Here are the top ten albums in Afterhours.

Damon Albarn of Gorillaz

1. Singer Nick Cave was involved in a car crash Tuesday December 8. Cave smashed his car against a speed camera on the Hove seafront in Sussex, England. Cave and his two sons who were with him walked away from the collision unharmed. He refused to comment on the incident, and no other cars were involved. (via BBC)

2. After completion of the Tron Legacy soundtrack, Daft Punk will now be getting their own line of merchandise from Disney. The merchandise that Disney will be offering in promotion of the film and soundtrack include a set of light-up headphones, and a set of toys that depict their likeness. (via Pitchfork)

3. Los Campesinos! have announced plans to release a quarterly magazine titled Heat Rash. The publication will include a 7′ single, and exclusive tracks to download from the band. The subscription also includes discounts to band merchandise, access to early concert tickets, and music before it gets released. (via LosCampesinos.com)

4. After announcing the process of recording an entire album on an iPad, Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn is planning on releasing said album for free on Christmas Day. The record, which was recorded exclusively on Albarn’s iPad during his latest tour, will be available in its entirety on December 25. (via NME)

5. The British super-group formed out of members of The Libertines and Arctic Monkeys have detailed information about the release of their debut album. The group, named The Bottletop Band, is prepared to release their album in April. (via NME)

This 13-year-old video of Daft Punk performing without costumes in Furthur, Wisconsin has been circulating the internet. Wikipedia makes the following statement about the video:

… a rare bootlegged video featuring the duo in Wisconsin matches the verified identity of Thomas Bangalter. Less clearly seen, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo is to Bangalter’s right and is mostly cut off from the camera. Comparing the artwork packaging of Homework to the video footage, one can verify that the album’s liner note photo was taken during this event.

So, why does Daft Punk wear costumes now?

Daft Punk have said that they donned their robot masks to easily merge the characteristics of humans and machines. However, Bangalter later stated that the costumes were initially the result of shyness. ‘But then it became exciting from the audiences’ point of view. It’s the idea of being an average guy with some kind of superpower.’ When asked on whether the duo expressed themselves differently within the robotic suits, Bangalter stated ‘No, we don’t need to. It’s not about having inhibitions. It’s more like an advanced version of glam, where it’s definitely not you.’

More about Daft Punk’s approach to managing fame is in the Wikipedia article.