Guardian Music — By reining in their excesses and lightening up a bit, Arcade Fire regain a lot of charm, says Alexis PetridisIn 1998, Q magazine invited readers to vote for the 100 Best Albums of All Time. Twelve years on, the results offer an unwittingly hilarious ... more info

Totally Fuzzy — Amd said... A HISTORY OF COUNTRY MUSIC VOL. 1: PIONEER YEARS - 1920s The first of a nine-part series charting the history of country music, including the first ever country record, first country hit, first black ountry artist and music by a musician ... more info

Stopcryingyourheartout.com — Here's a recent snap of Liam Gallagher and English Grammy Award winning record producer Steve Lillywhite who is producing the new Beady Eye album. Steve has worked with groups such as Simple Minds, Big Country, XTC, The Chameleons, Toyah, Talking Hea... more info

Here Comes The Flood — The Eighties are alive and well in Russia. Moscow new wave/disco trio Upstation have released an EP with five retro tracks, with lots of echo and wall-to-wall pre-programmed synths, walking bass lines and guitar licks straight out of the Simple Min... more info

Scotsman.com — Simple Minds' Jim Kerr is returning to familiar territory for the launch of his musical alter ego, finds Fiona Shepherd more info

ContactMusic — Rocker JIM KERR was so obsessed with perfecting his debut solo album, he missed a flight because he was busy writing a song in the departure lounge.The Simple Minds... more info

Mjsbigblog — Next week, the Top 4 sing the Songs of the Cinema.  After the jump, check out the 34-song list the kids will use to pick their songs. And man, the list is full of re-treads!  Yikes.  Not liking this list so much… At any rate, we might as well l... more info

The Vinyl Villain — Quick recap on all the singles that have been featured so far:-Orange Juice - L.O.V.E, LoveFriends Again - The Friends Again EPBelle & Sebastian - Legal ManClose Lobsters - What Is There To Smile About?One Dove - White LoveSimple Minds - Love SongThe... more info

Guardian Music — Jay Sean and Taio Cruz have achieved something very few British acts have managed – selling R&B and urban pop back to the US. They tell Lola Adesioye how they did itEvery few years, the US charts are subject to what is always called a "British... more info

The Vinyl Villain — In the same way that it has long seemed uncool to admit a fondness for Simple Minds, it is often difficult to profess admiration for the musical output of Big Country.The fact that it has taken well over 1,000 postings at TVV before I've taken the p... more info