Music News

Carl Barat's new band are "what The Libertines can't be".
The 'I Get Along' singer formed The Jackals earlier this year and though his most successful band are also working together again, he is enjoying having an outlet for his "anger and vitriol".
He said: "It's what The Libertines can't really be at the minute because that's harder to maintain, with the band's propensity to implode after three nights on the trot.
"I'm doing a different thing that I don't really do with The Libertines, putting a nice bit of anger and vitriol into the songs. That used to end up with me and Peter [Doherty] in a punch-up.
"The Jackals is an outlet for that. It's harder and heavier - I came from a heavy metal background, and I'm not saying it's a metal band by any stretch, but it's a harder, more shrieking guitar sounds, a few more Velvets and American influence. There's a Rage Against the Machine kind of vibe, without the rapping."
Carl - who is joined in The Jackals by Billy Tessio, Jay Bone and Adam Claxton - is about to take his new band on the road and is "really excited", though he knows they have a lot of expectation to live up to.
He told NME magazine: "We're gonna bomb around and have it in-your-face and dirty. The boys are really hungry for it and I'm really excited about the record and getting it out to people who give a f**k.
"They're ready for it, the boys are really getting their chops up. Everyone's excited. I guess there's pressure on them to be f***ing good, especially with The Libertines going on as well, and it being their first thing. We're all in it together, hoping for some glory days."

Pete Doherty is back in rehab.
The Libertines rocker - who has undergone numerous stints in clinics in the past to be treated for drug addiction - is receiving treatment in Thailand and doing "great".
Speaking from Thailand, his bandmate Carl Barat told NME magazine: "Peter's in a great place. We're in a great place staying together. I'm gonna keep popping out and seeing how it's going, show him a bit of support.
"He's grand. Rehab has taken about 10 years off him. I have to pinch myself. These seem like great times."
Pete has previously sought treatment in Thailand on two occasions.
The first stint came when he was released from prison after serving time for burgling Carl's flat but he left after just three days.
The second time, in 2012, he was thrown out after less than three weeks of treatment for heroin and crack cocaine addiction because he was deemed a "disruptive influence".
At the time, Alaistair Mordey of The Cabin in Chiang Mai said: "Pete was discharged today for therapeutic reasons. It is important to maintain the integrity of the treatment programme for the other clients to have a good chance of recovery. Pete understands this and therefore the reasons behind why we have asked him to leave.
"Although our parting with Pete is amicable, we are of course disappointed to see him leave. We hope some of the things he has learnt here will help him in the future and look forward to the day when Pete decides to consider recovery again."

James Franco is to release an album inspired by The Smiths.
The 'Pineapple Express' star has collaborated with Tim O'Keefe and former Smiths bassist Andy Rourke on the venture, which will see his band Daddy release a record and accompanying videos, based on poetry the actor has written, which in itself was inspired by the band.
Speaking of the project, entitled 'Let Me Get What I Want', James told Vice: "We took a 10-poem sequence called 'The Best of the Smiths: Side A and Side B'.
"I originally wrote this sequence as a way to use one medium (music) to influence another one (poetry). The Smiths' songs provided inspiration for the poems, lending tone and situation. Once I had the sequence, Tim and I took the material one step further and turned the poems inspired by songs, back into songs of their own."
If viewed in sequence, the videos which accompany the song tell a full story.
The videos were crafted by students at the actor's mother's school.
Tim explained: "We created the record at the same time James's mom ran a programme teaching kids how to make films [at Palo Alto high school].
"They developed scripts out of the same poems that we made songs out of, then shot film based on those scripts... While they were doing that project, we took all of the raw footage we had for each song and brought in editors to put together our film."

Lindsey Stirling had her "mind blown" by John Legend.
The classically-trained violinist - who shot to fame on 'America's Got Talent' - has admitted she couldn't quite believe it when she found out the musical superstar wanted to work with her on a new version of his hit 'All Of Me'.
She exclusively told BANG showbiz: "John is an incredible artist and such an amazing writer it was pretty mind-blowing when he reached out and asked to do a different version of 'All of Me'. That was pretty awesome."
As well as teaming up with John, the 28-year-old star has gone on to work with Jessie J on the brunette beauty's track 'Loud' from her latest album 'Sweet Talker', and Lindsey admits it was a surreal experience being able to collaborate with the star.
She added: "I love Jessie J, unfortunately she was in London and I was in LA so we couldn't actually meet but I worked with her producer.
"It was really cool because I've always loved Jessie J she's one of my favourite live performers so it was so cool to be able to record her album."
Lindsey is also set to go on tour with Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, and she is "so excited" about hitting the road with the 56-year-old star.
She said: "We haven't worked with him yet but we meet him right before we go on tour, I've been learning the music on my own but I'm so excited.
"His camp reached out and invited me to do it and it turned out it was perfect timing with my tour."

Lindsey Stirling continues the UK and Ireland Tour 2014 tour with Andrea at the following venues:

November 14th - O2 Arena, Dublin
November 18th - Echo Arena, Liverpool
November 20th - The 02, London
November 21st - LG Arena, Birmingham

Aretha Franklin is planning to sue the writer of a new unauthorised biography.
The 72-year-old singer is furious with David Ritz - who ghostwrote her 1999 autobiography 'From These Roots' - over his new tell-all tome 'Respect' and has branded the claims he makes in the book "lies, lies, lies".
She told the Detroit News newspaper: "There's a very trashy, trashy book on the street . . . It's lies, lies, lies and then more lies.
"I'm talking to a criminal attorney. If this isn't defamation, I don't know what would be."
Aretha is believed to be upset about claims made about her sexual promiscuity on the 1950s gospel circuit, but the author - who narrates the new book through interviews with friends, family and associates - claims the material was cut from her autobiography.
Fellow singer Etta James is quoted as saying: "I can understand Aretha not wanting to talk about that . . . Who wants to admit that you're praising the Lord at the 8 p.m. service and servicing some drop-dead gorgeous hunk of a singer an hour later? Aretha and I started out before we were teenagers . . . we wanted to experience it all. I wouldn't use the expression sexually active, I'd say sexually overactive."
While the 'Respect' hitmaker is upset by the book, writer David insists it is meant as a tribute.
He told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: "I spent 25 years researching 'Respect.' I see my book as an homage to Aretha's artistic genius and an empathetic portrait of a woman who has survived and thrived in the complex culture of show business."

David Guetta's new album reflects his "difficult" personal life.
The 47-year-old DJ split from wife Cathy Guetta earlier this year after 22 years of marriage and he admits the subsequent music he has made for new record 'Listen' is much more "personal" and less about "love and sexiness".
He said: "I spent way, way more time on songwriting. It's probably my most personal album. Until today I was doing lots of songs about happiness and love and sexiness and just having a party - it was basically my life, you know?
"And lately, my personal life has been a little more difficult, so it reflects also on the album, on the things that we're talking about, on the type of chords. I've never done this, because even for me it was all about making the people dance."
Despite the new direction in his sound, the 'Titanium' hitmaker insists he won't be turning his back on DJing or performing with a live band instead.
He told Rolling Stone magazine: This album would be amazing with, like, a live band, but that's not really what I want to do. I know how to DJ and I think many, many people are better than me when it comes to performing with a band, so I don't want to go in competition with amazing rock bands that can do this better than me.
"Why do something average when I can be really good at what I'm doing? I don't want to say, 'Oh, I want to be an artist, and I don't want to be a DJ anymore.'
" I spent my life working for DJs to be respected as much as artists, so now that I'm successful, I'm not gonna say, 'Oh, now that I'm big, I'm just gonna stop being DJ.' "

Noel Gallagher will support Russell Brand's revolution if he dubs him "the Duke of Manchester".
The 47-year-old former Oasis rocker has shown his support for the comedian-turned-anarchist but only if he can gain a royal title from Russell's proposed regime.
Recalling a conversation he'd had with the 39-year-old funnyman, Noel said: "I love Russell but he doesn't half talk out his arse sometimes ... He does talk a lot of s**t.
"I couldn't see him overthrowing a table full of drinks. I was out with him the other night and he said it with a straight face: 'There is going to be a revolution.'
"I'm like, 'F**king hell, give us a shout mate when you're going down the mall with your pitchforks and that, I'll come and serenade you in on my lute before we go and eat the Queen.'
"He said, 'Come on man, back us'. I said, 'Tell you what I'll do, you f***ing make me the Duke of Manchester, I'm in'. Scarily enough he does mean it, that's the funny thing."
However, the Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds frontman wasn't laughing when it came to discussing the state of the music industry, as he hit out at fans who are unwilling to spend money on an album.
He told Noisey: "It fascinates me and it infuriates me, that people are more willing to sit in a coffee shop and spend a tenner on two coffees and talk about the weather to their friends and that coffee will last 45 minutes. Yet they will psychically get angry at you for asking them to buy an album for a tenner which will last a lifetime and might even tell you something about yourself and might even change your life or how you dress or your outlook on everything."

Nick Mason has hinted there could be more Pink Floyd releases in the future.
The band have just released their first album of new songs for 20 years, 'The Endless River', and although the drummer is adamant there will be no more new tracks he says there could be re-issues of their classic LPs with unheard bonus material.
Speaking to Billboard, he said: "There's always a sort of discussion going on about what we could do. And it tends to be one of those things that I think is probably more driven by the record company than us. But we're always open to their ideas.
"I know both Roger (Waters) and David (Gilmour) have at times mentioned they'd like to have a remix of Animals, which technically is perhaps one of our less well-recorded records. I think we'd just probably clean up some of the tapes and just sort of review it and see whether it can be enhanced. And if one was doing that, one might have a look at whether there's anything else to be done on it. But no one's got that down on their work schedule at the moment."
Mason worked with David Gilmour on 'The Endless River', completing tracks that were originally recorded for 'The Division Bell' record with late keyboard player Richard Wright.
The duo intend to release some videos to support the new LP, including footage of the original recording sessions from 1993.
Mason, 70, revealed: "We had the equivalent of GoPro cameras in the studio quite a lot for the actual recording sessions. So we've got some rather nice, black-and-white, one-position camera stuff of us actually playing this [music]. It's proof positive that we were actually all in the same room together at the same time."

Usher is giving away his new track with boxes of cereal.
Customers who purchase a box of Honey Nut Cheerios from Walmart stores in North America will find a download code for his song 'Clueless' at the bottom of the box
The R&B singer made an agreement with the retailer to distribute his track in the unique way ahead of the release of his album 'UR' and the promotion will begin next Tuesday (18.10.14).
Usher recently appeared in a Cheerios advert in which he danced with the cereal company's mascot Buzz The Bee to his song 'She Came To Give It To You'.
'The Voice' coach - who released his last album, 'Looking 4 Myself', in 2012 - took his time with his new collection of songs and refused to be rushed by anyone.
Among the songs on the tracklist will be a duet between Usher and Drake, and it is one of his favourite songs on the LP.
He recently said: "Drake's extremely talented, man.
"He's nice. Money really knows what he's doing. He really understands how to analyse a beat and then recognise a cadence. Because hip hop is that way; it's not just words and a rhythm.
"You gotta understand the cadence of what the song is saying, so that when you're on it, you know how to get it."
A collaboration between Usher and Nicki Minaj, entitled 'She Came To Give It To You', will also feature.