Music News

Young Fathers have won the 2014 Barclaycard Mercury Prize.
The Edinburgh-based hip-hop group's debut studio album, 'Dead,' was declared the best British or Irish record of the last 12 months at a star-studded ceremony at The Roundhouse in London on Wednesday night (29.10.14).
Upon collecting their trophy and cheque for £20,000 from Nick Grimshaw, the band - comprised of Alloysious Massaquoi, G Hastings and Kayus Bankole - said: "Thank you, thank you. We love you all!"
Shortly before the ceremony, the 'No Way' hitmakers insisted they didn't care about winning the prestigious prize, and told BANG Showbiz: "It doesn't matter to us we're just concentrating on our performance."
They also said winning wouldn't change them, explaining: "You don't spend half your life recording music and writing songs and then win an award and suddenly stop. It's just part and parcel of the industry. It's just what happens."
The trio won't have much time to celebrate the good news, as they're "just going over to Germany to record a new album."
Speaking about their victory, Chair of Judges, Simon Frith said: "Young Fathers have a unique take on urban British music, brimming with ideas - forceful, unexpected and moving."
The awards show, which will be broadcast in full on Channel 4 at 11.40pm on Friday (31.10.14), saw each of the twelve shortlisted artists, including Damon Albarn, FKA twigs and Jungle, perform a track from their albums.

Kate Tempest was honoured to be nominated for the Barclaycard Mercury Prize because she has been "in love" with music her entire life.
The 28-year-old poet-and-rapper lost out on the prestigious award - which recognises the best British or Irish album of the last year - to Young Fathers but she insisted just being up for the accolade was a massive deal for her.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz at the ceremony at The Roundhouse in London on Wednesday night (29.10.14), she said: "Just being nominated genuinely feels like a dream. It's been an amazing day. The whole process has been unbelievable. It's just been such a treat to hang out with some of the other artists backstage and suddenly it all feels so real. To be a part of something which to me is so important, it feels magical, a really important milestone.
"It feels extremely exciting for me because I've been in love with music all my life and I've been working since I was 16 - which is 12 years ago. For me to be having my album recognised like this, it's unbelievable, it's incredible."
Kate wasn't too disappointed her LP 'Everybody Down' lost out on the award and £20,000 cheque to hip-hop group Young Fathers' album 'Dead' because she is a huge fan of their music.
She added: "Young Fathers are my heroes, I love them so much that I can't really be around them without embarrassing myself. Every time I watch them I feel enriched with a beautiful spiritual energy. I know its a cheesy thing to say but for me it's definitely a spiritual experience watching them perform. They're a real strong hope for British music and I can't tell you how much I love them and that album and what they do."
Other nominees for the Barclaycard Mercury Prize included Damon Albarn, FKA twigs and Jungle..

Jimmy Page feels "blessed" to still have "good" hearing despite years of being blasted by loud music in Led Zeppelin.
The 70-year-old guitarist has not been afflicted with hearing issues, such as tinnitus, like many of his rock 'n' roll peers even though he was constantly blasted by the late John Bonham's drums while on stage.
He revealed: "My hearing is actually really good, considering that searing top coming at me from those cymbals. As I'm advancing in years, a lot of my friends realise how good my hearing is. I'm really blessed. Without good hearing, you're f***ed in this business - especially on the details of this stuff, the subtlety of what I'm working on. I'm lucky with that."
Page insists he had to stand directly in front of Bonham when the group first started touring because it was the only way he could hear what the drummer and bass player John Paul Jones were playing.
Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine, he explained: "That was the best point for us to listen to each other. John Bonham always had his monitors really loud behind his kit. That was a good point to hear everything that was going out to the crowd. As stage monitors improved, we moved around more. But it was better to position yourself where you could hear the bass and vocals, to feel the drums and the urgency of the music. It was all listening."
Led Zeppelin - which also had Robert Plant on vocals - split in the wake of Bonham's alcohol-related death in October 1980, and Page insists it was never seriously considered to carry on without him.
He said: "Led Zeppelin wasn't a corporate entity. Led Zeppelin was an affair of the heart. Each of the members was important to the sum total of what we were. I like to think that if it had been me that wasn't there, the others would have made the same decision. And what were we going to do? Create a role for somebody, say, 'You have to do this, this way?' That wouldn't be honest."
Led Zeppelin last performed together in 2007 at a tribute concert for Ahmet Ertegün - the music executive who signed them to Atlantic Records - which feature John's son Jason Bonham on drums.

Kanye West has been criticised for not using auto-tune "correctly".
The rapper is a fan of the vocal-correcting software and while T-Pain - who helped popularise its use - thinks the 'Stronger' hitmaker makes "great" music, he doesn't think he is making the most of the voice processor.
He explained to 'HuffPost Live': "Kanye uses it, but he doesn't use it correctly. He makes great music with it, but the way that I use it and the way that I've shown Chris [Brown] and Jamie [Foxx] to use it, he doesn't use it that way."
The 'Up Down' singer went on to explain that Kanye should use auto-tune to "catch mistakes" before they happen.
He said: "[Kanye] sings without it first and then he puts [Auto-Tune] on after he's done with the vocals.
"You don't know how it's going to come out. You can't catch your mistakes before they happen. So sometimes it gets a little bit wobbly and things like that..."
However, T-Pain admitted he was a fan of Kanye's 2008 album '808s & Heartbreak', which made heavy use of auto-tune.
He said: "[808s & Heartbreak] was actually good, but I had a lot to do with that album."

Roger Daltrey performed an acoustic set at a charity fundraiser in America last night (28.10.14).
The Who rocker co-hosted the Strowger Trust Fundraiser For Teen Cancer America in Los Angeles in aid of the charity he founded with bandmate Pete Townshend and also took the time to perform a selection of his best-known hits for guests including Sadie Frost, Cat Deeley, Matt Goss, Liberty Ross and Sam Taylor-Johnson.
Over 30 artists, including Damien Hirst, the Chapman Brothers and Antony Gormley, donated works to be auctioned on the night, while Pete Tong manned the decks.
Teen Cancer America was founded by The Who stars to improve the lives of teenagers and young adults with cancer, echoing the work they do in the UK with the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Roger, 70, has previously spoken about how the charity helps young people fighting the disease.
He said: "At a time when your body is changing, your social life is everything and you're still trying to figure out who you are, getting cancer can seem like an impossible blow to take. But thanks to Teenage Cancer Trust, thousands of teenagers are taking it, and coming out fighting."

The Prodigy have promised their new album will be an antidote to "DJ b******s".
The 'Out of Space' hitmakers will release their as-yet untitled sixth LP in the coming months and band member Liam Howlett has proclaimed the record is full of "pure violent energy".
He told Q magazine: "Dance music across all types has become formula-based.
"It's 'Here's your drum fill, here's your build.' All that DJ b******s and tutorials on YouTube s**t. This album is totally organic. Pure violent energy."
While the album doesn't have a title yet, Liam confirmed to the publication that songs on the record include 'Beyond The Death Ray', 'Nasty Nasty', 'Get Your Fight On', 'Wall Of Death' and 'Rottweiler'.
As previously announced, the band's collaboration with Sleaford Mods, 'Ibiza', will also feature on the record.
Earlier this year, Liam promised the album will be more "violent-sounding" than the group's previous offerings.
He said: "It's more violent-sounding; it feels wilder. It's not so much old-school. It's neither guitar-based not synth-based; it's kind of a mixture.
"It doesn't feel so radio-friendly to me; it feels like its got a lot of edge."
The album is expected to be released later this year.

AC/DC's Brian Johnson has given his support to a dementia charity.
The 'Back in Black' hitmaker - whose bandmate Malcolm Young was recently diagnosed with the disease - contacted the Sporting Memories Network in Yorkshire, North England, "out of the blue" to engage with their work.
The charity uses sporting tales to engage older people, in particular men, who suffer from depression and dementia by involving them in groups that improve their physical and mental wellbeing and Brian shared a number of tales about his upbringing in Gateshead, including a story about being unable to afford to attend Newcastle United soccer matches so walking miles with his father to watch Gateshead instead.
He recalled: "I never forget me Dad would take us to the place where Hughie Gallacher threw himself in front of a train. 'He was the greatest footballer that ever lived, son.'
"He was very reverential about that. Hughie played in the Newcastle side that won the title in 1927 and he was God-like to my father. But Gateshead was the place we went to because it was cheap. I got it for a ha'penny."
The small charity, which focuses on treatment of the disease, was thrilled to get the boost from Brian because some of its work is in jeopardy due to a lack of funding.
Director Tony Jameson-Allen told the Northern Echo newspaper: "It's an absolutely amazing boost for a charity run by two people to receive a phone call from the singer of a group that has sold more than 200 million records worldwide.
"The cost of dementia nationally is estimated at being £26bn a year and that figure will double by 2030, so I'm urging healthcare commissioners to give cost-effective Sporting Memories a real crack at making this work."

Jimmy Page "seriously intends" to be playing live in 2015.
The former Led Zeppelin guitarist has confirmed rumours he is going to perform next year and says he is looking forward to getting back on stage after spending months re-mastering his former band's albums for special edition releases.
Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine, he said: "I seriously intend to be seen playing, to have a document of what I'm doing. I've been doing a lot of stuff, archiving everything on my behalf, on Led Zeppelin's behalf. That needed to be done. I enjoy playing live. I like sending people surprises as well."
However, Page is not revealing any details of the set list he intends to play because he wants fans to be surprised at the concerts.
He explained: "I've got a game plan. I'm not going to tell anybody anything. I don't want to give people ideas, where they end up going later, 'Oh, I thought he was going to do this.' I prefer to just get people by the jugular - when I'm ready."
The 70-year-old musician has admitted in the past he'd like to reform Led Zeppelin again but singer Robert Plant doesn't want to do any more reunion shows, instead choosing to concentrate on his solo career.
Page is tired of answering questions about the possibility the rock group could play again, admitting: "It's painful, isn't it?"
Speaking about his public sparring with Plant, 66, about their former band, he added: "It's all right for sound bites. But I can't be bothered any more. I'm not interested in all that silliness. I don't think it's fun."

Eric Clapton has shared a musical tribute to Jack Bruce.
The 'Wonderful Tonight' hitmaker was left devastated when his friend and former Cream bandmate passed away on Saturday (25.10.14) and has now posted a touching musical piece on his Facebook page alongside a black and white photograph of the bassist.
The two-and-a-half minute-long instrumental ballad, entitled 'For Jack', features the 69-year-old musician strumming an acoustic guitar and harmonising in places.
The posting comes after Eric hailed Jack a "great inspiration".
He wrote on his Facebook page: "He was a great musician and composer, and a tremendous inspiration to me."
The guitarist's website also shared a lengthy history of the bassist's musical career.
And Cream's drummer Ginger Baker described Jack, 71, as a "fine man".
He said via his fan club: "I am very sad to learn of the loss of a fine man, Jack Bruce... My thoughts & wishes are with his family at this difficult time."
Jack passed away at his home in Suffolk, East Anglia, surrounded by his close friends and family.
His relatives announced the devastating news on his official Facebook page, by writing: "It is with great sadness that we, Jack's family, announce the passing of our beloved Jack: husband, father, grandad, and all-round legend.
"The world of music will be a poorer place without him, but he lives on in his music and forever in our hearts."