Jaw-dropping Led Zeppelin news to start the new year with – Jimmy Page’s manager has confirmed that the remaining members of the band are planning to reform. But they’re going to replace Robert Plantand they’re going to take this new act on tour and into the studio to record a new album.
From the report – which I just read on NME – Peter Mensch (a far more reliable source than The Sun) told BBC 6Music that Page and Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones enjoy working together, and that John Bonham’s son Jason seems to be more than happy to sign on as drummer.
Back in the summer of 2008, Ida Maria told us she preferred to see us naked. After storming the charts with that tune, she’s re-releasing her debut single, Oh My God, another infectious jittery single.
"Oh My God," which is a solo track in the clip but appears in duet form on her MySpace-posted demo, soars because it’s simultaneously nervy and nervous, and the jittery video is almost as fist-clenching as the jumpy guitars. More like this, please!
Well…2008 is over, and almost a week later, here I am with my first post of the year.
I find this time of year is like a musical wasteland. You’ve got the remnants of 2008’s single releases still littering up the charts, and the promise of some new music over the coming weeks. Soon, the BBC will release their predictions for the hottest acts of the year in their Sound of 2009 poll. That’ll take some of the guesswork out of who to watch this year.
As for me, what have I been listening to over Christmas? Well, a very kind publicist sent me The Black Keys’ Attack And Release album, which has been on constant rotation for me lately. I really must sit down and do a proper review of it for you, because it’s excellent. Not the most immediate album in the world, but persevere with it and you’ll be rewarded.
The Darkness are said to be on the verge of a reunion after a U.S. entrepreneur reportedly offered the group “a small fortune” to tour.
The group found fame with their hit single I Believe In A Thing Called Love in 2003 – but were forced to split three years later when frontman Justin Hawkins was admitted into rehab to battle a drug addiction.
This week it has been reported that Dubai Desert Rocks festival has offered the group a massive amount of money in a bid to tempt the rockers into making a new LP and touring again.
Orange unsignedAct finalists the Scarlet Harlots have been tipped for greatness in the new year by The Wombats.
The members of The Wombats were impressed when they mentored the Scarlet Harlots for the Channel 4 talent show. Wombats singer, Murf told them:
I thought you were going to be good before you even picked up an instrument.
Now, you all know that I’ve been a big fan of The Wombats over the last year, so this endorsement by the band interested me. I decided to check out the Scarlet Harlots. They’ve got their own profile on the Orange unsignedAct homepage, and of course the ubiquitous MySpace presence, although there’s more music on the MySpace page, including the essential This Is How We Do It.
Interesting news from the Velvet Revolver camp this morning in that they’ve parted ways with RCA Records. In a seemingly amicable split, the band’s manager Carl Stubner has said:
The band is thankful that RCA understood the task at hand and has allowed the band to continue on their own.
Apparently the move was precipitated by a need to focus on replacing Scott Weiland, who left the band in a not-so amicable split back in April. In the intervening time, the band hasn’t really be that hard at work finding a replacement. Slash has been off working on a solo record, and Duff McKagan has been out on tour with his other band, Loaded.
Snow Patrol are swiftly following up on the success of Take Back The City with a new single, Crack The Shutters.
This will be the second single from their amazing new album, A Hundred Million Suns. I’ve been gradually becoming more fond of Snow Patrol recently, and Crack The Shutters kind of cements my admiration for the band. The song, as usual for this band, is a rich blanket of sound, unmistakeably Snow Patrol.
The follow-up single to Kings Of Leon’s massive hit Sex On Fire will be Use Somebody.
There’s an interesting discussion about this single on Stereogum, with many people calling it a sellout and a disaster for the band.
It’s true, this is a huge stadium-rock style anthem, a complete contrast to the smouldering, intimate vibe on Sex On Fire. And only Caleb Followil’s distinctive yelp puts the Kings Of Leon signature on this single.
