The closing of Beano’s is a sad occasion but this is a telling quote: “even though most of our singles are now at half price, we’re not selling that many more, which makes me think that they were overpriced and the market was overpriced.”

NME is going to be publishing a US edition?

Fortune is reporting that an Apple Computer/Apple Corps deal to bring the Beatles catalogue to iTunes is imminent.

I realise Andy Ihnatko is not without bias but his evisceration of Zune (“the overall experience is about as pleasant as having an airbag deploy in your face”) is amusing, and his candor is refreshing (on Universal Music CEO Doug Morris: “a big, clueless idiot… do you honestly want morons like him to have power over your music player?”).

David Gilmour is releasing an EP of Syd Barrett songs on 26 December (digital versions will be available for download on Christmas day).

All three recordings are from recent concerts: two live versions of Arnold Layne (one with vocals by Richard Wright; the other by David Bowie) and a solo acoustic performance of Dark Globe.