News Round Up: Week Ending 16th September 2005

[Revan]

Graham Coxon Completes New Album
Former Blur guitarist Graham Coxon, who left the band in 2002, has revealed to radio station XFM that his sixth solo album - his third since leaving Blur – is done and dusted. "I finished it in May and then it was another ten weeks of grafting, and 20 songs later it's all done. I'm just deciding on the running order and I'm doing my drawing, thinking about the visual. All of the songs are about love in some sort of way, whether negative or positive. So there's some sentimentality on there, and some others that are very despondent and whiny and stingy and horrible. I like those extremes." Coxon’s last album, 2004’s Happiness In Magazines, peaked at No. 19 in the UK charts but failed to make an impact in Australia. Nonetheless, Coxon remains an influential figure with no less than Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood saying, “Anything that has Graham's guitar playing, I'm bound to like."


Tom Waits Sues General Motors
Tom Waits has filed a lawsuit in Germany against car manufacturer General Motors for using a sound-alike in a series of advertisements that aired in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway. Waites was initially approached about the ads but declined to be involved. Waits said in a statement: "Apparently the highest compliment our culture grants artists nowadays is to be in an ad - ideally naked and purring on the hood of a new car. I have adamantly and repeatedly refused this dubious honour. While the court can't make me active in radio, I am asking it to make me radioactive to advertisers."


Rolling Stones To Tour Iraq?
Although The Stones A Bigger Bang features an anti-Bush tirade in the form of the song “Sweet Neo Con”, singer Mick Jagger has told the New York Post that if they were asked to perform for the troops over there they would seriously consider it. “The boys are doing a very professional and a very tough job over there, and they aren't getting a lot of fun either. So the answer is - absolutely. To be honest, the troops would probably be more interested in seeing a lot of pretty girls than us”.


Simple Plan’s (Very) Simple Fan
Simple Plan singer Pierre Bouvier got more than he bargained for at a concert in Ontario when 45 minutes into their set - during a rendition of “Welcome To My Life” - a bottle thrown from the crowd hit him in the face and sent him stumbling from the stage and off to hospital – where he received stiches under his eye. Although the band cut their set short, they managed to finish the song… with a guest singer drawn from the crowd.


Weezer’s Last Gasp?
Everyone’s favourite rock geeks Weezer have revealed their current album Make Believe could well be their last. "We have no idea if we're going to be a band next year”, said guitarist Brian Bell, adding “That's the fun of being in Weezer. That's why we put out albums every three years, and we have these dark periods where we don't know if we're even going to be a band anymore. But I always have this gut feeling that everything will take care of itself, one way or the other, and it always does." Singer River Cuomo said the band were aware when they were making Make Believe that it could be their last. "When we were putting the album together and finishing up the artwork, I didn't know what was going to happen in the future, and I told everyone that. I told them, 'Let's commit to this year, and see what happens’”.


Pete Townshend’s Novella
The Who’s Pete Townshend has revealed in a diary entry on his official website that he will begin serialising a novella on the site on September 24. Townshend, who conceived the idea during The Who’s 2000 tour, and wrote it out longhand in February and March 2002, says of the project, “Who fans will find the story especially interesting I think. In many ways it is a vanity, it refers to some of my best ideas, but also perhaps to some of my worst” Townshend also reveals he’s still creatively active. “My creative flow has not ceased. I write every single day. I write songs, lyrics and music often. I have several studios and enjoy my creative life. But I know a good number of people reading these diaries are only interested in what I can do for what we call The Who, and think everything else I worry about is a waste of time. Maybe. Maybe not”. Come September 24, we can decide for ourselves.


Destiny’s Turn To Dust
As previously reported, R&B pop trio Destiny’s Child announced in June that they would be splitting at the end of their current tour. Well, folks, that day has come, with Beyonce, Michelle and Kelly taking their final bows after a performance in Vancouver. As expected, the girls radiated mushy love during their encore performance, with Beyonce singing “Kelly I love you, Michelle I love you” during the performance of the set’s second last song, “Dangerously In Love”. Naturally, the evening’s final words belonged to Beyonce, who told the crowd “Destiny's Child started when we were nine years old. This isn't something somebody put together. This is love."


All About t.A.T.u
The new single from Russian pop duo t.A.T.u “All About US” is getting strong reviews, with NME saying, "They're back - with a chorus as big as the cosmos with epic production to match." The duo’s second album Dangerous and Moving will also be released next month and features a surprising array of guests, including Sting, who plays bass on a Dave Stewart-penned track called “Friend Or Foe”, Richard “Top Of The World” Carpenter, who arranges the strings on “Gomensai”, as well as contributions for Michael Urbano (Cracker) and Dave Lopez (Flipsyde). T.A.T.u topped the ARIA Singles Chart in 2003 with “All The Things She Said”, and it’s believed they’ll be heading to Oz to promote the new single.


A Day In The Life voted best Brit song ever
Q Magazine in the UK has compiled a list of the Best British Songs Ever. The Beatles “A Day In The Life” heads up the list, with the mag hailing it as “the ultimate sonic rendition of what it means to be British”. Q’s Top 10 list is:


1. A Day In The Life - The Beatles
2. Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks
3. Wonderwall - Oasis
4. God Save The Queen - Sex Pistols
5. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
6. My Generation - The Who
7. Angels - Robbie Williams
8. Life on Mars? - David Bowie
9. Sympathy For The Devil - Rolling Stones
10. Unfinished Sympathy - Massive Attack

[Detomah]

Some nice juicy news there... Funnily enough though, it was the t.A.T.u news that got me the most though as I really liked the tunes they knocked out before their break.