My Chemical Romance draft new drummer in after Mike Pedicone's sacking

My Chemical Romance have pulled in Dead Country's Jarrod Alexander on drumming duties for their tour after Mike Pedicone was allegedly caught stealing from the band.

The former Death By Stereo and Suicide File man played with the band at their Salt Lake City show in the US last night (September 3), reports Altpress.

It's not yet known whether he'll continue to tour with the band for all their upcoming live appearances on their Honda Civic Tour, which they're playing alongside Blink-182 or whether he'll act as a permanent replacement for Pedicone.

Their former sticksman was sacked on Thursday (September 1) after their gig inWashington.

A statement posted by guitarist Frank Iero on their official websiteMychemicalromance.com read:
Some shit happened and before the blogosphere gets all crazy with false statements and ridiculous opinions we want the true story to come from us. But please listen close because this is the only time we are ever going to talk about this. The relationship between My Chemical Romance and Michael Pedicone is over. He was caught red handed stealing from the band and confessed to police after our show in Auburn, Washington.

The band headlined the Reading And Leeds Festivals last weekend where they performed with Brian May [pictured].

Wilco stream their new album 'The Whole Love' online - audio

Wilco are streaming their forthcoming album 'The Whole Love' in its entirety online ahead of its official release.

The band posted a message to fans saying it is "a reward for your labours, our labours, and those of our forefathers/mothers". Head over to their official website Wilcoworld.netto listen to the LP now.

'The Whole Love' will be the Chicago-based band’s eighth studio album, following 2009's self-titled effort 'Wilco (The Album)', and is due out in the UK on September 26.

The LP was put together at the band's recording studio The Loft and was self-produced.

The band are due to hit the road for a series of tour dates in October including a date atLondon's Roundhouse.

Wilco will play:

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (October 24)
Manchester Academy (25)
Bristol Colston Hall (27)
London Roundhouse (28, 29)

To check the availability Wilco tickets and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/TICKETS now, or call 0871 230 1094.

You can also listen to the band's recent single – their first release on their own dBpmrecord label – 'I Might', below:

Hercules And Love Affair: 'I don't want stars like Antony Hegarty and Kele Okereke on next record'

Hercules And Love Affair mainman Andy Butler says he has no interest in pulling in a guest star for their next record.

The DJ who previously worked with Antony And The Johnsons' Antony Hegarty on the track 'Blind' on their 2008 self-titled debut and Kele Okereke from Bloc Party on this year's follow-up 'Blue Songs' said he has ruled out a guest spot on their third LP because they can never tour with his band.

He said:
With Antony he was just blowing up to the point where he became unavailable. We couldn't tour with him and he had a huge fucking life in front of him. Getting him on the record was one thing and having him play with us was another. So it's not very interesting to me to have a star on the record because they can’t be with us. It was the same with Kele, he only got to do three or four shows with us. I'm more interested in working with young people entering into the industry now.

Butler said he has already written six tracks which could make it onto the next record. He added:
I'm writing everything from dark dubstep to anthemic house tracks. I've got two really poppy songs at the moment - 'Sleep Away' which sounds like [Rhythim Is Rhythim's] 'Strings Of Life' and 'True love' which sounds like Robin S.

'Wolverine 2' script to be re-written

The Wolverine, the next instalment in the X-Men spin-off, is being completely re-written byMark Bomback.

The film's production has already been delayed until next year partly because Hugh Jackman, is currently shooting Les Miserables. Now director James Mangold has replaced current script-writer Christopher McQuarrie, who previously worked on The Usual Suspects, with Bomback, who recently wrote Len Wiseman's Total Recallremake, reports Variety.com.

The sequel finds Wolverine suffering from amnesia and searching for answers about his past in the Japanese criminal underworld, finding both love and tragedy.

The entire cast will be comprised of Japanese and Japanese-American actors except forJackman and a character named Viper, the Caucasian secretary for Japan's Minister of Justice.

The road to production for the Wolverine sequel has been a rocky one, with directorDarren Aronofsky walking away from the project during pre-production, citing 'creative differences'.

After a long search, with names ranging from Moon director Duncan Jones andBourne's first film father Doug Liman, Mangold was eventually chosen as the replacement.

Justice's new single 'Audio, Video, Disco' surfaces online - audio

Justice's forthcoming single 'Audio, Video, Disco' has emerged online.

The song is the title track to their second album due out on October 25. A release date for the single has been set for September 19 in the US. A UK date is yet to be set.

The track follows the previously available single 'Civilization', which the duo debuted earlier this year in an Adidas advertisement, which featured the likes of Katy Perryand FC Barcelona forward Lionel Messi.

The official video, which is heavily loaded with CGI, features a large number of bison running through an arid desert, with Brazil's famous Christ The Redeemer statue superimposed in the background, then followed. Scroll and click below to watch it.

Guest vocalists Ali Love, Diamond Nights' singer Morgan Phalen and Vincenzi Vendetta, who is part of the Midnight Juggernauts, will all feature on the follow up to their 2007 album 'Cross'.

The tracklisting for 'Audio, Video, Disco' is as follows:

'Civilization'
'Ohio'
'Canon (Primo)'
'Canon'
'On'n'on'
'Brianvision'
'Parade'
'Newlands'
'Helix'
'Audio, Video, Disco'

Arcade Fire announce plans for celebrity charity basketball match in Canada

Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler has announced plans for a special charity basketball match in his hometown.

The singer is staging the 'POP vs. Jocks' event, featuring NBA stars including San Antonio Spurs' Matt Bonner and musicians such as Vampire Weekend drummerChris Tomson, at Montreal's McGill University Sports Centre on September 24 .

The event, which is part of the POP Montreal International Music Festival, will also seeButler take part in the match along with his brother and bandmember Will Butler.

Arcade Fire's Régine Chassagne will play organ, and band member Richard Reed Parry will premiere a bicycle symphony called 'Drones' during the halftime show, which will also feature Kid Koala.

The band are due to perform a gig during the four day festival on September 21. The POP Montreal International Music Festival will be held from September 21-25.

For more information go to the POP Montreal International Music Festival website

Jay-Z faces protests over renovation work on his New York nightclub

Jay-Z has been criticised over the handling of renovation work on his New York '40/40 Club'.

The city's District Council Of Carpenters has set up giant inflatable rats outside the club in protest over "substandard wage" conditions and the fact union workers aren't being used for the job. Protestors have also set up a huge banner which reads, 'Shame On The '40/40 Club' (Jay-Z) For Hurting New York City'.

The union is claiming that the company which was hired to make renovations to the building, Conelle Construction Corp, "does not meet area labour standards, including providing or fully paying for family healthcare and pension for all of its carpenter craft employees."

They are holding Jay-Z responsible saying the rapper "has an obligation to see that area labour standards are met for construction work on their future location."

But a spokesperson for the club told gossip site TMZ it is a non-union building and they are not required to use union contractors. They also said some protestors have been using "racial slurs against the workers, to try intimidate people and scare away business".

The '40/40 Club' is scheduled to re-open on November 1

Madonna confirms new album release in spring 2012 - video

Madonna has confirmed she will release her new album next spring.

The singer said she has started work on the record with producer William Orbit and is expected to be busy in her New York studio until the end of the year in a video interview for Sweden's Sveriges Television. Watch the interview by scrolling down and clicking below.

Madonna revealed the news during promotion for her new movie W.E. at theVenice Film Festival. She recentlyconfirmed that the first single for the record is due out in February or March.

Her manager Guy Oseary previously confirmed she had started work on the record in July.

The album, which is the follow-up to 2008's 'Hardy Candy', will be her first in a deal to release music in partnership with concert promoter Live Nation.

Conrad Murray's lawyers appeal over jury isolation decision in Michael Jackson trial

Lawyers for Michael Jackson's doctor are appealing against a decision not to isolate the jury in the forthcoming manslaughter trial.

Attorneys for Dr Conrad Murray urged the sequestering of the jury because of fears that massive media coverage could influence them.

But Judge Michael Pastor who will oversee the trial, said he didn't think it would be necessary and said it would be unlikely the Los Angeles court system would be able to afford it, with costs likely to exceed $500,000 (£308,000). He also said it would be difficult to cut members of the jury off from their families.

Jury selection officially begins on Thursday (September 8) and the trial is set to get under way later this month, reports Perezhilton.com.

Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. He faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

The trial will take place more than two years after Jackson's death from an overdose of a powerful anesthetic used as a sleeping aid.

Prince on the brink of $4 million (£2.4 million) payout to perfume company

Prince is facing the prospect of being forced to pay almost $4 million (£2.4 million) by a perfume company that claims he failed to help promote the '3121' fragrance named after his 2006 album.

A New York judge has recommended the singer pay the amount to Revelations Perfume And Cosmetics Inc, but the sum will have to be confirmed by a second judge.

The company said it licensed the musician's name, likeness and the album title to market its fragrance and that he broke promises to help promote the scent after its launch in July 2007.

It also claims Prince's refusal to give interviews and stage in-store events forced the cancellation of the licensing agreement because the fragrance failed to meet its minimum sales requirements.

But the singer's lawyer told the New York Law Journal he will fight to ensure he doesn't have to pay compensation. The lawsuit was first filed in November 2008.

The Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt releases collection of early recordings

The Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt is set to release 'Obscurities', a 14-track collection of his early material on October 10.

'Obscurities' is made up of songs which were all released prior to 1999’s triple album,'69 Love Songs' and features five previously unreleased songs.

Three of the five come from The Song >From Venus, an unfinished sci-fi musical by Merritt and Daniel Handler, the US author who writes under the pen-name Lemony Snickett.

Five songs from The Magnetic Fields’ 7” vinyl singles are also included as well as '69 Love Songs' outtake 'The Sun And The Sea And The Sky’. "This song didn’t go on'69 Love Songs' because it wasn't actually about romantic love," says Merritt.

'You Are Not My Mother And I Want To Go Home', a song written by Merritt for the audiobook version of Coraline by Neil Gaiman is also included.

The tracklisting for 'Obscurities' is:

'Forever And A Day' (previously unreleased)
'Rats In The Garbage Of The Western World' (The Magnetic Fields)
'I Don't Believe You' (The Magnetic Fields)
'Plant White Roses' (Buffalo Rome)
'Rot in the Sun' (the 6ths)
'The Sun And The Sea And The Sky’ (previously unreleased)
'Yet Another Girl' (the 6ths)
'Scream (Till You Make The Scene)' (previously unreleased)
'The Song from Venus' (previously unreleased)
'Beach-A-Boop-Boop (The Magnetic Fields)
'When I'm Not Looking, You're Not There' (The Magnetic Fields)
'Take Ecstasy With Me' (The Magnetic Fields)
'When You’re Young And In Love' (previously unreleased)
'You Are Not My Mother And I Want to Go Home' (The Gothic Archies)

Summer Camp to release debut album on Halloween

Summer Camp have announced plans to release their debut album, 'Welcome To Condale', on October 31.

Working with Pulp’s Steve Mackey, who helped produce the 12 track album, the record includes debut single 'Ghost Train', as well as song named after a character from 1990s teen drama My So-Called Life, 'Brian Krakow'.

The duo part-financed their debut by offering mixtapes and homemade chocolate brownies to fans in exchange for contributions to the recording process.

The London based act, made up of former anti-folk singer songwriter Jeremy Warmsleyand Elizabeth Sankey release the album on their own Apricot Recording Companyimprint, with support from Moshi Moshi and Pledgemusic.

The album will be preceded by a single, 'Better Off Without You', which will be released on September 12.

The 'Welcome To Condale' tracklisting is:

'Better Off Without You'
'Brian Krakow'
'I Want You'
'Losing My Mind'
'Summer Camp'
'Nobody Knows You'
'Down'
'Welcome to Condale'
'Done Forever'
'Last American Virgin'
'Ghost Train'
'1988'

Arctic Monkeys' Matt Helders talks solo album - video

Arctic Monkeys' drummer Matt Helders has jokingly made it known that he wishes to release a solo album.

The band were speaking to NME at V Festival where they played at the weekend and were joined onstage by Miles Kane, click above to watch the video.

When asked where they wanted to be in five years, Helders said: "Doing my debut record, or celebrating four years since I've done my debut record."

Helders has previously done backing vocals for the band and most recently taken the lead for the track 'Brick By Brick'. The drummer also curated an album as part of the 'Late Night Tales' series in 2008.

On that album he covered the Livin Joy dance anthem 'Dreamer' with vocalist Nesreen Shah.

During the interview Alex Turner also spoke about being one of few guitar bands on the weekend's bill. He said:"It not like you make a plan want to play V Festival and save rock and roll, but it's cool that you get a guitar band, because not many play it."

"I'm sure a lot of people who saw us play in the arenas would see us here."

Owner of 'Amy Winehouse Foundation' website name refusing to give it up

Amy Winehouse's father Mitch has become embroiled in an argument with a Londonbusinessman over the domain name 'Amywinehousefoundation.com'.

According to The Sun, Martin McCann, who purchased the domain name hours after plans for the foundation were announced, is refusing to sell the name and has said he believes he is "not exploiting anything."

Asked why he had bought the web domain name and if he believed he was exploiting anything, McCann replied:
I'm not exploiting anything yet. I've just bought some domain names. Anybody could have. It only takes the click of a mouse. I'm not ashamed or embarrassed. Detach yourself from emotions and think business. He [Mitch Winehouse] is making every effort to hijack this charity to satiate his own needs for the charity. She's not the only Amy Winehouse in the world.



McCann also criticised Mitch for calling him a 'dickhead' on Twitter. He said of this: "I'm not the dickhead. The dickhead is sitting over there without the name in his possession." He has also said he will not sell the name until Mitch apologises to him.

The late singer's father revealed recently that they had been forced to start handing donations back after delays to the foundation being set up and this is sure to push the start date back even further.

Good Charlotte on Pukkelpop tragedy: 'It was horrible' - video

Good Charlotte have spoken out about the Pukkelpop festival tragedy.

The band who were at the festival the day the tragedy took place (August 18), spoke toNME at the V Festival, click above to watch the video.

Benji Madden said: "It was terrible, nobody knew what was going on at the time. It got worse as the day progressed."

Joel Madden added: "The storm was crazy but it was a five minute blast. Even backstage it was chaos and then waking up the next day to find that people died, no one wants that."

His brother continued: "People going to shows, it's the reason why we all have jobs you know? It's terrible, the last thing you want is people getting hurt at a show, all bands feel that. You don't want to think about a kid going to a show and not coming home. We definitely feel for all the kids who didn't make it home. It's really weird and sad."

'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' songwriter Nickolas Ashford dies aged 69

Nickolas Ashford, who co-wrote hit singles for the likes of Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross, has died at the age of 69.

The songwriter passed away yesterday (August 22) at a New York hospital after a lengthy battle with throat cancer, reports BBC News.

Ashford, who worked as a co-writer alongside wife Valerie Simpson, began his career in 1966 when he and Simpson's song 'Let's Get Stoned' was made a hit by Ray Charles. Then they went on to compose hits across four decades, including Chaka Khan's 'I'm Every Woman', Diana Ross' first solo single 'Reach Out And Touch (Somebody's Hand)' and Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough'.

Ashford and Simpson also had their own musical careers, with a string of albums across the '70s and '80s. They most famously produced the 1984 hit single 'Solid'. The pair were inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2002.

Alicia Keys paid tribute to Ashford on Twitter, writing: "I'm so sad that he's gone. What a legacy of infectious music."

Beyonce to play Michael Jackson tribute concert via satellite link- up

Beyonce has announced that she will be appearing at the Michael Jackson tribute concert in Cardiff in October, but only via a satellite link-up.

According to the event's Facebook page, the singer will perform a cover of Jackson 5song. It does not state whether the link-up will be live or pre-recorded.

The announcement of the 'Run The World' singer's performance reads:
A unique, never-before-seen performance by Beyoncé of one of her favourite Jackson 5 songs will be shown at the concert. A lifelong Michael fan, Beyoncé really wanted to be involved in this tribute concert. Due to scheduling issues she can't be there in person, but this performance is not to be missed.

The singer joins Christina Aguilera, Leona Lewis, JLS, Cee Lo Green, Smokey Robinson and Craig David, who will all be physically performing in person at the gig. The event is scheduled for October 8 at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

Kiss have now been removed from the event's bill after pressure from fans and the singer's estate.

'Hound Dog' and 'Stand By Me' songwriter Jerry Leiber passes away aged 78

Jerry Leiber, the songwriter who penned global hits for the likes of Elvis Presley andThe Drifters, has passed away at the age of 78.

According to Yahoo News, Leiber passed away yesterday (August 22) as a result of heart failure in the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Members of his family were by his side.

Leiber, along with songwriting partner Mike Stoller, wrote over 200 songs during his career, which were covered by the likes of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, The Beatles,The Rolling Stones, James Brown, BB King, the Drifters and Peggy Lee. Elvisalone recorded over 20 songs written by Leiber and Stoller during his career.

Among the tracks they composed were 'Hound Dog' and 'Jailhouse Rock', which were both made famous by Elvis. They also penned 'Stand By Me' with Ben E King, 'Poison Ivy', which was a hit for The Coasters and 'Love Potion No.9', which The Cloverscovered to great success.

Mike Stoller paid tribute to his friend and writing partner in a statement. He said:
He was my friend, my buddy, my writing partner for 61 years. He had a way with words. There was nobody better. I'm going to miss him.

Red Hot Chili Peppers stream new album 'I'm With You' for free on iTunes

Red Hot Chili Peppers are streaming their new studio album 'I'm With You' online ahead of its formal release on Monday (August 29).

The Los Angeles quartet have made the whole album available to stream via iTunes. Click on the option to 'View on iTunes' and you can listen to the album in full on the pre-order page.

The band have also recently announced that they will be broadcasting a screening of them playing 'I'm With You' in its entirety at a live show. This will take place in cinemas across the UK on August 30.

'I'm With You' is the band's first album since 2006's double LP 'Stadium Arcadium' and is also the band's first with former Warpaint man Josh Klinghoffer on guitar. He replaced longtime player John Frusciante in 2009.

Red Hot Chili Peppers will undertake a UK and Ireland arena tour in November, which will take in nine shows, including two nights at London's O2 Arena.

Noel Gallagher adds three more UK dates to October tour - ticket details

Noel Gallagher has added three shows to his debut UK solo tour.

The ex-Oasis man, whose first solo tour sold out in just six minutes earlier this summer, has added two new shows in London and one in his home city of Manchester.

Gallagher will play Manchester's O2 Apollo on October 26 and has also added two shows in the UK capital in different venues. He will play the HMV Forum on October 30 and the Roundhouse on October 31.

'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds', the singer's debut solo album, will be released on October 17 through his own Sour Mash Records.

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds will now play:

Dublin Olympia Theatre (October 23)
O2 Apollo Manchester (26)
Edinburgh Usher Hall (27)
HMV Hammersmith Apollo London (29)
HMV Forum London (30)
London Roundhouse (31)

Tickets for the shows on October 26, 30 and 31 go onsale on Thursday (August 25) at 9am (BST), the others are already sold out. To check the availability of Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds tickets and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/TICKETS now, or call 0871 230 1094.

Cornershop post new single 'Don't Shake It (Let It Free)' online – video

Cornershop have posted the video for their new single 'Don't Shake It (Let It Free)'online – scroll down and click to watch.

The band worked on the video for the track with the non-profit organisation Free Tibet, which campaigns to bring an end to the country's occupation by China and fights for rights on behalf of Tibetans.

The video features footage of the recent protests in Tibet which have coincided with the 60th anniversary of China's invasion of the country and are caused by belief that the government are suppressing Tibetan culture, with the BBC reporting that a Tibetan monk had burnt himself to death in Sichuan last week (August 15).

The release date of 'Don't Shake It (Let It Free)' is September 19. It is the final single to be taken from 'Cornershop And The Double 'O' Groove Of', the band's collaborative LP with Bubbley Kaur which was released earlier this year and was the follow-up to their 2009 effort 'Judy Sucks A Lemon For Breakfast'.

Carl Barat: reports of Libertines reunion are a 'complete fabrication'

Both Carl Barat and his management have dismissed tabloid reports that The Libertinesare reuniting for a UK tour.

It was reported in the Sunday Mirror that Pete Doherty and Carl Barat had reconciled and were on the brink of announcing a tour, after Barat tweeted a picture of him andDoherty together, but the prospect of a reunion tour has now been completely ruled out.

Barat posted a message on his Facebook page Facebook.com/carlbarat which reads: "So that "story" in the Mirror yesterday? Complete fabrication, folks."

NME also contacted management of the band, who said of the reports:
None of us are aware where this is all coming from beyond the fact the pair of them met for a tea and had a nice time. Carl posted a picture of them on Twitter and that's that really.

It continues:
Truth of the matter is there are NO plans whatsoever in the pipeline and both of them are committed to other things for the next year anyway. Carl leaves for Paris next month for rehersals on his opera which will keep him busy until next June and Peter is away on tour.

Hard-Fi criticised for 'misrepresenting' Staines after calling it a 'ghost town'

Hard-Fi have been heavily criticized by a councilor for their hometown of Staines after they said it was turning "into a ghost town."

In an interview with The Times, Hard-Fi frontman Richard Archer said of his hometown: "Staines is in a dark place at the moment, like a ghost town. A lot of the bars are closing, Habitat went into administration, Jane Norman, Thorntons. It's all starting to fall to bits."

However, local councillor Colin Davis said that the singer had got his facts wrong, telling BBC News:
Far from Staines being a 'ghost town', retail vacancy rates in Staines are running at 8 per cent which is less than half the national average. This has not increased to any great extent during the poor economic climate, in contrast to many other towns.

He also pointed out that the town had never had a branch of Habitat and that their branch of Thorntons wasn't closing either.

Alex Tribick, chairman of local pressure group Spelthorne Business Forum, also layed into the band, saying:
It's frustrating to see the town being misrepresented. These sorts of comments can give a wholly unfair and inaccurate picture of Staines, so it's only right that they should be swiftly corrected.

Hard-Fi have not responded to these comments as yet.

Lil Wayne rushed to hospital after skateboarding accident

Lil Wayne was rushed hospital last night (August 21) after injuring himself while skateboarding.

According to Fox News, the rapper, who is currently on a US tour, was admitted to hospital in St. Louis and received nine stitches to a nasty cut above his upper eye. Another patient told the network that a member of the rapper's entourage had said he had sustained the injuries while skateboarding.

The rapper also tweeted about his injuries, writing on Twitter.com/liltunechi: "Busted my fuggin head at the skate park! 9 stitches! Gnarly gash over my left eye!"

Lil Wayne has also revealed the tracklisting for his new album 'Tha Carter IV'. The album features 15 tracks, with Nas, Busta Rhymes, Drake and Rick Ross among the guest rappers.

The tracklisting for 'Tha Carter IV' is as follows:

'Intro'
'Blunt Blowin’
'MegaMan'
'6 Foot 7 Foot' feat. Cory Gunz
'Nightmares Of The Bottom'
'She Will' feat. Drake
'How To Hate' feat. T-Pain
'Interlude' feat. Tech N9Ne
'John' feat. Rick Ross
'Abortion'
'So Special' feat. John Legend
'How To Love'
'President Carter'
'It's Good' feat. Drake and Jadakiss
'Outro' feat. Bun B, Nas, Shyne and Busta Rhymes

Lostprophets reveal two collaborations with Labrinth

Lostprophets have revealed that they have worked with Labrinth on a two new tracks

The band, who have been working on their fifth album, said that they were "pumped" to be working with the producer who won a Brit Award for his writing and production work on Tinie Tempah's 'Pass Out'.

The band had previously said that they were collaborating with him, but guitarist Mike Lewis revealed to NME.COM, during a conversation at V Festival, that the band had worked on not one but two tracks with Labrinth, one for his album and one for theirs.

Lewis said:
Labrinth sent us a track he was doing on his album. He sent us a loop that we were working on for our record. We'll see what happens. It's pretty good, we're really pumped for it. It was cool to do something different. It was a different way of working for us.

Lewis added that the fifth album was "finished" but his bandmates didn't reveal much about its contents.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said: "We've only got working titles, we haven't got anything to get out there. We took a two week break to do some club shows (and) V Festival. This was a break after being solidly in 'album mode'."

Alice Cooper admits Rolling Stones influence on new single 'I'll Bite Your Face Off'

Alice Cooper has admitted that his new single 'I'll Bite Your Face Off' is a tribute to the early work of The Rolling Stones.

The singer revealed that the track – which is released on August 22 along with another new track, 'Caffeine', and is the first single to be taken from his new album 'Welcome 2 My Nightmare - was similar to Rolling Stones material from the mid 1960's, and insisted that he had no problem "showing people where I get my songs from".

He said:
This is my tip-of-the-hat to early Rolling Stones. Like in 1964/65 when their songs were very Chuck Berry orientated. They just feel so good, in the pocket. This song was begging to be in the live show. We've done it in four different continents now and no one had ever heard it. By the second chorus, the whole audience is singing'I'll Bite Your Face Off'. It's the perfect little three minute hit single.

He added:
I don't mind showing people where I get my songs from. I can guarantee there were times when major acts took an Alice Cooper song and said 'we want it to sound like that. Because I've heard it and recognised it. I see it as a compliment.

Cooper also spoke about 'Welcome 2 My Nightmare', which is a sequel to his 1975 album 'Welcome To My Nightmare' – his first record as a solo artist, and not as frontman of the Alice Cooper Group - and claimed it was more humorous than its predecessor.

He said:
This is Alice's nightmare 35 years later. Bob [Ezrin, producer] and I created this character and we know how to write for him. I play the part but we're not writing for me, we're writing for Alice. We kept the first 'Nightmare' album very personal to us, on this one we found more humour and we were more open.

The release date of Alice Cooper's new album 'Welcome 2 My Nightmare' is September 12.

'The Inbetweeners Movie' sets record opening for UK comedy

The Inbetweeners Movie has smashed the UK Box Office with first week sales of over £13 million.

The movie, the first big screen outing for the Channel 4/E4 comedy, has taken £13,196,422 from 455 cinemas, making it the biggest opening for a UK comedy ever.

The achievement knocked former biggest opener Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason off the top spot. Speaking about the success producer Chris Young said:
We are thrilled that 'The Inbetweeners Movie' is the biggest opening of all time for a UK comedy. We really want to thank all the cinema goers out there who have made the film such a huge success.

Capitalising on the strong opening day of £2.5m, the comedy didn't let up throughout the weekend, taking in approximately the same figure each subsequent day.

In an exclusive interview with NME.COM, the makers of the show said they thought much of The Inbetweeners success is down to the four young actors, with writer Iain Morris saying:
Those four men are four of the best comic actors of their generation, if not the four best. To get them all together in one show has been amazing.

You can read our take on The Inbetweeners Movie over at the Film Section, and watch our interview with the writers below.

Razorlight's Johnny Borrell: 'I quit music for four months'

Razorlight's Johnny Borrell has admitted that he quit music for four months.

Speaking at the V Festival, he told us that he wanted to get out of the music business following 2006's 'Razorlight'.

He said:
I went to live on an Hebridian island for four months with a population of 250 people. I wasn't doing that to be cool, I was doing that because I didn't want to be around anything to do with making music or anything like that.

Speaking about the band's 2008's album 'Slipway Fires', Borrell said that it was misunderstood at the time. He said: "It was the break up record in every way. I think a lot of people were trying to turn 'the break up record' into 'the party record', and that wasn't going to happen."

The singer recently admitted that the mood in the band's dressing room eventually became toxic.

Speaking about the tense relationship between band members he said:
The Razorlight dressing room has been a horrible place to be in the past and that’s not good for anyone. You all have to bring a good energy. I’ve always been positive – I just love being in a band and love making music. I always just wanted my band to get somewhere and as soon as we did I was pretty chilled.

Pixar movies about dinosaurs and the human brain on the way

Pixar studios have announced two more projects headed for the silver screen within the next few years.

At D23, the Disney company's very own film convention, the animation studio gave details of two films in active development.

While neither film has been named as yet, the projects do have brief synopses attached with the first movie, as reported by Empire, poses the question: 'What if that life-changing asteroid missed Earth? The hilarious tale depicts a world where dinosaurs never went extinct.'

The Untitled Pixar Movie About Dinosaurs is due out November 27, 2013, just a few months after Mike and Sulley return for Monster University, the sequel to Monsters Inc.

The second feature will be directed by Pete Docter, the man responsible for Up andMonsters Inc., and will tell the story of how are brain works and how we come up with ideas.

Currently known as the Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside The Mind, it will be due for release in May 2014.

Pixar's next film Brave, which tells the tale of a Scottish princess, is due for release in the UK on October 17, 2012. You can watch the trailer below.

Emma Stone film 'The Help' beats up 'Conan' to take top spot at US Box Office

The Help, a southern drama about life in sixties Mississippi, has become an unexpected summer Number One in America.

Opening last week to the tune of $26 million (£15.7 million), the film – which received glowing reviews and is already garnering Oscar talk – took a further $51 million (£30.9 million) to take the top spot from Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.

Despite the rising star of Emma Stone, the film's success is somewhat unexpected in the midst of the summer blockbusters. The film stars Stone as a young writer who causes controversy in her small Southern town by interviewing African American women who have lived their lives working as housekeepers for rich, white families.

Elsewhere in the US charts, the reboot ofConan The Barbarian took a disappointing estimate of $10m (£6m) opening in fourth spot two places ahead of another remake,Fright Night starring Colin Farrell and former Dr. Who, David Tennant.

Spy Kids 4 beat both to open third with a below expectations $12 million (£7.2 million).

The adaptation of the David Nicholls best seller One Day, starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess also opened poorly, with a predicted weekend total of $5.1 million (£3.1 million).

The Help is due for release in the UK on October 28.

For more box office statistics visit BoxOfficeMojo.

Kaiser Chiefs: 'We predicted the riots'

Kaiser Chiefs have said that they predicted the riots in the UK.

Speaking to NME.COM at the V Festival, lead guitarist Andrew 'Whitey' White said that their lyrics foretold of the civil unrest around the country, click above the watch the clip.

In the video which can be seen above, White said: "It's funny, if you listen to our lyrics and give it a fucking chance, we did predict this. We sing about culture and the state of city centres and the state of society for five years."

Singer Ricky Wilson added: "I was reading an article about a moaning old rock star who was saying that no one writes about culture anymore and I was thinking 'who are you listening to?'"

Wilson said that the band had flown back from Australia and stayed up watching the rolling news of the riots. "It was pretty shocking stuff. The next day we had a day off (so) we had a bit of a look round and clean up with brooms."

Clive Barker slams new 'Hellraiser' film

The creator of the horror franchise Hellraiser has lambasted the latest instalment in the series and distanced himself from it completely. Posting on his Twitter page Barker said:
Hello, my friends. I want to put on record that the flick out there using the word Hellraiser IS NO FUCKIN' CHILD OF MINE! I have NOTHING to do with the fuckin' thing. If they claim its from the mind of Clive Barker, it's a lie. It's not even from my butt-hole.

As reported by Empire, the new film, Hellraiser: Revelations, was a 'stopgap release' to prevent the lapse of the series rights for film company Dimension.

The new film, due for a limited theatrical run in the US, is the ninth movie in the series that began in 1987.

The English horror and fantasy writer has only had a credited hand in four of the nine films in the franchise, directing the first and producing the first three sequels.

It has been reported that Clive Barker will be back on board in some capacity for next year's intended reboot to be made by Drive Angry's Patrick Lussier.

Hellraiser: Revelations is due for release in America on September 2, you can watch the trailer below. No UK release date has been announced.

'The Inbetweeners' success down to 'four best comic actors of their generation' - video

In an exclusive interview with NME.COM, the writers of The Inbetweeners have spoken about why they think the comedy has been so successful. In the video, which you can watch above, Iain Morris and Damon Beesley lay much of the kudos at the feet of the four main actors. Morris said of Simon Bird, James Buckley, Blake Harrison and Joe Thomas:
Those four men are four of the best comic actors of their generation, if not the four best. To get them all together in one show has been amazing.

The new film, out last Wednesday (August 17) tells the story of the four friends, Will, Simon, Jay and Neil, taking a lads holiday to Malia, Crete.

In the exclusive interview the creators of the show went on to say how they came to the conclusion that a film would be the best step forward for all involved. As Iain Morrisexplained:
We always wanted to make a film, we always wanted to make a teen film. We love those actors, we love those characters. It felt like the right thing to do.

The Inbetweeners Movie took over £2.5 million on its opening day and brought in a further £10m over the weekend, earning a staggering opening box office of £12.5million.

Glasvegas: 'There's no need for us to have a label right now' - video

Glasvegas have spoken for the first time about being dropped from Columbia Records.

Speaking to NME backstage at V Festival in a video interview which you can see at the top of your screen, guitarist Rab Allan said that the band weren't concerned afterColumbia let them go earlier this year, saying that they didn't "need a label right now", but had received plenty of offers from other record companies. He also dismissed rumours that the band were on the verge of splitting up.

He said:
We're definitely not breaking up. We're thinking about what we want to do, which is probably why people think we're breaking up. People have come in about signing us, but there's no need for us to have a label right now, James [Allan] is writing the third album and when its ready we'll probably sign. The people who want to sign us will still be there in four months time.

Asked if the band would go it alone without the support of a label in the future, Allanreplied:
I think we need the support of a label, we were lucky because our label gave us support so we now don't need a label, but we're quite lazy and we don't like doing things ourselves, so we'll probably still use one. The label were great for some things and they were awful for some things.

He also revealed that the band would be recording a U2 cover this week for a special reissue of the band's classic album 'Achtung Baby'.

Glasvegas endured a difficult weekend at V Festival. They ended their set early on both sites, leaving the stage after only four songs at Hylands Park after a member of the crowd threw bottles and ending after only six songs at Weston Park.

Mitch Winehouse forced to return donations made to the Amy Winehouse Foundation

Mitch Winehouse has been forced to return donations made to the foundation set up to honour Amy Winehouse as he does not own the rights or have a bank account in the name of 'The Amy Winehouse Foundation'.

The late singer's father took to Twitter to tell people that he was having to return cheques he had been sent to the foundation as his solicitors worked on resolving the situation.

Mitch revealed last week (August 19) that another person had "pinched" the name of the 'Amy Winehouse Foundation' before he had been able to register it, which had forced him "to hold off" on his plans.



Speaking over the weekend (August 20) onTwitter, he said:
Instead of concentrating on allocating funding I am having to send cheques back cos we don't haven't got bank ac in that name.



He went on to add:
Our solicitors are all over this, but it takes time. Meanwhile we can't get on with foundation.



Mitch also claimed that the person who had registered the rights to the name was offering to sell it on a website, and had been trying to get in touch with Winehouse's former husband Blake Fielder-Civil, adding:


He was also trying to get in touch with Blake to set up the foundation. Blake? Can you imagine?



An investigation into Winehouse's death is still ongoing, with more results expected in the autumn after an initial autopsy with unable to establish a cause of death.

Her goddaughter Dionne Bromfield joined Mark Ronson and Lady Gaga in paying her own tribute to the singer at V Festival this weekend.

Reading and Leeds Festivals stage times revealed

The stage times for this weekend's Reading And Leeds Festivals have been revealed.

The event, which takes place from August 26 - 28, will be headlined by My Chemical Romance, Muse and a co-headline effort from Pulp and The Strokes.

See NME.COM/festivals/reading-and-leeds, Readingfestival.com andLeedsfestival.com for more information.

Reading on Friday August 26/ Leeds on Saturday August 27

Main Stage

22:00 My Chemical Romance
20:10 Thirty Seconds To Mars
18:35 The Offspring
17:20 Deftones
16:10 Rise Against
15:05 Bring Me The Horizon
14:00 New Found Glory
12:55 The Blackout
12:00 Architects

NME/Radio 1 Stage

22:30 Beady Eye
21:10 White Lies
19:55 Noah & The Whale
18:45 The Vaccines
17:40 Metronomy
16:35 Patrick Wolf
15:30 The Naked And Famous
14:30 Mona
13:35 Miles Kane
12:45 Frankie & The Heartstrings
12:00 Pulled Apart By Horses

Dance Stage

22:15 Uncle Sounds
21:10 SBTRKT (DJ Set)
19:50 Simian Mobile Disco
18:45 Nero (DJ Set)
17:35 Sub Focus
16:30 Devlin
15:25 Crystal Fighters
14:20 Mount Kimbie
13:15 Does It Offend You, Yeah?
12:15 D/R/U/G/S

Festival Republic Stage

22:30 The Horrors
21:20 Digitalism
20:15 Tom Vek
19:15 White Denim
18:15 Anna Calvi
17:25 The Antlers
16:35 Foster The People
15:45 Cerebal Ballzy
15:00 Dry The River
14:15 Royal Bangs
13:30 The Computers
12:45 Islet
12:00 Mini Mansions
11:20 Cherri Bomb

BBC Introducing Stage

20:40 General Fiasco
19:55 Don Broco
19:10 Milk Maid
17:40 These Furrows
16:55 Kirk Spencer
16:10 Clock Opera
15:25 The Boy Wonders
14:40 A Genuine Freakshow
13:55 The Minutes
13:10 The Bronze Medal
12:25 Circles
11:40 Heart-Ships

Alternative Stage

17:55 Henry Rollins
17:25 The Petebox
15:45 Al Pitcher
15:15 Stephen Williams
14:00 Hypnotist Hugh Lennon
12:45 Saul Williams
12:20 Dizraeli
12:00 Brigitte Aphrodite

Reading on Saturday August 27/ Leeds on Sunday August 28

Main Stage

22:15 The Strokes*
20:15 Pulp*
18:45 The National
17:25 Jimmy Eat World
16.05 Madness
14.55 Two Door Cinema Club
13.50 Seasick Steve
12.55 The Pigeon Detectives
12:00 The Joy Formidable

*The Strokes will play second headline at Leeds, with Pulp in the later slot

NME/Radio 1 Stage

22:00 Jane's Addiction
20:30 Crystal Castles
19:15 Bombay Bicycle Club
18:10 Glassjaw
17:05 Everything Everything
16:00 The Kills
14:55 OFWGKTA*
13:50 Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
12:50 Yuck
12:00 Funeral Party

*Not appearing at Leeds Festival

The Lock Up Stage

22:30 The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
21:10 The King Blues
20:00 The Bronx
18:55 Capdown
17:50 Leftover Crack
16:45 Comeback Kid
15:50 Boysetsfire
15:00 Street Dogs
14:15 Letlive.
13:30 Teenage Bottlerocket
12:45 Title Fight
12:00 Sharks

Festival Republic Stage

22:30 The Midnight Beast
21:20 Rival Schools
20:15 And So I Watch You From Afar
19:15 Little Roy
18:15 Smith Westerns
17:25 Cloud Control
16:35 Cults
15:45 Mariachi El Bronx
15:00 Grouplove
14:15 Tribes
13:30 Big Deal
12:45 She Keeps Bees
12:05 Yellowire
11:30 The Coopers

BBC Introducing Stage

20:40 Fixers
19:55 Discopolis
19:10 Spector
18:25 Daughter
17:40 Tomahawks For Targets
16:55 Anguish Sandwich
16:10 Black Diamond Bay
15:25 The Kill Van Kulls
13:55 Rainy Boy Sleep
13:10 Castrovalva
12:25 The Simon Pollard Band
11:40 Arthus Rigby & The Baskervilles

Alternative Stage

17:30 Lee Nelson
17:00 Rob Rouse
16:00 Doc Brown
15:30 Paul Chowdhry
15:00 Michael Fabbri
14:00 Tom Stade
13:30 Late Night Gimp Fight
13:00 Daniel Sloss
11:00 Mark Thomas

Reading on Sunday August 28/ Leeds on Friday August 26

Main Stage

21:30 Muse
19:50 Elbow
18:35 Interpol
17:20 Friendly Fires
16:15 Enter Shikari
15:10 The View
14:05 Frank Turner
13:00 Taking Back Sunday
12:00 We Are The Ocean

NME/Radio 1 Stage

22:00 2manydjs
20:20 The Streets
19:00 Death From Above 1979
17:50 Panic! At The Disco
16:45 Warpaint
15:40 Chapel Club
14:35 Cage The Elephant
13:40 Best Coast
12:45 Fucked Up
12:00 Dananananaykroyd

The Lock Up Stage

22:30 Descendents
21:10 Flogging Molly
20:00 Special Guests
18:55 Face To Face
17:50 Hot Water Music
16:45 Bedouin Soundclash
15:50 Off!
15:00 The Black Pacific
14:15 The Menzingers
13:30 Your Demise
12:45 Spy Catcher
12:00 Fighting Fiction

Festival Republic Stage

22:30 Peter Doherty

21:20 Viva Brother
20:15 Ed Sheeran
19:15 Young Legionnaire
18:15 Cocknbullkid
17:25 Twin Atlantic
16:35 Fight Like Apes
15:45 Benjamin Francis Leftwich
15:00 Little Comets
14:15 Dutch Uncles
13:30 Nightbox
12:45 Flats
12:05 Romance
11:30 Our Fold

BBC Introducing Stage

20:40 Rizzle Kicks
19:55 Cuba Cuba
19:10 The Winchell Riots
18:25 Sam Sure & Giacomo
17:40 Murkage
16:55 Ham Sandwich
16:10 Courage Have Courage
14:40 Rae Morris
13:55 Save Your Breath
13:10 Funeral Suits
11:40 The Mexanines
12:25 Original Rudeboys

Alternative Stage

18:25 Nirvana 92 Live At Reading Screening
17:30 Rubberbandits
17:00 Tom Wrigglesworth
16:30 Marlon Davis
15:30 Tim Minchin
15:00 Jarred Christmas
14:30 Steve Hughes
14:00 Mixtape and Disco
13:30 Tom Deacon
13:00 Seann Walsh
12:30 Josh Widdicombe
11:30 Popcorn Comedy

'Amy Winehouse Dead' named most searched Google term of the summer

The death of singer Amy Winehouse was the most searched for phrase on search engine giant Google this summer.

When online rumours that the singer had died began it caused frenzy of googling, with 'Amy Winehouse dead' ultimately becoming the most searched term of the summer. She was sadly found dead last month aged 27.

News of the 'Back To Black' singer's death came above the search engine's own new service 'Google+' in the tally, as well as Harry Potter spinoff website Pottermore' and the tragic death of Jackass actor Ryan Dunn.

Cheryl Cole was the only other musician in the list, coming in at Number Nine. She was sandwiched in between scandal hit footballer Ryan Giggs and his alleged former loverImogen Thomas, who were at Number Eight and Ten respectively.

An investigation into Winehouse's death is still ongoing, with more results expected in the autumn after an initial autopsy with unable to establish a cause of death.

Her goddaughter Dionne Bromfield joined Mark Ronson and Lady Gaga in paying her own tribute to the singer at V Festival this weekend.

Marina And The Diamonds post comeback video for new single 'Radioactive'

Marina And The Diamonds have posted the video for their new single 'Radioactive'online.

The track, which has a release date of October 3, will serve as a stop gap before the second album from Marina Diamandis, which is set for release in early 2012. You can hear the track at the bottom of the page.

Speaking about the song, Diamandis claimed that her approach to songwriting had "changed completely" and that her new material was more "streamlined" and "minimalistic".

She said:
I wrote 'Radioactive' in New York in the middle of a heat wave. Introduced to a glittering new nightlife, I fell in love with New York; it has this magic, fizzing white energy that no other city in the world has. I felt happy and was inspired to write a song that felt light and euphoric, a more streamlined, minimalistic style of songwriting.

She added:
I have changed my approach to songwriting completely, and as a result, written songs that I would never have written on my on (i.e on my shit Argos keyboard alone in my bedroom in London).

The singer also dropped another hint that her new album would be called 'Electra Heart', after the phrase was also included in thevideo teaser for the LP that was posted online earlier this month.

Diamandis said:
I've been working hard on my new album for a year and a half and hope'Radioactive' can tide you over until it's ready… (Argos still features on some of the songs). I'd love to introduce you all to something soon. An Ancient Greek tragedy, old Hollywood fantasy… 'Electra Heart'. M x x

My Chemical Romance set to return to the studio in the autumn

My Chemical Romance have reportedly said that they will be returning to the studio in the autumn to begin work on their fifth album.

According to Absolute Punk and various online news reports, the New Jersey rockers frontman Gerard Way said from the stage in Chicago on Saturday night (August 20) that the band wouldn't be back for some time as they were heading to the studio as soon as they finish with their touring commitments.

The band are currently on a US tour with Blink-182 and headline Reading And Leeds Festivals next weekend.

They had previously indicated that their double bill of festival shows were likely to be their final UK commitments in promoting their fourth studio album 'Danger Days (The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys)' and it appears it will be their final commitment for the whole cycle.

You can watch NME's countdown of the ten best My Chemical Romance tracks at by scrolling up to the bottom of the page and clicking.

What's The Best My Chemical Romance Track? - Vote Now!

Nicola Roberts reveals tracklisting for debut solo album 'Cinderella's Eyes'

Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts has revealed the tracklisting for her solo debut'Cinderella's Eyes' which has been given a release date of September 26.

'Cinderella's Eyes' will feature 12 tracks, including her hit single 'Beat Of My Drum', which kicks off the album. The LP is confirmed to feature collaborations with Metronomy'sJoe Mount, Dragonette and Beyonce producer Diplo.

Roberts, who has also revealed the album's artwork, which you can see by scrolling up to the top of the page, has yet to announce any live dates in support of the album.

'Cinderella's Eyes' will be preceded by a second single 'Lucky Day', which is released on September 18, around one week before the album drops.

The tracklisting for 'Cinderella's Eyes' is as follows:

'Beat Of My Drum'
'Lucky Day'
'Yo-Yo
'Cinderella's Eyes'
'Porcelain Heart'
'i'
'Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime'
'Say It Out Loud'
'Gladiator'
'Fish Out Of Water'
'Take A Bite'
'Sticks + Stones'

U2's Bono dismisses health scare reports as 'untrue'

A spokeswoman for U2 frontman Bono has denied claims that he suffered from a recent health scare in the south of France.

It was reported yesterday that the singer had been taken to the Princess Grace Memorial Hospital in Monaco last Wednesday (August 17) after coming down with heart palpitations, with the Irish Independent claiming that he was examined by a leading heart specialist and ordered to get some rest.

However, a spokeswoman issued a statement to Reuters on behalf of Bono claiming that, although he did attend the hospital, it was for a routine checkup rather than for emergency treatment. She also insisted the singer was in "good health".

The statement said:
Despite press stories to the contrary, Bono has not suffered a recent health scare. Reports of his being rushed to hospital for emergency treatment are untrue. Bonois in good health and enjoying a family holiday in the south of France.

Bono did suffer a health scare last year, when he was forced to pull U2's headlineperformance at Glastonbury because he had to undergo emergency back surgery.
The band recently wrapped up their huge 360° world tour in Canada, which grossed a record-breaking $736,137,344 (£448 million).

The Game admits delaying album to disrupt his rivals

The Game has admitted that he delayed the release of his new album to cause maximum disruption to his hip-hop rivals.

The rapper finally releases 'The R.E.D. Album' this month, and now he has said that he delayed it in order to go against Jay-Z and Kanye West's collaboration, and the new set from Lil Wayne.

He told Billboard.com:
I been working on [the album] for a long time but I kept delaying it because I wanted to drop right in the middle of 'Watch The Throne' and 'Tha Carter IV'. That's my own ingenious plan.

The new record features collaborations with Lil Wayne himself, plus Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Drake and Nelly Furtado. Interscope marketing director Jason Sangermandescribed the album as a "thank you" to the rapper's fanbase, adding: "'The R.E.D. Album' has been in the works for a long time and Game's fanbase has remained loyal, so we want to make sure they get what they deserve. Game's fans are loyal to him because he is loyal to his fans."

Metallica and Lou Reed name collaborative LP 'Lulu'

Metallica and Lou Reed have named their collaborative album 'Lulu' and confirmed it has been given a release date of October 31.

The metal titans and the former Velvet Underground man have launched a joint websiteLoureedmetallica.com and have posted a lengthy update about 'Lulu'.

They wrote of the album:
'Lulu' was inspired by German expressionist writer Frank Wededkind's plays 'Earth Spirit' and 'Pandora's Box', which tell a story of a young abused dancer's life and relationships. Since their publication in the early 1900s, the plays have been the inspiration for a silent film, an opera, and countless other creative endeavors.

It continues:
Originally the lyrics and musical landscape were sketched out by Lou for a theatrical production in Berlin, but after coming together with the Metallica boys for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame concerts in New York in 2009 all guilty parties knew they wanted to make more music together. Lou was inspired enough by that performance to recently ask the band to join him in taking his theatrical 'Lulu' piece to the next level and so starting in early May of this year we were all camped out recording at HQ studios in Northern California, bringing us to today and ten complete songs.

Three titles from the album have also been named, with 'Pumping Blood', 'Mistress Dread' and 'Junior Dad' all set to be part of the ten track LP.

Bjork announces tracklisting for 'Biophilia'

Bjork has revealed the tracklisting for her seventh studio album 'Biophilia'.

The album, which has a physical release date of September 27, features 10 tracks on the standard version, with a bonus of three more on the extended digipak edition.

'Biophilia' includes both 'Crystalline' and 'Virus', both of which have been made available online. The album's app version, 'Biophilia App' is already available from iTunes now.


The singer has also recently unveiled the Ultimate Box Set version of 'Biophilia', which comes with very hefty price tag of £500. This version will include a lacquered and silkscreened oak-hinged lid case containing the 'Biophilia' manual, along with 10 chrome-plated tuning forks, silkscreened on one face in 10 different colours, stamped at the back, and presented in a flocked tray.

The manual will be 48 pages hardbound, cloth-covered and thread-sewn, and the package contains two audio CDs including the main album and additional exclusive recordings.

Bjork headlines the Sunday night at this year's Bestival. She will play the Isle Of Wightevent on September 11.

The tracklisting for 'Biophilia' is as follows:

'Moon'
'Thunderbolt'
'Crystalline'
'Cosmogony'
'Dark Matter'
'Hollow'
'Virus'
'Sacrifice'
'Mutual Core'
'Solstice'
'Hollow' (Original 7 Minute Version)*
'Dark Matter' (With Choir & Organ)*
'Nattura'*

* These songs will only appear on the digipak version of 'Biophilia'.

Noah And The Whale confirmed for Ibiza Rocks closing party

Noah And The Whale have been confirmed for the closing party of this season of Ibiza Rocks.

After another epic of summer of live music on the island, the 'L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.' band will headline the final night on September 21.

Talking to NME about their booking, frontman Charlie Fink said: "It's something different for us and to be honest I don't really know what to expect, but we're very excited. I've never been to Ibiza before so I’m not quite sure what’s going to happen."

However, he denied that the former folk group would be bringing out raved-up versions of their songs, saying: "We’re going to do our festival set which we’ve done at all the others. It’s got a lot of energetic numbers so hopefully people will get up and dance.”

Meanwhile, hip-hop favourites Rizzle Kickswill return again this year, playing Mallorca Rocks on September 6 and Ibiza Rocks the following night. And in the build up to the release of their second album 'Wired Together' on September 19, Manchester electro band The Whip play Mallorca and Ibiza on September 13 and 14 respectively.

For more information and ticket details, visit IbizaRocks.com.

'The X Factor' returns to 10.5 million viewers

The X Factor returned with an audience of 10.5 million on Saturday (August 20), according to overnight viewing figures.

The talent show came back for its annual talent search marathon, but executives had been concerned that viewers might desert it following the departure of its star judge Simon Cowell. The record executive was replaced in the 'Mr Nasty' role by Take That leaderGary Barlow.

He was joined on the judging panel by Destiny's Child star Kelly Rowland, Tulisa Contostavlos from N-Dubz and show veteran Louis Walsh.

Interest in the new line-up appeared to create a surge of interest in the show, with the opening night audience peaking at 11.1 million, the highest in the show’s history, according to BBC News. But it remains to be seen whether the show can maintain those numbers after the interest in the launch night. Producers have said that Cowell will remain "a huge presence backstage."

The most talked about hopeful from 16-year-old Janet Devlin from Northern Ireland, who impressed judges with her Ellie Goulding-inspired version of Elton John's 'Your Song'.

This Week's New Music Releases: August 22 2011

Toddla T releases his new album 'Watch Me Dance' today (August 22), along withHard-Fi, who drop their comeback LP 'Killer Sounds'.

There are also new albums out from Wretch 32, CSS and Will Young.

Noel Gallagher makes his solo debut today, releasing his single 'The Death Of You And Me'. There are also new tracks out from The Vaccines, Black Veil Brides andBombay Bicycle Club.

Singles released today:

Alpines - 'Cocoon'
Black Veil Brides – 'Rebel Love Song'
Bombay Bicycle Club – 'Shuffle'
Deftones – 'Beauty School'
Fixers – 'Schwimmhauss Johannesburg'
Fountains Of Wayne – 'Someone's Gonna Break Your Heart'
Selena Gomez & The Scene – 'Love You Like A Love Song'
Calvin Harris – 'Feel So Close'
My Chemical Romance – 'The Only Hope For Me Is You'
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds – 'The Death Of You And Me'
Olly Murs – 'Heart Skips A Beat'
Nerina Pallot – 'Turn Me On Again'
Rival Schools – 'Eyes Wide Open'
Tribes – 'Sappho'
The Vaccines – 'Norgaard'

Albums released today:

Black Tide – 'Post Mortem'
CSS – ' La Liberación'
Fleshgod Apocalypse – 'Agony'
Ghost Brigade – 'Until Fear No Longer Defines Us'
Hard-Fi – 'Killer Sounds'
Lenny Kravitz – 'Black And White America'
Stephen Malkmus – 'Mirror Traffic'
Mirror Mirror – 'Interiors'
The Game – 'The R.E.D Album'
The War On Drugs – 'Slave Ambient'
Toddla T – 'Watch Me Dance'
Will Young – 'Echoes'
Wretch 32 – 'Black And White

Pendulum to 'take year off in 2012'

Pendulum have said they will not be touring in 2012 as they're taking a year off to rest and make a new record.

The band, who have been touring their third album 'Immersion' solidly since it was released last year, said from the stage at V Festival this evening (August 21) that they will return in 2013 with a new album.

Singer Ben 'The Verse' Mount said to the packed crowd:
We want to thank everyone who has supported Pendulum over the last five years. We're going to take next year off to make a new album and then we'll be back in 2013. We look forward to seeing you all then.

Pendulum have been a constant across the UK festival circuit this summer, having playedGlastonbury, Download, T In The Park and Oxygen as well as over 20 others across Europe.

The Australian dance rockers also still have sets at Bestival and South West Fourweekender to complete before their UK and Ireland festival run is over.

The Wombats at V: 'We don't want the gap between albums to be as long'

The Wombats have said that they'll be looking to record the follow-up to their second album 'This Modern Glitch' in the autumn of 2012 and are keen to avoid the long gap that occured between their new LP and their 2007 debut with their third record.

Speaking to NME backstage at V Festival this evening (August 21), frontman Matthew Murphy said:
I don't want to leave it as long this time round. We'll be touring right up until the end of the festivals next summer, but after that we'll try and put something together. Saying that though, I want to it to be good, so if it's 2045 or 2013, so be it.



Murphy also spoke about the band's experience at Pukkelpop on Thursday (August 18) when torrential storms hit the Belgian festival and caused the death of five people. The band had played earlier in the day, but were still on site when the storm hit the festival.

He said:
Pukkelpop was the worst one we've done. Although our show was amazing, what happened just overshadowed it all. I was in catering and our drummer Dan was about to watch Miles Kane and he had to hide in this metal container. I was sitting there and I initially said 'What's all the fuss about? I've played golf in worse than this' and then these hailstones started coming down, they were the size of golf balls.



He continued:
We stuck around and I went for a walk around the site and it was just horrible. There were people with welts on their backs from the hail and there were trees on the ground everywhere. It certainly put Glastonbury in perspective, that was a walk in the park in comparison.



Murphy also spoke about the band's forthcoming UK tour, which is their biggest yet. Asked if they had anything special planned, he replied: "We've got lasers. They're really expensive, but they're amazing. We've got some cool visuals too, it's going to be great."

Earlier in the day the band had played an extremely well attended on the festival's 4musicstage.

The band played six tracks from their second LP, including recent single 'Anti D', as well as three songs from their 2007 debut 'A Guide To Love, Loss And Desperation'.

Matthew Murphy joked with the crowd throughout the set and even apologised that the trio were "not as sexy as Rihanna."

The Wombats played:

'Our Perfect Disease'
'Kill The Director'
'Jump Into The Fog'
'Techno Fan'
'1996'
'Moving To New York'
'Anti-D'
'Toyko (Vampires And Wolves)'
'Let's Dance To Joy Division'

NME.COM is coming live from the V Festival this weekend. Stay tuned toNME.COM/festivals/v-festival for news, blogs, photo galleries and video interviews.

Conan The Barbarian screenwriter to make 'Rambo 5'

Conan The Barbarian screenwriter Sean Hood has announced plans to make Rambo 5.

According to the filmmaker, he has submitted a script for Rambo: Last Stand to the film company Millennium Films. Wood said:
I met with Mr [Sylvester] Stallone twice last year. He gave me a book, an older screenplay, and about twenty pages he'd written himself to use as inspiration for the last chapter of the Rambo saga.

He told Empireonline.com that the plot is likely to be similar to the action series' original film First Blood. Hood also said he was unsure whether Stallone will actually go ahead with the project. He added:
As of now, I don't know whether Mr Stallone will actually do it. Right now, as I understand it, he has his hands full with Bullet To The Head and Expendables 2. But Millennium Films did hire me to complete the screenplay and realise his story, and my hope is that he'll eventually be inspired to do one more Rambo film, with the tone of Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven.

Metallica and Lou Reed set a release date for collaboration album

Metallica and Lou Reed have announced a release date for their forthcoming collaboration album.

The as-yet-untitled project will be released in the UK on October 31 and in the US on November 1. An official website for the project has also been launched featuring a photo of Reed with the band at Loureedmetallica.com.

Reed recently revealed that he and the thrash titans have re-recorded some of the music he wrote as a score for a musical version of German playwright Frank Wedekind's Lulu for their project.

He also declared that the record was "maybe the best thing done by anyone, ever. It could create another planetary system. I’m not joking, and I’m not being egotistical."

Tracks set to feature on the album include 'Pumping Blood' and 'Mistress Dread'.

Metallica recently headlined the Sonisphere Festival last month. They were joined byAnthrax, Megadeth and Slayer - as well as Diamond Head during their encore.

Nero knock Amy Winehouse's 'Back To Black' off the top of the UK albums chart

Nero have knocked Amy Winehouse from the summit of the UK album chart tonight (August 21) with their debut LP 'Welcome Reality'.

The dance duo prevented the late singer from holding on to the Number One spot for a fourth week running with 'Back To Black'.

They are the first UK act to go straight to the top spot with a debut album this year.

Elsewhere, ex-Busted and Fightstar frontman Charlie Simpson is straight in at Number Six with his solo debut LP 'Young Pilgrim' and late singer John Denver, who died in a plane crash in 1997, returns to the charts with 'The Ultimate Collection' at Number Seven.
In the singles chart, Nero have been knocked off the top spot by Wretch 32's single 'Don't Go'.

The Top 10 UK singles are:

1. Wretch 32 feat. Josh Kumra - 'Don't Go'
2. Emeli Sandé - 'Heaven'
3. Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera - 'Moves Like Jagger'
4. Christina Perri - 'Jar Of Hearts'
5. Nero - 'Promises'
6. Ed Sheeran - 'The A Team'
7. David Guetta feat. Taio Cruz & Ludacris - 'Little Bad Girl'
8. Rizzle Kicks - 'Down With The Trumpets'
9. JLS feat. Dev - 'She Makes Me Wanna'
10. The Wanted - 'Glad You Came'

The Top 10 UK albums are:

1. Nero - 'Welcome Reality'
2. Adele - '21'
3. Amy Winehouse - 'Back To Black'
4. Jay - Z and Kanye West - 'Watch The Throne'
5. Adele - '19'
6. Charlie Simpson - 'Young Pilgrim'
7. John Denver - 'The Ultimate Collection'
8. Beyonce - '4'
9. Chase & Status - 'No More Idols'
10. Bruno Mars - 'Doo Wops & Hooligans'

Noel Gallagher announces plans for a live webchat

Noel Gallagher has announced plans for a live webchat tomorrow (August 22).

The event which is being broadcast live on his official Facebook page at 7pm (BST) will be compered by his friend Matt Morgan.

The announcement comes folllowing Liam Gallagher's recent plans to sue Noel over Oasis' demise in 2009. The Beady Eye frontman filed a lawsuit against his brother for saying he had a hangover at the V Festival in 2009 and that's why he pulled out of the gig.

Liam claims he had laryngitis, and says he has a doctor's note to prove it but pictureshave since surfaced showing the singer partying the night before Oasis' cancelled show. The band split up the following week.

The chat may see Noel shed further light on what happened at the festival, along with giving fans the chance to ask him about his forthcoming debut album 'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' and live dates.

His debut single 'The Death Of You And Me' is released digitally today (August 21) and physically tomorrow. You can watch a behind-the-scenes clip from the video shoot by scrolling down and clicking below.

Dionne Bromfield pays tribute to Amy Winehouse at V Festival

Dionne Bromfield payed tribute to Amy Winehouse during her set at V Festival this afternoon (August 21).

The singer, who was Winehouse's goddaughter, told the crowd before she played her cover of The Shirelles' 'Mama Said' that she had performed the track on Strictly Come Dancing with "a very special person". She performed with Winehouse on the ballroom dancing show in 2009.

She said:
I played this song on 'Strictly Come Dancing' with a very special person to me. But I want us to all dance and have a good time today.

Bromfield played a well attended set in the festival's Arena stage, which also included a cover of Cee Lo Green's 'Forget You'. Arriving on stage to The Stone Roses's'Waterfall', she played a selection of tracks from her debut album 'Good For The Soul', including recent single 'Foolin'.

V Festival 2011 in photos

Dionne Bromfield played:
'Move A Little Faster'
'Ouch That Hurt'
'Mama Said'
'Forget You'
'Remember Our Love'
'Get Over It'
'Foolin'
'Yeah Right'

NME.COM is coming live from the V Festival this weekend. Stay tuned toNME.COM/festivals/v-festival for news, blogs, photo galleries and video interviews.

Manic Street Preachers' Nicky Wire: 'We're going to disappear for a long time' - video

Manic Street Preachers bassist Nicky Wire has told NME the band are set to go on a hiatus following the release of their forthcoming greatest hits compilation 'National Treasures – The Complete Singles'.

Speaking backstage at this weekend's V Festival he said the band are set to embark on a long break after their second 'Best Of' collection is released in October. Watch footage of Wire revealing their future plans via the video above.

He said:
It's the end of an era, not the end of the band but we're going to disappear for quite a long time.

Wire confirmed that the band will continue working on their new album '70 Songs Of Hatred And Failure' but it will be sometime before they resurface.

He added:
Ideally we have to push ourselves to do something that we haven't done before. But I do feel it is going to be at least two or three years before we come back after this greatest hits collection.

NME.COM is coming live from the V Festival this weekend. Stay tuned toNME.COM/festivals/v-festival for news, blogs, photo galleries and video interviews

Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme celebrates birth of new baby boy

Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme and his wife Brody Dalle have celebrated the birth of their second child.

The couple welcomed their new son Orrin Ryder Homme into the world on Friday (August 19).

Dalle immediately took to her Twitter page twitter.com/BrodyDalle to express her delight.

She wrote:
We got us a very handsome red-headed baby boy – Orrin Ryder Homme born on Friday the 12th of August, 7 lbs.

Dalle and Homme tied the knot in 2007 and currently reside in Palm Springs. The couple are already parents to daughter Camille Harley Joan, who was born in 2006.

The birth comes days after ex-Queens Of The Stone Age and current Kyuss LIVESbassist Nick Oliveri was charged with firearm and drug offences.

Oliveri has been charged after an incident on July 12 when police were called to his apartment by his girlfriend after she reported he was refusing to let her leave the property.Oliveri's girlfriend also told police that he had struck her repeatedly during a heated argument the previous day.

U2's Bono taken to hospital in France after heart scare

U2 frontman Bono recently suffered a health scare after coming down with heart palpitations in the south of France.

The singer spent a number of hours at the Princess Grace Memorial Hospital inMonaco last Wednesday (August 17) after complaining of chest pains.

The singer wasn't kept in overnight but the Irish Independent reports that a leading heart specialist examined Bono and told him to get plenty of rest.

He was later spotted on Friday night (August 19) relaxing in Monaco's nightspot Saas Cafe with his wife Ali Hewson, Julian Lennon and Irish designer John Rocha.

This is the second health scare Bono has suffered over the last year. In 2010 he was forced to pull U2's headline performance at Glastonbury because he had to undergoemergency back surgery.

The band recently wrapped up their mammoth 360° Tour world tour in Canada. The jaunt grossed a record-breaking $736,137,344 (£448 million).

Liam Gallagher: 'Noel looks like a member of Westlife'

Beady Eye frontman Liam Gallagher has continued his ongoing feud with Noel Gallagher, branding his new band the "High Flying Turds".

The singer, who is currently embroiled in a legal battle with his brother over comments made over Oasis' split in 2009, also compared the guitarist to a member of Westlife. You can watch footage from Noel's press conference at the bottom of the page.

Liam said:


He said we had a year to come up with a band name and came up with Beady Eye. He had three and came up with the 'High Flying Turds'. I don't know who dressed him but he looks like something out of Westlife.

Liam also slammed his brother yet again for his comments on Oasis' demise two years ago.

He told Q:
He blew it. He could have said, 'I was a dick, he was a dick, that's life, it's 2011, here's my f*cking record'.