record store day

Arcade Fire have revealed that their forthcoming new album will be a double LP. Pre-orders for the Reflektor album have opened up for the double album at Arcadefire.com, with the website stating that early orders will come with first access to ticket sales for special shows as well as the band's forthcoming world tour. The album artwork - which features a sculpture by Auguste Rodin, from the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice - has also been confirmed.

Neil Young has confirmed that Pono - his audio service which will provide listeners with downloads of high-resolution songs made to sound like their initial recordings - will finally launch next year. In a post on his Facebook page yesterday [September 5], Young wrote, "I’m very happy to bring you some good news. All of us at Team PONO have been focused on getting everything right for our early 2014 launch of Pono.

Now That's What I Call Indie...

Great snakes! After years in the wilderness, Hüsker Dü founder returns to the garden...

A number of thoughtful readers have written recently to remind me it will be the 10th anniversary in September of Warren Zevon's death, not that I was likely to forget.

Television and Heartbreakers legend Richard Hell’s autobiography, I Dreamed I Was A Very Clean Tramp, is reviewed by editor Allan Jones in the new issue of Uncut (dated July 2013 and out now) – in this piece from Uncut’s September 2009 issue (Take 148), Hell and his bandmates explain how they created “Blank Generation”, the nihilistic, coruscating punk anthem first written as a “My Generation” for the ’70s New York scene. Words: Damien Love

Keith Richards has admitted that he does not own an iPod and feels that the sound quality of MP3s is leaving fans "short changed". Revealing that he does not own an iPod, Richards says he understands the use of being able to store thousands of songs on one device but that he feels the sound quality is poor in comparison to CDs and records. Speaking to Billboard the guitarist says: "I don't have an iPod. I still use CDs or records actually. Sometimes cassettes. It has much better sound; a much better sound than digital."

Amanda Palmer has written an open letter to Morrissey offering to help him crowdsource his next album. In her letter, written for Salon, the former Dresden Dolls singer shares her love of Morrissey's music, even admitting to turning down the opportunity to meet him in person: "I couldn’t stomach the idea of Morrissey meeting me and not liking me, even if the chances were small."

Big Deal: The Breeders’ best LP reissued as a seven-disc vinyl/3CD boxset on its 20th anniversary...

The new issue of Uncut arrives in UK shops on Thursday, though perhaps a few subscribers, with a prevailing wind, might have already received their copies. Lots of interesting stuff in there, including new interviews with The National, Laura Marling, Deborah Harry and Todd Rundgren; The Eagles, The Waterboys, Deep Purple, Mark Mulcahy, Kurt Vile; reviews of Fleetwood Mac, Vampire Weekend, REM, Van Dyke Parks and Jandek; respects paid to Jason Molina, Andy Johns and Phil Ramone; and a brief exchange with the now notorious Michelle Shocked.