Metric have spoken about their collaboration with Lou Reed, which appears on their new studio album, Synthetica. The Canadian band will release their fifth full-length offering on June 18. The record contains a total of 11 tracks, and has been produced by the group's guitarist Jimmy Shaw. Reed appears on a track called "The Wanderlust", singing backing vocals. Singer Emily Haines told NME that she first became friendly with The Velvet Underground man when he quoted some of her lyrics from "Gimme Sympathy" back at her.

Like many music fans of a certain age, John Peel turned me on to a lot of music I may otherwise only have stumbled upon much later, if at all. I remember, for instance, in July 1969, listening to his Top Gear show one weekend and hearing something that lit me up like a burning house. It didn’t sound like much else he played that afternoon and as I recall he was afterwards not altogether enthusiastic about it, as if he as wondering why, beyond the fact that it was new and wouldn’t have yet been widely heard, he’d even bothered playing it.

The titles of the first 100 albums of late legendary DJ John Peel's record collection have been released online today.

Duran Duran, Snow Patrol, Paolo Nutini and Stereophonics will all play a huge show in London's Hyde Park this summer to mark the start of the Olympics.

Blur and Gorillaz mainman Damon Albarn has invited Noel Gallagher to collaborate with him later this year.

The Gaslight Anthem will release their new album, Handwritten, on July 23. The album was produced by Brendan O'Brien. The band recorded the follow-up to 2010's American Slang in Nashville and have confirmed via their Twitter account Twitter.com/Gaslightanthem that they have also recently recorded a number of covers and a selection of B-sides. The Gaslight Anthem's brand new single, "45", received its world premiere last night [April 30] on BBC Radio 1 and was named DJ Zane Lowe's Hottest Record in the World.

The world of Lawrence is, by all accounts, a strange one. A singer once told me that, while visiting Lawrence at home, he was taken urgently by the need to use the lavatory. As the story was presented me, Lawrence flatly refused and the singer was forced to go outside to relieve himself. No one, it seems, uses the toilet chez Lawrence, apart from Lawrence.

Graham Coxon was forced to evacuate a hotel Falmouth earlier today (April 30) after it caught fire. The Blur guitarist, who is staying at the Beach Hotel ahead of his gig in the Cornish town tonight, spoke about the drama in a series of tweets. He wrote: "We have rooms at the Beach Hotel and had to leave when the smell the smell of smoke for [sic] a little much." Coxon then tweeted pictures of the burning hotel, before adding: "We watched it... We had to leave the foyer and then watch it get worse and worse...rather sad."

The film, which stars Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron, Noomi Rapace and Idris Elba, has been previewed by several trailers already, but none as lengthy as this one. The trailer was unveiled last night (April 29) and features a number of previously unseen clips, including a more detailed introduction to Theron's character Meredith Vickers, who has been billed as the film's villain.

The Beach Boys, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Bon Iver headlined the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival this weekend [April 27 - 29]. The Beach Boys, whose 50th anniversary tour kicked off in Tuscon, Arizona on Tuesday, April 24, played a 29 song-set on Friday night [April 27]. Bruce Springsteen, meanwhile, played a two and a half hour set on Sunday [April 29], and was joined on piano by Dr John for two songs, "Something You Got" and "Oh Mary Don't You Weep". Tom Petty and Bon Iver also played at the festival this weekend.