Arctic Monkeys to explore Hip Hop?

Arctic Monkeys may be getting further and further away from the hard-edged sound that made them so likable.

In an article in the Daily Mirror (“P. Diddy wants to turn the Arctic MonKeys into hip-hip artists”), drummer Matt Helders (above) — already a “good mate” with P. Diddy — remarked that doing a track together with the rap mogul would be considered.

“… it would be fun. … We speak to him at least three times a week. We are going to Miami in a few weeks and are going to be hanging out with him. He’s going to be teaching us the hip-hop ways.”

But what about your punky hard rock ways? Let’s get back to that!

UK Pop Rocker Daisy Dares You Releases Her Debut Single On Sunday

Daisy Coburn, the 16-year-old Essex, England native who performs under the name Daisy Dares You, will release her debut single, “Number One Enemy,” this Sunday, February 28^th in the UK. 

There was a brief profile of Daisy Coburn in the February issue of the UK music magazine Q. According to the profile, Daisy counts Alison Mosshart and Courtney Love among her influences. The profile also states that she is building her own studio and learning to produce. While her sound can be classified as pop rock, it definitely leans more toward the rock side. Like many rockers, Daisy wasn’t much interested in school. She told Q, “I’d go to music lessons, but the rest of the time I’d go to the library. I didn’t fit in.” 

Daisy’s “Number One Enemy” is actually a pretty good song and an impressive debut. The only bit that I didn’t like was the brief appearance of the UK rapper Chipmunk. It just seemed out of place. I think that the song would’ve been better and more cohesive without Chipmunk’s contribution. Also, there are very few good British rappers. Chipmunk is not one of them. That said, it will be interesting to watch Daisy’s career as it progresses. After all, she is only 16. But based on the quality of “Number One Enemy,” I think she’s got a bright future. 

To watch the video for “Number One Enemy” by Daisy Dares You featuring Chipmunk (the video has something of an Alice in Wonderland theme), click below:

 

To watch a video clip in which Daisy discusses her music, click below: 

 

For more on Daisy Dares You, go to:
http://www.daisydaresyou.com/
http://www.myspace.com/daisydaresyoumusic
http://www.youtube.com/user/daisydaresyou

Ellie Goulding Scores With “Starry Eyed” Single

Ellie Goulding, the winner of the BBC’s Sound of 2010 award, has seen her latest single, “Starry Eyed,” get a good bit of airplay on UK music radio stations like XFM London and BBC 6 Music. The single was released this past Monday, February 22^nd, in the UK. Ellie’s debut album, Lights, will get its UK release on Monday, March 1^st. 

To watch Ellie Goulding’s video for “Starry Eyed,” click below: 

 

To watch a brief interview with Ellie Goulding  that was done at the “Starry Eyed” video shoot, click below: 

 

To watch an interview that Ellie Goulding did with Absolute Radio at the recent BRIT Awards, click below: 

 

For more on Ellie Goulding, see:
http://elliegoulding.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/elliegoulding
http://www.youtube.com/user/elliegoulding

Paul Weller Praises Bruce Foxton And Britpop, Slams Grunge In Recent Interviews

Paul Weller has been making the rounds of the UK music press in the run-up to the April release of his new album, which is titled Wake Up The Nation. 

Weller discussed working on his new album with his former bandmate in The Jam, Bruce Foxton, during an interview with BBC 6 Music. About working with Foxton again, Weller said: 

“A bit of dialogue opened up between us two, just through various other personal things that have gone on in our lives, but it just sort of felt right.

“Because of the fact that we had started talking and were in touch and that, I thought it was an honor to have us getting together to make a bit of music, which always levels everyone out really. 

“It was a nice day, we had fun. We had a laugh and it was nice and easy, there wasn’t too much pressure on anyone I don’t think.” 

For more on this story, see the article from BBC 6 Music. 

In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Weller gave his opinions on grunge and Britpop. Not surprisingly, Weller slated grunge while praising Britpop. On grunge, Weller stated: 

“You’d had all that shoegazing bollocks and then the whole Nirvana thing, which I thought was fucking rubbish – it was just America catching up with punk rock 20 years too fucking late for me, you know.” 

Weller was far more charitable about Britpop, saying:

 “That was the first time ever that I’d felt any kinship with any musicians – even though they were all probably at least ten years younger than me.”

 For more on this subject, see Weller’s interview with the Irish Examiner and the article from XFM London.

 Weller received the Godlike Genius award at the Shockwaves NME Awards, which were held this past Wednesday night, February 24^th, at the O2 Brixton Academy in London. Weller gave a video interview to NME.com at the awards show in which he gave props to both Bombay Bicycle Club and Kasabian. You can watch the interview by clicking here.

Muse Wants Bono

Muse’s frontman, Matthew Bellamy (top left), wants to invite Bono onstage, during Muse’s Glastonbury headlining set, to sing a song. U2 headlines the festival the night before on June 25.

Bellamy tells NME:

“It should be great. We’re hoping to do something a bit unusual there. A little collaboration with someone, maybe get Bono to come and sing a song. I’m not sure if he’ll be hanging around for that but I’ll ask him anyway.”

Bellamy was just voted Hottest Male at the Shockwaves NME Awards. Needless to say, he got a kick out of that.

“That’s fucking brilliant,” he said, laughing. Bellamy beat out his own drummer, Dom Howard, for the award.

“He was ahead for ages and I thought he was gonna win, but then I won it. Fucking hell, there you go! Then again I might get worst dressed too.”

On a more serious note, Muse did win the award for Best British Band.

In other news, according to allmusic.com, Warner Music will no longer allow their bands’ music to appear on streaming websites like Last.fm and Grooveshark, a move that has earned the label a fair bit of resentment from one of its biggest acts.”As far as bands are concerned, you just want people to hear your music whichever way they can,” explained Muse bassist Chris Wolstenhome, who says his label is “clutching at straws” in order to turn a profit.

Well, Muse is the resistance. …

Is This The End For The Who?

The Who’s Pete Townshend has told Rolling Stone magazine that The Who might be done since his tinnitus has returned. The Who had a busy year planned but Townshend states that the band cannot continue if his tinnitus remains a problem. He told Rolling Stone, “If my hearing is going to be a problem, we’re not delaying shows. We’re finished. I can’t really see any way around the issue.” 

Townshend will test an in-ear monitor when The Who perform Quadrophenia on March 30^th at London’s Royal Albert Hall as part of the Teenage Cancer Trust concerts. If the experiment fails, that performance will likely close the curtain on The Who’s career. The Who formed in the early 1960s in London and have been working on and off since their so-called “farewell tour” in 1982. 

For more on this story, see the articles from RollingStone.com, XFM London, and NME.com. 

In other Who-related news, Roger Daltrey told BBC 6 Music that he’d like to work with Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page. Daltrey said: 

“I’d love to do something, I’d love to do an album with Jimmy Page. He needs a singer to drive him. I’m a great blues singer.

“I don’t sing the blues with The Who, but that’s what I used to be before Townshend started writing. I used to be a great blues singer.” 

For more on this story, see the article from BBC 6 Music. 

Last week, Daltrey also did an interview with Geoff Lloyd of the UK radio station Absolute Radio. During the interview, Daltrey discussed The Who’s performance at the Super Bowl, Depeche Mode’s show at Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer Trust, the difficulty of organizing the Teenage Cancer Trust shows, Noel Gallagher’s first post-Oasis shows for the Teenage Cancer Trust, finally getting the Arctic Monkeys to play the Teenage Cancer Trust shows, The Who’s upcoming performance of Quadrophenia for the Teenage Caner Trust, his disgust with Twitter, and other subjects. Curiously, Daltrey did not address Townshend’s recurring hearing problems that may force an end to the band. To watch the interview, click below: 

A Good Them Crooked Vultures Concert on Austin City Limits

Who says supergroups can never kick ass?!

Kasabian’s Tom Meighan: Internet Killed the Rock Star

Imagine “Internet Killed the Rock Star” being sung to the tune of the iconic Buggles song “Video Killed the Radio Star,” And there you have it, except there’s no MTV debuting it, and no one really caring to hear it. It’s as sad as singing karaoke alone, and it’s sung by Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan (above). According to Meighan, blogging sites and Twitter have sapped the spirit of rock n roll.

He told Bang Showbiz:

“There are so many rock stars writing these self pitying blogs and it’s not in the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll, it’s like ‘Wow, what rubbish’.”

It’s not like what it used to be like in rock ‘n’ roll. In the 60s and 70s you had the likes of David Bowie and Marc Bolan, and then in the 80s you even had shit acts that were rock stars. Then in the 90s you had the Britpop revival.

“I think – especially in the last three or four years – the internet’s taken a stranglehold and killed off the myth of the rock star now. You know when you used to buy the records and there was the myth behind them? There’s too much on blogs now and I think it’s killed it off. Nobody’s surprised by an interview anymore or anything. It’s quite tragic.”

Let’s let out a collective sigh for the death of the “myth of the rock star.” Now I don’t have to guess if some rock star really threw a tv set out a hotel window. He would probably tweet about it.

Yes, “tragic.” It’s truly awful.

The great irony of all this is that I became aware of Meighan’s opinions via Twitter.

Ripper Owens Sings John Lennon’s “Imagine”

I don’t know about this. That is exactly what I thought for most of this live clip. But towards the end, when Ripper stops trying to sing like John Lennon and more like himself, he, well … let’s it rip! The voice then becomes hair-raising and fantastic!

A remake of this song would be a good thing if Owens rearranged it and sang it like the great metal singer that he is.

Hear N’ Aid 2010, anyone?

“Beat It,” be gone!

Pixie Lott To Support Rihanna On Tour In The UK And Ireland In May

It was announced today that Powerline A.D. reader favorite Pixie Lott will be the support act on Rihanna’s tour of the UK and Ireland in May. The tour will be playing some of the UK’s largest indoor venues, including London’s O2 Arena and the Manchester Evening News Arena in Manchester. The full tour dates are as follows: 

7th May – LG Arena, Birmingham
8th May – Echo Arena, Liverpool
10th May – O2, London
11th May – O2, London
13th May – Sheffield Arena
14th May – Nottingham Arena
16th May – MEN Arena, Manchester
17th May – Newcastle Arena
19th May – Glasgow SECC
20th May – Glasgow SECC
22nd May – O2, Dublin
24th May – Odyssey, Belfast
26th May – O2, Dublin

 For further information and ticket details, see Pixie Lott’s official Web site. 

Pixie recently released the video for “Gravity,” which is the latest single from her debut album Turn It Up. To watch the “Gravity” video, click below: 

 

If you haven’t read it yet, be sure to check out Powerline A.D.’s Q&A with Pixie from April of last year. 

For more on Pixie Lott, see:
http://www.pixielott.com
http://www.myspace.com/pixiesongs
http://www.youtube.com/user/pixieofficial