With David Gilmour's UK shows looming (less than two weeks away) we have a selection of news items for you, including the release date for the vinyl edition of his album, some interview stuff, and information on some newly added shows.

David Gilmour (with Jon Carin, left)

• July 27th - Austria - Clam Castle, which is near Linz
• July 29th - Germany - Konigsplatz, München, Germany
• July 31st - France - Théâtre Antique, Vienne (south of Lyon)

Please don't ask if we know where else he is going to add - all we know is here! Once we have the other dates that will be added, we will update you. Our thanks to our friends at Pink Floyd Management, and also David Gilmour's management, for letting us know about these dates...

Talking of dates, we understand (although this is not officially confirmed yet) that the next single from David - "Smile" (hence the nice picture to the right!) - will be released in the UK on June 5th. DavidGilmour.com revealed last month that it will be a three track CD, and will also be available as a download from all normal legal download sites. The lead track will be an edit of the album version, and one of the bonus tracks will be "Island Jam" - as recently released as a bundled extra with the album from the US chain store, Best Buy. DavidGilmour.com has not yet revealed what the other track will be, yet.

The single can be pre-ordered through the following special links, for delivery upon its release: Amazon US/International, Canada, UK/Europe, France, or Germany.

We know many of you are eagerly awaiting the vinyl LP edition of David's On An Island, and it has now been official confirmed for UK and European release on May 29th. David's website advises that it will be a heavy-weight, virgin vinyl release, including a gatefold sleeve and 12" x 12" renditions of Steve Knee's artwork, plus all lyrics and credits. The album has been mastered in Los Angeles by Bernie Grundman and Doug Sax, but does include slight edits to the songs on side 2, to optimise the audio quality. As we've noted before, it is a single album, not double - many retailer (online and offline) are still making reference to a 2 LP set, erroneously.

David's site also notes that release plans via SonyBMG for territories outside Europe have not yet been finalised, so there will be more news about those countries in the near future.

If you aren't in the UK or Europe (and cannot wait!), you can still order through the following special links, as Amazon ship them worldwide: Amazon UK/Europe, France, or Germany. Any item bought through these links at Amazon (not just Floyd items) helps with the running costs of the site, and we really appreciate it.

Finally, some interview news. We mentioned back on April 6th that David would be undertaking a recording for America's XM Satellite radio. David's website are now reporting that the confirmed broadcast date for the performance is June 5th. More details of how to listen to XM Radio worldwide are in our earlier news story.

They note that it was a low-key acoustic presentation, and anyone who has read our exclusive review of the event courtesy of attendee, Brain Damage regular Adam Grossberg, will realise that it was a very special, unusual event. A broadcast not to be missed.

Finally, an interesting interview was published in the London newspaper, the Evening Standard, recently, which has David talking candidly about his life and work. Of the chances of a Pink Floyd reunion, he asks "What would make me want to go back there? What is it that people want? A load of men in their sixties playing their old tunes in football stadiums? It's mad... It's like being children of divorced parents. They all think it would be great if parents reunite but it's never the case."

He also talks about his relationship with Polly (both personal and professional) and reveals how his life hit some dangerous lows during his break up with first wife, Ginger.

You can read the full interview through this link.