Caught in the Net: Lord of the Rings' untouchable EP

Kurt Vile has recently been trekking around the UK, touring his wonderful album Smoke Ring for My Halo.

Now comes more music in the shape of an EP, five tracks of which were recorded during the LP sessions, with the final track being a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Downbound Train". So Outta Reach is released on digital and vinyl formats on 7 November, and will also be included in a two-CD re-release of the album. "The Creature", a track from the EP, was given its first airing this week and is a free download from Matador Records at ind.pn/nB0QeN. As with Smoke Ring..., it's a fine mélange of psych-rock, grunge and folk.

Words and remixes don't come easy

"Tenere Taqqim Tossam" was the swaggering lead single from Tinariwen's recent album Tassili, fusing the Tuareg band's acoustic African blues guitars with propulsive rhythms and a swirl of voices, aided and abetted by Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio. It would be hard to top but Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet, had a go anyway, putting a link on Twitter (@FourTet) to a remix he had made of the song (ind.pn/pl6UgQ). Adding electronic clicks and beats, he speeds things up and spaces out the divergent parts, tossing them in the air and seeing where they land. It's a nice try. Later on Twitter, Hebden added, "anyone know what the lyrics mean in that Tinariwen track?!?! I have no idea what it's about..."

Field of dreamy techno-pop

Looping State of Mind, the third album by the Swedish ambient techno musician Axel Willner – better known as The Field – was released digitally this week. A physical version of the seven-track record follows in October. German label Kompakt have made one track from the album available free on Soundcloud at ind.pn/pxnHxl. Called "Then It's White", it's a slow, stately affair grown out of a set of looping piano and vocal samples. Dragging in elements of ambient techno, post-rock and shoegaze, it's truly gorgeous.

Whose sample is it anyway?

This showed up on my radar a few weeks back through the experimental music site alteredzones.com, but I've only got around to sampling it now. In 2010 the Icelandic sound artist Runar Magnusson created a 34-minute composition called "Lennon, Lynch & Lang", a collage of samples from the work of John Lennon, David Lynch and Fritz Lang. It's a strange experience, but fun to play spot the sample – I pegged the Lennon ones but others might have a better ear. It has been made freely available through the Surrism Phonoethics label at ind.pn/rcbFpd.

l.ryan@independent.co.uk