Nine Inch Nails bowed out as a live act onstage in Los Angeles on Thursday with a star-studded final show and a rendition of their classic track "Hurt."

Frontman Trent Reznor announced the band would cease live work after four shows in Los Angeles, but had to postpone his farewell after falling ill and scrapping shows last week.

The finale took place at the Wiltern Theater on Thursday, and included electro-pop pioneer Gary Numan, Dave Navarro and members of heavy rock more...

What's in a name? When it comes to music scenes, a great deal. As soon as that fuzzy, FX-thick guitar music of the late 80s was lumpenly dubbed 'shoegaze' by the UK press, its future unfashionability was guaranteed. But in the US, where it was named 'dreampop', it remains an adored cult. Understandably so: dreampop is a beautiful, evocative, lavish phrase, and one that perfectly describes Engineers' second album.

That Engineers are

more...

Dutch DJ Marcello's music policy revolves around celebrating life and accentuating the positive, an attitude it's hard to criticise without sounding curmudgeonly. Why it does seem fair to take issue with his modus operandi, however, is that it results in long stretches of his addition to Supperclub's Ninesins series conforming to the most dispiriting aspects of chillout and cocktail bar house music: politeness, complacency, anonymity and derivativeness.

more...

To celebrate its 40th anniversary Trojan have given their most renowned collection a deluxe makeover. Furnished with an extra disc of material, Tighten Up Volume 2 remains a good entry-point for people who like the sound of reggae and love to dance – just as it was four decades ago.

The UK was then the second biggest market for reggae (unlike today where it lags behind continental Europe). The most zealous converts were the

more...

Can't wait for Sex and the City II? Not a problem: here's Confessions Of A Shopaholic, Sophie Kinsella's chick-lit romantic comedy about a fashion-obsessed financial journalist whose spending habits land her in trouble with, ahem, hilarious consequences.

Happily, Confessions' soundtrack scores considerably higher than the shambles assembled to accompany the adventures of Carrie Bradshaw last summer. The tone is sassy and sharp –

more...

As the CD compilation market grows tinier and more fractured, the annual collection that accompanies the annual BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards becomes more indispensable. Like the Rough Trade Counter Culture CD which brings together the best in indie, this 24-track gathering of all the nominees is the one-stop shop for the folk uninitiated and a perfect round-up for the aficionado.

Compiled by the show's Executive Producer, John Leonard,

more...

This wonderful compilation is a dream come true to followers of the latest and greatest bands on the alternative/nu-folk rock scene. Compiled by Aaron and Bryce Dessner from The National, the cast of performers here reads like a who's who of acts Pitchfork readers like to namedrop.

Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Feist, Beirut and Bon Iver are just a few of the cool names who have contributed high quality tracks to this album which

more...