Pulse

An unexpected new treat from the Hall of Famer...

It was National Poetry Day last week, a date I’m sure you found your own ways to celebrate. I was at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, where John Cooper Clarke was in residence for the evening, headlining a show that also featured appearances by fellow poets Mike Garry and Luke Wright, a couple of sharp young wordsmiths who by the look of them may not have been capable of joined-up writing when Clarke was in his glorious early pomp and may possibly not even have been born then, Wright especially looking like he’s only just stopped being looked after by baby-sitters and cooed over in a crib.

I interviewed James Murphy in late 2006, for a preview piece about The Sound Of Silver, the second album by his band, LCD Soundsystem.

With the new Uncut out tomorrow, it just occurred to me that I'd forgotten to post this review from the last issue. I did at least put up the full transcript of my email exchange with Ben Chasny, which you can check out by following this link. "Ascent" is on sale now, by the way.

Ryland’s points a righteous finger at the “deacons in the High Church of the Next Dollar”...

Bjork and legendary broadcaster David Attenborough have teamed up for a music documentary. Attenborough And Bjork: The Nature Of Music looks at the evolution of music, our relationship with music and how technology could impact this relationship in the future. Directed by Louise Hooper, the film is set to be broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK, reports Hollywood Reporter.

Twenty years of touring and recording, of inspiration and graft for moderate acclaim, and it comes down to this. Mark Kozelek, the pivot of first Red House Painters and now Sun Kil Moon, is engaged in one more slog around Europe. It is not going well.

A clip from LCD Soundsystem's forthcoming documentary, Shut Up And Play The Hits, is online. The clip from the film - released in the UK in August - features the band performing "Dance Yrself Clean" from their This Is Happening album at Madison Square Garden last year.

Sixteen entries on the playlist this week, and I should point out that the latest session from the Natch project is, as usual, a free download that’s definitely worth picking up.

4 CD box stuffed with blues, folk and songs that shaped an era...