The acetate of the legendary debut album from the Velvet Underground, the one with the banana on the sleeve, that caused a furore on trading site eBay last year, has been made available to listen to on the web.

As previously reported on uncut.co.uk, this acetate copy of "The Velvet Underground & Nico" was originally purchased for a bargain 75 cents in 2002, by Warren Hill at a Montreal flea market, and is thought to be one of only two in existence.

A ‘friend’ mistakenly put in a successful bid of $155,401 for the record, but admitted he couldn’t afford to pay up!

Now, thanks to an anonymous source, the acetate has been converted into MP3 files, so everyone can hear what musical gems the rare disc contains.

The revelatory tracks now available for download are:

European Sun (Different Take)
Black Angel's Death (Different Mix)
All Tomorrow's Parties (Different Mix)
I'll Be Your Mirror (Different Mix)
Heroin (Different Take)
Femme Fatale (Different Mix)
Venus In Furs (Different Take)
I'm Waiting For The Man (Different Take)
Run Run Run (Different Mix)

Download here

Source Uncut

NINE INCH NAILS has set an April 17 release date for its new album, "Year Zero".

A special "Year Zero" page has been launched at yearzero.nin.com, featuring new photos from the studio. The site has also revealed the title of the second song on the 16-track album: "The Beginning of the End".

Reznor said that most of the album was recorded "in hotel rooms around the world on laptops," with very few musicians beside himself and "maybe some surprise vocalists that pop up here and there."

Source BBM

SMASHING PUMPKINS, MARILYN MANSON and SLAYER have been confirmed for the Greenfield Festival, set to take place June 15-17 in Interlaken, Switzerland. The festival billing is shaping up as follows:

SMASHING PUMPKINS
MARILYN MANSON
INCUBUS
SLAYER
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
THE HIVES
FLOGGING MOLLY
ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES
NAVEL
SNITCH

Source Greenfieldfest