I'll Be Your Mirror, which launches in 2011, will be the first in a new series of festivals to be held in cities instead of holiday campsAll Tomorrow's Parties is to launch its new festival series early next year. Like the original ATP, I'll Be Your ... more info

DrownedInSound — The people behind All Tomorrow's Parties have announced a new event, this time in London, without any chalets in sight. I guess you could call it a festival, but ATP are calling it I'll Be Your Mirror. Any self-respecting Velvet Underground fan would... more info

ContactMusic — THE VELVET UNDERGROUND star JOHN CALE paid a touching tribute to his late mum as he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in London on Friday... more info

Sky News — Velvet Underground founding member John Cale has collected his OBE from Buckingham Palace - with his hair dyed pink, white and blue. more info