by SHANE SINNOTT

Astute readers of the Mirror will remember the piece from a while back on how Warren Hill of Montreal bought a Velvet Underground acetate at a NYC street sale for 75 cents. It turned out to have alternate takes and mixes of the songs on The Velvet Underground and Nico that were completed before the recordings used in the commercially available version. The acetate also had the lucrative feature of being one of the few existing copies of these recordings, and after an eBay auction marred with fake bids, and then a second, restricted one, the thing eventually sold for $25,000.

Those without $25,000 to spend on collector’s items—and I’m told this is a major part of the Mirror’s readership demographic—can now download an MP3 copy of the record at fm-shades.blogspot.com (scroll down a bit, or search for “Velvet”). As you might imagine, it sounds scratchy and crackly as hell, but if you’re into this sort of thing, it’s essential.

If you’ve ever been curious what Will Oldham would sound like if he went for a less stark sound (or at least that’s what I think—the consensus of reviewers seeming to be that they sound like Nick Drake and Iron & Wine), you’d be well instructed to go see the Great Lake Swimmers tonight, March 15, at Casa del Popolo. There’s some tracks available at a blog called Sixeyes; download and listen to the beautiful “I Will Never See the Sun” at sixeyes.blogspot.com/2007/03/whats-hot-at-emusic.html.

And if you’ve ever been curious what it feels like to have your balls blown off by a band’s intensity, go see Isis at le National on Sunday. The Phoenix MP3 blog has a copy of the song “Dulcinea” available for download, along with what is so far my favorite description of their sound: “…meditative, Slint-like brooding over Melvins-grade menace—but clocks both while ghostriding the expressway to yr skull.” Yes! Check it at www.thephoenix.com/OnTheDownload/PermaLink.aspx?guid=0292f6fd-371f-4d2e-a78923d3e5a444ad.

Podcast Discovery of the Week: “In House With Jeremy Petersen,” daily, Monday to Friday. Recently played: Julie Doiron, Apostle of Hustle, Talking Heads, Modest Mouse. Visit inhouseradio.blogspot.com to subscribe.

Whatever it takes… ssinnott@gmail.com