Punk's high priestess on poetry, pot and psychedelia

Swans are set to release a new album, featuring Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O and Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker of Low, on August 27. The Seer, the new album from Michael Gira's reunited New York noise-rock troupe, runs for around two hours, and also features guests including Mercury Rev's Grasshopper, Akron/Family and "honorary Swan" Bill Rieflin. Karen O sings lead vocal on "Song For A Warrior", while Parker and Sparhawk feature as co-vocalists on opener "Lunacy".

Blur drummer Dave Rowntree has criticised local officials in London's Primrose Hill after they removed graffiti which featured lyrics from the band's 1993 hit single 'For Tomorrow' from a local footpath. The lyrics, which read "And the view's so nice", were inspired by Primrose Hill and have been present on a footpath in the London area since 2000. However, last week, they removed by cleaners, leading Rowntree to hit out.

Mogwai have been confirmed as the final headliner of this year's Green Man festival. The Scottish rockers, who released their seventh studio album 'Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will' in 2011, join Feist and Van Morrison in headlining the event, which takes place in Wales' Brecon Beacons from August 17-19. Also newly added to the line-up are Dexys, Cate Le Bon, Lower Dens, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Crybaby, Paul Thomas Saunders, Stuff, Withered Hand and King Charles.

Bob Geldof has said that he is convinced he could have enjoyed a solo career on the scale of Sting and Paul Weller if his commitment to fundraising hadn't got in the way. The Boomtown Rats man, who set up Band Aid and the accompanying concert Live Aid back in the 1980s, told the Evening Standard that it would have been "criminally irresponsible" of him not to hold the events, but he does believe it "damaged his music career".

Robin Gibb, the Bee Gees singer and songwriter who died last week aged 62 (May 20), could be remembered with a public memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral in London. The pop legend is to be buried next month at a private funeral in Oxfordshire. However, his son Robin-John has suggested that a larger memorial service could take place in September at the historic central London cathedral. Gibb's son also told the Sunday Express that his father, who had suffered with cancer in recent years, died of kidney failure, and recalled his passing.

The Flaming Lips have re-recorded 1999's "Race For The Prize" for the Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team. The band pay tribute to their hometown NBA team in the new version of the song, which was originally on their acclaimed album "The Soft Bulletin". The bandmembers repeatedly chant "Thunder up!" over the song's main refrain, while the verses end with the lines: "They'll keep fighting/For Oklahoma!" You can watch a video featuring the new version below.

In tribute to the late Band legend, who died in April 2012, this week’s archive feature is a fascinating piece from October 2009’s Uncut (Take 149) – Barney Hoskyns travels to Levon Helm’s Woodstock barn for one of his Midnight Rambles, a musical hogroast-cum-celebration of the drummer’s life and legacy. “To me,” says Helm, “it’s just rock’n’roll…” ________________________________

The Afghan Whigs have performed in public for the first time since they split in 2001.

The Hacienda's 30th anniversary has been celebrated with a rave in an underground car park.