Music News

Foo Fighters new album is "almost half done".
Producer Butch Vig, who is reportedly working on the record with Steve Albini, claims the band have been experimenting with new recording techniques and it is well on its way to being completed.
Speaking to Kerrang, Vig said: "We've been recording at some different locations, but we're almost halfway done with the recording and it's going well.
"It sounds different - we've thrown a few things into the mix, in the recording process, that are going to give the record a different sound and a different feel. It's been a challenge, but it's also been exciting."
The 'Everlong' band revealed in January that recording sessions for their new album, the follow-up to 2011's 'Wasting Light', were "f***ing on" and posted a photograph of a row of master tapes labelled 'Foo Fighters LP 8'.
Dave Grohl also told BBC Radio 1: "I know what it sounds like and I honestly think the entire concept is really going to take people by surprise and it sounds nuts."
Meanwhile, the band's fans have launched a campaign to get the band to play a show in their hometown for the first time in more than 15 years.
The campaign's fundraising page on Crowdsurfer reads: "It's simple. The Foo Fighters haven't played Richmond, Virginia since May 17, 1998. That's more than 15 years ago and that's way too long. So we're taking it upon ourselves to bring 'em back!"
The 'Help Bring The Foo Fighters Back To RVA' campaign site is selling 1,400 tickets at $50 a ticket.
However, the band have yet to announce they will play a date in the city.

Kamaliya spent £1,000 on a shopping spree in Poundland.
The 36-year-old Ukrainian singer - who is married to steel magnate billionaire Mohammad Zakhur - was taken to the bargain store in London's Kentish Town by Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills and his team where she managed to drop the staggering sum on gifts for her "servants", pets and children.
She said: "I just brought some presents for my servants! And for my six doggies, my four horsies and, of course for my babies!"
Her husband added: "She still managed to spend almost a thousand pounds!"
The former Miss World - who also stars on Fox TV's 'Meet The Russians' - has taken dance-floors by storm with her hit single 'Never Wanna Hurt You' which has achieved dance chart success.
However, the stunning blonde admitted she is struggling to enjoy her success due to the difficult political situation in her native Ukraine - which is currently under siege by Russia's armed forces.
Kamaliya said: "I have been waiting and dreaming of having a number one UK dance track for years, but now I can't even celebrate as I watch my country fall apart. I am bathing in tears!
"I just want my people to live in peace - and for my country to not be bullied. We are a European country and Russia should leave us alone."

Dr Dre has overtaken Jay Z on Forbes' list of the richest hip hop artists. The magazine has revealed the rapper's Beats by Dre headphones company made $1.2 billion last year, earning him $200 million, meaning his total assets were $550 million. Jay Z...

Iggy Azalea never thought she'd become achieve fame as a female rapper.
The 'Fancy' hitmaker, who has shot to stardom with her debut album 'The New Classic', pursued her dream of being a rap star by moving from her native Australia to America and didn't consider becoming famous.
She told radio.com: "I don't know if I expected anything. I think other people expect things and I think to myself, 'Hey look, I do female rap'. That's what I am, I'm a female rapper. That's always a weird situation, you never know how it's going to be. It's [rap] not the most popular kind of thing in the world."
The 23-year-old star was surprised to experience "Katy Perry-level fame" because she didn't think people would be that interested in her but still hoped she'd become a success.
Talking about her roots, she said: "Its [music] escapism to me. I'm from the country and music videos and film, those were my escape to sparking my imagination.
"I didn't get to see really well dressed women in the street or expensive cars or people walking into a restaurant. I only got to see them in music videos."

Coldplay have announced six international shows in support of their upcoming album 'Ghost Stories'.
The 'Paradise' hitmakers will kick off their tour in Germany on April 25 and visit a number of low-key venues, compared to their stadium dates for their 'Mylo Xyloto' tour in 2012.
The band - made up of Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion - will also stop by at the Beacon Theatre in New York, Royce Hall in Los Angeles, Casino de Paris in Paris, Dome City Hall in Tokyo and a final date at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
In recent months, Coldplay have performed two small shows at the Ring O' Bells in Compton Martin, Somerset, and a headline slot at the iTunes Festival at South by Southwest in Texas in March.
Frontman Chris, 37, has seemingly spoken about his split with Gwyneth Paltrow after 11 years of marriage last month on the band's upcoming sixth record, which will be released on Monday, May 19.
On the track 'Another's Arms', Chris sings about infidelity, which is speculated to be the reason for his split with the 'Iron Man 3' actress.
He sings: "Late night watching TV, used to be you here beside me, your body on my body. When the pain just rips through me. Another's arms, another's arms."
Adele producer Paul Epworth has been working on the new record, along with Jon Hopkins, Rik Simpson and Dan Green.

Coldplay's tour dates are..

April 25 - E-Werk, Cologne, Germany
May 5 - Beacon Theatre, New York, USA
May 19 - Royce Hall, Los Angeles, USA
May 28 - Casino de Paris, Paris, France
June 12 - Dome City Hall, Tokyo, Japan
July 1 - Royal Albert Hall, London, UK

Tickets for the Cologne show will go on sale at 9am on Saturday, April 19 from eventim.de/coldplay, while ticket information for the remaining five shows will be emailed exclusively to subscribers to the Coldplay mailing list.

The Who are releasing new material to mark their 50th anniversary.
The legendary band are planning to record new tracks to coincide with their landmark achievement and their upcoming world tour, which stars in the UK this December before heading to North America in 2015.
Guitarist Pete Townshend told Billboard: "I'm trying to [look] through my 20,000 hours of complete and utter disorganized music [to find possible songs]. I'll be pulling some songs out of [his long-gestating project] 'Floss' to give to Roger [Daltrey] to see if we've got enough to make an album. It might be a big waste of time, but I'm hoping there will be an album."
Pete, singer Roger and bassist John Entwistle started performing together in 1961, but finally settled on the name The Who in 1964 when drummer Keith Moon joined the band.
Although surviving members Pete and Roger have embarked on several "final tours," starting in 1982, the guitarist feels "this is what we should be doing."
The rocker added: "I was ready for the 50th, but it happens when everything else is changing. I'll be 69 in May and all my friends are getting ill or dying. I knew it would happen. I will be happy if I give people something that makes fans happy. It takes some great planning and I hope it opens up other things that we can avail ourselves of."

AC/DC's Malcolm Young is "taking a break" from the band due to ill health.
The 'Whole Lotta Rosie' hitmakers have confirmed the 61-year-old rhythm guitarist is suffering from a "debilitating illness" but insist the Australian rock group will continue to record and play live, after speculation about their future.
A statement posted on their website reads: "After 40 years of life dedicated to AC/DC, guitarist and founding member Malcolm Young is taking a break from the band due to ill health.
"Malcolm would like to thank the group's die-hard legions of fans worldwide for their never-ending love and support.
"In light of this news, AC/DC asks that Malcolm and his family's privacy be respected during this time. The band will continue to make music."
The statement comes after singer Brian Johnson confirmed the band - also made up of Malcolm's brother Angus, bassist Cliff Williams and drummer Phil Rudd - will head into the studio next month to work on the follow-up to their 'Black Ice' album in 2008.
He told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: "We are definitely getting together in May in Vancouver. "We're going to pick up some guitars, have a plonk, and see if anybody has got any tunes or ideas. If anything happens, we'll record it."
Choirboys frontman Mark Gable, who has been close friends with the band for a number of years, also revealed Malcolm is "too sick" to play live anymore.
He said: "It's not just that he is unwell, it's that it is quite serious. It will constitute that he definitely won't be able to perform live. He will probably not be able to record."

Bloc Party's Kele Okereke wants to see Azealia Banks succeed.
The lead singer and guitarist for 'The Prayer' hitmakers has admitted that although the '212' rapper has alienated a lot of her fans by claiming she's desperate to leave her record label and starting arguments with other artists such as Lily Allen, he is still hoping she will turn it around and succeed in the music industry.
Writing for Noisey magazine, he said: "It seems like nobody is rooting for her. But I am.
"There is still something about this girl that I dig: the early Vogue culture references in her music, the dexterity of her wordplay and, most of all, her attitude."
Azealia - who won the best single prize at the Urban Music Awards in 2012 for her debut track - promised fans she would leak her first full album 'Broke With Expensive Taste' on April 15, however she has so far yet to do so.
Kele, 32, hopes that when the 22-year-old rapper's album is finally released, it will take the pressure off of her so that she can focus on more new material.
He said: "Azealia Banks is in her own lane right now, her music still sounds like nothing else.
"So if you are reading this babes: get this record out, make these summer shows the best they can be and then get your head down and start again from scratch.
"Don't lose your heart, you still have it in you."

Janelle Monae felt "connected" to Lauryn Hill.
The R&B and soul singer was inspired by The Fugees hitmaker because her values were "so different" to a lot of other artists who were starting out in music.
She told NME magazine: "I felt connected to her ... she let me know that being an artist wasn't about trying to fit in, or cultivating a sound that someone else had - it's about embracing the things that make you who you are. You use music as your vehicle to reach the people you feel need to hear your message."
The 'Tightrope' singer, 28, fell in love with the star's 1998 album 'The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill' and it's title track and describes her as "innovative", an artist whose music encouraged her to be "unique".
She explained: "There was already a Lauryn Hill, there was already an Erykah Badu - there was not a Janelle Monae. They inspired me to create my own lane.
"I moved straight to New York and got accepted into a music and dramatics academy, and there were dreams that I had. I was from one of the poorest countries, and when I would sing that song it made me believe in myself."