David Bowie has released the title track from his current album The Next Day as a single. The video was directed by Floria Sigismundi - the photographer and filmmaker who directed Bowie's last video, "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)". She also directed The Runaways and the video for Justin Timberlake's "Mirrors". The video for "The Next Day", which is set in a pub, stars Gary Oldman and Marion Cotillard alongside Bowie.

There’s a great video on www.uncut.co.uk at the moment of Neil Young singing ‘Happy Birthday’ in affectionate celebration of Willie Nelson, who was, astonishingly, 80 last month.

Various malign forces conspired to prevent me from posting this playlist in its rightful timeslot last week; apologies for that. But better late than never, I guess, and some fine new arrivals here from, among others, Duane Pitre, Bitchin Bajas, The Cairo Gang and Houndstooth.

The National played their song "Sorrow" live for six hours straight on Sunday (May 5) in New York. The band played the High Violet track over and over in a collaboration with artist Ragnar Kjartansson called A Lot Of Sorrow. Click below to see fan-shot footage of one of the performances of the song. The National ended up playing the track 105 times, reports Pitchfork, who add that drummer Bryan Devendorf sat out one take of the song.

Blur may record a new album in Hong Kong this week, according to Damon Albarn. The band were playing a date at Hong Kong's AsiaWorld-Expo last night, which was originally due to be followed by some postponed dates in Japan. Faced with a week to kill in Hong Kong, Damon Albarn teased that they may use the time to lay down some new material. Speaking to the crowd, Albarn said: "So we have a week in Hong Kong, and we thought it would be a good time to try and record another record." Scroll down to watch a clip.

Several Beatles songs that have never before been performed before were given their live debut by Paul McCartney on the opening night of his world tour. McCartney played "Your Mother Should Know", "Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite", "Lovely Rita" and "All Together Now" for the first time ever during the gig in Belo Horizone, Brazil on Saturday (May 4). You can watch fan-shot footage of the gig below.

Tom Waits joined The Rolling Stones live onstage on Sunday (May 5) to sing "Little Red Rooster" – you can watch fan-shot footage of the moment below. Waits joined The Rolling Stones on stage at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. "Little Red Rooster" was originally performed by Howlin' Wolf but Sam Cooke and The Doors have also recorded their own versions; the Stones released a version in 1964.

Black Flag have released a brand new song. Scroll down to listen to "Down In The Dirt", which comes ahead of a new album. The song can be downloaded for free via SST Records by clicking here. Ron Reyes, Greg Ginn, Gregory Moore and Dale Nixon are currently putting the finishing touches on an LP, which is set for release later this year.

Hand-typed lyrics to a Bob Dylan song which he never recorded are expected to sell for £35,000 when they go up for auction next month. Dylan's lyric sheet for "Go Away You Bomb" will go under the hammer at Christie’s in London on June 26. The song was written for a 1963 anti-nuclear weapons campaign, writes the Guardian.

The Rolling Stones kicked off their 2013 50 and Counting tour last night (May 3) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The band were joined by Mick Taylor, who has been announced as special guest on the tour, to play "Midnight Rambler". Other guests included Gwen Stefani, who joined the band for "Wild Horses" and Keith Urban who played guitar and sang during "Respectable".