The beginning of the year is traditionally slow in terms of new releases and new music. This gives us time to have a look at the back catalogue and remember great music from the past. Since some short- sighted people expect the world to end at 2012, we thought this would be a good opportunity to use this classic cut from R.E.M and tell them – no problem, bring it on!

By the way, last year, R.E.M declared that they were calling it a day, so it’s always a good thing to get yourself acquainted with one of the best bands ever in the history of music… download their back catalogue on iMesh

Jump!

From excitement that is, when you read that Van Halen are re-grouping with their original singer, the flamboyant and magnificent David Lee Roth, who departed from the band back in 1984.

Here’s one of their finest moments and a track that will get your juices ripe for the upcoming Van Halen tour.

If you need more reminders, head to iMesh and grab a bucket full of back catalogue albums

It was David Bowie’s 65th birthday a couple of days ago, and we are thrilled to mark this event on our blog.  Bowie is truly one of the most amazing musicians and singers to grace this planet, his list of timeless songs and albums are almost unmatched.  Here’s one of his signature songs from the height of his commercial success, back in 1983, Let’s Dance, produced by Nile Rodgers from Chic.

Happy Birthday David, here’s for many more to come, we will always cherish your music!

One of our favorite rappers is Talib Kweli, who always wears his heart on his sleeve, or in this case where his mouth and lyrics are. This new track, Distractions, is a precursor to his album Prisoner of Conscious, which will come out later this year. It connects the dots between Tahrir Square and the Arab spring to the protest on Wall Street.

Until his new album drops, check his previous releases on iMesh

French duo, Air, are back with another project – soundtrack for a classic 1901 film (!) ’Le Voyage dans la Lune‘ (the Trip to the Moon). Seems only apt, as their first album was called Moon Safari, don’t you agree?

Anyway, here’s a first glimpse into the album, a beautiful track which features the vocals of Victoria Legrand (Beach House).

One of the strongest cuts from Rihanna’s latest album has got its own video now. You Da One has sort of a digital reggae skank to it and a kooky chorus, and we hope to hear it at New Year’s Eve parties tonight…

Happy New Year iMesh friends!

There’s a long tradition of successful Irish rock bands, and it’s enough to mention the 4 lads of U2 as a prime example. Snow Patrol may haven’t achieved the same level of success, but let’s face it, U2 are a hard act to follow anyway…

Their sixth studio album, Fallen Empires, was released in Europe last month, and is coming out in the U.S. in a couple of weeks.  Here’s the album’s title track as a small taster.

Britney, Adele, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Nicky Minaj, Mary J Blige, Taylor Swift… the pop game today is all about the ladies. The top cat is of course Katy Perry who had an amazing year, closing it off with a guest slot on SNL last week. Respect.

Here’s the latest video from Katy, The One that Got Away.

Arcade Fire are one of the most successful indie bands out there and we especially love their mind boggling videos, always on the cutting edge of technology and design.

Their latest video project is for The Sprawl. You can watch the standard version here, or head to the official site and watch the interactive version.

Grab their latest album, The Suburbs, available on iMesh

B.O.B. is turning his gaze to the skies, where he observes an obscure climate phenomenon – namely Strange Clouds. Besides that, he manges to get Lil Wayne for a guest spot on the song.

But Seriously, Strange Clouds is from his next album, which is scheduled to drop in 2012.