Until I woke up this morning and checked Twitter, I had planned to write something about the new Low album today. The enormously unexpected return of Bowiemania put paid to that; I’ll try again with Low tomorrow, unless in the intervening 24 hours Kevin Shields is finally shamed into pulling his finger out.

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How nice, though, after so many Bowie rumours in the past decade proved mercifully untrue, that the new single story which circulated last night turned out to be accurate.

In the highly unlikely event that you haven’t heard the graceful and compelling “Where Are We Now?”, I’ve embedded it below. Notwithstanding the lyrical references to Berlin, it doesn’t sound much like a return to late ‘70s territory to me, as claimed elsewhere; more a refinement of some of the better, stately ideas on “Heathen” and “Reality”. Interesting, too, that for a song that seems predominantly discreet, it’s also mighty insidious. Can’t wait for the album. Tom’s just posted a big old Uncut interview with Bowie that’s worth a look, by the way: click here for Part One.

Meanwhile, plenty of other stuff here to be getting on with, with particular emphasis on the new William Tyler album. Have a listen, too, to the terrific mix that Goat put together for Jon Hillcock’s radio show, which reveals the provenance of one of the Allah-Las’ best songs, among other things.

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1 Yo La Tengo – Fade (Matador)

2 Buke & Gase – General Dome (Discorporate)

3 Radar Brothers – Eight (Merge)

4 Suede – Barriers (http://suedebarriers.viinyl.com/)

5 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Push The Sky Away (Bad Seed Ltd)

6 Purling Hiss – Water On Mars (Drag City)

7 The Men – New Moon (Sacred Bones)

8 Low – The Invisible Way (Sub Pop)

9 Various Artists – Delta Swamp Rock Volume 2: More Sounds From The South: At The Crossroads Of Rock, Country And Soul (Soul Jazz)

10 Various Artists – GOAT mix//Jon Hillcock BBC 6 Music//28.12.12

11 Atoms For Peace – Amok (XL)

12 David Bowie – Where Are We Now? (ISO/RCA)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOyDTy9DtHQ

13 Jimi Hendrix – People, Hell And Angels (Sony Legacy)

14 Mount Moriah – Miracle Temple (Merge)

15 William Tyler – Impossible Truth (Merge)