David Emery Online

So, Converse is opening a recording studio in Williamsburg, and nobody seems entirely sure what to make of it. Is this a well-earned payday for struggling musicians? A shameless corporate buyout of the last remaining scraps of “indie integrity?”

4AD introduces Twin Shadow, the latest addition to the 30 year-old label, rubbing shoulders alongside the likes of Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Bon Iver, Deerhunter and The National. Initially discovered by Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor, 4AD will release the debut album Forget on November 15th.

British Sea Power release a generous seven-track EP on Monday 4 October. The Zeus EP is the band's first release since The Man Of Aran soundtrack from 2009 and acts as a wild and wunderbar-wonky precursor to the band’s fourth studio album, set for release in 2011.

...Sites enable smaller labels and less mainstream artists to spread the word about their talents, said David Emery of Beggars Group, a collection of independent record labels. "Word of mouth has always been incredibly important to us and now it's easier than ever to get the word out there," he said. Different networks play different roles, he added. "Twitter is great for artists interacting directly with fans, like MIA, who has millions of followers and will do things like make a video on her phone and post it on Twitter. That is so much more powerful than traditional marketing.

This is important.

Historically, there’s been a buffer between star and audience. And this buffer was managed by professionals who’d seen it all and told you how and when to play. It was like everybody with a media profile had a coach. And if you disobeyed him, you were booted from the team.

But now, through the magic of the Web, through the magic of Twitter, a celebrity can speak directly to his audience, can tell his side of the story, sans the reinterpretation and the agenda of the media.

We asked Apple to explain and just heard back from a spokesperson that "artist profiles were launched by invitation, but we'll keep adding more and more." No information was provied on who is handing invites or what criteria they are using. But bands do have another option ...kind of. "Any iTunes user can create a profile on Ping, artist or otherwise," reminds Apple.

What would a music experience designed specifically for the modern web look like? This is a question we've been playing around with for the last few months. Browsers and web technologies have advanced so rapidly in the last few years that powerful experiences tailored to each unique person in real-time are now a reality.

Morisset has worked with designer Caroline Robert to create a digital artwork that appears when the album is played on mp3 players like the iPod or iPhone. The work deliberately echoes the pleasures of old vinyl record sleeves, where the song lyrics were often written out in full. Each track on the album has an individual image that appears on the iPod screen when it is played, with the lyrics of the song then appearing on the screen as they are sung.

...But actually this is one of the most forward-looking electro-guitar pop albums of the year (by turns it mixes Atari Teenage Riot with MIA, the Mary Chain and industrial hip-hop beats). It seems to constantly push you to the edge of your senses and then reels you back in. It wants to give you a headache and then sooth your brow.