A big round of applause today for charity Oxfam which has released a "Songs for Sudan" compilation album in support of aid efforts in that country's devastated Darfur region. The pressing - which is available by download only and exclusively from Oxfam's bignoisemusic.com - features 18 tracks from the likes of Ash, REM, Badly Drawn Boy, Jet, Faithless and David Gray. It costs £7.99, of which £5 goes directly to Oxfam.

Badly Drawn Boy (Damon Gough) said : "Men, women, and children are still dying every day in Sudan. People like us might not have the power to stop the violence but at least we can try and help the people affected by it. Oxfam is already saving lives, the least we can do is help them to save more."

Bootnote

To access bignoisemusic.com you'll need:

• A PC with a Microsoft Windows Operating System; Windows 98, ME, 2000 or XP
• Internet Explorer (version 5.0 or above)
• Windows Media Player (version 7.0 or above)
• Flash Plug In (version 5 or above)

Yes, we know. And here's more bad news: "Unfortunately, Big Noise Music is currently not available to Mac users because our service provider (OD2) is unable to obtain the necessary Digital Rights Management (DRM) software from Apple Computers Inc. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause."