Guardian Music — Only sign artists you really like, give them free rein, have no regard for business . . . XL Recordings boss Richard Russell reveals the secrets of surviving in the music industryUnless you're an obsessive fan of Kicks Like a Mule's 1992 rave hit the... more info

Abeano — To mark his first trip to the UK, Richie Follin aka Guards has put three covers up for download on his famous bandcamp page. Amongst them is this, an eerie reworking of Vampire Weekend’s ‘Taxi Cab.’ Transformed from its original delicate s... more info

Big Apple Music Scene — If we had to pick our least favorite song of all time it would probably be a tie between "Kumbaya," DMB's "Crash" and that new Britney Spears song we posted about a few weeks ago that caused everyone to get really pissed off and email us death threat... more info

Stereogum — Looks like “Crash” is going to be a significant influence on future Vampire Weekend material as soon as Ezra can figure out the chords. He recently posted this to YouTube with the comment “fuk the haters.” There’s more, because at Columbia... more info

Nialler9 — A free three-track covers EP from Guards which features radically-different huge reverb-heavy slow rock versions of songs by Metallica (‘Motorbreath’), Vampire Weekend (‘Taxi Cab’) and M.I.A (‘Born Free’). Guards is Richie Follin, brother... more info

We All Want Someone To Shout For — Guards just tweeted that they have a new free EP on bandcamp. It’s a digital 7″, 3 song EP consisting of covers that the band did. The songs that they covered are: Metallica’s “Motorbreath”, Vampire Weekends “Taxi Cab” and M.I.A.’s �... more info

Guardian Music — This Mississippi trio might look like low-expectation slackers, but their music offers glimpses of a band with ambitionHometown: Oxford, Mississippi.The lineup: Jim Barrett, Ben Yarbrough and Alex Von Hardberger.The background: Young Buffalo come fro... more info

ContactMusic — KANYE WEST has topped a new list of music tweeters, beating THE ROOTS UESTLOVE.Patrick Carney of The Black Keys and Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig also make the top five on website RollingStone.com. Diddy, The Streets' Mike Skinner and 50 Cent make th... more info

Topix — Vampire Weekend has been nominated for Best Alternative Music Album at the 2011 Grammy Awards for the group's sophomore album Contra . more info

Guardian Music — Erstwhile winsome star of 60s folk pop Donovan performs the 1966 album Sunshine Superman that saw him shift into psych, plus other hits with the London Contemporary Orchestra and special guests (3 Jun, Royal Albert Hall, SW7) ...Angular post-punk her... more info