As someone who covers the U.K. music charts every Sunday, I’m intrigued to hear that the midweek placings are to be revealed to the public for the first time from later this year. They’ve always been available to the music industry, but now the public will get to hear them too.

There’s no doubt the music charts mean less now than they used to. The way we consume and listen to music has changed, with file-sharing and streaming services muddying the waters considerably. But the charts are still the best indication of what’s popular.

The nominations for the NME Awards were announced earlier this week (Digital Spy has them in full). Oasis have been nominated in four categories, and the Gallagher brothers are likely to turn up to the ceremony, possibly meeting each other for the first time since the band split. I spy trouble.

Oasis split in August, when Noel and Liam’s relationship finally boiled over after years of threatening to do so. Noel has since moved back to Manchester to write a solo album, with Liam setting up a new band out of the remnants of Oasis.
Oasis may be no more, but the …read more

Since Oasis split a few months ago, both Gallagher brothers have spelled out their plans for the future. After a short break, Noel is keen to release a solo album, finally being able to do exactly what he wants without band members stifling him. And Liam wants to be in another band, a band that probably won’t be too far removed from Oasis.
But what of the Gallagher brothers’ relationship? Do they hate each other now, even more than they did when they were in the band together?

Apparently not, although there seems to be little friendship there. Instead, it’s a relationship …read more

The Cranberries were one of my favorite bands for a few years during the 1990s. Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? was released in 1993, just as I hit 16, an important age when musical influences were starting to hit me big. And I also liked No Need To Argue, released a year later.

But then The Cranberries kind of fell off my musical radar and I assume I moved on to newer bands. They finally split in 2003 but it had been a few years since they’d truly been successful by then. But now, they’re back, preparing …read more

The Libertines were huge for a few years, spearheading the new Indie music movement and gaining millions of fans from their silky songwriting skills and lively live outings. And then it all came to a bitter end in 2004 when Pete Doherty was thrown out of the band and Carl Barat and the others decided to call it a day.

Ever since then there have been numerous calls for The Libertines to reform, both from within and outside of the band. And it finally looks like it’s about to happen, with Pete Doherty talking to NME about his hopes for a …read more

You can tell when all is not well with Oasis because I write about them a hell of a lot more than usual. I like to call this ‘Amy Winehouse syndrome’, where the more messed up an artist is the more column inches they warrant. Which is a sad state of affairs really but people would rather read about things going wrong than them going right these days, and who am I to deny people what they want? No one, exactly.

In the last few months we’ve seen Oasis have a big bust-up on tour, with Noel and Liam Gallagher seeming …read more

Maximo Park have been around for a few years now, and have released three studio albums during that time. The band are currently on a UK tour to support their new album, Quicken The Heart, and I went to see them live at the Manchester Academy on May 23.

I’ve seen Maximo Park play live on three different occasions, once after they’ve just released each album. It’s very interesting, to me at least, to chart their progress in that time. A lot has changed in the space of four years.

The first was in Leeds on an NME tour after A Certain …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 …read more

Art Brut are one of those bands that remain an obscure secret to many people. When I told friends I was going to the band’s gig at Manchester Academy 3 tonight (April 27) I was mostly met with shrugs of the shoulders and the arching of eyebrows.
Once you hear of Art Brut and listen to a few of their tunes, they then become one of those bands you either love or hate – there’s no middle-ground whatsoever. Luckily, for someone who paid to go and see them play live, I’m in the former camp.

I first heard of Art Brut way …read more

Lily Allen has never been backwards at coming forwards. A certain amount of it is definitely for show, with her sometimes controversial comments clearly getting her press coverage she otherwise wouldn’t get. But most of it is what she actually believes, and actually has a ring of truth about it.
Allen has recently invoked controversy and a certain amount of vitriol aimed in her direction due to comments she recently made concerning drugs and people who use drugs.
In an interview with The Word magazine, she said:
“The only [newspaper] story is that drugs are bad and they will kill you – I …read more