The Verve pictures from Rolling Stone

Paul McCartney Album “Should Be Ready By the Summer,” Morello Record Also Due

Just seven months after the release of Memory Almost Full, Sir Paul McCartney is already brewing up a new album. According to his publicist, “Paul started recording last week, but he has been writing for a while. It should be ready by the summer.” McCartney is reportedly working with producer Youth, a founding member of the band Killing Joke and the producer of albums such as the Verve’s Urban Hymns and, in some capacity, Guns N’ Roses’ long-delayed Chinese Democracy. Not to be outdone by McCartney’s prolificacy is Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, who released his first solo album as the Nightwatchman in April 2007. Despite touring as both a member of the reunited Rage and as a solo entity, a second solo album is already near completion, with the working title of The Fabled City in place. While no release date is set, Morello expects the album out later this year.

Published: 2008-02-25 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, In the Studio

The Verve Reportedly Break Up For the Third Time

Photo: Joyner/Getty The Verve have once again decided to call it quits, breaking up for the third time in the band’s 19 year tenure after reuniting for last year’s comeback album Forth. According to the U.K.’s Mirror, Verve guitarist Nick McCabe and bassist Simon Jones haven’t spoken to frontman Richard Ashcroft since August 2008, and that the band’s indefinite holiday from each other has become a full-blown split. “As far as Nick and Simon are concerned the Verve no longer exists,” a source c

Published: 2009-08-12 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

“Solid Air” Singer-Songwriter John Martyn Dead at 60

Photo: Hussein/Getty British singer-songwriter John Martyn, best known for his 1973 album Solid Air, died today, January 29th, at the age of 60. A note on Martyn’s official Website reads, “With heavy heart and an unbearable sense of loss we must announce that John died this morning.” No cause of death was provided. In a career than spanned four decades Martyn worked with artists including Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Steve Winwood, the Band’s Levon Helm and Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour. But it was Solid Air that earned him most acclaim. In 2006, Martyn played the album in its entirety as part of the All Tomorrow’s Parties Don’t Look Back series. The title track “Solid Air” is reportedly a tribute to Pink Moon singer-songwriter Nick Drake, a good friend of Martyn’s who died of an overdose 18 months after Solid Air’s release. Martyn’s final studio album, 2004’s On the Cobbles, features contributions from Paul Weller, Mavis Staples and the Verve’s Nick McCabe. Martyn has been credited in the past for influencing artists like U2, Portishead and Clapton, who covered Martyn’s “May You Never,” Phil Collins, who played drums on Martyn’s 1980 album Grace and Danger and produced his 1981 Glorious Fool, told the BBC, “John’s passing is terribly, terribly sad. I had worked with and known him since the late 1970s and he was a great friend. He was uncompromising, which made him infuriating to some people, but he was unique and we’ll never see the likes of him again. I loved him dearly and will miss him very much.” David Gilmour’s Twitter also made note of Martyn’s passing, saying “Sorry to hear - and say - that John Martyn passed away this morning.”

Published: 2009-01-29 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Radiohead Lead Featured Artists Coalition, Seek Greater Rights

Photo: Getty Radiohead, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour, the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde and Iron Maiden are among the initial artists to sign up for and usher in the launch of the new Featured Artists Coalition. As the music industry continues to shift into the digital age, the Coalition seeks to protect the artist’s rights over their own music. “We want all artists to have more control of their music and a much fairer share of the profits it generates in the digital age,” a statement on the FAC’s website reads. “We speak with one voice to help artists strike a new bargain with record companies, digital distributors and others, and are campaigning for specific changes.” The FAC has also penned a six-step manifesto for “fair play,” including increased compensation for commercial use of their music and changes to copyright law. Other members of the Coalition include Kate Nash, Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry, Gang of Four, Billy Bragg and the Verve. Related Stories: • The Future According to Radiohead • Best Festival Band: Radiohead • Musicians Unions Avoiding Digital Rights Fight For Now

Published: 2008-10-06 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

My Coachella: MGMT

Moments after MGMT’s Saturday show in the Mojave tent, Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden told us that they might need to “learn how to play for a large crowd.” Why is that? “We’re just not ones for stage banter,” said VanWyngarden. “But this crowd loves that. We said ‘fuck yeah’ once and they went crazy. And when our sound guy shouted out the word alcohol at sound check, that got the crowd going too. So, maybe we should do more of that.” Rock Daily made the band chat a bit more with our Coachella quiz: Best show seen so far: VanWyngarden: The Verve Friday night was the best so far, and Aphex Twin. I can’t wait to see Kraftwerk and Prince tonight. He’s gonna do all the hits. I know it. He knows what people want. Best Coachella drug: Both: Marijuana. VanWyngarden: We were given a tree branch of marijuana in San Francisco. It was a lot. And, we have to smoke it all because we’re going to Europe on Monday and you can’t bring it with you. We took it to a party last night and took it to a level ten and we were rewarded for smoking pot all day with a Siberian tiger. There was a Siberian tiger at the party, a baby tiger. We got to pet the tiger. A baby Siberian tiger on a leash and we were so high. It was pretty cool. If I had five minutes alone with Prince: VanWyngarden: I’d want him to just spin around and look at me and then snarl and say something like, a sound, just like an, awww. If he did that to me I’d probably get a boner. Best backstage perk? VanWyngarden: Percacet. [Laughs]

Published: 2008-04-27 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Coachella

Coachella Day One Wrap-Up: Jack Johnson, The Raconteurs, The Verve

As the afternoon of Coachella Day One wore on, the sounds of electric guitars getting jacked into high gear called everyone’s attention back to the main stage, where the Raconteurs were settling in. “I haven’t seen the sun in weeks,” goes the first line of “The Saboteurs” (though nobody in the heat-baked crowd could truly make that claim), and Jack White, decked out in all black, moseyed over to Brendan Benson as the two guitarists faced off and worked at their instruments. “How are you doing, you desert people?” White later asked before launching into the country-blues groove of “Top Yourself” from the band’s new LP Consolers of the Lonely. While the bedraggled Benson was an able frontman, the crowd was arrested by the natural leader White, whose guitar playing took center stage on “Blue Veins.” The track began with a lengthy, squealing solo that demanded he pause and catch his breath. White ended the song scratching a pad that made his axe stutter as the song built into a giant jam. The set demonstrated how White has taken the band to a new level, stretching out songs and turning up the volume. White and Benson cranked up the distortion even on pop hit “Steady As She Goes,” giving a desperate edge to White’s refrain, “Are you steady now? Are you steady now?” Click here for photos from Day One of Coachella The sun fully set during the Raconteurs set, leaving the Verve to soundtrack the magical part of the Coachella day when the temperatures drop, stars dot the sky and the Port-a-Potties start to ripen. The band didn’t disappoint, breaking out epic Britpop anthems that set shimmers of sound across the desert night. Singer Richard Ashcroft looked the part of the perfect frontman, tapping his chest or pointing skyward, crooning with his eyes closed in bare feet and sounding every bit as sharp as he did ten years ago when the band broke in the States. When Ashcroft strapped on an acoustic guitar and strummed the opening chords of the aching “The Drugs Don’t Work,” a

Published: 2008-04-26 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Coachella

Rolling Stones “Shine a Light” on Universal, Tenure With EMI Likely Over

The Rolling Stones have signed a one-album deal with Universal Music Group for the release of their next album, the live soundtrack to Martin Scorsese’s concert film Shine a Light. The Universal deal likely spells the end of the Stones’ sixteen-year partnership with EMI, as the band’s record contract with that label expires next month. If they do sign a long-term deal with another label, the Stones would join Paul McCartney and Radiohead as the latest big-name artist to exit EMI in the wake of their tumultuous takeover by private equity firm Terra Firma. Earlier this week, EMI head Guy Hands announced that the label would allow for the corporating sponsoring of bands, as well as cut 1,500-2,000 jobs in order to free up $400 million. Still-contracted EMI artists like Robbie Williams, the Verve and Coldplay hinted at withholding new albums until EMI proved they were capable of appropriately promoting and distributing those releases. Scorsese filmed Shine A Light during two Stones gigs at New York City’s relatively intimate Beacon Theatre in 2006. Among the special guests who joined the band on stage were Jack White and Christina Aguilera. The film will debut at the Berlin Film Festival next month before hitting American cinemas on April 4th. Related Stories: EMI Chairman Confirms Cutbacks, Says Bands May Be Sponsored Like Football Teams Rolling Stones Doc Set to Drop Trailer for Scorsese’s Rolling Stones Documentary [Photo: Getty]

Published: 2008-01-17 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Rolling Stones, The Industry

Fall Out Boy Holding Off Before Starting Next LP, Wu-Tang Move Release Date, The Verve Unleash Lengthy Demo

Despite having an “album’s worth of material” ready to go, Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump doesn’t anticipate the band will start work on the follow-up to the only-nine-month-old Infinity On High any time soon. Discussing the musical direction of the material, Stump manages to say “experimenting with piano phases like Steve Reich” and “it’s probably just gonna be a pop record” in the same paragraph. Stump also recently shot a guest spot on NBC’s unkillable crime drama Law & Order, which will air next February. The reunited Verve have released their first new music in over a decade in the form of a fourteen-minute demo. The experimental track, dubbed “The Thaw Session,” is available as a free download that you can get here. Mobb Deep’s Prodigy isn’t going to jail quietly. The rapper, who earlier this month accepted a three-and-a-half year prison sentence in a plea bargain for gun possession, told G-Unit Radio that police officers once asked him set up 50 Cent by planting evidence in 50’s car. Family crisis averted: The Wu-Tang Clan have pushed the release date of their new album The 8 Diagrams back one week so it wouldn’t compete with angry Ghostface Killah’s own album The Big Dough Rehab on December 4th. The news comes straight from the RZA’s mouth, and he’s smart. The Live Nation feeding frenzy continues. One week after securing every Madonna movement for a modest reported $120 million, the concert promoter is now making a bid for Signatures Network, which holds the right to license and market over 125 artists, including Bruce Springsteen, U2 and Kanye West.

Published: 2007-10-22 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Afternoon News Roundup