Music News

Linkin Park feel "inspired" recording their new album.
Frontman Mike Shinoda has teased details of new material for the record, the follow-up to their 2012 album 'Living Things', and said the band plan to go in a new direction.
In a blog post, Mike attached a photograph of the band in the studio and wrote: "As most Linkin Park fans know, the sound of each album is usually quite different from the last.
"The new album is no exception. But as usual, the album's sound twists and turns as it is created, so any attempt at estimating what it sounds like today would be silly.
"The moment I tell you it sounds like 'X', the songs will automatically take a drastic turn and evolve into something different within a week."
He added: "But what I can tell you is I'm inspired. We're inspired."
Meanwhile, the US metal band - which also features Chester Bennington, Rob Bourdon, Brad Delson, Dave Farrell and Joe Hahnhave - have been named as one of the headline acts for Download Festival 2014 and plan to perform their 2000 album 'Hybrid Theory' in its entirety at the popular event.
Festival organiser Andy Copping has confirmed they will play on Saturday, June 14, joining special guests Fall Out Boy. Friday night headliners are Avenged Sevenfold and Aerosmith will close the festival, held in Donington in Leicestershire, on the Sunday.

Prince performed two surprise shows in London on Wednesday night (05.02.14) - treating fans to new material and his greatest hits.
The hitmaker sparked a buzz online earlier in the day that he would be performing at intimate venue the Electric Ballroom in Camden - which holds just several hundred people and was the venue for his brief show on Tuesday (04.02.14) - and thousands of fans queued for hours in the rain, despite not knowing details of the performances or ticket prices.
Eventually, more than 800 people were allowed in the venue after the doors opened at 7pm and each lucky fan paid just £10 to see the legendary singer perform with his new all-female band 3RDEYEGIRL.
The set included new single 'Pretzelbodylogic', along with 'Let's Go Crazy', 'Funk 'n' Roll', 'Guitar' and 'She's Always in My Hair', in which the 55-year-old singer changed the lyrics to, "always in Prince's big curly hair".
Audience members shouted, "London loves you", before he handed his guitar out to the crowd and dozens of fans surged forward.
The 55-year-old musician came back on for a second encore before fans were ejected from the venue and security let in hundreds of people who were still queuing outside for the second performance.
The pop superstar powered through several of his most famous hits, including 'When Doves Cry', 'Housequake', 'I Would Die 4 U' and 'Purple Rain'.
VIP guests at the gigs included Paloma Faith, Nicole Scherzinger and Lianne La Havas, who welcomed Prince into her home for a secret press conference this week.
Prince has ruled out playing any large venues while in London with his band this month, hinting instead of his desire to play small club gigs.
Speaking to BBC 6 Music, he said he wants to play venues such as Ronnie Scott's and the Bag O' Nails Club in Soho - although details for future gigs are being kept under wraps.
He described his trip to London as "open-ended" and told last night's audience: "We're gonna try and find somewhere else to play in this city. We'll stay as long as you'll have us."

Lianne La Havas claims it was "like a storm had hit" when Prince played an impromptu gig at her house on Tuesday (04.02.14).
The 24-year-old star saw her east London home turned into a concert venue when the 'Purple Rain' singer and his new band 3RDEYEGIRL bombarded her pad for his Hit & Run tour.
She explained: "It's been a weird few hours but a lot of fun.
"They put amplified equipment in my lounge, Prince came, conquered and left. It was like a storm had hit."
The 55-year-old star - who is playing a series of secret guerilla gigs at small venues across London throughout the month of February - performed two acoustic tracks in Lianne's front room, including new single 'PretzelBodyLogic'.
Lianne explained: "His plan is music and music alone. He just wants to play and promote his new band and make a name for them."
However, Prince's turn-up at Lianne's house wasn't completely out of the blue as the pair have met before.
She told the Daily Star newspaper: "Prince and I had hung out before in my old house, he enjoyed my music.
"I had always had music jams at my house, it's a way of having a conversation with musicians.
"So this was a way of Prince doing something he had never done - he just thought let's go back to basics."

Prince performed two gigs at Camden's Electric Ballroom in London last night (05.01.14).
The 'Purple Rain' hitmaker took to the stage after a secret gig at the same venue on Wednesday evening and thousands of fans queued for hours in the rain, despite not knowing details of the performances or ticket prices.
Eventually, more than 800 people were allowed in the venue after the doors opened at 7pm and paid just £10 to see the legendary singer perform a special gig with his all-female band 3rd Eye Girl.
The set included new single 'Pretzelbodylogic', along with 'Let's Go Crazy', 'Funk 'n' Roll', 'Guitar' and 'She's Always in My Hair', in which the 55-year-old singer changed the lyrics to, 'Always in Prince's big curly hair'.
Audience members shouted: "London loves you", before he handed his guitar out to the crowd and dozens of fans surged forward.
The singer came back on for a second encore before the fans were ejected from the venue and security let in hundreds of people who were still queuing outside.
The star powered through tracks including 'Cause and Effect', 'I Would Die 4 U' and 'Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)' during the second set, before ending the first encore with a sensuous rendition of 'Purple Rain'.
He then closed the gig with a medley of hits, including 'When Doves Cry' and 'Sign o' The Times'.
VIP guests at the gigs included Paloma Faith, Nicole Scherzinger and Lianne La Havas, who welcomed Prince into her home for a secret press conference this week.
The singer has ruled out playing any large venues while in London with his band this month, hinting instead of his desire to play small club gigs.
Speaking to BBC 6 Music, he said he wants to play venues such as Ronnie Scott's and the Bag O' Nails Club in Soho - although details for future gigs are being kept under wraps.
He described his trip to London as "open-ended" and told last night's audience: "We're gonna try and find somewhere else to play in this city. We'll stay as long as you'll have us."

Ozzy Osbourne was speechless when introducing Ringo Starr at The Grammy Awards.
The Black Sabbath rocker became so "overwhelmed" by his idol that he was unable to find the words to welcome The Beatles' drummer to the stage at last month's ceremony when he saw Sir Paul McCartney and John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono in the crowd.
Ozzy's wife Sharon Osbourne explained: "He looked down, he saw Paul and he saw Yoko - but nothing came out. He was overcome. I've been with Ozzy for coming up 35 years and every single day for those 25 years he has always listened to The Beatles."
'The X Factor' judge also revealed she used to play The Beatles' hits in a bid to simulate Ozzy when he was in coma for eight days following a serious motorcycle accident in 2003.
Sharon added: "When he was in a coma, after he had his motorbike accident, we used to blast The Beatles in his room. So he lost it."
Meanwhile, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will feature in a CBS special, 'The Night That Changed America: A GRAMMY Salute To The Beatles' to commemorate the group - which also included the late John Lennon and George Harris - and their American TV debut on the 'Ed Sullivan Show'.
The pair were interviewed by chat show host David Letterman, and given tributes from Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys and Katy Perry before taking to the stage to perform together.
The pre-recorded show will air Sunday, February 9.

Zayn Malik praised fiance Perrie Edwards after Little Mix topped the US iTunes chart which their album 'Salute'.
The One Direction hunk - who got engaged to the blonde beauty in August last year - was thrilled that his "baby" had climbed to number one spot on the digital sales chart alongside Jesy Nelson, Jade Thirwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock.
The star wrote on Twitter: "So proud of my baby !! Download the tune and keep it @ #1 !! 🙂 xx (sic)"
Zayn's 1D bandmate Niall Horan also applauded the girl group for the success of their second studio album which was released in the US on February 4.
He wrote: "The lovely girls of LittleMixOffic have are at #1 on the iTunes chart, you guys gotta keep it there for the week! It's a great album ! Xx (sic)"
Both One Direction - which also includes Harry Styles, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson - and Little Mix were catapulted to the spotlight on singing contest 'X Factor' and show boss Simon Cowell was also keen to offer his congratulations.
The media mogul added: "I have just been told that the new little mix album is number one on the us iTunes album chart. That is bloody fantastic. Congratulations. (sic)"

Tom Odell found the attention while dating Taylor Swift "terrifying".
The 23-year-old musician briefly dated the '22' hitmaker in February last year and admits he found the press attention too much to bare.
Tom told Britain's GQ magazine: "It was terrifying. I'd have to be very in love to be with someone that famous."
The 'Another Love' singer claims he never had the opportunity to dress in smart outfits when he was growing up, but his love of fashion has grown since he performed live at the Burberry Prorsum Autumn/Winter 2013 show.
Tom explained:"I am interested in that classic British look - yet also that classic American look. Burberry did that for me, because when I played at their party last year it introduced me to fashion.
"I grew up in the suburbs of a small town on the south coast where the only opportunity I ever got to wear anything smart was a funeral, so I had never owned a piece of clothing worth more than £40."
Tom now relishes the opportunity to buy expensive clothes, and revealed he even spends hundreds of pounds on multivitamins to keep him looking and feeling his best whilst on tour.

Prince says it's "cool" when fans share music.
The 'Purple Rain' hitmaker has scoffed at reports he filed a $22 million lawsuit against 22 internet users who allegedly posted recordings of his live performances online.
The 55-year-old musician insists he would never sue his own fans and is happy for them to share his songs as long as they are not doing so to make money.
Speaking at a press conference held at his friend Lianne La Havas' home to announce his upcoming London concerts on Tuesday (04.02.14), Prince told the BBC: "Nobody sues their fans. I have some bootlegs of Lianne but I wouldn't sell them. But fans sharing music with each other, that's cool ... But when you hear something [on bootleg] you're just hearing something that's not finished."
Prince - who is about to release a new album with his band 3RDEYEGIRL - also revealed he has a large number of unheard music in the vaults at his Paisley Park home and studio, and he owns the rights to old archive of recordings that he may release in future.
He said: "A song from 1985 might come out in 2021. I have a whole organisation who look after stuff."
Meanwhile, Prince surprised fans with a secret intimate gig in Camden, London, last night (04.02.14) to kick off his forthcoming 'Hit and Run' shows at "iconic venues" across the UK capital.
He appeared on stage shortly after 12.30am backed by 3RDEYEGIRL, comprised of guitarist Donna Grantis, bassist Ida Nielsen and drummer Hannah Ford Welton.

Kendrick Lamar wasn't nervous when he first met with Dr Dre.
The rappers worked together on Kendrick's 2012 album 'Good Kid, Maad City', with Dre appearing on the track 'Compton', but Kendrick didn't feel anxious before he came face-to-face with the music mogul.
Kendrick told i-d.vice.com: "I was very excited. I wasn't nervous at all. I was more excited, 'cause I knew that this was my shot, everything that l've worked for, everything I've built up to came down to that moment."
The 26-year-old rapper, who was nominated for a Grammy Award last month, has also been inspired by Dre's work outside of music, after he launched his own headphones line and Beats Music streaming service.
Kendrick said: "I [still] talk to him. At the moment he's just working on Beats by Dre. Doing a lot of promo and press for that, getting buried in life right now.
"You know when you conquer one thing, you want to move on to the next and be able to challenge yourself? He inspired me to want to do that, once I get the years behind me, of being exceptionally great at music."
And he thinks his songs prove he has more than just creative talent, adding: "My lyrics say that I have confidence, say I have weaknesses, say I have strong points, say I am a human being."