Archive for Digital Music

Modern English embarks on a second round of North American dates this weekend in support of its just-released ‘Blister EP,’ a download-only release featuring the title track, off this year’s ‘Soundtrack,’ plus a non-album cut and two demos.

When Peter Hook’s Freebass finally released last spring’s debut EP, ‘Two Worlds Collide,’ on CD last week, the band also issued a digital-only EP featuring five new mixes of the Tim Burgess-sung ‘You Don’t Know This About Me’ by longtime New Order collaborator Arthur Baker.

The folks at Sub Pop Records are giving away a free mp3 download of ‘Sex With an X,’ the title track and first single from The Vaselines’ forthcoming album — only the second ever from the newly reunited Scottish indie-pop duo.

INXS tonight debuted the first track off their upcoming album of re-imagined hits, a new arrangement of ‘Kick’ smash ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ with Ben Harper filling in on lead vocals for the late Michael Hutchence.

The first taste of Duran Duran’s long-in-the-works 13th studio album hit the Internet this evening after Mark Ronson — who’s producing the disc — played 30 seconds of ‘Blame the Machine’ on his East Village Radio show.

Former XTC figurehead Andy Partridge this week releases ‘Powers,’ a 12-track, limited-edition album featuring ‘aural sculptures’ inspired by the late sci-fi book-jacket artist Richard M. Powers. Hear audio samples from the album.

Synthpop favorites Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are letting fans get a taste of two tracks — including first single ‘If You Want It’ — from the forthcoming ‘History of Modern,’ the reunited band’s first new album in 14 years.

Reactivated U.K. post-punk greats Wire — who are eying a January release for their as-yet-unnamed 12th album — have announced the launch of their ‘Legal Bootleg Series,’ a download-only concert series that kicks off with choice gigs recorded in 1978, 1988 and 2000.

Fans who shelled out big cash for the just-issued mega-deluxe edition of U2’s new ‘U2 360° at the Rose Bowl’ concert DVD received a nice bonus: a red-vinyl 7-inch single featuring the previously unreleased song ‘Soon,’ a 2-minute track left over from the ‘No Line on the Horizon’ sessions.

With the expanded reissue of R.E.M.’s third album, 1985’s ‘Fables of the Reconstruction,’ now just two weeks away, the folks at Capitol/I.R.S. are starting to give fans a taste of some of the 14 previously unreleased demos that will make up the second disc of the set.

Today sees the release of the sixth double A-side single from Peter Gabriel’s orchestral covers album ‘Scratch My Back’: his version of the Talking Heads’ ‘Remain in Light’ track ‘Listening Wind,’ backed by David Byrne’s take on ‘I Don’t Remember,’ off Gabriel’s third self-titled album.

Squeeze co-leader Chris Difford is in the midst of releasing his third solo album, ‘Cashmere If You Can,’ piece-by-piece each week through the Saturday Morning Music Club, which delivers multimedia bundles to subscribers’ desktop apps each Saturday.