The Ting Tings seemed to appear from nowhere at the beginning of last year. Although both members, Jules De Martino and Katie White, had been in other groups for years, The Ting Tings was the first to become really big. They quickly built a sizable fan base thanks to their cross genre appeal, with both clubbers and Indie fans falling for their addictive songs.

Their debut album, We Started Nothing, is astoundingly good, full of catchy tunes perfect for playing on a hot summer’s day. It includes the five singles released which charted, including That’s Not My Name which reached number one in the British singles chart. And now, they’re preparing to record their as-yet-untitled second album.

The Manchester duo recently told BBC Newsbeat of their plans, which see the group going to Germany to try out new material and set the tone for the new record.

Read more

It seems like ages has passed since Mika took the world by storm with his debut album Life In Cartoon Motion, and to be fair it has been two years since it was released. 2007 was a huge year for Mika, with success on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond, but then it all came to an abrupt end when the last single from the album, the double A-side of Relax, Take It Easy/Lollipop, was released in December of that year.

Since then, Mika has been very quiet. But now he’s back, and preparing to release his as-yet-untitled second album. He released an EP this week called Songs For Sorrow which is meant to act as a bridge between the two albums, with the full LP due out in September.

Unlike some artists who release albums almost willy-nilly with little or no connection between them, Mika has stated that his second album is going to be a direct follow up to the first. He recently spoke to BBC Newsbeat about the nature of his new album, and how if the first album was him dealing with his childhood, this one deals with his teenage years.

Read more

The SingStar games are a series of karaoke-inspired releases for the PS2 and PS3. They feature the music videos for various songs, usually fitting a certain genre such as Rock or R’n'B, with the words displayed on screen. A rough approximation of the notes is also shown, and you can score points by hitting them as they appear.

There has been over a dozen installments of the game so far, two of which have focused entirely on one particular group. Now, SingStar: Queen and SingStar: Abba are being joined by SingStar: Take That. Yes, Britain’s most popular and probably best ever boyband are getting their own video game.

SingStar: Take That is set to feature songs covering the full range of Take That’s career, including Shine, Back For Good, Never Forget, and Could It Be Magic. This should please both the old-school fans who liked the gay, leather chaps and fat Gary Barlow look, and the new fans who are more fond of the middle-aged, sharp-suited and slim Gary Barlow version.

Read more

Today (June 4) sees Oasis play the first of three huge concerts at Heaton Park in Manchester. It’s a bit of a homecoming for the band as the Gallagher brothers are originally from Burnage, just up the road from the venue.

The concerts, which are today, Saturday (June 6) and Sunday (June 7) are all sold-out, with 70,000 fans attending each night. The gigs have been planned for the last six months, with transport links, park and ride schemes, and road closures all organized in advance.

Unfortunately, something has already gone wrong, with The Enemy, one of the two main supports along with Kasabian, pulling out of tonight’s show. The official reason is that lead singer Tom Clarke has contracted serious food poisoning but you do have to wonder if the recent feud between the two bands has anything to do with it.

Tom Clarke gave an interview about the tour, on which The Enemy are scheduled to provide support for each concert, and one of his comments upset the usually-so-calm and mild-mannered Liam Gallagher. He then called Clarke a “little f**ker” in a Twitter rant, forcing Clarke to apologize for any offense caused.

Read more

I’m not a fan of Paul McCartney as he is today: old, past it, purveyor of crap songs. But that doesn’t matter because he’s a Beatle and always will be. Which means he’s a living legend who can pretty much get anything he wants - even one-legged former models.

Surely his time in The Beatles, arguably the best pop group that has ever been, is why he’s still popular. I refuse to believe it’s because everyone loves that God awful Frog Chorus song or the absolute dirge that is Mull Of Kintyre. Instead, we remember McCartney for what he used to be and what he’s done in the past, even though he’s now way past 64.

It’s this remembrance of his past which has surely helped McCartney nab the honor of being the first artist to perform at Citi Field, the new home of The New York Mets baseball team. Who can forget that The Beatles were the first band to play at the Mets’ old home of Shea Stadium. That was in 1965 and constituted the first time a rock concert had ever been held at a sports stadium.

Read more

When The Streets (AKA Mike Skinner and his mates) first came to my attention with their first album, Original Pirate Material, in 2002, I found them refreshing, something new and original, and uniquely British. That album was a real breath of fresh air, livening up the radio and proving there is more to the British music scene than cheesy Pop and populist Indie.

Four albums later and The Streets are preparing to release their fifth studio album. The long player is as-yet-untitled but Mike Skinner today revealed it will be getting released in February 2010. And I’m not too sure how I feel about the prospect at the moment.

Read more

Booking tickets for an Amy Winehouse gig is becoming increasingly like playing the lottery. You pay your money, get your little slip of paper, and then anxiously wait to see the outcome. Unfortunately these days you’ll likely to be bitterly disappointed.

There’s a very real chance Winehouse will either pull the gig or not turn up. And even if she does manage to find her way to the venue she could then give a performance which leaves you and the rest of the crowd mystified and miffed.

Winehouse has had some time away from the spotlight recently, having a break from gigging to spend some time in her new adopted home of St. Lucia. But she’s due to start touring again very soon and would seem to need rehearsal time.

Read more

It still amazes me that there are some people in the world who haven’t heard of Muse. Even worse, there are some who have heard of them but rather than react with joy that they’ve discovered a truly great band simply don’t get them or, shock horror, don’t like them. I suppose there is no accounting for taste.

Muse are, for me, the greatest British band around right now. Each album is a carefully constructed opus magnum which cuts across genres and leaves everyone who listens ecstatic at the music they’ve just heard.

Muse released their last studio album, Black Holes and Revelations, back in 2006, and have been extensively touring ever since. But they’ve also spent the last year beavering away on the follow-up.

Read more

Gorillaz may only be a cartoon band at heart but they were absolutely huge on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world a years ago. Then Damon Albarn and his fellow collaborators decided to call it day and go off and do other stuff.

This means we haven’t had a new Gorillaz album since Demon Days was released way back in 2005. But fans of the animated satirical anti-band won’t have to wait much longer for new material, with the third album due for release in 2010.

The source of this unofficial announcement is Albarn’s manager Chris Morrison, who revealed that his client already has around two album’s worth of material written but is rather busy at the moment with other commitments to fully pledge himself to recording the new album.

Read more

Queen were one of the greatest rock bands ever. Not just in the UK but in the whole wide world. With Freddie Mercury as their front man, Queen had very few bands that could beat them for style, songwriting, and sheer spectacle.

Unfortunately, Freddie Mercury died in 1991 at the tender age of just 45 after a protracted battle with AIDS. The band then naturally disbanded until 2004 when Brian May and Roger Taylor teamed up with Paul Rodgers, formerly of Free and Bad Company.

Queen + Paul Rodgers, as they chose to be called, have toured extensively and even released a studio album in 2008. However, the collaboration was only mildly successful and it’s clear to most people that this new iteration of a classic band were relying on the old material too heavily.

Which is why I’m neither surprised or that bothered to hear that Queen and Paul Rodgers have ended their extended collaboration.

Read more