Music News

Foo Fighters new album "takes a left turn" according to Nate Mendel.
The bassist - who joins lead singer Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett, Pat Smear and keyboardist Rami Jaffee - has revealed that the band's new album, 'Sonic Highways' is less traditional than their other records.
Nate explained: "They're fairly straight forward Foo Fighters songs and almost every one of them takes a left turn and goes off on some psychic odyssey with the guest musician in the middle.
"Sometimes there's an awkward transition back into the song. You catch on with a few of them, where we go, 'Oh f**k!' and we're back into the final chorus. There are a few elements that are looser than traditional Foo Fighters moments."
Nate also hinted that Foo Fighters were thinking about doing something special for their fans to celebrate being together for two decades.
He added to NME magazine: "We're planning on doing a pretty unique and cool idea for our 20th anniversary. It's something that'll be ****ing cool - plus all of the usual things like festivals."

Chaka Khan loves touching her audience.
The 'Ain't Nobody' hitmaker has revealed she prefers playing intimate venues - in particular the iconic London jazz club Ronnie Scott's - because she feels closer to her audience and enjoys being able to reach out and touch her fans.
She told MTV: "I love to touch the audience. When I played Ronnie Scott's, it was so intimate, I could really reach out and physically touch people."
The 70s singer - who released her first solo single 'I'm Every Woman' in 1978 and fronted the funk band Rufus - made the admission during a quick fire interview with the music channel in which she also admitted her son, Damien, failed to recognise one of her most famous tracks 'Sweet Thing' when it was covered by R&B singer Mary Blige 18 years later.
She explained: "I remember when my son came home from school and said, 'I just heard Sweet Thing by Mary J Blige'.
"I had to explain to him, 'Honey that's my song!'"
Despite enjoying a career that has spanned five decades, the 61-year-old singer admitted there were times when she thought about giving up music.
She said: "There have been many times when I've thought... what the hell am I doing?
"Life has many faces. It's not an easy, sweet ride."

Sir Tim Rice will receive the BMI Icon award.
The lyricist will be presented with the accolade at the BMI London Awards, which will be held at the Dorchester Hotel on October 13, 2014.
The famed songwriter is best known for his collaborations with the composer Sir Andrew Lloyd-Webber, with whom wrote the musicals, 'Evita' and 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'.
He has also worked closely on several Disney films, including 'The Lion King', 'Aladdin' and 'Beauty and the Beast'.
Upon hearing the news, Sir Tim dedicated his award to fellow music legends who have helped him along the way.
He said: "I owe it all to Tommy Steele, Lonnie Donegan, Billy Fury, Marty Wilde, Cliff Richard and Joe Brown."
BMI President and CEO, Michael O'Neill said: "Sir Tim Rice's extraordinary creativity has given the world some of the most beloved songs of the past 50 years, sheer musical poetry that has thrilled audiences in films, musical theatre and on chart-topping recordings.
"He is one of our era's most admired and respected lyricists, a leading author and sough-after commentator. We are immensely proud to honor him as a BMI Icon."
The 69-year-old lyricist has also received three Best Song Oscars for "A Whole New World" (with Alan Menken), "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" (with Elton John), and "You Must Love Me" (with Andrew Lloyd Webber).
Previous winners of the BMI Icon Award include, the Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon, the rock band Queen, Ray Davies, Van Morrison and the musician Bryan Ferry.

Peter Gabriel was named Prog God at the Progressive Music Awards.
The 'In Your Eyes' rocker - who was also named the evening's guest of honour - accepted the Prog God award, which celebrates musicians who have bettered the industry, at the Shakespeare's Globe in London as part of the Orange Amplification Presents The 2014 Progessive Music Awards last night (11.09.14).
Speaking of the award - which has previously been presented to Rick Wakeman and Ian Anderson - Peter said: "Despite prog rock probably being the most derided musical genre of all time there were - as today - a lot of extraordinary musicians trying to break down the barriers to reject the rules of music."
Other big winners included the Columbian band Kraken, who won Band of the Year and Canterbury rockers, Syd Arthur who won the Breakthrough award.
Andy Latimer, the founding member of the progressive rock band Camel, won the coveted Lifetime Achievement award for his contribution to music.
Later, the editor of Prog magazine, Jerry Ewing added: "At a time when Kate Bush is playing live, a new Pink Floyd album and a King Crimson tour are also helping push progressive music into the public spotlight, a night like tonight really shows the diversity and far reaching appeal of this music."
The 2014 Progressive Music Award winners presented by Orange Amplification and in association with Currencies.co.uk were:

Limelight sponsored by K Scope - Messenger

Live Event sponsored by Butlins - Rick Wakeman Journey To The Centre Of The Earth 40th Anniversary Tour

Breakthrough sponsored by Inside Out - Syd Arthur

Anthem sponsored by Roadrunner Records Anathema - 'Anathema'

The Storm Thorgerson Grand Design - Fish 'A Feast of Consequences'

Album of the Year sponsored by TeamRock Radio - Transatlantic 'Kaleidoscope'

Band of the Year sponsored by Kraken - Dream Theater

Outer Limits - Uriah Heep

Virtuoso sponsored by Kef - Arjen Lucassen

Guiding Light sponsored by Currencies.co.uk - Sonja Kristina

Visionary sponsored by Eagle Rock - Robert John Godfrey

Lifetime Achievement sponsored by Prog Rocks! - Andy Latimer

Prog God sponsored by Orange Amplification - Peter Gabriel

Adam Levine thinks Maroon 5 are stronger than ever.
The 35-year-old singer admitted the band have had trouble defining their sound in the past but have grown closer again as a group after realising their love of pop music.
He told The Sun newspaper: "Maroon 5 are a lot stronger than we have been in the past.
"We know what we are good at and that's pop music. There isn't one member of Maroon 5 that doesn't love pop music.
"We are comfortable with who we are and know what we are good at.
"When people say they hate pop music and cite bands of the Sixties and Seventies as their inspiration, well The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin were all pop stars as their music was popular. They just wore different clothes than we do today.
"So Maroon 5 embrace that and are successful and we don't think it's uncool, we just go for it."
However, the 'Harder to Breathe' hitmakers - who released their fifth studio album 'V' earlier this month - insist the record is a nod to the "darker side of pop" and a stark contrast to their "sweet sugary" fourth offering 'Overexposed'.
Adam said: "I would say V is on the darker side of pop.
"It's not as sugary as the last album, which was very deliberately sweet pop and fun.
"This one is not as carefree and has an edge that we'd lost on the way."
He added: "It is hard to survive as a band in the culture for that many years and not try different things."
The Grammy Award-winner - who appears as a coach on the US version of 'The Voice' with country singer Blake Shelton and new judges Pharrell Williams and Gwen Stefani - also admitted he worried about the effect his role on the reality TV singing competition would have on his credibility as an artist and described the decision to star on the show in 2011 as a "huge risk".
He explained: "I have been very fortunate to be able to do this show as well as my music.
"It was a huge risk when I first started and I didn't expect the show to give me credibility.
"In fact, my biggest concern was that it would take any I had away. But it was never premeditated."

Lady Gaga almost quit music earlier this year.
The 'Applause' hitmaker admits she almost gave up her career for good six months ago after her third album 'ArtPop' received mixed reviews from critics.
Speaking in Parade magazine, she said: "Six months ago I didn't even want to sing any more. I was so sad. I couldn't sleep. I felt dead.
"I'm not going to say any names, but people get irrational when it comes to money. If you help an artist, it doesn't give you the right, once the artist is big, to take advantage of them."
However, the 28-year-old star then teamed up with Tony Bennett to create their forthcoming album 'Cheek to Cheek' and believes the 88-year-old legend saved her "life" and her career.
She said: "I tell Tony every day that he saved my life. He wanted nothing but my friendship and my voice."
Meanwhile, Tony recently said he was keen to team up with the blonde beauty again in the future because they get along so well and he admires her talent.
He said previously: "There were no moments of craziness or eccentricity when I was with her. She said that when she was 13 and singing jazz, 'Nobody ever paid any attention to me.'
"We get along great and she's just such a good improvised jazz singer. I think the public are going to say, 'I knew she could sing well but I didn't know she could sing THAT well'.
"I just love her and want to work with her as many times as possible in the future."

Bono struggled to write U2's 'personal' new album.
The Irish rocker and his band mates, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr - who released their new record 'Songs of Innocence' for free to all iTunes Store customers and U2's website subscribers yesterday(10.09.14) - found composing the tracks hard as it required them to revisit past memories.
Bono told Rolling Stone: "We wanted to make a very personal album.
"Let's try to figure out why we wanted to be in a band, the relationships around the band, our friendships, our lovers, our family.
"The whole album is first journeys -- first journeys geographically, spiritually, sexually. And that's hard. But we went there."
In one particularly painful track entitled 'Iris', Bono opens up about his late mother, Iris Hewson, who died when he was just 14-years-old.
He explained: "Forty years ago, my mother fell at her own father's funeral, and I never spoke with her again.
"Rage always follows grief, and I had a lot of it, and I still have, but I channeled it into music and I still do. I have very few memories of my mother, and I put a few of them in a song called 'Iris.'"
The autobiographical album also features collaborations with Ryan Tedder, Lykke Li, Danger Mouse and Paul Epworth - who the 54-year-old singer credits for the success of their latest offering.
He said: "I think having them around really helped.
"Some of the music out there now that people call pop, it's not pop - it's just truly great. And we wanted to have the discipline of the Beatles or the Stones in the Sixties, when you had real songs. There's nowhere to hide in them: clear thoughts, clear melodies."

Pharrell Williams was joined on stage by N.E.R.D bandmate Shay Haley at his iTunes Festival concert on Wednesday night (10.09.14).
The singer-and-producer thrilled the packed Roundhouse venue in Camden, London, when he announced during his show that he was "taking it back to the beginning" but he couldn't do it "by myself" prompting Shay to step on stage to massive cheers.
The pair then performed 'Rockstar', 'Lapdance' and 'She Wants To Move' and afterwards Shay hinted there is going to be a new N.E.R.D album, saying: "It feels good to be back in London. When we released our first album back in 2001 and first crossed the Atlantic, this was the first place to embrace us. You're going to like this s**t we're going to release."
Pharrell then added: "There will always be an N.E.R.D, I'm happy to be a nerd; the bullies lost, the nerds win."
Before the N.E.R.D section of the show, Pharrell had opened his hits-laden set with 'Lose Yourself To Dance' - one of the tracks he recorded with Daft Punk for their 'Random Access Memories' album - and was joined by six backing dancers wearing white dressing robes and sunglasses for 'Hunter', from his most recent solo LP.
Before his rendition of 'Marilyn Monroe', he told the women in the audience: "Marilyn Monroe was a very beautiful woman both on the inside and outside but there's only one Marilyn and only one you so if you think your beautiful I want to hear you."
Pharrell also performed several tracks that he co-wrote or produced for other artists, including a medley of Justin Timberlake's 'Like I Love You' and Ed Sheeran's 'Sing', Snoop Dogg songs 'Beautiful' and 'Drop it Like It's Hot', Major Lazer's 'Aerosol Can' and Gwen Stefani single 'Hollaback Girl'.
The 41-year-old musician also thanked Apple for putting on the concert - which was free for fans who won tickets in an online lottery - saying: "Apple brought us together, they have you guys and they let us come to the party and the whole world is watching. Let's talk about devices. There's been a lot of things going across your screens that have caused you to be fearful, so let's party for love not for fear."
He closed his concert with 'Blurred Lines' - his hit single with Robin Thicke and T.I - his worldwide smash 'Get Lucky' with Daft Punk and his solo song 'Happy', during which confetti exploded from the ceiling showering his adoring fans.

One Direction's new track 'Fireproof' has become the most downloaded free song in history - with over 1 million copies being accessed by fans. The boy band - made up of Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik - announced...