Rolling Stones to headline Glastonbury Festival

The Rolling Stones have been named as one of the three headline acts for the Glastonbury Festival 2013.

It will be the first time the Rolling Stones have played at the festival at Worthy Farm, Somerset, which will draw about 135,000 people.

The other headline acts at the festival, taking place on the final weekend of June, are Mumford and Sons and the Arctic Monkeys.

The Stones will be performing on the Saturday night - the penultimate night.

Mick Jagger tweeted: "Can't wait to play Glastonbury. I have my wellies and my yurt!"

Glastonbury was not held last year because of the Olympics and to allow the farmland to recover from the previous festival.

The full line-up, announced on the official website includes Primal Scream, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds and Elvis Costello, with chart acts such as Professor Green and Dizzee Rascal also appearing.

Resales awaited

Surprises among the 190 acts include country star Kenny Rogers, who is among the figures playing the main Pyramid Stage.

Also appearing on the Pyramid will be Rita Ora, Jake Bugg, Rufus Wainwright and festival veteran Billy Bragg.

Names on the Other Stage include Portishead - almost 20 years after they released their debut album Dummy - along with Smashing Pumpkins, Mercury Prize-winners Alt-J and John Lydon's band PiL. The XX, The Lumineers, Alabama Shakes and Foals are included on the bill.

Elsewhere on the huge site in Somerset will be performances by 1970s disco pioneers Chic, Tom Tom Club, rap stalwarts Public Enemy, Dinosaur Jr, The Horrors and Johnny Marr.

This year's Glastonbury is already a sell-out but there will be some resales next month.

Source: BBC

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Preview: Suggs at De Montfort Hall, 7th May

De Montfort Hall Presents…

Suggs

My Life Story in Words & Music

Tuesday 7th May
Tickets £24.50

Doors: 7:30pm

www.suggsmcpherson.me

I've just turned 50, the kids have left home, and my cat just died.

In Suggs: My Life Story the Madness frontman takes to the stage in a hilarious, yet moving, one man tour de force playing to rave reviews.

The death of Suggs' beloved cat on his fiftieth birthday triggers a personal quest to discover what happened to the father he never knew. Stunned by what he learns Suggs is taken back to his childhood on the tough streets of the 1970's Soho and his first appearance on the Top Of The Pops at the age of eighteen...

WITH MUSICAL ACCOMPANIMENT AND UNCALLED FOR INTERJECTION FROM DEANO HIS LOYAL MANSERVANT-CUM-PIANIST

"Very funny, and delivered with a sense of timing and phrasing that many common-or-garden comics could learn much from" 4 stars Dominic Cavendish, The Daily Telegraph

Remember; always check with the venue before travelling:

www.demontforthall.co.uk

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Dionne Warwick files for bankruptcy, owing $10m

Dionne Warwick has filed for bankruptcy in the US after amounting debts of almost $10 million (£6.6m) in taxes since 1991.

The singer's liabilities include nearly $7m owed to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) from 1991 to 1999 and more than $3m in business taxes owed to the state of California, where she lives.

Warwick, 72, has sold more than 100 million records since the 1960s.

Her publicist said she had been the victim of poor financial management.

He added that Warwick had paid back the actual amount of the taxes but not penalties and interest that had accumulated over the years.

In documents filed in her home state of New Jersey this month, the singer of such classics as I Say A Little Prayer listed about $21,000 (£13,800) in monthly income and a similar amount in monthly expenses.

Her publicist said she had "repeatedly attempted to offer re-payment plans and proposals to the IRS and the California Franchise Tax Board for taxes owed".

Warwick, cousin of the late Whitney Houston, won her first of five Grammy awards in 1968 with Do You Know The Way To San Jose?

Her second came two years later, for the album I'll Never Fall In Love Again.

She has sold more than 100 million records and has enjoyed more charts hits than almost any other female singer.

Last March, Warwick celebrated 50 years in show business with a special event at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.

To mark the anniversary she released Now, an album featuring new versions of some of her most famous songs.

Source: BBC

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Review: Ray G. Ward and the Light – I Am You

Ray G. Ward and the Light – I Am You (Independent)

Ray G. Ward and the Light is the eponymous Mr. Raymond Ward on guitar and vocals, Ryan Smith on drums and Enrique Mancia on bass. Colleen Ryan frequently contributes on backup vocals and Ward's father, violinist Michael Ward, has played on all of Ward's recordings so far.

“I Am You” is their second release and their second four-track EP (Welcome To The Real World was released in August, 2012). The core trio are based in central New Jersey, though Ward is a relative newcomer to the area (he was previously a mainstay of the Philadelphia singer-songwriter scene), only moving east and putting the band together in early 2012.

It seems progress has been swift. On “I Am You” they sound like a group playing to each other’s strengths. Their songs always take centre stage, but musically there’s plenty of interesting thing happening, too. Both Ryan and Ward Sr. add a great deal of depth to the overall presentation, and they repeatedly hit a sweet spot with their arrangements.

They open with “Make You Wonder”, with a rolling rhythm and hazy psychedelic pop tones. It’s a strong contender for best track on the EP, but it’s instantly bettered by the title track, a beautifully tempered folk rocker, with a haunting violin mixed low as a counter to the vocals. Quite lovely! Final cut “Rona” is almost as persuasive, and the only minor fault I can find with the EP is that it ends all too soon.

www.facebook.com/RayGWardAndTheLight

www.raygward.bandcamp.com

Phil S.

Tonight at The Cookie Jar: The Ocean Between Us + Doomed From Day One + Icons + Honour The Past

 TDOL Events Presents…

THE OCEAN BETWEEN US
A Wolf at Your Door Records
Leeds, UK

www.facebook.com/tobuuk

DOOMED FROM DAY ONE
South East, UK
www.facebook.com/doomedfromdayone

ICONS
Leicester, UK
https://www.facebook.com/Iconsmetal

HONOUR THE PAST
Leicester, UK
www.facebook.com/honourthepast

Date/Time
27 March 2013
7:00 pm - 11:30 pm

Price
£5 ADV / £6 OTD

Tickets/More Information
Click here

Remember; always check with the venue before travelling:

www.thecrumblincookie.co.uk

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Tonight at The Musician: Broth3r + The Pale Faces + David Parkin

Wake Up Promotions presents...

Broth3r + The Pale Faces + David Parkin

Wednesday 27^th March

£4

Remember; always check with the venue before travelling:

www.themusicianpub.co.uk

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BP brings old masters back to Britain after 234 years

BP is to sponsor a new exhibition of lost masterpieces, which are returning to the UK after 234 years.

The paintings, which originally hung at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, were brought together by Britain's first Prime Minister, Robert Walpole in the 1720s.

Over 70 pieces, including works by Van Dyck and Rembrandt - sold in 1779 to Catherine the Great of Russia, will be on display from 17 May 2013.

However, campaigners Art Not Oil called BP's involvement "a great shame".

The works are on loan from the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg and other Russian museums, as well as the National Gallery in Washington and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

"There is a geopolitical element to BP's choice of sponsorship," activist Sam Chase told the BBC.

"It needs to maintain good relations with Russia, for example, so pumps money into Russian cultural life."

BP have invested over £10 million in partnerships with the British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Opera House, and Tate Britain.

In 2011, demonstrations took place outside Tate Britain in protest at BP's sponsorship and an 8,000-strong petition was handed to the Tate calling for an end to the partnership.

BP also sponsors a number of leading Russian cultural institutions including the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg and the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

The organisers of the exhibition said without BP's sponsorship they "would not be able to realise such an ambitious project".

Following his death, Walpole's collection left Britain in 1779, sold to Russia for £40,555.

The prime minister spent lavishly during his lifetime, leaving his family with a sizable debt, equivalent today to around £6 million.

Thierry Morel, the curator of Houghton Revisited, described Houghton Hall as "a temple built to house the collection".

The house is now owned by Walpole's descendent, the 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley, who inherited the Grade I listed building in 1990.

Their return is "something I have always imagined," Lord Cholmondeley told the FT.

"Everything else is here: the furniture, the bronzes, the marble antiquities - the pictures were the missing ingredients."

The works will hang in their original positions in the house for the exhibition, Houghton Revisited.

Source: BBC

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Rough Trade announce Field Day 2013 2CD release, out 6th May

Various - Rough Trade Shops Field Day 2013 2CD.

Catalogue #RTFD13.

32 tracks, full sleevenotes.

Release date: 6th May 2013.

Rough Trade Shops and Field Day have much in common when it comes to supporting and promoting new and exciting music and this year they are combining the many years of experience to release their first collaborative CD.

Tom Baker put on the 'Return Of The Rural' event outside The Griffin pub in East London in 2005 - a village fete with James Yorkston, Beth Orton, Clinic and Four Tet playing live - and, inspired by its success, went on to put together the first Field Day in Victoria Park in 2007 with the then-owner of The Griffin, Marcus Weedon.  Alongside sister promotors Eat Your Own Ears, the annual Field Day event has since become a staple on the London music scene, known for its innovative and forward thinking line-ups.

As you would expect from a selection curated by Field Day’s co-founder Tom Baker, this compilation includes a wide spectrum of music. From new artists Dark Bells and MT WARNING, through buzz bands CHVRCHES and King Krule to breakthrough artists Everything Everything, Palma Violets and Savages. From dancefloor favourites Daphni, Four Tet, Seth Troxler and TNGHT through established and well-loved acts like Animal Collective, Django Django and Kurt Vile, longstanding Field Day-associates James Yorkston, Mount Kimbie and Tim Burgess to this year’s must-see festival acts Bat For Lashes, Ginger Baker, Mulatu Astatke and Solange, Field Day’s booking policy shines brightly on the festival circuit.

"It's really exciting to be able to program two albums-worth of music. The easy part was already done in respect of the bands, as we have tried to include as many of the artists playing across the stages at this year's Field Day as was possible. I tried all different track sequences, but in the end it made sense to use the same format we have used for Field Day artwork over the past seven years and make it alphabetical… it actually flows very well!  I hope you enjoy the eclectic mix of music, perhaps discover some new sounds and hear some of your favourite songs as well."  Tom Baker. Field Day / Eat Your Own Ears.

Various - Rough Trade Shops Field Day 2013 2CD

CD1

1.   Amateur Best - Too Much (4.06)

2.   Animal Collective - Fireworks (6.52)

3.   Bat for Lashes  - Laura (4.26)

4.   Charlie Boyer & The Voyeurs - I Watch You (single version) 4.53)

5.   CHVRCHES - Recover (3.45)

6.   Connan Mockasin - Megumi The Milkyway Above (2.28)

7.   Daphni - Ye Ye (6.05)

8.   Dark Bells - Wildflower (4.02)

9.   Daughter - Smother (4.02)

10. Django Django - Waveforms (Mickey Moonlight Remix) (4.38)

11. Do Make Say Think - The Apartment Song (3.52)

12. Everything Everything - Choice Mountain (3.24)

13. Fela Ransome-Kuti and Africa 70 with Ginger Baker - Ginger Baker & Tony Allen drum solo (Live at the 1978 Berlin Jazz Festival) (16.22)

14. Four Tet - Jupiters (5.48)

15. Francois and The Atlas Mountains - Les Plus Beaux (4.23)

CD2

1.   How To Dress Well - When I Was In Trouble (3.22)

2.   Jacques Greene - Clark (4.58)

3.   James Yorkston - Tender To The Blues (4.19)

4.   King Krule - Bleak Bake (2.30)

5.   Kurt Vile - Wakin on a Pretty Day (9.30)

6.   Mount Kimbie - Carbonated (4.18)

7.   MT WARNING - Forward Miles (3.44)

8.   Mulatu Astatke - Mulatu's Mood (5.56)

9.   Palma Violets - Step Up for the Cool Cats (3.08)

10. Savages - Husbands (album version) (2.50)

11. Seth Troxler - Hurt (with Matthew Dear) (6.06)

12. Solange - Lovers In The Parking Lot (4.22)

13. Splashh - Need It (3.03)

14. Stubborn Heart - Penetrate (3.59)

15. Tim Burgess - The Economy (4.44)

16. TNGHT - Bugg'n (3.25)

17. Wild Nothing - Nocturne (5.18)

www.roughtrade.com

www.fielddayfestivals.com

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Review: The Stranglers/The Godfathers: UEA Norwich, Monday 25th March

The Stranglers/The Godfathers: UEA Norwich, Monday 25th March

Peter Coyne has had a great tour he tells us, but he’s not having a good night tonight. Despite his opening rally of ‘let’s do it!’ the Norwich massive haven’t responded well, much to his chagrin. Twenty-five minutes in he tells us we’re a ‘tough fucking crowd’.  

To be fair it’s a blameless situation. While the locals can be forgiven for a lack of energy, coming in stone cold sober from sub-zero temperatures on a dismal Monday night, the band on stage are working their arses off to produce the kind of full-on feral garage punk that ought to be taking the roof off anywhere, anytime.

Despite their name The Godfathers exude a nuanced air of menace which is more Reggie Kray than Vito Corleone, deploying a Jimmy Pursey-meets-the Stooges combination of emphatically accented raw-throated vocals over a hard beat and penetrating guitar licks, the latter veering between guttural R&B and psychedelic rock with flashes of surf twang. A combination like that, and the songs to go with it, can’t but win out in the end.

‘I Can’t Sleep Tonight’, the first number from new release ‘Jukebox Fury’ is dedicated to the brothers Ramone for stylistic reasons that are soon made clear, and starts to work the thaw; while the long-lease they took out on Lennon’s ‘Cold Turkey’ thirty years back turns out to still be paying dividends.

By the time they serve up their old Syd Presley classic ‘Hup Two Three’ and climax with a rousing ‘Birth School Work Death’ there’s no doubt they’ve rammed their point home.  

If nothing else they’ve warmed the crowd well for The Men in Black. After nearly forty years in the game The Stranglers have so many hits under their belt that they could comfortably turn out year after year as a straightforward nostalgia act, no questions asked. It’s to their credit then that they produce a set mixing the familiar with the unfamiliar; the latter including both new material such as ‘Mercury Rising’ and half-forgotten back catalogue entries.

Of these some are pleasingly appropriate, particularly ‘Norfolk Beach’, and others less so (‘Nubiles’? Please! Did Jimmy Saville die in vain?). Such is the band’s level of confidence and slick professionalism though even the casual punters who have come for a sing-a-long show no impatience with the mix.

The reception is warm from the off, and if ‘Toiler on the Sea’ and ‘Goodbye Toulouse’ would hardly have topped the popular poll the opening bars of ‘Grip’ set the hall alight for the first time. It seems almost cruel to say it, but Baz Warne has occupied centre stage with the band for so long that Hugh Cornwall seems little more than a distant memory. On the other hand the unexplained absence of septuagenarian drummer Jet Black is disturbing, and when he makes an impact substitution as a breathy ‘European Female’ drifts to a close the welcome is tinged with some degree of relief.

He sticks around for the rest of the party which features everything we came for: a creepily dramatic ‘Nice and Sleazy’, full-on blasts of ‘Something Better Change’ and ‘Straighten Out’ and, inevitably, a ‘No More Heroes’ to wave us off back into the stubborn and unwelcome late-winter weather.

www.thestranglers.net

www.godfathershq.co.uk

Neil B.

Jackson 5 producer Deke Richards dies aged 68

Motown songwriter-producer Deke Richards, who was behind songs including The Jackson 5's first three number one hits, has died aged 68.

Richards, who had oesophageal cancer, died in a Washington state hospice, Universal Music said.

The musician, whose real name was Dennis Lussier, was leader of the Motown songwriting, arranging and producing team The Corporation.

Their hits include The Jackson 5's chart-topping I Want You Back and ABC.

Richards was also involved in the band's third number one I Want You Back and co-wrote Love Child for Diana Ross and The Supremes, as well as Ross's solo track I'm Still Waiting.

He produced and wrote for Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and Bobby Darin.

The Corporation, which comprised of Motown label head Berry Gordy, Alphonzo Mizell, Freddie Perren and Richards, was assembled in 1969 to create hit records for the label's new act, The Jackson 5.

They also wrote, produced and arranged the band's singles and Maybe Tomorrow and Mama's Pearl.

According to Michael Jackson biographer, J. Randy Taraborrelli, Mama's Pearl was originally called Guess Who's Making Whoopie (With Your Girlfriend).

But Richards had the lyrics changed to preserve the young frontman's innocent image.

The Hollywood Reporter said Richards' "love of music" kept him involved with a variety of projects, including last year's production of The Jackson 5's Come and Get It: The Rare Pearls, featuring rare and unreleased tracks.

Richards' final work was the mixing of eight unreleased tracks by Martha Reeves and The Vandellas for the band's 50th anniversary box set, which is to be released on 5 April.

He is survived by his wife, Joan Lussier, a brother and two nephews.

Source: BBC

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