Stone Roses to release third album?

Stone Roses to Release Third Album?

Reports have emerged suggesting that The Stone Roses are close to releasing a long-awaited third album.

In 2011 the Manchester band reformed for a series of shows across the world, most famously at Heaton Park in Manchester. In late 2015 the group announced that they are to headline T in The Park 2016 as well as some dates at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

These reports of a third album have been given some substance. The Mirror reports that "Ian Brown and the lads have been busy getting their next album ready. It will be album number three. It’s a long time coming, but they feel the time is right now. They’ve been back in the studio. Everyone is very excited about it."

Friend of the band Noel Gallagher also stated that "the roses are blooming" which sent fans and the media into frenzies. Nothing is set in stone yet however. More on this as it happens. 

The NME 1952 - 2015

The NME 1952-2015

As you know, the NME (New Musical Express) recently decided that their magazine should be available for free. With sales plummeting, general interest in the magazine declining and the usual suspects on the cover (I'm looking at you Alex Turner) a decision was made. It has given the magazine a chance to start afresh. Away from the days of endlessly assuring that Noel Gallagher must feature in every issue.

One good thing about it however which made it a desirable publication was the new bands section. Christened as the 'Radar' section, they did tip bands like Arctic Monkeys, The Vaccines, Oasis, Wolf Alice, Florence and The Yeah Yeah Yeah's for success early on in their careers and thus they haven't strayed too far from the magazines pages. However, when they got it wrong, they got it really wrong. Remember The Enemy? and The Pigeon Detectives? Even further back with the likes of Embrace, Shed 7 and Starsailor. When these bands failed to make the grade, the NME would shove them to the side with some crude remarks and a 5/10 album review (which in all honestly they probably deserved). 

Flicking through this new free NME, you just get a sinking feeling that the love of music has left the publication. And low and behold the first two pages of the first free NME are a tour poster advertising one of those bands they tipped for greatness The Libertines. A good start then. Looking at the contents nothing really grabs my attention, sure, the 'Radar' section is there but you're in for a nasty surprise when you reach it. Elsewhere we have a feature about The Big Bang Theory, an interview with Rihanna and a feature about Scottish trio Chvrches. A mixed bag then. They also have a feature entitled 'Things We Like' a mish mash of items that the people in the NME office apparently like. I doubt it. Why would you make a big deal of a magazine going free stating that "its packed full of things you want to read and - significantly - free" and then say oh yeah we really like these £90 trainers and we think you should go and buy them. They're missing the point a bit there. 

That nasty surprise about the 'Radar' section is that the NME of old would give new bands a chance to be heard. I remember they did a bumper edition of 'Radar' at the beginning of 2014 with big pieces on bands like Iceage and Eagulls. Now however 'Radar' is not about new bands its about "Best New Tracks, And when to drop them" on the title alone you know its not going to worth reading. Not a new band in sight. Eagles of Death Metal, Hurts and Carly Rae Jepsen are all in there with descriptions like "best for hip-shaking". It goes against what 'Radar' was all about. 

Who knows how long the NME will last now, twenty years down the line they might still be going strong and shifting lots of copies. There might be a journalism revolution by then and the NME could be completely re-branded again. Time will tell.

Rock Werchter Review: Part 3

Rock Werchter Review (Saturday)

Temperatures had now soared to a staggering 36 degrees Celsius in Werchter and as we move closer to one o'clock on Saturday, American rock band FIDLAR (Fuck It Dog, Life's a Risk) are set to take the stage. Front-man Zach Carper is appropriately dressed for the weather, he's sporting a blue and white flowery shirt and shorts. He introduces the band. "we're FIDLAR, F, I, D, L, A R" as they dive in to their set with opener 'Stoked and Broke'. Fidlar's song's rarely exceed three and a half minutes, which lead to a breezy and rapid set full of quick and speedy riffs and "we don't care" style vocals. The set was over just as it began, the band blasted through songs from their self titled debut album, new songs including 'Drone' and they even treated the audience to a cover of Weezer's 'Sweater Song'. Fidlar are appearing at various other festivals this year and they will no doubt leave the audience stunned with their brand of punk. 

Up next on the main stage were British duo Royal Blood who just one year ago were declared as the "saviours of rock and roll" read in to that what you will, but they lived up to their hype by putting a red-hot set. The pair had actually played the festival on the Thursday and returned to give the Saturday crowd a dose of old-school rock and roll which both them and Royal Blood seemed to really enjoy. Opening with 'Come On Over' the duo set about breaking a few ear-drums. The only slightly disappointing element of their set was the speed at which they played some of their songs. 'Come On Over' was played at a slower tempo which meant that the song lost a bit of punch. Also front-man and bass player Mike Kerr has grown in confidence since the band first stared as he introduces the band with an American accent whilst he strutted around the stage in aviator sunglasses clearly fond of himself.  'Little Monster' saves his apparent arrogance as it completely blows away everything leaving you in awe of the riffs. Closer 'Out Of The Black' is bone-shaking ending to a set which is perhaps growing a little bit old and stale. Take nothing away from the performance because Royal Blood are a superb live band, but we want the duo to release some new material and fast. 

For all the hype surrounding The War On Drugs at the minute, it would be interesting to see if he lived up to it. The atmospheric composer bathed in the late afternoon sun did absolutely nothing to suggest that this hype is true. His performance was as dull as they come, and musically well, you can make all the little sounds come to life in a recording studio, but on a big festival stage they are rendered completely irrelevant and his performance lacked everything, even one his famous songs 'Red Eyes' was a disappointment. He drew in a big crowd as the festival advertised him one not to miss but they were left confused by this statement. If his performance was a colour it would have been beige. 

Bringing round the main stage crowd from a dreary performance would be a tough task for many bands and artists. But when you have Noel Gallagher on the bill you can breathe a sigh of relief. The ex-Oasis guitarist now solo artist took up the gauntlet. It turned out to be a brilliant performance with a few hidden surprises to boot. His opening track 'Everybody's On The Run' set the tone with it's anthemic chorus and vocal melodies. Noel Gallagher also interacted with the crowd something which The War Drugs failed to do. Gallagher seemed astonished when a member of the audience told him he was Mexican despite having ginger hair. Gallagher replied by saying "seeing a ginger Mexican is as rare as seeing a unicorn on acid" and then gave the man a round of applause. Gallagher then played four tracks from his new album "Chasing Yesterday" which although a bit samey, still had the huge choruses that you would expect from any Gallagher or Oasis song. Talking of Oasis songs, Gallagher played four in total including 'The Masterplan" and "Don't Look Back In Anger" which to everyone's delight he ended with and it was a special moment for any Oasis fan who hadn't seen the 90s group live. The perfect showman left the Werchter crowd with a smile on their face and had treated them to one of the stand-out performances of the festival thus far. 

Festival Preview: T in the Park

Preview: T in the Park

This year, Scotland’s premier music festival has moved to a new location. That location is Strathallan Castle deep in the heart of Perthshire. And after lots of court hearings, the festival will go ahead and thank god that it has as this year’s T in the Park is not one to be missed.

This year the festival has a vast range of acts from The Libertines to Avicii and from The Prodigy to Paloma Faith. Multiple NME award winning band Kasabian headline on Friday night fresh from their headline set at Glastonbury last year. It’s also the Leicester-based band’s first appearance at the festival for three years so expect them to show off their latest album 48:13 to the crowd. Elsewhere after the release of their first album in four years – Glitterbug-, The Wombats are hitting up T in the Park with their brand of indie-pop along with The Cribs and newcomers Blossoms and Coasts. David Guetta also makes an appearance. If he remembers to pack his USB stick.

Saturday see’s the return of The Libertines to T in the Park who last played in 2004. And with a new album fully written in Thailand of all places, the four-piece will bring their raucous indie to the ears of the crowd hopefully with a few surprises in store too. Saturday also sees a rare festival appearance this summer from The Courteeners who will no doubt get the crowd pumped up. Intricate electro-indie three piece Alt-J also grace the stage on Saturday which will be an interesting and unique experience for all involved. The year’s sensation (thus far) George Ezra will also appear on Saturday along with The Vaccines, Palma Violets, Enter Shikari and St Vincent making Saturday a day of big names across the stages.

If I said the following bands are all playing at a festival, you might think they would be the three headliners over a weekend. Wrong. Noel Gallagher, The Prodigy and Stereophonics are all playing on the same day at T in the Park this year. Two of the three (The Prodigy and Noel Gallagher) have released albums this year already, Stereophonics are set to release their ninth album in September so the crowd can expect lots of new music and spectacular live performances. After Jamie T’s success at the NME awards in 2015 he also plays on Sunday which also see’s Peace, Modest Mouse and much talked-about indie band Wolf Alice.

T in the Park is always a unique experience, set in the rolling hills of Scotland, and now after the move to Strathallan Castle the festival opens a new chapter in its life and this line-up is a perfect way to start this new era. 

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds: Chasing Yesterday Review

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds: Chasing Yesterday Album Review.

"Chasing Yesterday feels like it has no heart"

With his Oasis days behind him – despite constant rumours about the band reforming – Noel Gallagher returns after three years with his second solo album and though it may contain some epic arena ballads, there is nothing new or innovative that suggests that Gallagher is trying to distance himself from the heavy rain cloud that is Oasis, something which he didn’t quite manage with his first solo record. Will Chasing Yesterday show us that Gallagher can create his own sound as a solo artist? The answer to that is unfortunately, no.

The first sign of this failure to break away from Oasis is the title of the album Chasing Yesterday which immediately suggests Gallagher wants a fix of Oasis back in his life. Sure, there are some songs which contain pristine melodies like ‘Lock All The Doors’ which is pure rock ‘n’ roll but lacks creativity and flair and this reflects the album as a whole. There are some standout tracks and you can already hear them being sung from the rooftop of any arena such as ‘In the Heat of the Moment’ and ‘You Know We Can’t Go Back’, the former especially as it has an extremely catchy vocal hook but this doesn’t save Gallagher from creating a mediocre album when he should have created one that would define him as a solo artist.

This lack of musical diversity on Chasing Yesterday is really disappointing, especially from someone who is extremely talented and has been in one of the most successful bands of all time. Gallagher has tried to incorporate some different grooves that have a slight psychedelic feel about them such as ‘The Right Stuff’ but then there are songs like ‘Girl with X-Ray Eyes’ which feels like a second hand ‘Masterplan’. Even an appearance from former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr does nothing to improve the album.

Chasing Yesterday could have been the album that showed everyone the true depth of Noel Gallagher’s talent and musicianship. Instead the album is lacklustre and in a world where small bands are crying out for key influences, the album is just uninspiring. Those bands might as well bypass Gallagher’s solo stuff and just listen to Oasis. Overall it just lacks creativity and feels like it has no heart.