October 20

Coldplay buy new recording studio
Coldplay plan to buy a London property and convert it into a state-of-the-art recording studio for use on the follow-up to 2005's X&Y. The building in Hampstead will also double as an office for members for the band's staff.
"We're trying to find somewhere we can set up and work from," drummer Will Champion said earlier this year. "In all of these years working together we haven't had a headquarters, our own studio, or anything like that. We want somewhere we can hole up and see what happens."
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501550


New Beyoncé material to feature on soundtrack
Beyoncé will release new track "Listen" in the US on November 13. It's the first single to be lifted from the soundtrack to Dreamgirls, a film in which she appears alongside Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy and Danny Glover.
The Dreamgirls soundtrack is due out on December 5, while the film arrives in US cinemas on December 21. The film, which tells the story of a girl group, is allegedly modelled on the tale of The Supremes.
The soundtrack's complete tracklisting is unknown, but it 's thought leaked Beyoncé tune "One Night Only" will also feature.
http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501558


Oasis to receive Outstanding Brit award
Oasis will be awarded the Outstanding Contribution To Music gong at next year's Brit Awards. The band will receive the honour during the ceremony at London's Earl's Court on February 14.
"Oasis set the standard for many of the young rock bands who are currently enjoying success in the UK charts," Brit Awards organiser Peter Jamieson said. "As the awards go live for the first time in nearly two decades, it is appropriate we should honour one of the most exciting live acts the UK has produced."
Previous recipients of the Outstanding Contribution Award include The Beatles, U2, Paul Weller, Tom Jones, Sting, David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Eurythmics and The Who.
Oasis are no strangers to the Brit Awards. In 1995 they won Best British Breakthrough Act, and in 1996 they scooped the pool with Best British Album for (What's The Story) Morning Glory?, Best British Group and Best British Video for "Wonderwall".
The band, who in last year's Guinness Book Of World Records were declared the UK's most successful act of the last decade, are due to release greatest hits collection Stop The Clocks on November 20.
Meanwhile, for the first time in its history, the Brit Awards will feature a live vote for the Best British Single category. Viewers will be able to vote for their favourite of the five short-listed singles, with the winner announced at the end of the show.
Nominations for the 27th Brit Awards will be unveiled at the Hammersmith Palais in London on January 16, 2007.
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Muse triumph at UK Festival Awards
Muse and Arctic Monkeys were the big winners at this year's UK Festival Awards.
Muse walked away with Best Rock Act and Best Headline Act for their performance at the Carling Weekend: Reading And Leeds Festivals, while the Arctic Monkeys bagged Anthem Of The Summer for "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor".
Radiohead's rare performance of early hit "Creep" at this year's V Festival won the Most Memorable Event gong, while The Kooks picked up Best Breakthrough Act and Primal Scream won Festival Feel Good Act. Mean Fiddler's Melvin Benn also picked up the Outstanding Contribution To Festivals gong.
More than one million public votes were cast in the three weeks prior to the award ceremony.

Muse: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3526261
Radiohead: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501830
Arctic Monkeys: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3543198
Kooks: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3544180
Primal Scream: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3500623


Tim Finn to tour Australia
With a brand new album – his seventh, Imaginary Kingdom – recently released, Split Enz singer Tim Finn will take to the stage in the new year.
Finn will return to Australia in February for a series of solo shows, plus performances alongside Pete Murray as part of the Day On The Green winery concerts.
Tickets for A Day On The Green go on sale Friday October 27, while Finn's solo shows will be on sale from Tuesday October 3.
Finn: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502302
Murray: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501566


Westlife defend Delta
Irish boy-band Westlife have come to the defence of Delta Goodrem, slamming UK newspaper reports suggesting she was responsible for the marriage break-up of former bandmate Brian McFadden.
"We feel sorry for Delta," singer Nicky Byrne, who collaborated with the Aussie pop star on Westlife's last album, Face To Face, said. "People blame her but she's the victim in this."
McFadden's ex-wife, Kerry Katona, has been speaking to the UK press in recent weeks, detailing their tempestuous marriage and stating her ex-husband's relationship with Goodrem pushed her towards drink and drug abuse.
Westlife: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501591
Delta: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3501561


Wilco's Jeff Tweedy punches fan
Remember not to heckle Jeff Tweedy. At a recent Wilco performance in Springfield, Missouri, Tweedy ended up punching a male fan who'd jumped onstage and grabbed the singer from behind.
"This guy was an idiot," the concert's production manager, Pat Hagin, said. "[Tweedy] certainly has a right and a need, in my mind, to feel safe onstage."
"I feel terrible," Tweedy told the crowd, as the fan returned to the pit. "I don't like to punch someone in the face. It sucks. We can make it better. I was having a really good time, but now I want to go sit down somewhere. But we can't do that. We're not gonna let those bastards win."
Tweedy later spoke out about the incident on the band's website.
"He approached me from behind and I reacted in defence to get him away. I didn't know what his intentions were, and I had to get him off of me. I'm sad that it happened at all."
Tweedy has a new solo DVD, Sunken Treasure, due out next week.
http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3500294


BRMC rev up for new album
California trio Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are back in the studio preparing for the follow-up to 2005's Howl LP.
The-as-yet-untitled record is "maybe 80 or 90 per cent done," according to singer Peter Hayes, who admitted it's been difficult to find the time to finish the album.
"We made the statement we wouldn't do anything until we get this done, but all of a sudden we get offers like the Rolling Stones [tour support]," Hayes said. "But we need to sit down and try to get this done if it's going to come out in February or March. I don't know how it happens but we always seem to be not on time, all the time."
BRMC: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502008
Rolling Stones: http://bigpondmusic.com/artistDisplay.asp?artistid=3502061


McCartney defends himself
The divorce between ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and wife Heather Mills is turning ever uglier.
London's Daily Mail newspaper has reported details of an alleged court document, filed by Mills, apparently containing information on mistreatment and drug use.
"Our client will be defending these allegations vigorously and appropriately," law firm Payne Hicks Beach, who are representing the 64-year-old rocker, said.
"[McCartney] would very much like to respond in public and in detail to the allegations made recently against him by his wife and published in the press, but he recognises, on advice, that the only correct forum for his response to the allegations made against him is in the current divorce proceedings."
The couple have a three-year-old daughter, Beatrice.
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