Glastonbury provides the pinnacle of the UK festival season every year for most people. Glastonbury has been running for years, and has changed a great deal in that time, becoming a much more focused, well-organized (and consequently expensive) event. Glastonbury 2010 is starting to shape up nicely.

U2 have already been confirmed as the first of the three headline acts. They’re not my cup of tea, and are only now gracing the festival with their presence a little after they peaked, yet they’re still a big name likely to draw a huge crowd.

At least temporarily. Lily Allen has had a strange last few months. She set a blog up against filesharing, then deleted it after some critical comments. She then allegedly claimed to be quitting music, with acting and record label ambitions coming to the fore, and then also quit the Internet and technology altogether!

It now seems most of the rumors and reports were correct. In an interview with Sara Cox on Radio 1, Allen confirmed she was taking a break from music but isn’t retiring for good.
Instead, she’ll spend a couple of years doing other stuff, including setting up a …read more

The UK music charts may mean less now than they used to but they’re still an indicator of what’s hot on the popular British music scene right now. This week’s Top 10 singles and Top 10 albums are listed below.

In the singles chart, Taio Cruz held on to the top spot he captured last week with Break Your Heart. Overall, the top ten didn’t see much change, so Jay-Z managed a second week with two tracks present. Dizzee Rascal saw Holiday drop out only to be replaced by his new track, Dirtee Cash. Aussie four-piece The Temper Trap jumped from …read more

The Mobo (Music Of Black Origin) Awards are a strange one because they only recognize music that has its roots in one culture. Unlike every other big awards ceremony in the UK which celebrate music in all its forms no matter where it derived from. Having said that, it could be argued that all music has black roots so the Mobo Awards actually don’t exclude anyone.

This year’s Mobo Awards were held at the SECC in Glasgow. The night saw some deserving winners but some sadly overlooked artists missing out, especially Dizzee Rascal and Tinchy Stryder, both of whom have had …read more

The UK music charts may mean less now than they used to but they’re still an indicator of what’s hot on the popular British music scene right now. This week’s Top 10 singles and Top 10 albums are listed below.

In the singles chart, Taio Cruz has held on to the top spot he nabbed last week to make it two weeks in a row at number one. Empire State Of Mind jumped to number three meaning Jay-Z now has two records in the top 10. Very little movement elsewhere means this is a dull week in the UK singles chart.
On …read more

The annual Q Awards celebrate the best in popular music with a focus on rock, indie, and alternative music. This year’s ceremony will be held on October 26 at Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London.

The Arctic Monkeys are leading this year’s nominations as they’re up for best live act, best single, best album, and best act in the world today. Oasis are up for two awards despite Noel having left the band and the rest failing to signal their intentions yet as to whether they will carry on as Oasis. So if Liam turns up to accept an award it could …read more

The UK music charts may mean less now than they used to but they’re still an indicator of what’s hot on the popular British music scene right now. This week’s Top 10 singles and Top 10 albums are listed below.

The singles chart sees Jay-Z straight in at number one, with the Sugababes having to settle for number two with Get Sexy. Dizzee Rascal drops from one to four, while Kings Of Leon are still in the Top 10 with Sex On Fire.
The albums chart sees Arctic Monkeys still at the top with Humbug, while Vera Lynn (wartime sweetheart) has …read more

Calvin Harris is the Scottish dance artist come record producer who doesn’t seem to be able to put a foot wrong. He burst onto the scene with Acceptable In The 80s and The Girls, joint hits which combined styles superbly.

After a couple of less-well received singles he took a break before coming back with Dance Wiv Me, a collaboration with Dizzee Rascal which he wrote and produced. It was a huge hit in the UK and once again mixed different genres; this time dance, grime, and R&B.
After another short break Calvin Harris is back, on his own again but no …read more

Here in the UK, the summer is at its peak, which as anyone who has ever visited Britain would know means lots of rain with the occasional sunny spell in between. But regardless of the weather outside, music has the ability to lift our spirits and at least make us feel like it’s fine outside.
Some of the blogs on the b5 Music Channel have put together their soundtracks for the summer, and here is mine. There are only five songs, but they are all very recent and all have one one thing in common: they cheered me up when I …read more

Rapper Dizzee Rascal recently managed to score his first number one hit with Dance Wiv Me, a collaboration with Scottish dance producer Calvin Harris. The song stayed at the top of the British charts for four weeks before being displaced by Kid Rock and the oh so derivative All Summer Long.
Unfortunately, because the song was rather more pop than his usual fayre, Dizzee had to put up with accusations that he had sold out. Yes it was different than his normal grime track but then it was also a bloody good song in its own right, and the mainstream appeal …read more