Music News

FKA Twigs doesn't care if people don't like her music.
The 'Two Weeks' hitmaker - whose real name is Tahliah Debrett Barnett - claims she can handle being criticised for her image or her music on social media but refuses to accept being abused because of the colour of her skin.
The 26-year-old beauty - who is of English, Spanish and Jamaican descent - admitted: "Obviously I know if you're putting yourself out there saying, 'Hey! Listen to my music!', with pictures of yourself in the magazines, then people are going to judge you.
"'I hate her music. I hate her hair. I hate her production. I hate her videos'. Fine: don't care. That's the great thing about art, it's not for everyone. But when it comes to racism, really? In this day and age? Pick that?"
Tahlia also confessed that despite having bagged herself a superstar boyfriend in 'Twilight' actor Robert Pattison, she's wary of becoming complacent.
She explained to the Observer newspaper: "Oh, I'm nothing. I'm nothing right now. I think it's easy to sit in this trendy café, in a trendy little area of New York, and say, 'Ooh, I'm FKA Twigs'. But outside of these four blocks, does anybody really give a s**t? Probably not."
The 'Water Me' singer added: "I'm appealing to people who want something different. But the world, on the whole, doesn't really embrace different things. Not on the whole."

Bob Geldof enlisted Carla Bruni to write a French version of Band Aid 30.
The 63-year-old singer has revealed he has been involved in the translation of the classic Christmas song 'Do They Know It's Christmas?', which raises money to help fight Ebola in west Africa, to both German and French, and even got some help from the wife of the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The former Boomtown Rats frontman said: "In the past Band Aid was essentially Anglo-American vocals, but we've just finished recording Band Aid Germany featuring their stars and I'm going to France to record Band Aid there.
"Carla Bruni has rewritten their lyrics and my missus [Jeanne Marine], who's French, says they're brilliant. Then the Norwegians called up, and everybody's snowballing into recording their own version of the song."
The British version of the tune features the vocal talents of One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Jessie Ware and U2's Bono among other stars, and Bob believes there could be several solo versions of the tune released.
He told HELLO! magazine: "A lot of the artists sang the whole track so they could get into their line. So bnow we can put out some of these different versions - solos, duets, an all-girl or all-boy mix.
"I genuinely think this is an absolutely brilliant recording, and people all around the world are talking about it now, which makes it political."

Taylor Swift works out to improve her "endurance" on stage.
The svelte blonde beauty has admitted to disliking her punishing spin classes at the gym but explained that they have helped her deal with her crazy dance routines.
The 'Shake It Off' singer said: "I work out. I do spin classes, which are hard and I don't like doing them but I like how I feel afterwards. The reason I work out is because I work out is because I want to have endurance and I want to be able to hop on stage and sing a song and dance and not be winded."
When she isn't working or in the gym, Taylor, 24, loves indulging in some retail therapy or decorating her home.
When asked what she gets up to in her spare time, she said: "I enjoy shopping of course - I am female! And I've enjoyed furnishing my new place and working through the rooms to give each an individual feel. Whichever country I am in, I will try and see some of the city I am staying in and try and shop, though the busier I am, the more difficult this gets."
Taylor also shared how her retro-inspired album '1989' has changed the way she approaches getting ready.
She told Britain's HELLO! magazine: "I think there was a freedom to the clothes then and I see how that era had inspired modern fashion trends. So I'm wearing shorter skirts and things I would never have worn three years ago."

Boy George is "devastated" Culture Club have postponed their tour.
The 'Karma Chameleon' group axed a string of comeback shows in both the US and UK after the singer was diagnosed with a throat problem that would have meant irreparable damage if he had continued to sing, and though he didn't want to take the "risk", George admits he is still upset to have had to put the gigs on hold.
He said: "I've got a polyp on my vocal chords. The doctor tells me singing would cause irreparable damage, and that's not a risk I am prepared to take.
"He put a camera down my throat, and it transpired that I have an enlarged polyp which has haemorrhaged.
"So everything is on hold until it gets better. I don't know how long that will take, and to say I am devastated barely touches how I feel."
The 'Do You Really Want to Hurt Me' singer had been experiencing problems with his throat for some time but initially dismissed the pain as due to tiredness.
He admitted to the Daily Mail newspaper: "I'd been having trouble with my voice for some months, but in true British fashion I ignored it, thinking the problem might just be tiredness, hoping it would go away."

Ray and Dave Davies have been recording together.
The Kinks disbanded in 1996 partly due to creative tension between the pair, and though guitarist Dave has said he is concerned a reunion show would only focus on his singer brother, Ray "doesn't understand" his worries.
He said: "I don't understand what that's about. If we do a Kinks show, we're the Kinks. Ray stands on the right of the stage and Dave stands on the left.
"Look, my brother is very intelligent. He's a good writer. We actually put down a few demos last Christmas. He came to see me, and he played me a couple of new songs."
Asked if there is any chance of a tour, the 'Waterloo Sunset' singer admitted it might be difficult because he is working with the group's former drummer Mick Avory, who also doesn't get along with Ray.
Asked if there will be a tour, he told Rolling Stone magazine: "I can't think that far forward. Over the years, I've been doing a few new tracks with Mick, our original drummer. You know about the war between Dave and Mick.
"I don't work for the United Nations. I'm just a musician. I had a drink with Mick last week, and I asked, 'What happened to you guys?'
"They shared a house in the 1960s. I think some things went on there that created a rivalry."

Ellie Goulding and John Newman will join Taylor Swift at Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park 2015. The 'Shake It Off' hitmaker announced her The 1989 World Tour would be stopping at the iconic London venue earlier this month and it's no...

Take That are to perform at the BBC Music Awards. The band recently reformed as a trio - made up of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen - following the departure of Jason Orange, and they've now been confirmed to perform at the inaugural awards c...

Angus Young has grown closer to his brother Malcolm since he was diagnosed with dementia.
The 61-year-old rocker was forced to leave their group AC/DC earlier this year after being gripped by the condition - which causes memory loss and confusion - but his younger sibling and bandmate was "surprised" at how much he wanted to plan for the 'Back in Black' star before he was unable to continue.
Angus, 59, said: "His symptoms started around the 'Black Ice Tour' [during 2008-2010] but he said he wanted to continue. I kept asking him if he wanted to go on and he did.
"Then when he'd seen a few different people and was diagnosed, he said he would go on with the band for as long as he could play. He did very well."
Did it make us closer? Yes for sure. Even when he was ill. When touring he didn't have great days. So I'd sit with him and we'd talk.
"He'd surprise me, by talking about things such as how we should do some open-air shows. But then he's always been our leader and it was just good to have that feedback."
Though Malcolm - who is now in a full-time nursing home in Sydney, Australia - gave his blessing for the band to continue and has been replaced on rhythm guitar by his nephew Stevie Young, the group found it "hard" recording new album 'Rock or Bust' without him.
Guitarist Angus told The Sun newspaper: "We missed Malcolm from the very start. Especially when we've got tough decisions to make.
"But I'm pleased he got to hear the album. One of my other nephews in Australia took the record in for him to hear. And he loved it.
"My nephew said Malcolm was happy and had a big smile on his face. That was very moving to hear."

will.i.am thinks current music sounds too dated.
The Black Eyed Peas star is worried that records hitting the charts sound too much like the material that was being released over 10 years ago.
He said: "Everything around music right now is so 2000s, like 2003."
And the 'I Gotta Feeling' hitmaker was unimpressed by the performances at the recent American Music Awards (AMAs), which included Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lopez, Jessie J and his own bandmate Fergie.
However, he thinks it is difficult for such televised shows to engage with audiences nowadays because gadgets such as smart phones and tablets are more suited to a short attention span.
He told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column: "Nothing was like, 'Oh my!'.
"It's like, I don't know how you compete with 'refresh. "Everyone is 'refreshing' their phones, and songs just always seem to be in the background. You're competing with my thumb flipping channels."
The 39-year-old producer recently admitted he is planning to "energise" and has no desire to retire.
Quizzed on whether he was planning to leave the music industry behind, he said: "You know what rhymes with retire? Expire. We ain't expiring, we ain't retiring. If it rhymes with something bad you don't want it ... [I'll just] energise the batteries. Lithium. Lithium pop."