"Important" U2 news

You may not be aware of this, but U2 have a new album coming out next week. You think they'd do some promotion, or a discreet interview on the BBC. Strange to have omitted such a crucial plank of their marketing, er... gangplank.

Anyway, I have spent the morning listening to No Line On The Horizon it on Spotify (it's legal, don't worry) and, terrifyingly, it's not completely awful.

Get On Your Kinky Boots, probably the worst song of 2009, is probably the worst song on it. One or two of the tracks, Stand Up Comedy and I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight, veer dangerously close to being catchy pop tunes.

Unbelievable news, readers. Simply unbelievable.

Anyway, it turns out that the band have been playing a low-key set for a tiny provincial radio station this morning. If you want to hear them do a new song (Breathe - a bit like Simple Minds covering Bob Dylan's The Times They Are A-Changing) and their last proper classic, Beautiful Day, I would click on this link. Or try this one for an MP3.



PS: If you don't know what Spotify is, I insist that you check it out. Here's a quick guide which I've adapted / plagiarised from Popjustice.

1) Spotify is a programme you install on your PC or Mac, which looks and feels a bit like iTunes.

2) It has songs from all the major labels and quite a few of the indies available for instant, high-quality streaming. Pre-release stuff, remixes, the entire Girls Aloud catalogue. It's amazing.

3) You can listen to full albums, or bounce around picking tracks at random.

4) It's completely s legal... but ad-supported.

5) You only have to listen to one advert every half-an-hour or so, so it's not too intrusive.

6) You can make playlists, like in iTunes, and share them with friends.

7) Even better, you can make "collaborative playlists" that people can add tracks to. The new additions appear instantly - so everyone gets to hear (or skip) your amazing choices

8) You can sign up and download it here. The ability to create an account seems to have a daily limit on it, but I've got a few invites to share if anyone wants one.

If you manage to download it and get it working, I've started a Discopop Directory playlist here (The link launches Spotify and takes you straight to the playlist). Add some tracks, and we'll all have a Friday night disco. No UB40, plsthxbye.

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