Music News

Marcus Mumford finds it "funny" when people tell him they hate his music.
The Mumford & Sons frontman has confessed he isn't bothered by critics and is often left amused when people slam the band's tracks to his face.
He said: "There was one weird kid who came up to me in a guitar shop in New York. He was very strange and knocking stuff over.
"He stood in the doorway and shouted, 'Mumford and Sons f***ing suck'. Then he turned away and ran. Weird.
"Then another time. I was at a gig when a guy came up to me and said: 'I just want you to know that I f***ing hate your music. It's repulsive'. So I said, 'OK cool, thank you for your opinion'.
"He then added, 'You seem like a nice guy but your music, it just disgusts me.'
"I don't think people are brave enough to say it to our faces most of the time. When people do, I find it very funny."
The band - made up of Marcus, bassist Ted Dwane, 30, keyboardist Ben Lovett, 28 and guitar player Winston Marshall, 27 - recently banned the use of mobile phones at their concerts as they travel the globe previewing their new material in a series small gigs.
While upholding the ban proved somewhat difficult, Marcus claims it has greatly improved the atmosphere of their shows.
He told The Sun newspaper: "That's why we've banned phones from the gig. We didn't want new songs on YouTube before the album is out.
"We've worked so hard on them and by banning phones, we've noticed the energy in the venues was totally different because people were actually looking at each other and communicating.
"Everyone was sharing experience. The small shows have really worked."

Paul Weller is a Skrillex fan.
The 56-year-old rocker revealed his 26-year-old son Natt introduced him to the dance music producer's tracks, unexpectedly admitting he thought they were "great" and "wicked".
He confessed: "My son played me a couple of tracks of Skrillex, as well, which I really liked. The couple of tracks I heard, I thought were great - the sound was great. I like that track called 'Bangarang', I thought that was wicked. And another one he did with Damian Marley."
The former The Jam star - who is set to rock Glastonbury Festival next month - also explained although he is a self-confessed technophobe, he loves checking out new music online.
He said: "I can't work the internet, but I watch YouTube on Apple TV. That is one of the great sides of the technological revolution. It's great for that - all of these amazing clips that I've never even heard before."
And although he isn't skilled at using the latest gadgets, Paul has started to use new technology because he knows it will make his music even better.
Speaking about the impact revolutions in production equipment and software have had on his forthcoming album 'Saturns Pattern', he told Shortlist magazine: "I have trouble working my f***ing mobile. But there's stuff we're doing on this that you could just never have done on tape. But it's just happened that digital recording has got so much better in the last five years - it's the same with digital photography I guess - so I've learnt to embrace technology."

Meat Loaf is believed to have cancelled his 2015 summer tour due to health issues.
The 'Bat Out Of Hell' hitmaker has removed all the scheduled dates from his website (meatloaf.net) and several venues he was due to be performing at have been informed the concerts are off, including
the Illinois State Fair in Springfield and the RiverEdge Park in Aurora.
Jim Jarvis, speaking for RiverEdge Park, told the Chicago Tribune newspaper: "We're obviously disappointed. Meat Loaf is a great entertainer and he's played an important part in rock history over the past 30 years. One of these days, we hope to get him to RiverEdge Park."
There has been no official statement on the status of the tour from Meat Loaf or his representatives yet.
The 64-year-old singer has endured numerous medical problems over the last several years including asthma and Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome, a rare disorder which affects the electrical system of the heart.
Meat Loaf has been known to faint on stage, throw up after gigs and has also undergone knee replacement surgery.
Previously speaking about his stage black outs, Meat Loaf revealed he suffers from "equilibrium" issues caused by multiple concussions.
He said: "I've had 18 concussions and for the last three or four years they've been flaring up. After 18 concussions I knew something had to come around, sometime. My equilibrium is off. The last few years I kind of get on stage, I will wobble a bit and stumble, and you see them (the audience) right out there (saying), 'He was drunk up there!' No, I wasn't. They just assume because they've heard (of) so many rock stars are drunk on stage so I was (sic)."
The iconic rocker is set to release new album 'Braver Than We Are' this autumn.

Kevin Jonas has admitted he suffered from depression when the Jonas Brothers split up.
The 27-year-old musician said he went through a "mourning process" when his band, made up of brothers Nick Jonas, 22, Joe Jonas, 25, and himself, split in October 2013.
He told New York radio station Z100: "Notice how when [the Jonas Brothers] went dark, we went dark. We didn't do a single interview, we didn't talk to anybody, we just went dark. I just got really depressed for a while. There's a mourning process."
The former 'Camp Rock' star - who wed Danielle Deleasa in 2009 - also addressed the rumour he is envious of his brother Nick Jonas, who coincidentally has recently returned to the charts with a hit single titled 'Jealous'.
Kevin ranted: "I don't know how many times I literally hear this. It's the worst pun in the world from some idiotic frat guy. It's like, 'You must be 'Jealous' of Nick!' ... Constantly! It's like, why? He's doing his thing. I'm doing mine!" he said. "He's happy. I'm happy."
He does however, miss having a career in music and added "there's nothing like" performing in front of adoring fans.
He told People magazine: "I miss touring. I miss seeing people on the road. I miss that adrenaline rush, there's nothing like it."

Lorde says making her new album is "exciting and scary".
The 18-year-old star has teased details of her highly-anticipated second record - following on from 2013's 'Pure Heroine' - explaining she took some time off from making music but is now hard at work on her next collection.
Writing on her Tumblr blog, she said: "i took a few months off at the beginning of this year, which was so great - i did a bunch of swimming and driving around and being salty - and now i'm just getting into making the next body of work, which is very exciting and scary but SO VALIDATING (sic)."
The 'Royals' singer went on to say she has been inspired by Swedish pop star Robyn while making the record, as she believes her track 'Dancing On My Own' would be the one song she would choose to "send into space, to live on forever".
She said: "this song, to me, is perfect. it's happy and sad, fiery and independent but vulnerable and small, joyous even when a heart is breaking. (sic)"
And the chart-topping star said after listening to the 2010 single, she realised she will never stop making music.
She continued: "i realized i'm going to be in love with music for the rest of my life. it's going to be the most important friendship i'll ever have. i'll never, ever leave it alone, because you can't leave alone something like that (sic)."
Adding further details about the record, Lorde - whose real name is Ella Yelich-O'Connor - said she feels much "calmer" in the studio this time around, and is in no rush to finish the LP.
She wrote: "i feel much calmer, more comfortable in my love of doing this, and its apparent love of me, this time around. so there's that.
"know that i'm taking my time to make the new stuff as good as i can. know that music is still making my heart skip every day. (sic)"

Sam Smith is set to undergo surgery on his vocal chords, leaving him unable to sing for six to eight weeks.
The 'Stay With Me' hitmaker - who had to cancel a string of Australian shows last month due to a haemorrhage on his vocal chords - has taken to his social media accounts to tell his fans he is "upset" that he won't be able to sing for a while.
Alongside a picture on Instagram, he wrote: "Bad news. I have my operation booked for next week, so getting really nervous. But by doing this in 8 weeks time I'm gonna be able to sing like never before so it's worth it. I am so sorry to all. Dreading the next month thou, I can't speak for THREE WEEKS after the op. (sic)"
His Twitter post, which was in the form of a picture read: "Dear all: I am very upset to announce I have been battling to get my vocal chords better the last 10 days but unfortunately they haven't recovered and I am going to need surgery. I am so gutted to be missing all of the shows and events I was meant to be playing at. The doctors say I will be back in 6 to 8 weeks and I can't wait to sing to you all soon. (sic)"
The news comes as the multiple Grammy award-winning artist confirmed he was to fly to America for surgery.
The 23-year-old singer is yet to comment on whether he will be well enough to perform forthcoming scheduled shows, which include sets at Wild Life Festival in June and T in the Park in August.

Guns N' Roses guitarist has slammed the music industry for failing to embrace technology.
Ronald Jay Blumenthal - better known by stage name Ron Bumblefoot - believes the industry is "stupid" because they treat music fans, who share music via Napster, like "criminals".
And the 45-year-old musician - who has played with Guns N' Roses since 2006 - holds record executives responsible for the "mess" that has been left behind since Napster.
He told the Jakarta Informer: "The music industry started to see their customers as their enemies and everybody suffered for it. Congratulations record industry - you've made a mess and you still don't know how to clean it up."
Talking further about the music sharing site he explained the technology used was "amazing" but record companies failed to embrace it for their own good.
He continued: "It's not that Napster changed anything - it's that the stupid music industry didn't see this amazing technology and say, 'My God, we could do so much with this,' and instead tried to destroy it and tried to treat people as criminals.
"What can you do money-wise if a billion people download your songs for free? It could have been the tiniest little subscription - it could have been ads or sponsors. There are a million ways it could have been done and the music industry had a lot of time to figure it out.
"Instead, through their lawyers, they said, 'Go sue that 12-year-old kid,' and they screwed up everything."

Ed Sheeran "welled up" when a fan proposed to his girlfriend at his show.
The 'Bloodstream' singer was performing his 2014 track 'All of the Stars' at a concert in Austin, Texas last night (06.05.15), when he invited the couple on stage and watched as the man gave a romantic speech to his beloved.
The super fan gushed to his girlfriend: "I'm just thinking out loud here, but y'know I've met a lot of people in my days and to come across someone so amazing, so talented and so beautiful inside and out, I knew there was no way, no way I was going to let her go. I thought to myself, I better grab her and hold on for dear life."
After the man dropped to one knee and she accepted his hand in marriage, the crowd erupted into cheers and Ed returned to congratulate the couple with hugs.
Posting a link to the romantic moment on Twitter following the concert, he wrote: "proposal tonight in austin, i might've welled up, but don't say anything (sic)."
It's not the first time the 24-year-old star - who is currently on tour across north America - has helped someone find love, as he made one teenager's dream come true last year when he accepted a proposal from the terminally ill fan.
The 19-year-old fan, Katie Papworth - who suffered from an aggressive form of brain cancer - presented the singer-songwriter with a painting of a lego house to celebrate his hit of the same name, as well as a ring at his concert in Glasgow, Scotland.
Following the meet and greet, Katie's mum Trish said: "Katie took the picture of the lego house she'd made and gave Ed a ring with an infinity symbol. Ed loved her artwork and asked if he could keep it for his wall.
"When she presented the ring he smiled and said, 'I suppose I should say yes. OK.'"

U2 disguised themselves as buskers in New York.
The Irish rockers surprised commuters as they performed a secret acoustic gig at the city's Grand Central Station for Jimmy Fallon's 'Tonight Show', which will air on Friday (08.05.15).
Passers-by took to Twitter posting videos of the 'Beautiful Day' hitmakers playing, as shocked New Yorkers were treated to the impromptu set.
One tweet read: "@jimmyfallon and @U2 dressed as street musicians at a subway station at 10p on a Monday! #gottaloveNYC (sic)."
While another read: "#U2 at #GrandCentral via @dreyarchives you know. front row at a secret U2 concert in grand central terminal thanks to Jimmy Fallon! #U2 #bono #theedge #jimmyfallon #tonightshow #grandcentral #nyc #livemusic (sic)."
The band were set to appear on Jimmy's show last year but were forced to postpone after frontman Bono suffered a nasty cycling accident, which has left him unable to play guitar.
He told the New York Times newspaper: "It's all numb here, and this is titanium.The shoulder's better, the face is better. But this is the hard bit because I can't play guitar."
U2 are set to kick off the north American leg of their 'Innocence + Experience' tour later this month.