When Muse describes their music they claim to have more of an affinity to classical than rock. To them, rock musicians get too caught up in “cool.”

Frontman Matt Bellamy (above):

“London bands are more concerned with what is cool but it’s never been the important thing for us. … I think we have a lot in common with the classical composers of the 19th century, although I’m not claiming to have their intelligence. … They wanted to create a musical explosion, to blow the crowd away. Opera can be exceptionally moving, but can also be pompous.”

Well, remember, some of Muse’s more classical compositions have been called “pompous.”

My review of Roger Daltrey’s show on Friday, November 20th at the Nokia Theatre Times Square in midtown Manhattan is now online. Daltrey, the 65-year-old lead singer with The Who, is currently on a solo tour with the billing Use It Or Lose It. He mixed solo material and covers with reworked versions of classics from The Who’s songbook. It was a terrific show. You can read the review on the main Powerline A.D. site.

Glasgow-based singer-songwriter Penny Black (pictured above in a photo by Kirsten Towill), who was the subject of a Q&A for Powerline A.D.’s Sounds From Across The Pond feature in September, has released a video for her song “Green.” The video is quite visually arresting. It’s very colorful, and it uses numerous outfit changes and quick cuts. The song is about a girl who envies other girls for whom things just seem to come a bit too easily. Penny’s facial expressions in the clip are absolutely priceless.

The clip for “Green” was directed by Pete Fullarton and can be viewed below:

I was really impressed with this song and the video. I think that we’re going to be hearing and seeing a lot more of Penny Black in the future. Check out the music player on Penny’s MySpace page for some of her other songs.

Penny and her band will be playing at The Classic Grand on Jamaica Street in Glasgow on Saturday, December 5th. I wish that I could go to the show.

For additional information on Penny Black, go to:
http://www.myspace.com/therealpennyblack

The Bones Of You

So I’m there
Charging around with a juggernaut brow
Overdraft, speeches and deadlines to make
Cramming commitments like cats in a sack
Telephone burn and a purposeful gait

When out of a doorway the tentacles stretch
Of a song that I know
And the world moves in slow-mo
Straight to my head
like the first cigarette of the day

And it’s you, and it’s May
And we’re sleeping through the day
And I’m five years ago
And three thousand miles away

Do I have
time? A man of my calibre
Stood in the street like a sleepwalking teenager
No.
And I dealt with this years ago
I took a hammer to every memento
But image on image like beads on a rosary
pulled through my head as the music takes hold
and the sickener hits; I can work till I break
but I love the bones of you
That, I will never escape

And it’s you, and it’s May
And we’re sleeping through the day
And I’m five years ago
And three thousand miles away

And I can’t move my arm
Through the fear that you will wake
And I’m five years ago
And three thousand miles away

I’ve loved the song “Winter Winds” by the London-based folk-rock band Mumford & Sons since I first heard it about two weeks ago on XFM London. It’s just a beautiful piece of music, a song that really gets under the skin. It brings to mind the best work of The Pogues and The Waterboys.

Mumford & Sons get their name from lead vocalist Marcus Mumford. “Winter Winds” is one of the tracks on the band’s debut album, Sign No More.

To watch the video for “Winter Winds by Mumford & Sons, which was one of a series of videos that they shot in a bookshop, click below:

For more on Mumford & Sons, see:
http://www.mumfordandsons.com
http://www.myspace.com/mumfordandsons
http://www.youtube.com/user/MumfordandSons

London-based singer-songwriter Frank Turner (pictured above in a Greg Nolan photo) has had a sizable indie rock hit across the pond with “Poetry Of The Deed,” which is the title track to his latest album. The song has received a considerable amount of airplay on UK music radio stations like XFM London and BBC 6 Music. It sounds like a brilliant combination of The Clash, The Alarm, and Billy Bragg. It’s a great song, one of those tunes that you never get tired of hearing.

To watch the video for “Poetry Of The Deed” by Frank Turner, click below:

Poetry Of The Deed is Turner’s third solo album in three years. He used to be the vocalist with the band Million Dead, which split up in 2005.

For additional information on Frank Turner, see:
http://www.frank-turner.com
http://www.myspace.com/frankturner
http://www.youtube.com/user/frankturner

My review of the show by The Cribs on Thursday, November 12th at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom is now online on the main Powerline A.D. site. The Cribs are touring in support of their latest album, Ignore The Ignorant. The album is the first with the band’s new recruit, former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr.

The Von Bondies were also on the bill. Both bands put on great performances.

Rock’s latest supergroup Them Crooked Vultures are streaming all 13 songs from their self-titled debut album as a series of 13 videos on You Tube. To see the videos, go to http://www.youtube.com/user/themcrookedvultures.

The album is being released tomorrow, Monday, November 16th in the UK and on Tuesday, November 17th in the United States and Canada.

For more on this story, see the article from XFM London.

Them Crooked Vultures features Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters on drums, John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin on bass, and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age on guitar and vocals. They will be playing live at the Wiltern in Los Angeles on Tuesday night.

To hear Them Crooked Vultures’ song “No One Loves Me & Neither Do I,” click below:

For more on Them Crooked Vultures, see:
http://www.themcrookedvultures.com
http://www.myspace.com/crookedvultures
http://www.youtube.com/user/themcrookedvultures

John Lydon admitted in an interview with the Camden New Journal that the money he made from the television commercials that he did for Country Life Butter helped fund next month’s UK tour by Public Image Ltd. Lydon said, “The money I got from that advert is the advance on this [the PiL tour].”

In the interview, Lydon defended himself against criticism of being a “sell out” by doing the Country Life Butter commercials. He stated:

“Why are they questioning me? What manual am I supposed to adopt? I’m promoting a British product which I’m very proud of. Anything I can do to help British industry is fine by me and in return you’ve got PiL.”

For more on this story, see the article from NME.com.

PiL’s UK tour starts on December 15th in Birmingham, England. There’s no word yet about possible American dates.

To watch one of Lydon’s TV spots for Country Life Butter, click below:

Liam Gallagher was interviewed on Friday by Italian radio station Radio Deejay, and he told the station that he would be playing live shows in the near future. He said:

“I’ll be back doing that [playing live] within a couple of months. I’ve just done a tour, I always miss singing songs. I miss the people.”

Gallagher also admitted that he is writing new material with his former Oasis bandmates, except for his now-estranged brother Noel.

And Liam discussed Noel’s departure from Oasis, saying:

“To be quite honest, I think our kid [Noel] wanted out. But you’ll have to ask him when he comes in and does his little solo thing. We had an argument – but we’ve had bigger ones, about more important people. Basically, I think he wanted out, wanted something different, but he hadn’t got the bollocks to tell the band or the fans.”

Liam revealed that the stories of he and Noel smashing each other’s guitars was true. He said:

“I didn’t smash it [the guitar] on him, I wish I had, man. He sort of… treated my guitar poorly, which was a present off my wife. So I thought it was only fair to pay the compliment [back] so I smashed one of his. It sounds ridiculous, like a pair of old women.”

But Liam did own up to a regret about Noel’s guitar that he smashed:

“That guitar of mine was mine. The guitar that I smashed of Noel’s was Oasis” guitar. Part of the thing that I pay for. So I shouldn’t have smashed it really!”

I’m curious to hear the new music that the Gallagher brothers will come up with working apart from each other. However it sounds, I’m sure that both brothers will have a lot to say about it.

For more on this story, see the article from NME.com.

Carbon/Silicon, the London-based four-piece that features Mick Jones (pictured above, left) from The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite  and Tony James (pictured above, right) of Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik, have announced that their new album, The Carbon Bubble, will be released as a free download from the Carbon/Silicon Web site this Saturday, November 14th. In addition to the 12 new songs on the album, the CD cover and booklet artwork will also be available for free download.

To watch a video preview of the new album that features three new songs, click below:

To watch another video preview of the album, click below:

To watch the video for “Reach For The Sky,” a terrific track from the new album, click below:

The Carbon Bubble is the fourth full-length album to be released as a free download by Carbon/Silicon. They also released one full-length album, 2007’s The Last Post, as a conventional CD.

For more on Carbon/Silicon, go to:
http://www.carbonsiliconinc.com
http://www.myspace.com/carbonsiliconinc

Morrissey was hit in the head with a beer bottle while singing in Liverpool tonight. Glass or plastic was not confirmed, but the singer was in good enough condition to walk offstage very pissed off.

Who would throw beer at Suedehead? I guess, November did spawn a monster after all.

And last month, Morrissey collapsed onstage.

I take all this as a sign: Reform The Smiths!!! Now!

Muse have just released their latest music video for the second single off “The Resistance.” I have to say I am a bit surprised they chose “Undisclosed Desires” as a single.  I really thought they would have gone with either “Resistance” or “Unnatural Selection.”  Still, this song has a really funky slap bass line, and the video is cool too.  Check it out below.

Swiftly rising 18-year-old British pop singer and perennial Powerline A.D. favorite Pixie Lott has released the video for her third single, “Cry Me Out.” You can watch the video by clicking below:

The “Cry Me Out” video is quite different from Pixie’s first two videos for “Mama Do” and “Boys And Girls,” respectively. The “Cry Me Out” video was shot in black and white and provides a real showcase for Pixie. She’s definitely got screen presence. In the Q&A that I did with Pixie for Powerline A.D. this past April, she told me that she would like to act in films eventually. After watching the “Cry Me Out” video, I don’t doubt that she would succeed in films just as she has in music.

Pixie’s first two singles from her debut album, Turn It Up (“Mama Do” and “Boys And Girls”) both went to number one in the UK singles chart. It will be quite interesting to see if Pixie can pull off a trifecta with the “Cry Me Out” single.

Of the three singles that Pixie has released thus far, I think that “Cry Me Out” is her strongest vocal performance yet. The song is a perfect example of why she stands out in the crowded field of young female pop singers, as Pixie puts her powerhouse vocals on full display in the track. After hearing this track, I fully understand why there was such a bidding war among record companies for Pixie’s signature on a recording contract. I particularly like the bit at the very start of the song in which Pixie sings, “I got your e-mails/You just don’t get females, now do you?” It’s both funny and biting.

Pixie’s Turn It Up was released in September in the UK. No American release date has been announced yet.

For more on Pixie Lott, go to:
http://www.pixielott.com
http://www.myspace.com/pixiesongs
http://www.youtube.com/pixieofficial

In an interview with the Scottish newspaper The Scotsman, former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher (pictured above in a photo from The Times of London) discussed his desire to start a new band in the New Year. Gallagher told the newspaper:

“Getting away from the whole Oasis thing is going to be a good thing I suppose. I don’t want to do anything solo. I want to be in a band. But we can do things a lot differently these days. It’ll definitely be rock ‘n’ roll.

“For now, I’ll be relaxing at home, just getting out of music for a bit and then I’m going to start up something maybe after January, do something different, see where it goes. But I’ll be having a breather from the music for a bit without a doubt.”

Gallagher also spoke on his feelings about the breakup of Oasis:

“I’m always going to miss Oasis. It was my fucking thing, you know what I mean? It’s who I am. But it’s only a name. I’m still who I am and I can go and do something else. I’ve got music in me. I’ll never leave it behind but we’ll see where it goes. It might be shit but you don’t know until you try.”

While Gallagher enjoys working on his Pretty Green clothing line, he wants to get back into music:

“We’re doing the Pretty Green stuff, but you don’t just do 18 years of music and then go, ‘Right, that’s it, I want to do fucking clothes.’ There’s no point in looking cool and having no tunes is there?”

For more on this story, see the articles from XFM London and NME.com.

I’m curious to hear what direction Liam Gallagher’s new music will take. Will it sound like an Oasis tribute band? Or will he launch a completely new sound? And what will Liam’s now-estranged brother Noel have to say about Liam’s new music? I guess we’ll find out sometime in 2010.

Britain’s Little Boots has released yet another excellent single from her Hands album. “Earthquake” is a brilliant piece of electro pop. The video for the song, which was directed by David Wilson, is quite good as well. You can watch the video by clicking below:

Little Boots is currently touring the UK, and will be playing a sold-out show in Cambridge, England tomorrow night.

For more on Little Boots, go to:
http://www.littlebootsmusic.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/littleboots
http://www.youtube.com/user/littlebootsvideos

Them Crooked Vultures, the “supergroup” comprised of Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, have put their debut single “New Fang” online on You Tube. It’s a good tune, and it actually sounds like a hybrid of the Foo Fighters, QOTSA, and Led Zep. If the rest of the album is this good, it’s going to be a monster seller.

To hear “New Fang” by Them Crooked Vultures, click below:

The self-titled debut album from Them Crooked Vultures is being released on November 16th in the UK and November 17th in America. They play at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on the night of the album’s American release. In December, Them Crooked Vultures will be touring Germany and the UK.

For more on this story, see the article from NME.com.

John Paul Jones recently discussed his involvement with Them Crooked Vultures with the BBC, which you can read about in an article from BBC 6 Music.

For additional information on Them Crooked Vultures, go to:
http://www.themcrookedvultures.com/
http://www.myspace.com/crookedvultures
http://www.youtube.com/user/themcrookedvultures

The latest entry in Powerline A.D.’s Sounds From Across The Pond series features the London-based quartet Common Purpose. They first came to my attention through the BBC Introducing section of the BBC London Web site.

Common Purpose’s sound evokes some of the UK’s finest bands, such as The Jam and The Rifles. The members of Common Purpose are (pictured above, left to right) Harry Watts (drums), Elliot Beasley (lead guitar and vocals), James Evans (lead vocals and rhythm guitar), and Cary Smith (bass). James, Harry, and Cary participated in the Q&A, which you can read here.

For additional information on Common Purpose, go to:
http://www.myspace.com/commonpurpose

Lily Allen’s video for “Who’d Have Known,” the latest single from Allen’s It’s Not Me, It’s You album, features Allen portraying a crazed Elton John fan that poses a chauffeur in order to kidnap him (actually an actor made up to resemble John). It’s an interesting clip to the say the least, especially considering the infamous clash that Allen and John had when presenting an award at last year’s GQ Awards in London.

To watch Lily Allen’s video for “Who’d Have Known,” click below:

To watch a video featuring Allen’s and John’s verbal sparring match at last year’s GQ Awards, click below:

I wonder if Elton John has seen Allen’s “Who’d Have Known” video. If he has, I wonder how disturbing he found it to be. As Johnny Carson used to say, “That is some weird, wild stuff.”

Glasgow-based singer-songwriter Tippi (pictured above in a photo by Rob Hannah) has put a new Web site online that features music, video, links, a blog, photos, and info about her career, both solo and with her band, The Hedrons. On the site, Tippi reveals that she is working on a second solo album. (Her self-titled debut was released on Measured Records in 2004.) Tippi also states that she and the other members of The Hedrons are currently taking a break from the band in order to work on other projects.

To check out Tippi’s Web site, go to http://www.tippimusic.com.

Powerline A.D. did a Q&A with The Hedrons in August 2007, which you can read here.

Gary Numan has authored a quite interesting blog item titled “What Rock’N'Roll Has Taught Me” that is up on NME.com. In the piece, Numan discusses some of his career highs and lows. In one part, Numan reveals he lost large sums of money on elaborate concerts:

I didn’t make money from touring until the mid-’90s because my stage show was so expensive. I remember doing three nights at Wembley in 1981 and losing about £60,000 a night. The idea of the show was to have a London of the future where the buildings would glow so that there would be no dark alleys.

I also had little pyramid shaped robots… it was all a bit Stonehenge to be honest, but it cost a bloody fortune. To have made any money, I would have had to charged two or three times the ticket price – which is common nowadays but, to me, it seems like the wrong thing to do – to charge people for my indulgences. If it meant I lost money doing it, then that was my way of saying thank you to the fans for putting me there.

Numan also elaborated on some truly terrifying parts of the dark side of fame:

I had a lot of strange fans in the earlier days. I’ve had death threats, my girlfriend had someone say they were going to get acid thrown in her face, my mum and dad had a petrol bomb put under their car. My mum was under police protection for a month. It’s all from jealousy, in my opinion. I think when you become successful very quickly as I did, they assume that your life has taken a massive turn for the better – they assume that there’s vast amounts of money, that every good-looking woman in the world wants to shag you.

Of course, it’s not like that at all, but a lot of people believe that. So if they’re sat at home reading all about you, they don’t have a job or money and they don’t like your music anyway, they end up lashing out a bit. After a while, people get used to it and it all dies down, but at first it was quite scary.

To read the full piece, see NME.com.

If you’re a Simpsons fan, this will get you excited, as usual. If you’re a Simpsons and Coldplay fan, you should be entering the contest right away.

Come up with a character for The Simpsons that will air during the Coldplay episode (which will be the 20th Anniversary show on January 10th, 2010) at www.thesimpsons.com/character.

I’ll be submitting an angry Joe Satriani who doesn’t speak at all in the episode, but shows up periodically to express himself only by shredding annoyingly high-pitched notes on his guitar.

Metal/Hard Rock historian, Martin Popoff, has finished his newest Deep Purple book, an ongoing series of the long and complicated history of the band, entitled A Castle Full Of Rascals: Deep Purple ‘83 – ‘09.

Martin Popoff states,”The book is 20% bigger than the first one, 290 pages, stuffed with photos of the band and other memorabilia shots but mostly, yeah, a lot of text, featuring tons of previously unused interview footage from my many chats with the guys, to the point where this is almost an oral history.”

The price is $35.00 and includes shipping at www.martinpopoff.com.

Just in time for a Purple Christmas.

I just love the sound of that phrase “Sex Pistols’ lawyers.” Classic.

According to NME and Guardian UK, The Sex Pistols are suing an ice-cream shop for using the above God Save the Cream image in ads on their website and in a local department store.

Icecreamists is a London-based boutique ice-cream maker who uses iconic wordplay and imagery to have a bit of fun, calling themselves “More Sid & Nancy than Ben & Jerry. ” They also have an ice-cream “cocktail” called the Sex Pistol, which comes with a shot of absinthe.

I think it’s all funny, and cute, but evidentally The Sex Pistols have a huge stick up their collective ass on this one. It’s innocuous, really. Harmless. After all, it’s a small f*ckin’ ice cream shop trying to be hip and relevant! I could see if Nike were using it for their global ad campaign, but, please …

The Guardian reports that the band has a “demand for damages for allegedly ‘passing off and copyright infringement’ based on the fees the band is able to get for licensing its imagery.”

Talk about corporate maneuvering. Pretty vacant. If you already didn’t know it, The Sex Pistols have become a corporate brand. We’re not in England circa 1975 anymore.

And, who knows, to top it off maybe Johnny doesn’t like ice cream.

As the Icecreamists put it:

“We are a bit dumbfounded that a group that made its reputation for being banned is trying to ban one of our ice creams.”