Black Sabbath make triumphant live return in Birmingham

Black Sabbath made their live return last night (May 19) with a homecoming gig at Birmingham's O2 Academy.

Back in city for the first time in over a decade, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler, together with drummer Tommy Clufetos – the replacement for original sticksman Bill Ward, who’s contractual disputes with the rest of the band remain unresolved - blazed through a career spanning set to a sell-out crowd.

Billed as a warm-up for their forthcoming headline slot at this year's Download Festival, the heavy metal pioneers opened with ‘Into The Void’ from 1971’s ‘Master Of Reality’.

Black Sabbath made their live return last night (May 19) with a homecoming gig at Birmingham's O2 Academy.

Back in city for the first time in over a decade, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler, together with drummer Tommy Clufetos – the replacement for original sticksman Bill Ward, who’s contractual disputes with the rest of the band remain unresolved - blazed through a career spanning set to a sell-out crowd.

Billed as a warm-up for their forthcoming headline slot at this year's Download Festival, the heavy metal pioneers opened with ‘Into The Void’ from 1971’s ‘Master Of Reality’.

Black Sabbath played:

'Into The Void'
'Under The Sun'
'Snowblind'
'War Pigs'
'Wheels Of Confusion'
'Electric Funeral'
'Black Sabbath'
'The Wizard'
'Behind The Wall Of Sleep'
'N.I.B.'
'Fairies Wear Boots'
'Lord Of This World'
'Tomorrow's Dream'
'Sweet Leaf'
'Symptom Of The Universe'
'Drum Solo'
'Iron Man'
'Dirty Women'
'Children Of the Grave'
'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath'
'Paranoid'

Source: nme.com

Soulsavers - The Light The Dead See

Soulsavers will release on May 21st their fourth album, "The Light The Dead See". This album will feature Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan on the vocals.

The album is streaming in full in their official website: http://www.thesoulsavers.com/

Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner: 'We used to pretend to be Oasis in school assembly'

Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner has admitted that he and drummer Matt Helders dressed up and pretended to be Oasis in their school assembly.

Speaking to Pitchfork, the frontman named the Britpop legend's seminal 1995 album '(What's The Story) Morning Glory' as one of the LPs which had had the most influence upon him as a teenager, and revealed that he had performed tracks from the record in front of his peers while brandishing a tennis racquet.

"In the UK, you go from primary school to secondary school at age 11," he explained. "And when we left primary school, all the kids would form groups and do a performance, like the girls would do a dance to the Spice Girls, or whatever."

He added: "So me and Matt and some of our friends put on 'Morning Glory' – we 'played' some tennis racquets and pretended to be Oasis. Matt was Liam Gallagher, he had the bucket hat on. I was the bass player."

The singer claimed their tribute act wasn't well received, however. "We were just standing ther, doing what Oasis did onstage," he said. "Which was not a great deal. I don't think we got as good a reaction as the Spice Girls."

Speaking about why he loved the LP, meanwhile, he said: "With Oasis, it's just that attitude, like it's resistant against everything else that's going on in music. I don't know if you can fully understand that-- it's like an impulse, innit? Especially at that age, you don't rationalize, you're just like, 'That looks cool.'

"And I feel like that's the fucking way it should be now, in a way. Guitar music or rock'n'roll or whatever you want to call it sort of goes away with trends, but it'll never go away completely. It can't die because it's so fundamentally attractive."

Source: nme.com

Black Sabbath to release new Greatest Hits album next month

Black Sabbath have announced that they will be releasing a new 'Best Of' album next month.

The compilation, which is titled Iron Man: The Best Of Black Sabbath, will be released on June 4 and contains a total of 14 tracks.

The album contains a selection of tracks from across the metal legends' back catalogue, including "Iron Man", "War Pigs", "Changes", "Paranoid" and "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath".

Black Sabbath will headline this summer's Download Festival along with The Prodigy and Metallica over the weekend of June 8-10, and last week announced that they will play a small show at Birmingham's O2 Academy on May 19 to warm up for the festival.

The band are currently recording a brand new album and will tour the world throughout the rest of the year, although guitarist Tony Iommi, who is currently undergoing treatment for lymphoma, will not take part in a large chunk of the band's summer tour dates.

The shows will see frontman Ozzy Osbourne joined by special guests including former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, Geezer Butler and Zakk Wylde. Iommi will, however, play at Download and at the Birmingham gig.

Although Iommi will play, there is still no word on whether the band's estranged drummer Bill Ward will be part of the line-up for the show. The drummer had previously revealed he was unhappy with the contract for the band's new album and world tour and claimed he would not take part in the new album sessions and shows if a 'fair agreement' was not met.

As a result of this, the remaining members of the band vowed to carry on without him. They have yet, however, to announce a replacement for Ward.

The tracklisting for Iron Man: The Best Of Black Sabbath is as follows:

'Paranoid'
'Iron Man'
'Changes'
'Fairies Wear Boots'
'War Pigs'
'Never Say Die'
'Children Of The Grave'
'The Wizard'
'Snowblind'
'Sweet Leaf'
'Evil Woman (Don’t Play Your Games)'
'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath'
'Black Sabbath'
'N.I.B.'

Source: uncut.co.uk

Arctic Monkeys: 'We couldn't make a record like our first one again'

Arctic Monkeys have spoken about their plans for the follow-up to 'Suck It And See' and have said that they feel that they could never make another album like their debut 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' again.

The band are currently touring across North America as support to The Black Keys and told the Calgary Herald that making another record like their debut would "feel fake".

Asked about whether they ever felt expectation to recapture the spirit of their debut, drummer Matt Helders said: "For us, it seems obvious to do something different when you make a new record. I know that bands can successfully carry on by having a similar sound forever, can have a full career out of it."

Helders then said that he felt the band had "grown up" and had no intention of letting "expectation" dictate what they did next.

He added: "We've never really thought that we can let expectation dictate what kind of music we make. I think it's important that we make a record that we think is good and hopefully people share that opinion. Since that first record, we've all changed and hopefully the people that were into us have changed as well, grown up with us."

Then asked if he and his bandmates were ready to head into the studio again, Helders said he thought they were and didn't see them taking much of a break.

He added: "This is the longest we've ever toured a record, since its come out. Usually, we have got back in the studio by now or we've had a break. This tour's great, we're really enjoying it but I think we're ready to record again or at least think about it. We never really take that long to make a record."

Source: nme.com

Kasabian to release 'Live At The O2' album and DVD next month

Kasabian have announced that they will be releasing a new live album and DVD in June.

The package, which is titled 'Live!: Live At The O2', will come out on June 25 and was filmed during the band's show at London's 20,000 capacity O2 Arena on December 15 last year.

The release will contain a 19-track live DVD film, which was shot in high definition, and a 13-track live CD. The DVD will also be available in Blu-Ray.

'Live!: Live At The O2' will also come with a documentary about the band's arena tour, which is titled 'I Hear Voices'.

Kasabian recently spoke about their plans for the follow-up to 'Velociraptor!' and have "loads of stuff written", according to frontman Tom Meighan.

The singer said that the band's lead songwriter Serge Pizzorno had been hard at work on new material, but that the band probably wouldn't record anything until 2013.

Asked about this, Meighan said: "I think Sergio's got loads of stuff written already. I imagine he has because he never stops writing. So I can't imagine when we're going to record a record, not at the moment, probably next year sometime."

The tracklisting for 'Kasabian Live!: Live At The O2' is as follows:

DVD
'Days Are Forgotten'
'Shoot The Runner '
'Velociraptor!'
'Underdog'
'Where Did All The Love Go?'
'I.D.'
'I Hear Voices'
'Thick As Thieves'
'Take Aim'
'Clubfoot'
'Re-Wired'
'Empire'
'La Fée Verte'
'Fast Fuse' / 'Pulp Fiction'
'Goodbye Kiss'
'L.S.F.'
'Switchblade Smiles'
'Vlad The Impaler'
'Fire'

CD

'Days Are Forgotten'
'Shoot The Runner'
'Velociraptor!'
'Underdog'
'Take Aim'
'Clubfoot'
'Re-Wired'
'La Fée Verte'
'Goodbye Kiss'
'L.S.F.'
'Switchblade Smiles'
'Vlad The Impaler'
'Fire'

Source: nme.com

Ringo Starr to write soundtrack for Hollywood musical

Ringo Starr is to write the soundtrack for a new Hollywood musical, according to Deadline.com.

Starr will collaborate with former Eurythmics'Dave Stewart on Hole In The Fence, a coming of age story about a group of kids who form a band in a mining town.

Starr and Stewart came up with the idea and will act as both executive producers and songwriters for the film.

Both Starr and Stewart have some history in films. Aside from the Beatles films, Starr also appeared in The Magic Christian, opposite Peter Sellers, That'll Be The Day and Ken Russell's Lisztomania, where he played The Pope opposite Roger Daltrey.

Source: uncut.co.uk

The Gaslight Anthem - 45 (new song)

Have you seen my hands, they just flip and shake
And he song just keeps on beating, drop the needle again
And I dance with your ghost
Oh but that ain’t the way
I can’t move on and I can’t stay the same
And all my friends say

Ah hey, turn the record over
Ah hey, i see you on the fliṗ side
There you go, turn the key and engine over
Let her go, let somebody else lay at her feet

But have you seen my heart,
Have you seen how it bleeds
Every night’s a so long baby
Yeah out here in the deep
The tick-ticking of hours only
I hear the alarm
I used to hear when you were sleeping in my arms
For better senses

Ah hey, turn the record over
Ah hey, i see you on the flip side
There you go, turn the key and engine over
Let her go, let somebody else lay at her feet

And all my friends say:
Ah hey, turn the record over
Ah hey, i see you on the flip side
There you go, turn the key and engine over
Let her go, let somebody else lay at her feet
Where you used to be
Where you used to be
Where you used to be
You with me

Biffy Clyro reveal the name of their new double album

Biffy Clyro have revealed the title of their new studio album, which is the sixth of their career so far.

The album, which is a double LP, will consist of two records, one titled 'The Land At The End Of Our Toes' and another titled 'The Sand At The Core Of Our Bones'.

The band have spent the last year working on the album and have recorded it in Los Angeles. It is due for release later this summer and is the follow-up to their 2009 album 'Only Revolutions'.

Speaking about the album in this week's NME, drummer Ben Johnston said: "We don't want to pigeon hole it as a 'big rock album', so we're trying to make a diverse collection of songs."

Biffy Clyro will debut tracks from 'The Land At The End Of Our Toes' and 'The Sand At The Core Of Our Bones' at a series of summer festivals, including Download and Rockness.
Source: nme.com

The Gaslight Anthem begin recording fourth album

The Gaslight Anthem have started work on their fourth album.

The New Jersey band are recording the follow up to 2010's 'American Slang' in Nashville. According to the band's Twitter account, they started working at their Tennessee studio on January 20 and will begin recording the album today (January 23).

Last year singer Brian Fallon revealed that their new material was sounding "pretty aggressive". He told Billboard he was "really happy" with the progress of the band's 2011 demo sessions, commenting: "We're making demos and our goal is 25 of them, and we've got ten. The songs that are fast, they're a lot faster. It's definitely pretty personal and pretty aggressive right now."

He added that his side project, The Horrible Crowes and their debut album 'Elsie', which he recorded with The Gaslight Anthem guitar tech Ian Perkins, allowed him to "experiment" with a wider range of instruments, including organs and strings.

He explained: "I needed to write these songs so that I could carry on as a person on my own and function. We wanted to find out what else is there - what else are we capable of." Fallon added that the duo are already planning to work on a second album, with Gorillaz and Moby cited as inspirations.

Source: nme.com

Guns N' Roses: 'Making a new album is our priority'

Guns N' Roses have said that recording the follow-up to 'Chinese Democracy' is now their 'priority'.

The band, who released their sixth album a full 15 years after their fifth album, completed their touring commitments at the end of 2011 and their guitarist DJ Ashba has said that he and frontman Axl Rose are busy working on material for their seventh album.

Speaking to Mamasfallenangels.com about the band's plans, the guitarist said: ''I can say making a new album absolutely is our main priority. And I cannot wait to get working on it. Axl has tonnes and tonnes of stuff recorded as it is. I mean, he sits there in his hotel room and he'll play me hours of stuff. And I've written over ten songs, I think 12 songs now, for him that he really likes.''

Ashba added that the band weren't willing to put any kind of date on when they would return to the studio or when the record would be released. He added: "I can't give anybody a definite date, because I'm not going to give anybody false hope. But it's absolutely everybody's goal to get out an album within a reasonable amount of time."

Source: nme.com

Lana Del Rey Reveals Album Tracklist

As MTV reports, Lana Del Rey has released the tracklisting for her highly anticipated album Born to Die, out January 30 in the UK and January 31 in the U.S.

Tracklisting:
01 Born to Die
02 Off to the Races
03 Blue Jeans
04 Video Games
05 Diet Mountain Dew
06 National Anthem
07 Dark Paradise
08 Radio
09 Carmen
10 Million Dollar Man
11 Summertime Sadness
12 This Is What Makes Us Girls

Source: pitchfork.com

Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi diagnosed with cancer

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has been diagnosed with cancer.

The legendary axeman, who is 63 and is currently working on a brand new studio album with the band, has revealed that he has been diagnosed with the early stages of lymphoma.

The band have released a statement on their official Facebook page which reads as follows: "With the news that Tony Iommi has been diagnosed with the early stages of lymphoma, his bandmates would like everyone to send positive vibes to the guitarist at this time. Iommi is currently working with his doctors to establish the best treatment plan. The Iron Man of Rock & Roll remains upbeat and determined to make a full and successful recovery."

It continues: "This comes as Black Sabbath are writing and recording in Los Angeles with producer Rick Rubin. They will now go to the UK to continue to work with Tony."

The band have not said if Iommi's condition affects their planned world tour as yet. The band are scheduled to tour Europe next summer.

Source: nme.com

Third Man Records to Release More White Stripes Outtakes

Third Man Records' latest "Vault" subscription package includes two unearthed White Stripes recordings.

A 7" single brings outtakes of "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground" and "Let's Build a Home", tracked during the 1999 sessions for the band's self-titled debut. The label notes that these versions are "markedly different" than the versions that ended up on White Blood Cells and De Stijl.

This quarter's Vault package also contains a 3xLP compilation collecting all of the singles released on Third Man in 2011. A Third Man t-shirt completes the package, with a logo that changes from yellow to white when exposed to the sun. "Finally," writes the label, "a reason for record collectors to venture outdoors!"

Third Man has also announced release dates for the latest installments in their Blue Series of singles. The previously mentioned single from Tom Jones is out March 5 and one from Detroit artist Duane the Teenage Weirdo is out January 24.

Source: pitchfork.com

The Mars Volta to release new album this year

The Mars Volta have confirmed that they will release a new album this year.

The band's frontman, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, posted a message on his official YouTube account revealing that the experimental rock band had almost finished work on their sixth studio LP and the follow-up to 2009's 'Octahedron'.

After Sony's Official Playstation blog announced that the band had contributed a song called 'Zed And Two Naughts' for their new baseball computer game 'MLB 12 The Show', Bixler-Zavala wrote: 'New Volta almost done. Vocals done. Just trying to rebutcher it and finish guitar. In studio until this week then on to Mexico to add more quantum entanglement to it. The sonogram of the little beast is looking very good.'

Previously, The Mars Volta's guitarist Omar Rodríguez-López had said that the as-yet-untitled album would mark the end of an era in the band's songwriting, stating: "I want to collaborate more. I've had 10 years of kind of being a benign dictator in this band and I want to make it more like a democracy."

Source: nme.com

Miles Kane confirms The Last Shadow Puppets are planning their second album

Miles Kane has confirmed that he will reunite with Arctic Monkeys' singer Alex Turner to record again as The Last Shadow Puppets, possibly as soon as at the end of this year.

'The Colour Of The Trap' singer is currently on tour with the Arctic Monkeys across Australia and has said that he and Turner will record the follow-up to 2008's 'The Age Of The Understatement' "when the time is right".

He told Noise11.com when asked about the status of The Last Shadow Puppets: "There will be [another record] when the time is right. We'll both know together when it's right. We're both enjoying our own things, but we're still working together and when the time is right we'll go and do that again." When asked if he could put a date on it, Kane replied: "Maybe the end of this year, maybe next year."

He also revealed that he didn't actually expect to make a full album as The Last Shadow Puppets in the first place and that the speed with which he and Turner wrote and recorded 'The Age Of The Understatement' came as a complete shock.

He said of this: "We didn't even expect to make a record. We were just these two young guys who had written these songs and went to France for two weeks to record and see what would happen. In two weeks we recorded 11 songs. We have a great connection, me and Alex. It is a great partnership."

Source: nme.com

Bobby Gillespie: 'New Primal Scream album is based around one chord'

Bobby Gillespie has spoken about the new Primal Scream album that is currently in the works.

The band, who released their last album, 'Beautiful Future', in 2008, have said that the new album has been heavily influenced by their 1991 album 'Screamadelica' which they toured throughout 2011.

Of their forthcoming 10th album, frontman Gillespie told Q magazine that it is sounding "like "a psychedelic record" and is also "based around one chord".

He added that: "The sense of space in the 'Screamadelica' material has had a big influence on the arrangements…. When it was first suggested that we tour 'Screamadelica', we were like, 'Who'd be interested?' When you're in a band you don't understand how people perceive you, so we were blown away by the love we got."

During the interview Gillespie confirmed that bassist Mani had left Primal Scream for good after rejoining The Stone Roses, but that things were 'cool'. He said: "Mani has left the band - that's the situation. He has gone and joined The Stone Roses. That's cool. He had been wanting to do it for years. I'll go and see them live - The Stones Roses are a fucking great band."

Source: nme.com

Biffy Clyro: 'We're making a double album'

Biffy Clyro have revealed that their sixth studio album will be a double album.

The band are currently working on the follow-up to their fifth LP 'Only Revolutions' and have said that they hope to complete work on the album by April.

Speaking to Q, the band's frontman Simon Neil said that the album will be mostly recorded in Los Angeles and they hope to have it done by April.

He said: "We're going to make a double album, so the intention is to do most of the recording in L.A and then do more of it elsewhere. We'll hopefully get it done by April, May and go out and play some shows. The album might come out before summer but it's likely to be just after that."

Neil also joked that the band have given the album the working title of 'Use Your Illusion III' and 'Use Your Illusion IV' in honour of Guns N' Roses' 1991 double album 'Use Your Illusion I' and 'Use Your Illusion II'.

Asked about the Guns N' Roses comparison, Neil said: "The working titles are 'Use Your Illusion III''and 'Use Your Illusion IV'. We're going over the top as we can. It's an album about a fork in the road and how your decisions can take you on one path or the other. One path is the right decisions and one path is the wrong decisions - and each album's going to represent each path."

Source: nme.com