The 'Godfather Of Soul' died today

James Brown singer and songwriter has died today (December 25) at the age of 73 after being admitted to hospital in Atlanta suffering with pneumonia.

His agent Frank Copsidas confirmed that he had died at 1.45am local time (6.45am UK time).

According to Copsidas the singer first became aware that he was seriously ill when he visited his dentist at the weekend.

"On Friday (December 22) he had his toy giveaway, which is his annual toy giveaway in Augusta, Georgia," the agent told the BBC World Service. "On Saturday, he went to his dentist up in Atlanta, and his dentist told him something was wrong, and he sent him to a doctor immediately."

The singer died with his long term friend Charles Bobbit at his bedside.

Brown was responsible for both key moments in soul music's evolution: being at the birth of both R&B and funk, earning him the name "the Godfather Of Soul".

Subsequently, his became one of the most sampled artists by a new generation of rappers and producers.

His most famous and influential songs included 'Get Up (I Feel Like Being A Sex Machine)', 'I Got You (I Feel Good)', 'Papa's Got A Brand New Bag' and 'Make It Funky'.

His 'Live At The Apollo' (1963) album is considered to be one of the greatest live albums ever.

Brown was born in 1933 in Barnwell, South Carolina.


Source: NME

Johnny Depp to present Oasis with Brits Award

The Brit Awards will feature Hollywood actor Johnny Depp on stage to present Oasis with their special achievement award.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star is a friend of Noel Gallagher, who will receive the gong for Outstanding Contribution to Music along with other band members. Previous recipients of the award include U2, The Beatles and Paul Weller.

Johnny was introduced to Noel by their then girlfriends Kate Moss and Meg Mathews and Johnny went on to play guitar on Fade In-Out, a song on the number one Oasis album Be Here Now.

A Brits source said: "This year it's going back to being broadcast live so the organisers have gone for huge names to spice it up."

Next year's spectacular will be opened by the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Valentine's Day and will be hosted by Russell Brand and Fearne Cotton

Doves working on new album

doves have relocated to a new studio in the Peak District to record their fourth studio album.

The band have taken a break from their M56 base and moved into a cottage in Derbyshire where they are working on new songs which they hope to record in February 2007.

Writing on their official website the Manchester three-piece said: "For anyone under the impression that we've been sitting back holidaying/taking it easy, they'd be mistaken, we've been grafting hard for the last few months, writing lots & lots of songs / music.

"This record has required a little more writing & work to find a direction, something that feels new to us, that's just the way it is sometimes, but thank f**k we're getting there now."

The band have also revealed details of the album's artwork, which will be a shot of a llama farm next to the cottage.

The three-piece said they are hoping to release the follow-up to 'Some Cities' between the summer and autumn of 2007.

Source: NME

Kasabian pay tribute to Oasis at Earls Court in their 'best show ever'

Kasabian played one of their biggest indoor shows ever tonight (December 19) in London.

The Leicester four-piece played a 90-minute set to a massive audience at Earl's Court as they rolled off hits from their 2004 debut and their Number One album 'Empire'.

Kicking off the set with instrumental 'Brown Acid', singer Tom Meighan eventually arrived onstage dressed in a long black trench coat for glam stomper 'Shoot The Runner'.

The show, which was watched by Oasis band leader Noel Gallagher, also saw guitarist Serge Pizzorno and drummer Ian Matthews perform an acoustic rendition of 'British Legion'.

Later in reference to Oasis' Earl's Court shows in the autumn of 1995, Meighan told the crowd as he launched into 'The Doberman': "I'm not often lost for words but tonight I am. We were here over 10 years ago and we wanted to be in a rock n roll band. If it wasn't for the likes of Noel and Liam Gallagher we wouldn't be here now. If you wanna be in a rock n roll band it will happen. You will have your time!"

There was a rare outing for 'Aponoea' which resulted in the frontman changing the words to 'A-wop-bop-a-loo-lop a-lop bam boo' from Little Richard classic 'Tutti Frutti'.

Rounding off the show with 'LSF' a visibly moved Meighan added: "This has been the best gig we have ever done, I swear to God. Merry Chrismas and a Happy New Year. We'll see you at Glastonbury yeah."

Kasabian played:

'Brown Acid'
'Shoot The Runner'
'Reason Is Treason'
'Sunrise/Light/Flies'
'Cutt Off'
'Me Plus One'
'By My Side'
'Empire'
'Seek And Destroy'
'British Legion'
'Processed Beats'
'The Last Trip'
'The Doberman'
'Apoena'
'Club Foot'
'Stuntman'
'L.S.F.'

Source: NME

Guns N' Roses announce album release date

Axl Rose has announced his intention to release Guns N Roses' new album on March 6.

The singer confirmed that 'Chinese Democracy' will finally see the light of day in an online posting yesterday (December 14).

This is what he said:

"It takes approximately eight weeks for an album to hit the shelves once it has been turned in to the record company," he wrote. "That being said this is not a promise, a lie or a guarantee, but we do wish to announce a tentative release date of March 6. This is the first time we have done this publicly for this album. Any and all other dates have been made up by others for their own reasons. We would like to assure the fans that though tentative, everything in our power will be done to meet this date. Once it is finalised and official you will be notified. If we are delayed for unseen reasons you will also be notified as soon as possible in regard to a new date, and the album will be released as shortly thereafter as is possible. We thank you for your patience."

In order to be able to complete the record, Rose explained that he had to cancel several dates on their US tour.

"Due to the schedule of these particular shows, valuable time needed by the band and record company for the proper setup and release of the album 'Chinese Democracy' would be lost," he said. "Rather than delay the album yet again, all involved have decided to remove these shows from GNR's schedule."

The cancelled dates are:

Sacramento (January 10)
Bakersfield (11)
Reno (13)
San Diego (16)

source: NME

The Music made their return to the live stage after an absence of over 15 months when they played a secret gig on Saturday (9th December) at Leeds Cockpit.
The gig, which was only announced on the band's website messageboard, sold out in 12 minutes and tickets were changing hands on eBay for over £250 a pair.
The band are due to start work on their third album early in the new year and more low key gigs are planned for the near future - keep an eye on the band's website for details.

The massive success of the Killers' new album Sam's Town has put the Vegas foursome in a giving mood. The Killers have teamed up with (PRODUCT) RED and iTunes to donate to the cause of fighting AIDS in Africa.. Buy the exclusive holiday track "Great Big Sled" on iTunes and help out a worthy cause while listening to festive music.


source: iTunes

hi, welcome back, long time no see

STOP THE CLOCKS is out now, and theres also a version with a DVD (including a brand new interview with Noel & Liam, two previously unreleased live tracks including a performance of Champagne Supernova from Knebworth 1996 and Fade Away live from the Chicago Metro 1994, the trailer for the forthcoming film “Lord Don’t Slow Me Down” and deluxe 32 page booklet), go get it while you can, very interesting.

The interview its very cool, and you get to see why they pick up certain songs, and why other were not included.

Still i think Whatever should be on it!!

Check back soon for more news!!
Bye