Elisa Bray: Caught in the net

Prolificacy in musical output is a double-edged sword, particularly when it comes to the double CD release. You're expecting your fans to lay out not just for one but two albums, so they'd better both be good.

Mercury Rev have pulled it off: with a long enough break of three and a half years since their last studio album The Secret Migration to keep fans in suspense, they are releasing their new album Snowflake Midnight on V2/Cooperative Music with a second simultaneous album for fans to download for free.

All you have to do is register on their website www.mercuryrev.com anytime from now, and on 29 September you will be able to download the 11-song MP3 companion album Strange Attractor for free (whether or not you buy its companion piece). In the meantime, their single "Senses On Fire" is available now as a free download on their website.