Guardian Music — Empire State of Mind summons the spirit of New York as powerfully as Sinatra, the Velvet Underground and BiggieToday sees the UK release of Alicia Keys's Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down, but you'll already know the song. Jay-Z's original v... more info

Guardian Music — Animal Collective's forthcoming installation at the Guggenheim comes from a proud tradition of pop mash-ups with the art worldIt's better than copying Jackson Pollock and more ambitious than pretending to be full-time robots. The only surprising thin... more info

Guardian Music — Brudenell Social Club, LeedsIt's often said that bands have 20 years to come up with their first album, 12 months to do their second – and only then can they make that "difficult third ­album" featuring concept opuses about fish. However, B... more info

Altsounds — “Name any rock band and chances are you can connect its music back to some formal antecedent—Chuck Berry, the Velvet Underground, the Beatles or even just the blues. *Sightings* are unburdened by—even outside of—th... more info

Perfect Porridge — If the idea of The Kills meet Velvet Underground gets you excited in all the right places, then check out Little Fish. The volatile UK two piece futures Juju, the brunette guitarist/singer-songwriter chick, and Nez, the drummer dude. And they like t... more info

NME - The Bands Blog — Hot Chip's Joe and Felix give their track-by-track low-down on their new record. Read NME's review of 'One Life Stand' Thieves In The Night Joe Goddard: “That song we did in a lot of different ways – we tried a version that was influenced by... more info

NME — See what Velvet Underground man would look like as a cartoon, plus Murdoc threatens new NME Radio hijack more info

NME — Velvet Underground man to play 'a night of deep noise' at shows more info

Aquarium Drunkard — If you have an Internet connection you’ve heard about Beck’s ongoing Record Club. We featured the first installment (Beck and assorted friends covering The Velvet Underground & Nico) back in August. I love that album—there’s no telling how ma... more info

Guardian Music — 'Rock's not all carnal glamour. You spend a lot of time sitting around backstage, fiddling with bits of cheese'What got you started?Being brought up in a very unusual way. My mother was an artist and my father an obsessive classical music fan. We wer... more info