Nov 27

Kaiser Chiefs speak about new material
[source: NME] Kaiser Chiefs flew to Europe this week to road test new songs from their forthcoming second album, the follow-up to 2005's Employment.
Singer Ricky Wilson said the crowds had been very receptive to the new material.
"We're playing half a set of new songs and the crowds are already doing backing vocals for the new songs, so they must be pretty good," he reasoned.
The band recently recorded 22 tracks in Oxfordshire for the new album, which is due out in February.

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/Artist/Kaiser-Chiefs.aspx


Rolling Stones stage richest ever tour
[source: NME] The Rolling Stones have overtaken U2 to record the highest grossing tour ever.
The British veterans' A Bigger Bang world jaunt has now generated the most money in concert history, pulling in more than $562 million.
This puts it ahead of U2's Vertigo tour (AU$428m), which itself took the record from the Stones' Voodoo Lounge tour in 1994/95.
It's believed A Biggger Bang will continue well into 2007 and final figures may be up around the AU$643m mark.

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/Artist/Rolling-Stones-The.aspx


Radiohead win composer award
[source: NME] Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood has been honoured at BBC Radio 3's Composer Of The Year awards.
The guitarist, who became a composer in residence at the station after starting to work on classical composition between Radiohead albums, was named Favourite Artist at this year's awards.
The work that clinched the prize was "Popcorn Superhet Receiver", which beat eight other orchestral pieces the BBC commissioned in the last year.
Greenwood's composition blends strong chords with radio static and was inspired by Polish composer Penderecki's piece for the victims of the Hiroshima nuclear attack.
The BBC's Roger Wright said Greenwood's win was "a great example of Radio 3's unique cultural patronage".

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/Artist/Radiohead.aspx


Ex-Ash guitarist names new album
[source: NME] Former Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherley will release The Deep Blue on Monday March 5.
Out through her own imprint, Little Sister Records, the follow-up to 2004's debut album will be preceded by a four-track EP on Sunday December 17. The EP will be available in digital and 7" format and will feature new single "Behave", as well as a remix and two new songs ("Mr Ed" and "Cousteau").
Hatherley plans to tour the UK in February to coincide with the release of second single "I Want You To Know".
The Deep Blue was written and recorded in Italy with Frank Black producer Eric Drew Feldman and PJ Harvey cohort Rob Ellis. It was mixed by Blur producer Ben Hillier.

Ash: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/Artist/Ash.aspx


Liam Gallagher: my Oasis best-of
[source: NME] Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher thinks his brother Noel could have chosen better songs for the band's new best-of collection, Stop The Clocks.
"I think he's missed a few," Liam declared. "I'd have put on 'Rockin' Chair', 'D'You Know What I Mean?' and some off Be Here Now.
"If he didn't like the record [Be Here Now] that much, he shouldn't have put the f***ing record out in the first place. I don't know what's up with him but it's a top record and I'm proud of it."
However, in an interview with The Sun's Something For The Weekend, Noel admitted "D'You Know What I Mean?", the chart-topping fist single from Be Here Now, was actually included until the very last moment.
"[It] was on it right up to the day before it was mastered. But it's just too long. It upset the flow of the album," he explained.
Meanwhile, Liam has revealed what he'd do if his hero, John Lennon, was alive and they met.
"I'd freak him out by looking at him, stare him out," the Oasis frontman said. "But I don't know. I'd probably bum him."

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/Artist/Oasis.aspx


The Great Escape announces line-up
Wolfmother, Gomez and Missy Higgins are among the first round of acts announced for new Sydney festival The Great Escape.
The Easter event takes place at Newington Armory, Newington, between Friday April 6 and Sunday April 8 and will feature both local and international talent.
Also on the bill are The Living End, The Vines, Fat Freddy's Drop, Ziggy Marley, Bob Evans, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Blue King Brown and The Fumes.
Tickets go on sale at 9am on Thursday December 7. Head to http://www.thegreatescape.net.au for more info.

Gomez: http://bigpondmusic.com/Artist/Gomez.aspx
The Vines: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/Artist/Vines-The.aspx
Missy Higgins: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/Artist/Missy-Higgins.aspx
Wolfmother: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/Artist/Wolfmother.aspx
Bob Evans: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/Artist/Bob-Evans.aspx
Ziggy Marley: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/Artist/Ziggy-Marley.aspx
The Fumes: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/Artist/Fumes-The.aspx
The Living End: http://bigpondmusic.com.au/Artist/Living-End-The.aspx


Tom Petty loses his guns
Following an arrest earlier in 2006 for disturbing the peace, US rocker Tom Petty has told Guitar Acoustic Magazine he's prohibited from keeping firearms in his home.
"I can never have a gun in the house," Petty admitted. "I'm not allowed. I've had mine taken away for disturbing the peace. There were times when I'd just start shooting. Not at people, but I'd go out and kill a tree. When I'd get mad, I'd take a gun and kill some inanimate object. So it was the right thing to have the guns taken away. They're dangerous."

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/Artist/Tom-Petty.aspx


Nelly Furtado goes gold
Canadian pop singer Nelly Furtado has revealed her philanthropic side in an upcoming photo shoot for Vanity Fair magazine.
The four-page spread sees the singer decked out in jewellery from Bailey Banks and Biddle, a Canadian chain with stores throughout the USA and Puerto Rico. The ad supports Land Conservancy, a British Columbia-based conservation group Furtado has been involved with for three years.
"She not only endorsed us for free but she also gave us the funds she would have been paid doing that ad," Land Conservancy representative Carla Funk revealed.
The organisation first teamed with Furtado after the singer posted a note on her website about her favourite holiday destination (the Sooke Potholes, a site supported by the organisation).
"She's just concerned about her child and other people's children and our grandchildren to have places that are green."

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/Artist/Nelly-Furtado.aspx


Madonna's new daughter denied
Rumours that pop star Madonna was planning on adopting another baby have been quashed after the child – a baby girl, Jessica – was collected by Australian couple John and Angela Wilmot.
The Wilmots, both missionaries, took Jessica out of the Kondanani orphanage in Malawi yesterday.
"She's with us now and that's where she's staying," 42-year-old John said. "We're her foster parents… we're just waiting for the adoption paperwork to go through. Madonna did visit the orphanage where Jessica was, but she never had any intention of adopting her."

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/Artist/Madonna.aspx


Fan hacks Into Linkin Park singer's email
A US woman has been charged after allegedly hacking into Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington's email.
It's suggested Devon Townsend, 27, used a computer at her former workplace – Sandia National Laboratories, a company that develops security technology for websites – to obtain copies of Bennington's phone bill, numbers he's dialled and telephone photos.
"This is the internet version of a groupie hiding in Mick Jagger's dressing room," Townsend's lawyer, Ray Twohig, said.
"We're in a different age, and fans have more skills than they used to."
A search of Townsend's home revealed pictures of Townsend with the singer, as well as copies of messages and photos intercepted from the Bennington family's e-mail.

http://bigpondmusic.com.au/Artist/Linkin-Park.aspx