Move over Kanye & Jay-Z: Lou Reed, Metallica, Bon Iver and Drake go collaboration crazy

Kanye West and Jay-Z's collaborative album Watch The Throne has proved every bit the smash hit the world expected. Not only has it sold in excess of 436,000 copies worldwide already, but having been recorded in a series of hotel rooms with the latest technology, it's pointed the way for other artists to do the same with relative ease. Following their lead (or possibly they had the same idea themselves), here are three more high profile musical partnerships coming soon to a stereo near you.

Lil Wayne & Drake:
Inspired by Watch The Throne, Lil Wayne and Drake are preparing to collaborate on a joint album according to Cash Money Records founder Bryan "Birdman" Williams. "I listened to a few songs on Watch the Throne and it feels like an older feel to me. I think with Drake and Wayne, they young. They young cats," the Birdman declares. Few details are available at this moment, but for a clue as to what it might sound like, check out Lil Wayne's forthcoming single She Will, which features Drake. Quite a turnaround for a pair who were once rumoured to have a beef with one another...

Lou Reed & Metallica:
Proving it's not just the rappers getting collaborative, Metallica and Lou Reed are to release an album together entitled Lulu on 31 October. Despite its release coinciding with Halloween, Reed sounds confident it will be a treat. "It's maybe the best thing done by anyone, ever. It could create another planetary system. I'm not joking, and I'm not being egotistical," he told the New York Magazine. Based around a play about a young abused dancer's life, the concept album was inspired by German expressionist writer Frank Wededkind's turn of the 20th century plays Earth Spirit and Pandora's Box - collectively know was the Lulu Plays. Apparently the project was original conceived by Reed for a theatrical production in Berlin, before he ran into Metallica at the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame's 2009 New York gigs. Recorded in California since May this year, the finished album will feature ten songs. Here's a video from the impromptu jam at Madison Square Garden that gave them the idea to make an album together in the first place. Plus keep an eye on Loureedmetallica.com for regular updates.

James Blake & Bon Iver
James Blake turned heads last week (17 August) with a cryptic message on twitter declaring that he and Bon Iver (pictured) are teaming up. "24 August 2011 - James Blake & Bon Iver Fall Creek Boys Choir," Blake simply wrote kicking of speculation that the ... Choir could be anything from a song, an album, a supergroup or even an elaborate practical joke. Also a quick online search reveals that there's been Fall Creek Boys Choir around since 2007, so could this collaboration have another level to it? Well, neither are strangers to collaborations so anything is possible. Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon made his presence felt on Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Volcano Choir's Unmap, while Blake has played a key role in duo Mount Kimbie for some time.
Hopefully all will be revealed on the 24 August... And it turns out it's a song:

Al Horner

4:08 PM | 23/08/2011

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