YMC Radio Buzzy

You Must Create (YMC) is a London fashion label which started out back in 1995. They've been causing a bit of a stir lately with a series of free-to-download podcasts, which Ben Ayres from Rough Trade emailed us to flag up. "If you like a bit of weird and rare 1950s audio," he says, "these podcasts are something else. A friend's done them and every track and each advert/jingle has been taken from original vinyl 7"s, no reissues allowed..."

www.youmustcreate.com

Bruce Springsteen - Life Itself

Quite the reverse of his 80s Boss persona, Springsteen has spent the last two decades subtly and poetically tackling American life through increasingly moving songs. In January he spoke at length with The Guardian about the departure of George Bush and "a historically blind administration who didn't take consideration of the past: thousands and thousands of people died, lives were ruined, terrible things occurred," and gave a away a free MP3 via the newspaper's website which gives a pretty accurate indication of where his head's currently at. Fine it at www.guardian.co.uk/music/audio/2009/jan/18/bruce-springsteen-free-download.

Say Hi - Wintry Music

As we can only dream of winter melting away, sample this emerging American songwriter who captures the season perfectly. "The overwhelming percentage of the year I spend cooped up writing records definitely comes with some cabin fever," Seattle-based Eric Elbogen - a/k/a Say Hi - told SPIN.com. "And this song is mostly about that." It's free from www.spin.com/audio/download/41395/Say_Hi-November_Was_White.mp3.

Antony and the Johnsons - My Lord, My Love

This is the bonus track from the new Antony and the Johnsons album, The Crying Light which is the follow up to the Mercury prize winning I Am a Bird Now. It's been on sale online since the middle of January but - quite differently to most other digital releases - was available as an "instant digital download," meaning fans who pre-ordered the album from www.antonyandthejohnsons.com were able to listen to it straight away, ahead of the release date. There's nothing 'bonus' about the track in question though - it's a cracker, and makes a perfect finale to the album.

Erasure - Total Pop! (Mute)

I've never really gelled with Erasure because - from the very start - they were never quite what I expected. I remember waiting through hours of ITV's Saturday morning zoo TX for them to close the show with their first ever appearance. Vince Clarke had always been so dark and techno-logical with Depeche Mode and Yazoo, and had appeared on the front of Look-In competitor Look Alive a few weeks before with wires sprouting from his head. So I was convinced I was going to see a cross between Kraftwerk and Fritz Lang. Yet I saw Erasure, something - as the duo themselves would say - was more technicolour Circus than black-and-white Metropolis.

Expectation and image aside, this compilation proves two things. One, that they have written a fair number of songs that are built to last (and would sound impressive in any format - from disco to piano/vocal), like Always, Am I Right? and Ship of Fools. And secondly, they know how to put together a compilation. The First 40 Hits is the subtitle of this double CD, but the Deluxe Edition box set is the one to go for, featuring a jam-packed DVD produced in conjunction with the BBC containing not only Top Of The Pops clips but appearances on Wogan, Going Live! and even The Tom O'Connor Roadshow!

As a footnote, while Andy Bell's fantastic Electric Blue proved he could cut it on his own, the compilation I'd really love to hear (or compile!) would be a Best Of Vince Clarke, covering not just Erasure and Depeche but one-off classics like The Assembly and his Paul Quinn collab, right up to the 00s cinematic excess of The Clarke & Ware Experiment.