We love The Strokes at BBC Radio 6 Music - in our eleven years on air the've grown up alongside us, with songs from all their previous four albums becoming staples of our playlist.It's not just on record they excel, live they're also a formidable proposition – remember Reading 2011 when Jarvis joind them on stage?

In honour of their return, this Sunday we want to create the ultimate Strokes playlist - but we need YOUR help picking the tunes. It could be:

*Your favourite track by the band, b-side, album track, rarity or 6 Music Greatest Hit nominated 'Juicebox'.

*Other artists Julian Casablancas has worked with such as Queens of the Stone Age, Danger Mouse, Santigold...or even some of his solo material. *

*Acts which scream New York – Blondie, LCD Soundsystem, The Rapture… This list is endless.

*Their punk influences like The Ramones and The CBGBs

*Contemporaries such as Interpol, The White Stripes and The Hives

*Or up-and-coming artists who owe much to The Strokes - perhaps The Vaccines or Palma Violets?

It's up you to shape the playlist. Tweet your suggestions using #strokes6music, leave your suggestions on our Facebook page, email us your Strokes stories or add tracks to our collaborative Spotify Playlist. And you're a Strokes fan be sure to tune in to BBC Radio 6 Music this Sunday at 6pm for two hours deduicated to the band and their world. Is This It? Definitely.

 

 In a scene full of big personalities, DJ Yoda is one of the biggest. Hip hop DJ and turntablist extraordinaire, Yoda has been chopping, screwing, cutting and gluing since the nineties, creating sonic odysseys unlike anything else. This Sunday he takes over Now Playing @6Music for a unique two hours of radio...but he needs your help.

 Yoda has picked six songs to kick the show off, but after that it's up to you to turn selector and rifle through the virtual crates, offering track suggestions that you'd like him to play out. Need some inspiration? Here's what the man himself had to say about his tastes and dispositions:

"The music I grew up on was definitely hip-hop and pop. There was a lot of sampling and scratching going on in this period of music, so I guess that's what inspired me to start DJing. Throughout the 90s I pretty much listened to nothing but rap music, but around 2000 (when hip-hop started a bad period for me) I started listening to, and playing out, more clubbier stuff. Not really so much house music; more like jungle, dancehall, whatever. I think in the last few years hip-hop has got really good again. People like Action Bronson, who is on my album, Kendrick Lamar, and Kanye West is always inspiring."

If that doesn't get your mind whirring, how about these?

 * Other legendary turntablists, like Beat Junkies, DJ Shadow, DJ Krush or Kid Koala

* Acts who have appeared on DJ Yoda's releases, like The Pharcyde, Kid Creole or Scoobius Pip

 * Artists sampled by DJ Yoda, such as Billie Holiday, George Formby, Hall & Oates, and far too many more to mention

* New hip hop acts that you think are the future of the genre, like Azealia Banks, ASAP Rocky and Angel Haze.

When it comes down to it though, the playlist is yours -  and DJ Yoda's - hands, so let us know what you think he should play.  Leave your suggestions below, post them on our Facebook Page, tweet them to us and Yoda using #yoda6music, email us or add suggestions to our collaborative Spotify playlist. And remenber, if you're a DJ Yoda fan tune in  1800 GMT on Sunday.  

--

It's not often you hear new material from Prince, so when he debuted a brand new song  - 'Rock N Roll Love Affair'  - on US TV this week it's no wonder it was met with howls of delight online.

The song - performed for chat show host Jimmy Kimmel - also marks the first time that the Purple one  has ever allowed a performance to be uploaded to YouTube, a big shift from his previous stance on the subject.

To mark his return, we thought what better idea than to ask you to create the ultimate Prince inspired playlist on BBC 6 Music? It could be:

*His influences, from Sly & The Family Stone to Parliamant via Hendrix, Duke Ellington & Curtis Mayfield. 

*Influencees - perhaps Outkast, Lenny Kravitz or Pharrell Williams?

*Collaborators - maybe you'd like to hear the Bangles, Chaka Khan or even Wendy & Lisa?

*Your favourite Prince tracks, rarities and B-sides

It's up to you - to get involved leave your suggestions below, post them on our Facebook page, tweet them to us using #prince6music, email us or add suggestions to our collaborative Spotify playlist. And remenber, if you're a Prince fan we'll be turning 6 Music purple from 1800 GMT on Sunday.  

 

Next Monday The xx release their sophomore album Coexist, the eagerly awaited follow up to their game changing debut LP.

It’s been a crazy 24 months for the band since their eponymous debut won the Mercury Music Prize in September 2010. Their music has become ubiquitous, sound tracking films, TV shows, smokey late-night clubbing sessions and much, much more. In addition Jamie xx has become one of the world’s hottest producers, working with Drake and reworking the whole of Gil Scott Heron’s final LP.

To celebrate the release of Coexist - which you can stream in full at the xx website - the band have recorded an exclusive session and interview with Steve Lamacq which will be broadcast on Monday September 10. So to get you in the mood, this Sunday on Now Playing @6Music we’re asking what would you put on the ultimate xx playlist?

It could be:

* B-sides, rarities or your favourite tracks from the band’s debut
* Remixes and samples of xx tracks
* Fellow Elliott School alumni, such Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet
* Your favourite We’re New Here reworks, or indeed Gil-Scott Heron originals
* Non Gil-related Jamie xx remixes, such as Florence and The Machine’s You Got The Love or Adele’s Rolling in the Deep
* Acts they’ve inspired, including SBTRKT
* Acts they’ve toured with, such as Friendly Fires, The Big Pink, and Micachu and The Shapes

As usual you can shape the playlist by leaving a comment on this blog or on Facebook, Tweet us using #xx6Music, e-mail us or drag a track into our collaborative Spotify playlist.

Cited by pretty much everyone who’s ever picked up a synthesizer, it wouldn’t be an understatement to say electronic music wouldn’t exist in the form it does today without Düsseldorf’s finest. From house to techno via electro-pop and trance; it can all be traced back to the glowing analogue synths of 1974’s ‘Autobahn’.             

Four decades on and Ralf Hutter and his cast of conspirators – some human and, lest we forget, some robot -  continue to inspire and fascinate in equal measure. Perhaps it’s the mythology that surrounds them, from the impenetrable fortress of Kling King Studios to the cycling (oh, the cycling!), but most of all it’s the timeless quality and warmth of their music.    

This weekend 6 Music celebrates 30 years since Kraftwerk’s ‘The Model’ hits number 1 in the UK charts. On Friday’s Now Playing @6Music we’re kicking it off by putting together the ultimate Kraftwerk inspired playlist… but we need your help.

 We want you to get in touch with your Kraftwerk related track suggestions and stories about the band. It could be:         

*your favourite Kraftwerk tracks, b-sides and rarities. 

*Music which influenced their sound, from the krautrock of Neu! and Amon Duul II to Can and Faust. 

*Acts who’ve sampled or paid homage to their sound; from OMD and Coldplay to New Order and Afrika Baambaataa.  

*Bands they’ve influences – from synth pioneers Heaven 17, Soft Cell and Depeche Mode to dance icons Derrick May and The Orb via David Bowie.

*New bands and musicians channelling their unique spirit, from Factory Floor to Joe Goddard.

You can leave your suggestions right now, via Facebook, e-mail, twitter (using the hashtag #kraftwerk6music), drag a track to our shared Spotify playlist or leave a comment on the blog below. Most importantly if you're a Kraftwerk fan remember to tune to BBC Radio 6 Music from 7pm on Friday and keep it locked over the whole weekend. 

Where to begin with David Bowie? Musician, actor, artist, style icon... There can’t be another musician who’s made such a profound and lasting impact on popular culture and who still resonates with artists today.

Although we haven’t heard anything from him since 2003’s Reality, the Thin White Duke seems more relevant than ever. Any 6 Music listeners who caught the ‘lost‘ footage of Bowie performing The Jean Genie on Top Of The Pops or found a copy of Peter Doggett’s The Man Who Sold The World under their tree over Christmas will understand why he continues to fascinate, whilst a cursory glance at the BBC’s Sound of 2012 long list sees Niki And The Dove and Spector channeling elements of his persona.

This weekend Davie Bowie turns 65, so on Friday January 6 from 7pm, Now Playing @ 6Music will be charging its glasses and compiling a playlist celebrating his music and influence over the last four decades . But we need YOU to choose what we play.

We need you to suggest your favourite Bowie - and Bowie related - tracks to play. It could be:
*Your favourite Bowie singles, album tracks and rarities
*Musicians who influenced Bowie - Marc Bolan, Syd Barrett, The Velvet Underground?
*Artists who he’s collaborated with during his career; maybe Iggy Pop, Mick Jagger, Brian Eno or Nile Rodgers?
*The bands Bowie’s influenced, from Visage to Roxy Music via Suede, Gary Numan, The Pixies and the New York Dolls, to name but a few.

* And, probably the most important question, do we dare play The Laughing Gnome?

You can get touch via Facebook, e-mail, Twitter (using the hashtag #Bowie6Music) drag a track to our shared Spotify playlist or leave a comment on the blog below. Whatever you do, if you’re a Bowie fan make sure you’re tuned in to Now Playing on BBC 6 Music this Friday from 7pm.

There was also new music from The Horrors and Drake, a trawl through #nowplaying digging up a forgotten slice of early 90s hip hip from Arrested Development  and a 6 song playlist from continent straddling blog Cougar Microbes. 

What We Played 

My Bloody Valentine - What You Want 

#Digital Digest

*The annual US Music Hackday has come up with a fun -  if somewhat pointless -  Spotify & boozing mashup, called Drinkify.  

*The Antlers are the latest band to cover the xx. You can download their cover of VCR from Pitchfork 

*and talking of the xx, the Drake album has leaked - and - oh my, someone call the autotune police - he’s done a version of THAT Jamie xx tune.  

#Now Viewing

*The wonderful Andrew Weatherall has delivered a 90 min lecture on dance music, downloading and bouffant facial hair (Vimeo)

*Lana Del Ray’s been captured on video premiering a new tune, though be warned, it does contain some ripe language  (YouTube)

*the latest edition of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert features spectral Swedish sensation Jens Lekman  

*and The Horrors have gone all Thin White Duke on us, with a cracking cover of ‘Suffragette City‘ (via Abeano)

#NowPlaying

Arrested Development — Tennessee

#MP3 Free

Loney, Dear - Calm Down

Bouts - We Tried

Electric Guest - American Daydream

Monomono - Make Them Realise

Lana Del Rey - Blue Jeans (Penguin Prison remix)

#MBV6Music - a playlist celebrating My Bloody Valentine

 
My Bloody Valentine — Sometimes
Ride — Vapour Trail
Primal Scream — Accelerator
Teenage Fanclub — Neil Jung
Wire — Map Ref. 41 N 93 W
Hurricane #1 — Rising Sign (Kevin Shields Mix)
Iggy Pop — Livin' On the Edge Of The Night 

The Jesus and Mary Chain — Happy When It Rains
The Frank & Walters — Take Me Through This Life (Kevin Shields Mix)
Ringo Deathstarr - Imagine Hearts
My Bloody Valentine — Soon (Andrew Weatherall Remix)

#Blog6Music Takeover - Boaz from Cougar Microbes 

Friends — I'm His Girl
Tashaki Miyaki — Something is Better Than Nothin'
Kick Up The Fire — No Fun In London
Les Savy Fav — Sleepless In Silverlake
Alana Stewart — Boy Next Door
Casiokids — Det Haster
Alexander — TRUTH (RZA Remix)

 

Throbbing, powerful and intense, My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Loveless’ was nothing short of a revelation when it was released 20 years ago this week.

Recorded in 19 studios over two years and costing a rumoured £250,000 - a staggering amount for a pre-Oasis Creation records to cough up - it still sounds as vital as ever two decades on.

Taking its cues from both the shoegazing movement and early 90s dance culture, ‘Loveless’ fused layers upon layers of buzzsaw guitar with an almost balearic rhythmic sensibility  and the woozy, melancholy vocals of Kevin Shields and Bilinda Butcher. Oh and it was loud. Man, it was SO loud.  Released at the end of a vintage year for alternative music, ‘Loveless’ many not have made the commercial impact of Nirvana’s Nevermind, but it was arguably the most sonically innovative record of 1991.

Two decades on and…well, we’re still waiting for a follow up. Shields my have ploughed his own musical furrow elsewhere, but the hyperbole around the band’s reunion performances in 2008 demonstrated what an indelible mark they’d left on alternative culture. For those us who weren’t old enough to see them the first time round, watching them in their full pomp at London’s Roundhouse or, in my case, at a rain soaked Bestival, was a stark reminder just what an impact they made.    

So, in honour of ‘Loveless’ reaching its 20th birthday, we’re dedicating the middle hour of Now Playing to My Bloody Valentine - and we want your help curating the playlist. We want your suggstions of

*Favourite MBV  tracks, rarities and remixes (Weatherall’s mix of ‘Soon’ anyone?)

*The music which influenced ‘Loveless’ from Robert Fripp and Brian Eno to Sonic Youth

*Other Kevin Shelds collaborations from Primal Scream to J.Mascis via Sofia Coppola and Placebo

*Creation bands from the same era - The Fannies, Ride or maybe The House of Love

*Contemporary acts who’ve taken their cues from MBV - perhaps The Horrors, Smashing Pumpkins or Mogwai?

As ever you can email us your suggestions, post your comments on the 6 Music Facebook page, tweet us or drag tracks to our collaborative Spotify playlist

 

So after their storming Bestival performance at the weekend, what better band to celebrate on Now Playing than the mighty Cure? We were literally bombarded with suggestions of tracks related to the group and boy, have they made an impact on you over the last three decades. From people who walked down to the aisle to ‘Pictures of You’ to couples who’ve named their daughters Charlotte (Sometimes), Robert Smith and company seemed to have touched the 6 Music audience in a way that few other acts have. It was also lovely to see so many messages from people who had seen the band play in early 1980s and were still there in the audience on the Isle of Wight last weekend. Dedication indeed.

Also in the show we heard new music picked by CMU and The Blue Walrus, a fantastic cut from the new Kasabian album out next week and a snippet of a new Thom Yorke track called The Twist. Sample lyric? “The Twist/The Twist/The Twist…” oh, you get the idea.           

TRACKLIST

The Cure – Friday I’m In Love

#Digital Digest

*Thom Yorke has done a new mix for Mary Anne Hobbs featuring a preview of a new track ‘The Twist.’ You can hear it on MixCloud.  (via, well...every blog basically)

*Stereogum have published their 40 bands to watch in 2011 accompanied by a free 40 song digital mix tape to download for free.

 *MGMT have curated the latest in the 'Late Night Tales' compilation series and recorded a brand new version of Bauhaus’s  ‘All We Ever Wanted Was Everything’ which they’ve uploaded to Soundcloud (va Pitchfork)

 *The Big Pink are back, back, back with the first cut from their second album called ‘Stay Gold’, which you can see on their offical website. 

#Now Viewing

*Time magazine have an exclusive video of Ryan Adams performing ‘Dirty Rain’ from his new LP.

*Abeano are singing the praises of Frank Ocean’s new video which features ‘cowboys and witchcraft. Well, someone’s got to, haven’t they?    

*Evidence that YouTube is going to be renamed Bon IverTube was boosted this week after someome uploaded a video of him covering Don Henley’s If Hollywood Don't Need You (Honey I Still Do) (via Pitchfork) 

*Neon Indian has posted a new video for his new song ‘Polish Girl’ full of cyborgs who look like Daft Punk’s scruffier cousins  (via. Stereogum)

#NowPlaying

Radiohead – Street Spirit (Fade Out)

#Blogging – Andy from CMU

Aluna George – You Know I Like It

Listener - Falling In Love With Glaciers

The Dying Seconds - Mora Minn

Cure Inspired Playlist Pt.1 related playlist part 1 – with suggestions from Facebook, Spotify, the blog and e-mail

The Cure – A Forest

Sarabeth Tucek – Three Imaginary Boys

Dinosaur Jr – Just Like Heaven

Crystal Castles feat. Robert Smith – Not In Love

Frida - I Know There’s Something Going On

The Cure – One Hundred Years

The Japanese Popstars feat. Robert Smith – Take Forever

#Now Streaming

The Subways – Money And Celebrity (via NME.com)

Meg Baird – Seasons On Earth (via NPR Music)

Tori Amos – Night Of Hunters (via NPR Music)

Kasabian – Velociraptor! (via The Guardian)

#Blogging – Tim from The  Blue Walrus

Django Django - Waveforms

No Ceremony – Hurt Love

Alt-J - Breezeblocks

#NowPlaying

Amy Winehouse - Back To Black

Cure Inspired Playlist Pt.2– with suggestions from Facebook, Spotify, the blog and e-mail

Siousxie & The Banshees - Dear Prudence

The Cure - Charlotte Sometimes

Pigbag - Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag

Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance

Jimi  Hendrix Experience - Foxy Lady

Nouvelle Vague - A Forest 

The Cure - Pictures Of You 

We thought it only right and proper that this week Now Playing reflects the wide, wonderful - and sometimes weird – acts who have been recognised over the award's 19 year history. For example: 

* The emergence of Dizzee Rascal for example, as the Boy in the Corner burst from the grime scene into popular domination
* Primal Scream's Screamadelica as the inaugural winners...remember them losing the prize cheque too? 
* The 'robbery' of Richard Hawley when Arctic Monkeys walked away with the award in 2006
* And, who could forget Speech Debelle? Err... a lot of people actually.

Give us your suggestions for your favourite tracks from Mercury Music Prize winners or nominees past and present in the usual ways – via our new Facebook page, e-mail, Spotify, leave a comment here - or any other way you can think of getting the message to us.

 

Napster is back! Well, sort of. The company with a cat in headphones as a mascot has launched an app for iPhones and Androids, allowing you to stream music for £10 a month or £100 for the year. More info on their site.

The Red Hot Chili’s return single The Adventures of Raindance Maggie has leaked, and consequently has been made available to download. Listen to it on Pop Bytes and Lost in the Sound.

The Kooks are also back – to sample the sort of stuff they are going to be playing in the next couple of months watch video for Is It Me on YouTube now.

The next series of Radiohead remixes are now up. Nathan Fake has taken on Morning Mr Magpie while Mark Pritchard has edited Bloom twice – once in his own name and the other his Harmonic 313 moniker – listen at the Huffington Post.

The video for Kasabian’s single Switchblade Smiles is now up on Vimeo. Directed by Aitor Throup and with music produced by Dan the Automator it has already got a lot of people talking.

And with the Mercury nominations being announced tomorrow, The Line of Best Fit have given the first half of their alternative nominations for this year’s award - they include James Blake, Wild Beasts and SBTRKT.

Morrissey stopped by Janice Long’s BBC Radio 2 show and debuted three previously unheard tracks. Action is My Middle Name, The Kid’s a Looker and People Are the Same Everywhere are likely to be on his finished tenth studio album which is still without a label. Listen to them at The NJ Underground. 

Metallica have announced via a blog on their official website one of the more unusual musical collaborations in 2011 by confirming they are set to release a full length record with Lou Reed. The project has been in the making since 2009 with more details to follow. 

Kanye West and his ‘people’ have hit back at blogs after many posted new track Mama’s Boyfriend. In a statement they say “The version of the Kanye West recording ‘Mama’s Boy’ that arrived on blog sites earlier this week is entirely bogus and unsanctioned, and violates the artist’s creative intentions” – read it in full at One Thirty BPM and listen to the disputed track. 

Mumford and Sons covered The National’s England for VH1 Unplugged – the result is up at EW.com 

A new track from rapper Nas has emerged on YouTube. The ex-husband of Kelis who currently sits on top of the UK Charts with Calvin Harris, comes back with track Nasty, after his recent collaboration with Damian Marley.  

And in the build up to father’s day, Spinner have come up with some musical presents which bring the old man up to speed with modern music. They suggest for those who like Bob Dylan try Josh Ritter, fans of Beck go for Gorillaz, while those who like Bowie give TV on the Radio a try – many more up on their site.