The annual month of NME Shockwaves shows have been announced for February 2o1o, with Miike Snow and Hadouken! two of the top names involved. The remaining slots will be taken by Simian Mobile Disco, Yeasayer, Girls and New Young Pony Club.

The shows will run up to the annual NME Awards held at the 02 Academy Brixton from the 24th, with more acts to be announced at a later date.

Miike Snow , London Scala – (Feb) 2nd

Hadouken!, London Scala – 3rd

Simian Mobile Disco, matter – 2oth

New Young Pony Club, Islington Academy – 22nd

Yeasayer, London Heaven – 23rd

Girls, London Scala – 23rd

(Image courtesy of http://beforetheymakemerun.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/miike-snow-001.jpg)

The gigs have always been a fertile breeding ground for breaking the best new talent, with the likes of The Ting Tings, Klaxons, Arctic Monkeys, The Cribs, Bloc Party and The Killers having graced previous rosters.

Highly-acclaimed south London-based five piece The Maccabees are already a firm favourite on the festival circuit and are currently enjoying the success of their second album, Wall Of Arms.

Industry darlings Bombay Bicycle Club released their first album, I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose, earlier this year to rave reviews.
Nme Awards Tickets are available at Sold Out Ticket Market

Ticket Market for Nme Awards Tickets

The Maccabees, The Big Pink, Bombay Bicycle Club and The Drums have been confirmed for next year’s NME Awards Tour. All four bands will play 14 shows around the UK in February 2010. ‘Toothpaste Kisses’ art-rockers The Maccabees will headline the dates.Previous NME Awards Tours have hosted acts including The Ting Tings, Klaxons, Arctic Monkeys, The Killers and The Cribs.New York group The Drums will play the prestigious opening slot, which has previously been filled by Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Chiefs.

Nme Awards Tickets are available at Sold Out Ticket Market

Ticket Market for Nme Awards Tickets

Some upcoming Awards in 2010:

Thu, Feb 04, 2010 (19:00)
NME Awards Tickets O2 Academy Newcastle Upon Tyne United Kingdom

Fri, Feb 05, 2010 (19:00)
NME Awards Tickets Barrowland Glasgow United Kingdom

Sat, Feb 06, 2010 (19:00)
NME Awards Tickets Manchester Academy Manchester United Kingdom

Sun, Feb 07, 2010 (19:00)
NME Awards Tickets O2 Academy Leeds United Kingdom

Tue, Feb 09, 2010 (19:00)
NME Awards Tickets Rock City Nottingham United Kingdom

Wed, Feb 10, 2010 (19:00)
NME Awards Tickets Norwich UEA LCR United Kingdom

Thu, Feb 11, 2010 (19:00)
NME Awards Tickets O2 Academy Birmingham United Kingdom

Sat, Feb 13, 2010 (19:00)
NME Awards Tickets Cardiff University Cardiff United Kingdom

Sun, Feb 14, 2010 (19:00)
NME Awards Tickets O2 Academy Bristol United Kingdom

Mon, Feb 15, 2010 (19:00)
NME Awards Tickets Brighton Dome United Kingdom

Tue, Feb 16, 2010 (19:00)
NME Awards Tickets O2 Academy Bournemouth United Kingdom

Thu, Feb 18, 2010 (19:30)
NME Awards Tickets NME Awards Tour 2010 Portsmouth Pyramida Southsea United Kingdom

Fri, Feb 19, 2010 (19:00)
NME Awards Tickets Cambridge Corn Exchange Cambridge United Kingdom

Sat, Feb 20, 2010 (19:00)
NME Awards Tickets O2 Academy Brixton London United Kingdom

Nme Awards Tickets are available at Sold Out Ticket Market

Ticket Market for Nme Awards Tickets

Nme Awards Tickets are available at Sold Out Ticket Market

Ticket Market for Nme Awards Tickets

NME Awards

NME Awards

NME Awards

NME Awards

NME Awards

Nme Awards Tickets are available at Sold Out Ticket Market

Ticket Market for Nme Awards Tickets

Nme Awards

The awards began as the NME Poll Winners Concert and awards ceremonies in the 1953. These continued through the 1960s, where concerts were filmed and broadcast on ITV. The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were most commonly featured.

The awards began again in 1994 as the NME Brat Awards an punning alternative to the Brit Awards. The initial award ceremonies were supportive of the burgeoning Britpop scene with Oasis becoming the first band in the modern era to win three awards. Again in 1996 Oasis won four awards (Best Band, Best Live band, Best Album – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, and Best Single – “Wonderwall)”. Later in the decade major winners were the Manic Street Preachers (4 awards in 1999) and Blur ( three awards in 2000).

In 2002, the awards reflected the NME’s support for the “New Rock Revolution” Garage Rock revival, with The Strokes winning three awards (Best New Act, Best Album, and Band of the Year).

In 2003, Nick Jago, the drummer of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club gave a “silent” speech lasting 7 minutes, infavourably compared the show to The Source awards, was booed and heckled and had to physically removed from the stage.

In 2006, Arctic Monkeys won both “Best New Band” and “Best British Band” in the same year and became the third band in the modern era to win three awards (Best New Band, Best British Band, Best Track). In his speech, lead singer Alex Turner alluded to how the awards reflected who received the most coverage by the magazine; “Who else was going to be Best British Band? You don’t write about something that much and then not tell you that you’re Best British Band”.In 2007, Razorlight received a worst album nomination for their self-titled album, which NME themselves gave 8/10. This made it the highest rated album to receive a worst album nomination.The 2008 award nominations were criticised in The Guardian for a lack of diversity and not including any female artists. Also in 2008, the ceremony was followed by the NME Big Gig at the adjacent O2 Arena, where The Cribs performed with Johnny Marr, followed by Klaxons, Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs, and Manic Street Preachers, who also performed with Tom Clarke of The Enemy and Cerys Matthews.In 2009, Oasis were nominated for a record 7 awards, whilst Villain of the Year went to George W. Bush for the sixth year in a row.

Nme Awards Tickets are available at Sold Out Ticket Market

Ticket Market for Nme Awards Tickets

Alexa Chung @ NME Awards

Als jullie dit lezen zit ik wellicht al met een 15-tal vrienden in Genk, niet voor de jaarlijkse 1 mei parade, maar voor onze allereerste barbecue van het jaar. We hebben voor alle zekerheid niet op mooi weer gerekend, het blijft per slot van rekening een moeilijke inschatting hier in ons Belgenlandje. Dus hebben we de partytent alvast uit de kast gehaald.

Beginnen doen we met een groepje dat gisteravond nog stond geprogrammeerd in de Brusselse Botanique. The Big Pink, onlangs nog winnaar van de Radar Award tijdens de Britse NME Awards spelen electrorock maar dan in de beste 80’s traditie. Binnenkort mogen we van hen trouwens een album verwachten.

Op de nieuwe cd ‘Face to face’ van Sweet Coffee is het nog wachten tot 16 september. Maar ze hebben als ‘teaser’ alvast een aanstekelijke single uitgebracht. Sweet Coffee zou best wel eens ons volgende muzikale exportprodukt kunnen worden. Ideale muziek voor op luchthavens aller landen, de betere hotellobby’s of in exclusieve clubs overal op deze aardbol. Het wordt tijd dat het buitenland zich eens distantieert van de suffe muziek van Milow en andere Novastars.

De volgende in het rijtje is het Britse Archive, dat ook wel eens wordt omschreven als een mengelmoes van Radiohead, Pink Floyd en Massive Attack bracht in maart alweer een zesde cd uit. Hun nieuwe cd ‘Controlling crowds’ duurt dik 80 minuten, maar klinkt desalniettemin als een coherent geheel. Knappe plaat, maar je moet er dus je tijd voor nemen.

Humo’s Rock Rally ligt ondertussen al dertien jaar achter hem, maar Tom Helsen is het levende bewijs dat je ‘m niet hoeft te winnen om door te breken. Wie hem graag nog eens in de buurt aan het werk wil zien, kan ‘m ‘live’ aanschouwen op 18 juni in MOD tijdens een concert dat staat aangekondigd als ‘try out concert’ voor Werchter Classic.

De laatste tip van de maand kan je eind augustus op de Pukkelpopwei gaan bewonderen. Deerhunter beschrijft zijn eigen muziek als ‘ambient punk’, hoewel het even goed noise rock, art rock of post-punk had kunnen zijn. In ieder geval te klasseren onder de noemer ‘experimentele muziek’.

La Tokio Hotel mania ha ormai raggiunto tutto il mondo, ha attraversato mari ed oceani ed ha raggiunto addirittura la Gran Bretagna… Ovunque vadano incontrano però dissenso, forse per la loro immagine, forse per la loro “”musica”"; nessuno li sopporta!

In inghilterra addirittura si sono create delle vere e propri mobilitazioni contro la band incominciando con la nomination per “peggior gruppo dell’anno” agli NME, ed in seguito diventando vero e proprio fenomeno mediatico!

Ma sicuri che sia veramente la band il problema? Chiedendo ad artisti e professionisti è emerso che in realtà sono le fans la cosa più antipatica! Si proprio le Karampane, ostinate e volgari non fanno altro che aumentare l’odio verso i TH!

I movimenti anti Tokio Hotel sono diventati talmente influenti che in Francia gli è stato addirittura dedicato un libro “Generazione Tokio Hotel” di Jim Courbis. Con toni un po’ esagerati, l’autore arriva a paragonare il movimento anti Tokio Hotel ai grandi movimenti d’odio storici: anti-giudei, anti-neri, anti-arabi, anti-omosessuali…

Ma tornando oltremanica, in che modo si difenderanno le fan da questi continui attacchi? Bé questa frase riassume come la pensano:

Sono gelosi perchè nessuno altro gruppo riesce a ottenere una tale partecipazione da parte dei loro fan!

A parte la grammatica corretta, strano ma vero, a me pare di averla già letta da qualche parte questa frase xD

Non sarà che i Tokio Hotel siano destinati a trasformarci in automi pronti per la loro difesa? Intanto stanno per tornare, si prevede l’uscita dell’album a metà Giugno ed a breve il nuovo singolo in rotazione radiofonica…

Preparatevi per una nuova stagione Tokio Hotel!

In the battle for Sexiest Man in the NME Awards this year, the winner was:

Matthew Bellamy of Muse (2nd time he’s won!)

Keith got 2nd place:

(thanks for the scan, Zoe!)

And for the award for best cover art, Brain Thrust Mastery was 4th place. Muse’s H.A.A.R.P. won 1st place in this category.

Better luck next year, guys!

TLC just finished watching this year’s annual celebration of debauched rock n roll mayhem that is the Shockwaves NME Awards which took place at Brixton Academy, London on Feb. 25th. It was definitely the most relaxed installment in years, going off without a noteworthy incident like when Ryan Jarman of The Cribs was sent to the hospital twice in the same night at the event in 2006. I guess they just don’t make rockstars like they used to 3 years ago.

Winners included Oasis for Best British Band, Kings of Leon for Best Album, Last Shadow Puppets for Best Video and The Cure for Godlike Genius Award. Full list of winners here. The undeniably greatest moment was when Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon appeared together for the first time in over 10 years to perform a stunning acoustic version of This Is A Low and walked off hugging each other. I couldn’t breathe.

Watch the full broadcast here.

Below are obligatory photos of The Last Shadow Puppets looking too good and TLC favorite, Little Boots, looking positively glamtastic.

MP3: Little Boots – Meddle (Ebola Remix) or Zshare

MP3: Blur – Young and Lovely or Zshare

There were sooo many categories, so I have commented on some of the winners of the 2009 NME awards.

Best British Band: Oasis supported by Shockwaves
I think they do deserve this, they have been going for years and have produced some of the best British anthems. However, I’m not too keen on their latest album ‘Dig out your soul’.

Best New Band: MGMT supported by Bench
I do love MGMT, but as a new band, their debut album wasn’t amazing. It didn’t live up to the high standards set by their amazing 3 singles, ‘Time to pretend’, ‘Electric feel’ and ‘Kids’. However they never fail to fill a dance floor and singer Andrew Vanwyndergarden is great to look at.

Best Live Band: Muse supported by Red Stripe
They put on an amazing show as well as delivering the music. Matt Bellamy manages to play almost every instrument know to man (slight exaggeration there) and still keep his entrancing voice going.

Best Track: MGMT ‘Time To Pretend’ supported by NME Radio
Soundtrack to my summer 2008. My top song of last year, its just brilliant. Definitely deserved this award. This is the tune that got MGMT noticed. I herd it first and loved it, then it was on the last episode of Skins series 2 and the ‘Time To Pretend’ fever swept dancefloors everywhere.

Best TV: ‘The Mighty Boosh’
Is it wrong to be in love with a moon? Mighty Boosh is amazing, although I do have to admit the third series was a slight letdown. I love the random wit and crazy ‘crimps’. They were even better when I saw them live.

Best Dancefloor Filler: Dizzee Rascal featuring Calvin Harris and Chrome – ‘Dance Wiv Me’
Definitely the most deserving winner. I haven’t seen a dancefloor that hasn’t been crammed with clubbers when this tune has been played. Such a great combo, with Dizzee’s naught lyrics and Calvin’s great beats, this tune couldn’t really fail.

Best Dressed: Alexa Chung
‘Frock Me’, the best hangover cure ever. I don’t even think she wears clothes that are particularly amazing, but she has a way of wearing clothes that make them look better.

Sexiest Male: Muse’s Matt Bellamy
I used to love him. But something has changed, I think his attitude puts me off, he always seems so full of himself and arrogant.  Oh well, someone obviously still finds him ’sexy’.

Yes it’s here. Issue 22.

A hectic month as I’m sure anyone in a similar trade will agree! Fashion Week, The Brits, The Oscars, NME Awards etc etc. We’ve hardly had a chance to catch a breath. Filming everywhere has been the main aim this month and whilst behind the camera there has been a few lessons to be learnt, being; Its definitely not Summer yet (we tried to have a BBQ and got pretty cold), iphones most definitely have a pressure point that if dropped and hit will undoubtedly shatter your screen, Brent Cross is the Devils work and its very hard to find people that want to strip for free. 

In other news you may notice we have a fair few new writers emerging throughout our pages. This issue and next you will notice a lot of new names, we reckon there are some right corkers in there but feel free to voice opinions as always! 

So as a leaving thought, this March we would ask you to wear a trucker hat where ever possible (outdated rules of no caps indoors to be ignored), Bring back Punch : it’s cheap and if you have a particularly nasty bottle of red wine make it drinkable by adding Five Alive, find us and make your own profile on twitter (twitter.com/whosjack) and finally eat as many darned Easter eggs as possible. We missed out on pancake day so will be stuffing our faces with eggs instead. See you in April along with a few extra pounds.

Jack  x

- A semana teve pelo menos uma aparição por dia do U2. Normal, já que eles estão lançando disco novo. Então teve U2 em um programa especial do Culture Show, da BBC, no Jonathan Ross, em show surpresa no teto da emissora, em dois programas de rádio. Em entrevista à rádio BBC1, Bono xingou Chris Martin e depois teve que se desculpar. A semana teve até organizações de caridade acusando o U2 de “roubar dos mais pobres no mundo” já que evita o pagamento de algumas taxas. Abaixo, vídeo do U2 no programa Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, na sexta. E o Bono vai, se joga no colo de duas mulheres e elas nem aí. Constrangedor…

- O Oasis foi vaiado geral pela platéia na cerimônia do NME Awards ao ser escolhido a melhor banda britânica. Na mesma noite, a maior surpresa foi Damon Albarn e Graham Coxon tocando juntos, em uma prévia da reunião do Blur este ano. 

- Por falar em Blur, como era esperado, Michael Eavis, criador do Glastonbury, confirmou a banda no festival deste ano. Bruce Springsteen também está confirmado.

There has been some bad press lately about one of my favourite bands the Jonas Brothers. The boys picked up Worst Album and Worst Band at the NME Awards in London on Wednesday, February 25th. The article (which can be found here) claims that “The band are officially worse than Scouting For Girls and Fall Out Boy”. I’m not a big fan of  Scouting For Girls or Fall Out Boy but there is nothing wrong with their music. I absolutely hate it when people think they are music aficinado’s and that anything that is too mainstream is not to be considered decent music. They are not music experts but closed minded, arrogant twats. Anything that does not fall under punk rock or indie rock is to be shunned? That is total bullshit. I feel I have more of a stand in judging music, my musical tastes range from pop to rock to R&B to soul, I even have a few oldies put in for good measure.  By looking at my Last FM page you’ll be able to see my top 8 most played artists: The Cure, George Michael, Jimmy Eat World, Take That, Jonas Brothers, The Script, Ne-Yo and Robert Pattinson. No one can tell me I have no idea about music. And that’s just my top 8! When it comes to music, no one can deny me of being open minded. It is just about the only thing I am open minded about! So, after clarifying my right to talk about what music is good music, I will now begin to defend my love of the Jonas Brothers.

• They are heartthrobs. It isn’t just teens who like the band. Joe Jonas has been rumoured to be dating Camilla Belle. She is 22 and he is 19. I am not too old to like them. The oldest, Kevin, is 21. He is six months older than me. I don’t think that’s paedophilia!?
• Think about boybands of the 90’s, they were way cheesier than these guys! JB’s songs are catchy, very catchy in my case. So why all the hatred?
• You cannot deny their business skills. They have released album after album after album for the past three years, have performed at countless of shows, have had two movies released… these boys aren’t so stupid! I don’t think they’d care about haters. Would you care if you had millions of dollars rolling in? I think not.
• They are great role models for kids. They are all round nice guys. Whether or not you believe in their virginity pact, they are setting a good example.  Their songs are not about sex, something which is unusual for music of today.
• They are amazing performers. They know how to get a crowd going with singing, instrument playing and acrobatics. I have seen them perform twice and am going to see them again June 15th. I can’t get enough.
  

  Meeting JB at Hammersmith Apollo on September 11th, 2008

Whatever anyone says to me, these guys rock my socks! And people can call me sad or say that I have bad music taste, but I know that I do have good music taste. I am open minded too. It’s just a shame that haters aren’t that way too.  I believe people to be jealous, JB have the money, the success, the fame, the girls. It seems like these factors cloud haters’ judgement and instead of viewing their music for music, all they see are reasons to dislike them. Reasons that have nothing to do with their talent.

This Week ; The Indelicates, Keane, Gloria Cycles, Royal Treatment Plan, Little Boots , Ono Palindromes, Grammatics, Lizzyspit and The NME Awards

Song Of The Week

“Undercurrent” By Royal Treatment Plant

____________________________________________________________

KEANE

Keane have set-off on the South American leg of their world tour but have still had time to commission a remix by Innerpartysystem of their album’s title track ‘Perfect Symmetry’. You can listen to it  below or “right click save as” to download it here

___________________________________________________________________________

GLORIA CYCLES

www.myspace.com/gloriacycles

‘Chancer’ is the third single from Gloria Cycles, a four piece from Brighton who look set to make their mark in 2009’s most. If you like your indie accompanied by intricate guitars and heavy bass, then this could be the band for you.

They spent most of last year on the road playing up and down the country wowing audiences with their snappy basslines, catchy melodies and never-ending hooks. They were asked to go on tour with Cage The Elephant and Fight Like Apes, as well as playing to 25,000 eager German music fans at Taubertal Festival. They also played unmissable sets at Great Escape, Liverpool Soundcity and Offset.

‘Vegas’ and ‘No Zero’s’ (released on limited coloured vinyl) grabbed the attention of those odd folk at Radio 1 and their debut single whizzed straight into the top 30 of their indie chart on word of mouth alone. The band have a true DIY ethic, they make their own dazzling artwork, promote their very own club night in Brighton and also direct their own videos.

Their debut album mixed by John Cornfield (Oasis, Stone Roses and Supergrass) is due for release later this year. Keep your ears out for a full UK tour around the release of the single.

___________________________________________________________________________

THE INDELICATES

The Indelicates are playing the opening night of Club Cog at The Lexington on Saturday the 7th March. Ticket links are here: and here:

They have also written a Recession Song, featuring Mikey Art Brut, Keith Totp, and Nicky Biscuit, as well as the usual Indelicate lot. The song is accompanied by a video specifically designed to make you buy the T-SHIRTS. I think you’ll agree, it does a very effective job of explaining quite how super cool you’ll be if you wear one, especially if you team it up with a brown cardigan handed down to you from your sisters first trip to a charity shop in the 80’s. It’s recession chic, it’s hot, it’s glamourous, it’s dirty, it’s…Indelicates Recession wear!!!

Download the song on here:

Watch the ahem… HILARIOUS! video

And buy the T-SHIRTS here:
Simon Indelicate has been writing and recording a concept album about Waco called “David Koresh Superstar”. It’s really quite something, you can listen to some of the songs here:

And you can buy Merchandise for David Koresh Superstar, as well as T-shirts based on the signs used in “Julia, We Don’t Live In The 60’s” here:

___________________________________________________________________________

LITTLE BOOTS ON TOUR

“Meddle” By Little Boots

Lizzyspit

Talented singer songwriter Lizzyspit has a free download of her latest double A-side single available “Little Dan/Stars In The Water” “here. And you can read an interview with her here

___________________________________________________________________________

THE NME AWARDS

Blur’s Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon played a surprise reunion gig at this year’s NME Awards. It was their first performance together since 2000,  thankfully they only played one track. Those yearning to hear more will have to wait for the band’s full reunion concert at London’s Hyde Park in July. Personally I really CAN wait. Blur’s other members, the posh farmer fella who smells of cheese and the one who sounds like a pack of fruit gums were also at the ceremony, although they didn’t do anything to merit anything more than this ill formed sentence.

Brit-pop’s resurrection continued with Oasis winning the best British band gong. The decision was not without some controversy, amusingly large parts of the crowd started to boo when the winner was announced. Hapless host Mark Watson appeared confused, saying: “I don’t know why you’re booing, you lot voted for them, c’mon people, if  not for the Gallagher’s sake then please show some respect for the venerable Alan McGee”. Unfortunately for Watson this was like fuel to the fire , and he was soon engulfed in a tidal wave of rage, he was last seen being carried in the direction of a huge rudimentary Wicker Man that had been hastily erected on Hampstead Heath. The Gallagher’s were not in attendance, due to technical problems with their “mono-brow”. James Allan from Glasvegas, was apparently still sulking yesterday after hearing a word his ears have not been accustomed to of late.Namely a “no” from The NME, when he asked that a huge ice sculpture be provided at the awards show.

Sadly the ceremony was also horribly marred by a series of cheesy pop duets that seem to be in-vogue at present, but which invariably have the audience mumbling “god, make it stop”. Franz Ferdinand teamed up with La Roux to cover Blondie’s Call Me, and Florence and the Machine joined Glasvegas to tackle the Elvis Presley hit Suspicious Minds. Not wanting to be outdone, Friendly Fires brought out a troupe of Brazilian dancing girls and glitter cannon. Nice to see bands still being as subversive as ever isn’t it ? The spirit of Phil Collins is alive and well and in safe hands.

___________________________________________________________

ONO PALINDROMES

““Eat Your Make Up”

We like this lot, they are a bit on the cuckoo side of the clock. Yes, Exeter 5 piece Ono Palindromes unleash their latest offering of perfectly crafted art pop, the Kitty Magic EP looks  set to enhance their rapidly increasingly critical and commercial reputation.

“Eat Your Make Up” is a song influenced by an early John Waters movie where young girls are taken in from the streets, and forced to live on a diet of make-up from their matron/pimp. Including a verse which centres on the concept of Alice in Wonderland being a crazed alcoholic it clearly indicates their effortless ability to combine well known popular culture with an artistic twist – surely the very definition of art-pop or what we called in my day “mad as a clown with TWO balloons “

Myspace

___________________________________________________________

GRAMMATICS SINGLE OUT MARCH 16th

SHADOW COMMITTEE / TIME CAPSULES AND THE GREATER TRUTH

From its staccato opening, of linear cello and guitar, to its achingly beautiful coda, Shadow Committee is the epitome of Grammatics’ heroic art rock.  It’s a-side companion Time Capsules And The Greater Truth a second movement of glacial acoustic wordsmithery, or something,  released 16h March.

Grammatics are about to head out on tour with Red Light Company, here are full dates:

10 March – Glasgow – Nice’N'Sleazy

11 March – Newcastle – The Cluny

13 March – Sheffield – Leadmill

16 March – Nottingham – Bodega

17 March – Birmingham – 02 Academy 3

18 March – Manchester – Roadhouse

20 March – Southampton – Joiners

21 March – Cheltenham – Frog and Fiddle

22 March – Bristol – Thekla

23 March – Cardiff – Barfly

24 March – London – Borderline

25 March – Norwich – Arts Centre

Official site

Myspace

What the critics are saying:

“An epic slice of paranoia-pop mixing bass and twinkly keys to mesmeric effect… ” – NME

“Grammatics bowl you over with washes of high-IQ indie. Great stuff.” – THE SUNDAY TIMES

“The summit of a glittering sonic scape.” – ARTROCKER

“Proper Bo, I tell thee.” – VPME

A briga judicial entre os The Killers e seu ex-empresário Brande Merrick inicou em 2006, quando Merrick processou a banda por quebra de contrato. Porém, os Killers não ficaram quietos e recentemente contra-atacaram o empresário, acusando-o de ser responsável por um prejuízo de mais de um milhão de dólares, devido a shows cancelados e oportunidades promocionais perdidas. Os músicos ainda alegam que Merrick continuou agindo externamente nas administrações do grupo após a quebra de contrato sem o conhecimento de nenhum Killer.

Atualmente, os The Killers estão se dando bem com o novo empresário, Robert Renolds. Os norte-americanos lançaram o novo disco Day & Age em novembro passado e acabam de receber o prêmio de  melhor banda internacional no NME Awards.

Geezers United! Should be a great summer.

Thank Pitchfork for the memo-

Not quite, it’s from the NME awards last night except MGMT didn’t take it home…

http://www.nme.com/news/mgmt/43040

The NME awards have always been a little different to the Brits.

They are on a smaller scale, the awards are all voted for by the readers of the magazine and website – and boozing and bad behaviour are actively encouraged.

This is the ceremony where Bob Geldof put Russell Brand in his place, using the kind of word on stage that would make Brits’ bosses flee the country.

In 2004, Ryan Jarman of The Cribs had to be rushed to hospital after skewering himself on a table decoration.

But things have suddenly got a little tame at the ceremony, which was once dubbed “the Brats”.

Enchanted forest

It seems every ceremony must have a theme nowadays.

Last week, the Brits stage was festooned with tents and cows as part of a summer musical vibe.

The NME has loaded Brixton Academy’s stage with what looked like offcuts from a particularly brutal hedge pruning session.

Read More at the BBC News

–

Tagged in:

 http://ticketola.wordpress.com/linked-at

Joni Mitchell is planning to stage a performance of her semi-autobiographical ballet, ‘The Fiddle & The Drum’, at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver next year. The collaboration with the Alberta Ballet may also coming to DVD, with tonight’s appearance in Calgary being filmed for a potential release. Choreographed by the Alberta Ballet’s artistic director Jean Grande-Maitre, the project was recently expanded to include an additional four songs and now runs a full 48 minutes. Speaking to Billboard last week, Joni said that she hopes to take the ballet wherever possible (“It depends on money and a lot of things”), saying “I think it’s quite an interesting entertainment…It acts like a play even though it’s modular and non-linear, and people respond to that in the theatre. It’s such a joy for me. It’s thrilling.”

* * *

The Cowboy Junkies are working on the follow-up to 2007’s At The End Of Paths Taken with an eye on a late 2009 or early 2010 release. New songs being road-tested on the band’s latest US tour include ‘Angels In The Wilderness’, ‘The Confession Of Georgie E’ and ‘Fairytale’. Guitarist Michael Timmins told Billboard.com, “They all sound like the Cowboy Junkies…I don’t know, they’re changing. With road-testing songs, you push them in a direction and then pull them back and then push them in another direction. Some of these songs I’ve just been playing me and Margo on acoustic guitar, and then we play them with a full band, so it’s hard to know where they’re going to end up.”

The band are also hoping to launch a brand new website within the next month, fully revamped to include a digital download shop that will host not only their vast back catalogue but also music from other bands that the Junkies have been working with and producing.

* * *

Hayley Williams of Paramore was given the dubious honour of being NME readers’ Sexiest Female at last night’s NME Awards. Amy Winehouse was named as the Worst Dressed artist. This is what it has come to folks. Florence & The Machine and La Roux put in performances, duetting with Glasvegas on ‘Suspicious Minds’ and Franz Ferdinand for Blondie’s ‘Call Me’, respectively. 

* * *

Rachael Yamagata will finally see a UK release for her second album, Elephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart, next week through Warner. The double-disc album features 14 new songs and found a place on many a best-of-2008 list.

* * *

Michelle Shocked releases a new album, Soul Of My Soul, in early May. Part inspired by the ‘official love of her life’, artist David Willardson, and part by the Bush Administration, the album is split almost down the middle by songs of love and anger. But Michelle has mellowed a little – the fighting songs are less about rage and more about venting her vexation poetically. ”I think the meditation these past several years, ever since I stopped drinking, really, has been to jettison rage,” she says, “without losing the ability to feel strong feelings…I used to rant, ‘Bush, pull out like your father should have.’ Now I say, ‘I love you America, but I think we should see other people.’”

The album promises to be a teaser for a series of collaborations with Willardson called ‘Indelible Women’. The project will apparently consist of ‘performance portraits’, in song and on canvas, of iconic women like Amelia Earhart, Ella Fitzgerald and Audrey Hepburn.

* * *

Beneath the surface campery of Swedish singer-songwriter Miss Li lies an interesting and prolific artist. Her latest album, her fourth in as many years, is called Dancing The Whole Way Home and hits the shops in April. The first single, ‘I Heard Of A Girl’, can be heard here.

* * *

Alan Pedder

Esta es la conclusión principal. Había otro titular que hubiese ido así:  “Oasis son mejores que Radiohead, Bloc Party, Muse y The Last Shadow Puppets“, pero me quedaba un poco largo, y tal. Leo que es la cuerta vez que Oasis es nombrada la mejor banda británica por NME y la verdad es que me parece exagerado. Oígan, cierto es que Muse se llevó el de mejor banda en directo, que el último de Bloc Party es un disco mediocre, que The Last Shadow Puppets no dan la talla y que Radiohead no ha publicado nada este año pero… por Dios. El disco de Oasis tampoco es el mejor de su carrera. Y yo me pregunto ¿dónde está Bristol? ¿En Guatemala? Debe ser. Eso en el Reino Unido, que es lo que más chirría, pero hay más. ¿Quieren sabes la mejor banda internacional? Bajen y vean.

The Killers. Yo no sé para qué hacen los premiso NME teniendo los de la MTV, en serio. Va no es para tanto. La verdad es que los chicos lo están petando, hablando cañí, pero no sé si es para tanto. Cierto es que a cualquiera de sus compañeros de candidatura el premio les habría quedado más o menos igual de grande. Ahí estaban, Kings of Leon, Vampire Weekend, Crystal Castles y MGMT.

Estos últimos no se fueron con las manos vacías pues terminaron por llevarse el premio a la “mejor banda nueva” imponiéndose a, de nuevo, Vampire Weekend, Glasvegas, Late of the Prier y White Lies. Quizás en el premio serio mejor otorgdado de la noche. Esperemos que no decepcionen y mejoren su directo.

Como hubo para todos, Kings of Leon se llevaron el premio al mejor album del año por su correcto ‘Only by the night’ que desbancó al ‘Intimaciy‘ de Bloc Party, al ‘Day & Age’ de The Killers, al homónimo de Glasvegas y al ‘Dig out your soul’ de Oasis.

Y llegados a este punto ustedes se preguntatán ¿dónde está Coldplay? ¿dónde está ‘Viva la vida‘? Pues ya se lo digo: compitiendo por el premio de… peor álbum del año. Así es, con tiernos compañeros de candidatura como Razorlight, Britney Spears, Scouting for Girls y los imbatibles Jonas Brothers que, por descontado, se llevaron el galardón. Pero no sólo el de peor álbum. También el de peor banda, apartado en el que compitieron con rivales de altura como Tokio Hotel, Fall Out Boy e, incomprensiblemente, Oasis. ¿Cómo es posible que la misma banda gane el premio a mejor banda del Reino unido y sea una de las candidatas a peor banda del planeta? Me lo expliquen. ¿Será una herrata?

Aquí dejo un resumen cortesía de BBC:

BEST BRITISH BAND supported by Shockwaves
Oasis
Bloc Party
Radiohead
Muse
Last Shadow Puppets

BEST INTERNATIONAL BAND supported by 4music
Kings Of Leon
The Killers
MGMT
Vampire Weekend
Crystal Castles

BEST SOLO ARTIST
Ladyhawke
Jay-Z
Laura Marling
Lightspeed Champion
Peter Doherty

BEST NEW BAND supported by Bench
Vampire Weekend
MGMT
Glasvegas
Late Of The Pier
White Lies

BEST LIVE BAND supported by Red Stripe
Radiohead
Oasis
The Killers
Muse
Kings Of Leon

BEST ALBUM supported by HMV
Kings Of Leon – ‘Only By The Night’
The Killers – ‘Day & Age’
Glasvegas – ‘Glasvegas’
Oasis – ‘Dig Out Your Soul’
Bloc Party – ‘Intimacy’

BEST TRACK supported by NME Radio
Vampire Weekend – ‘A-Punk’
The Last shadow Puppets – ‘The Age Of The Understatement’
Kings Of Leon – ‘Sex On Fire’
The Ting Tings – ‘That’s Not My Name’
MGMT – ‘Time To Pretend’

BEST VIDEO supported by NME TV
Late Of The Pier – ‘Heartbeat’
The Last Shadow Puppets – ‘My Mistakes Were Made For You’
Radiohead – ‘House Of Cards’
Vampire Weekend – ‘A-Punk’
Oasis – ‘The Shock Of The Lightning’

BEST LIVE EVENT
T in the Park
Glastonbury
Isle Of Wight Festival
Reading And Leeds Festival
V Festival

BEST TV
Skins
The Mighty Boosh
Gavin & Stacey
Never Mind The Buzzcocks
The IT Crowd

BEST DANCEFLOOR FILLER
Bloc Party – ‘Mercury’
Dizzee Rascal – ‘Dance Wiv Me’
Crystal Castles – ‘Courtship Dating’
Friendly Fires – ‘Paris’
Late Of The Pier – ‘Bathroom Gurgle’

BEST DVD
Foo Fighters – ‘Live At Wembley Stadium’
The Rolling Stones – ‘Shine A Light’
Kaiser Chiefs – ‘Live At Elland Road’
Arctic Monkeys – ‘At The Apollo’
Muse – ‘HAARP’

BEST DANCEFLOOR FILLER
Bloc Party – ‘Mercury’
Dizzee Rascal – ‘Dance Wiv Me’
Crystal Castles – ‘Courtship Dating’
Friendly Fires – ‘Paris’
Late Of The Pier – ‘Bathroom Gurgle’

BEST DVD
Foo Fighters – ‘Live At Wembley Stadium’
The Rolling Stones – ‘Shine A Light’
Kaiser Chiefs – ‘Live At Elland Road’
Arctic Monkeys – ‘At The Apollo’
Muse – ‘HAARP’

BEST BAND BLOG
Noel Gallagher / Oasis
Little Boots
Lightspeed Champion
Radiohead
Foals

BEST VENUE
London 02 Arena
London Astoria
Glasgow Barrowland
London 02 Brixton Academy
Manchester Apollo

BEST ALBUM ARTWORK
We Are Scientists – ‘Brian Thrust Mastery’
Muse – ‘HAARP’
The Cure – ‘4:13 Dream’
Guillemots – ‘Red’
The Killers – ‘Day & Age’

HERO OF THE YEAR
Brandon Flowers
Noel Gallagher
Barack Obama
Noel Fielding
Alex Turner

VILLAIN OF THE YEAR
Amy Winehouse
George W Bush
Peter Doherty
John McCain
Gordon Brown

BEST DRESSED
Brandon Flowers
Noel Fielding
Alexa Chung
Alex Turner
Noel Gallagher

WORST DRESSED
Amy Winehouse
Peter Doherty
Katy Perry
Brandon Flowers
Johnny Borrell

WORST ALBUM
Jonas Brothers – ‘A Little Bit Longer’
Coldplay – ‘Viva La Vida’
Britney Spears – ‘Circus’
Scouting For Girls – ‘Scouting For Girls’
Razorlight – ‘Slipway Fires’

WORST BAND
Tokio Hotel
Jonas Brothers
Scouting for Girls
Fall Out Boy
Oasis

SEXIEST MALE
Carl Barât
Keith Murray
Matt Bellamy
Peter Doherty
Miles Kane

SEXIEST FEMALE
Hayley Williams
Kate Jackson
Alison Mosshart
Lykke Li
Stephanie Dosen

BEST WEBSITE
Facebook
YouTube
Last FM
MySpace
Bebo