Episode 6: The Maccabees get tongue-tied

Hi, I'm Nate Lanxon and this is Encoded, bringing you the very latest music-related goodness.

Pete Doherty and his band of... musicians have a brand new song to promote, and a new video to help them do it. 'You Talk', taken from Babyshambles' second album Shotters Nation is out on December 3rd and features the band walking through woodland, playing with sticks, levitating and doing something weird in a dark room.

Given the media carnival, which dances merrily along with every step the former Libertine takes, you may be surprised to hear that the album has received mainly positive reviews – you can check them out in Glasgow on the 1st of December if you want to make your own mind up.

Another band with a brand-spanking new video are The Maccabees, the Brighton five-piece who shot up the indie premier league this summer with a string of knockout festival shows and their oh-so-trendy debut album, Colour it In.

The latest single, 'Toothpaste Kisses', comes out in the New Year, and shows the band's remarkable improvisational skills as they get a game of pass the parcel underway without a parcel, using their tongues instead. You can catch this largely pointless video on the band's MySpace page, which is forward slash themaccabees.

Not playing tongue-tennis next year will be the Reading and Leeds festivals, who have separated from their long-term sponsor Carling, meaning they'll no longer go by the largely ignored Carling Weekend moniker. In an official statement to the press, organisers Festival Republic confirmed that they have parted ways with the beer giant, who has sponsored the twin festivals for nine years.

The southern leg of the event now looks set to revert to its former name, Reading Festival, originally used from the event's first year in 1971. However, yet to be announced is the name for its more violent northern counterpart. Leeds Festival perhaps? Not just a hat stand, friends.

Download news now, and this week sees the Mystery Jets release a brand new track to download free from their website. The song, 'Flakes' will not be available to buy from shops, and will only be downloadable for a limited period, so get it while you can. It's a real hark back to the halcyon days of Britpop, and shows that the band have lost none of their edge or poppy hooks, plus it's free.

Also available to download for free, though not until early next year, will be the ninth album from US punk behemoths Pennywise, who have signed to MySpace Records – the album is the first to come from the ad-supported site. The deal is supported by Textango, with MySpace users required to become a "friend" of the mobile phone company to access the free album, which will be available for a limited two-week period from March 8th.

It's a bit of a departure for the band that preached anti-globalisation and the like back in the nineties, but great news for everyone who likes their punk heavy and their pockets full.

Electro man of mystery Whitey has announced that he will be releasing a new limited limited EP in January, known as the Made of Night EP. It'll feature four brand-new tracks, and will be a limited pressing of only 500, so make sure you get your pre-orders in quickly.

After a post-debut hiatus, Whitey has been busy recently – finishing his album in America, moving to Brighton and producing burlesque twosome Broken Hearts debut single 'Black Cat'. Expect his album sometime in the spring.

Another band coming in from the cold are Wu-Tang Clan, whose latest offering 8 Diagrams finally sees the light of day on 11th December. However, all is not well though in camp-Wu, with name calling and hair pulling a-plenty due to various members claiming they're not getting their dues.

First to throw his toys out of the pram was Ghostface Killah, who was so upset that the release of his solo long player was going to clash with the release of the Clan's, the band agreed to move their release date back a week. Next up was Raekwon, who in a bizarre rant on Miss Info TV accused Wu-Tang backbone RZA of stealing from the rest of the group and announced that the other members will be recording yet another album in early spring, but without any involvement from RZA, who produces the majority of the tracks.

Finally, it wouldn't be December without some Christmas news, so here we go. Art Brut's moustachioed front-man Eddie Argos has teamed up with late-nineties indie-poppers Black Box Recorder on the hopefully titled 'Christmas Number One', which given Eddie's failed dreams of appearing on Top of the Pops, has no chance of being Christmas No. 1, but will inevitably be lapped up by the art-rock regulars.

The project goes under the name The Black Arts, which you can check out at myspace.com/christmasnumberonetheblackarts, where you can also see the video for the track, which Eddie describes as a "cross between William Burroughs and Slade".

Well I'm off to knock back some very early eggnog and tell small children Santa's dead. See you next week.