Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? - She & Him

Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?, released on November 3rd, is the lovely second single taken from Volume One, the glorious debut from She & Him released in July. Formed of Zooey Deschanel(she) and M Ward(him), the duo make music the old-fashioned way, achieving the warmth and charm of pop and country records from the early and mid part of the twentieth century.

Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? is a pure nugget of joy, reminiscent of 60’s girl group pop, full of longing and self-deprecation. Ward’s unique arrangements and guitar and piano playing paired with Deschanel’s affinity for vocal harmony make it an instantly classic, sing-a-long, pop song. She & Him have recently completed an extensive North American tour and have made a video for their single with respected director, Ace Norton.

Watch the rather fab video here:

Stolen from Popbitch

An anagram of Mercury Music Prize winner "Elbow's Guy Garvey" - Vaguely Web Orgy.

Oasis - the bad and the good

Sad days for the Vicster after finding out I hadn't secured tickets to the gig of the century - Oasis at The Eden Project. Tears all round on that one I'm afraid. Was hoping I'd pull it out of the bag in the same style as my wee sister did with her Metallica tickets but no such joy.

Then I find out that the lovely Oasis have teamed up with the Arts Council and NME to encourage aspiring young musicians to pick up instruments. Cue smiles all round!

Instead of the all the usual marketing tricks - giving away downloads to promote an upcoming album a la Coldplay giving away a whole album to increase ticket sales a la Prince, Oasis will give away a DVD and book featuring the sheet music and lyrics to three new songs with music weekly NME. The idea is aimed at promoting the Arts Council's Take It Away scheme, which provides interest free loans for musical instruments.

Readers will be asked to reinterpret Bag It Up, The Turning and (Get Off Your) High Horse Lady from the group's seventh studio album, Dig Out Your Soul, which is released next month, without having heard them first. Guitarist Noel Gallagher, who has argued that giving music away for nothing devalues it, said: "The gift of music is very special ... and anything that can bring music into a kid's life is an incredible thing."

Aspiring young musicians will be asked to submit their own versions to a special website, with the winning entry able to travel to an Oasis gig anywhere in the world. In just over a year the Arts Council scheme has delivered £6m worth of loans to more than 10,000 people. Mary-Alice Stack, manager of Take It Away, said it was "a way of inspiring individuals to develop their musical talents and interests".

Emma Greengrass, of Oasis's label imprint Big Brother Recordings, said that as soon as the band's new single, The Shock of the Lightning, was premiered on the radio fans began uploading their own renditions of the song on YouTube.

"I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with. I hope that there are some quieter versions and some interesting variations," she said. The DVD will be given away free with next week's issue of the NME, which has expanded to become a multimedia brand with its own radio station and TV channel.

Here, here Emma, so am I...bring on the Oasis revolution:)

New Last Shadow Puppets Video!

Little treat...new video for the Last Shadow Puppets upcoming single, 'My Mistakes Were Made For You'!

Glastonbury 2009...that time already?

I got my Glastonbury 2009 email reminder in the inbox today...weird? Yeah I think it bloody is when its only two months since the last one! They must be quite worried about numbers I guess. Do like the fact you can secure a tickets for a £50 deposit though which kinda helps you spread the cost. It's a lot to swallow in one go.

So you can now buy your tickets for Glsto in October....a whole 8 months before the festival...

So who do you think is gonna headline? Did Jay Z succeed in making rap/hip hop a permanent fixture on the main stage?

My money is on Oasis and Kasabian and Franz Ferdinand and in my dreams Led Zeppelin!!!

Mozz Debuts as a Radio DJ

One for Sean Popjunkie…

Morrissey become a radio DJ! Mozza is set to appear later this week on US station KCRW, chatting and sharing some of his favorite songs. The episode was pre-recorded but won’t go live until 11:15am our time. It is a one off show which will form part of Nic Harcourt’s “Morning Becomes Electric”.

As a huge fan Harcourt has apparently been trying for more than a decade to get Mozza into his studio and was “Sean stylee” excited to have finally got his hero in the studio:

"Sitting down with Morrissey was both daunting and exciting. He is such an interesting person, with strong opinions and immense musical talent. He does not mince words when he dislikes something, but when he talks about music he respects, he is an outspoken fan."

The full play list is being kept under wraps, but KCRW promises that it includes Sparks, the Buzzcocks and Noël Coward.

Morrissey's first selection was What Took You So Long, by current Mancunian band the Courteeners!

My Fav Label + New Digital Store = HAPPY JUKEBOX!

One of my favourite record labels has just announced the launch of its new DIGITAL DOWNLOADS STORE...hoorah for DOMINO!

According to the guys there are certain historic events in music.

• Robert Johnston meeting the devil at the crossroads
• Bob Dylan going electric
• Injured Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi’s first inspired hearing of Django Reinhardt
• Bob Marley uniting the hands of warring politicians Edward Seaga and Norman Manley

And the opening of their store is one of them...bold claim? Well in celebration they are offering you a FREE* gift. You can download the track "Break Bread" by Yo Majesty for free! More regular freebies to follow

Instore you will find all the Domino albums and single releases as well as remixes, rarities, reissues and exclusive digital tracks. The exciting bit is that all of the Domino digital download tracks are encoded as 320kbps performance quality, Non Variable Rate MPEG-1 Layer III (Mp3) files, with no DRM (Digital Rights Management) which, if translated, means you get the highest quality music downloads available and, get this…

ALL DOWNLOADS ARE 79 PENCE / 99 CENT PER TRACK

If you want the ultimate ease and quality - you can also order WAV (uncompressed CD audio) files too at the same price.

Basically, listening to all the wondrous music Domino has to offer just got a whole lot easier:)

Black Affair Announce Mini UK Tour

The genius that is Steve Mason has crafted one of the most exciting electro pop albums this year under the guise of "Black Affair". Press coverage is coming out of his ear holes and an extensive tour is currently being put in place for the autumn.

But, bully for you in the meantime you can catch Black Affair at one of these regional dates over the next few week. I have now been told that BLACK AFFAIR is now an all-new live show with Mason being joined onstage by partners-in-crime the C90s.

Wednesday 30 July – LIVERPOOL – The Bluecoat

Friday 1 August – NEWCASTLE – Killing Suite

Saturday 9 August - GLASGOW - The Arches

Sunday 10 August – EDINBURGH – Cabaret Voltaire

Epsiode 10 - Who stole Kurt Cobain's ashes?

Sean and I chew the fat on the sad demise of guitar legend Bo Diddley. We also exclusively reveal what's happened to Kurt Cobain's ashes. More music news comes by the way of "too sexy" Kylie, Coldplay, Glastonbury and Michale Eavis' Pink Floyd knockback.

New GUN'S N' ROSES release...

Its not quite Chinese Democracy but a the Guns N’ Roses Greatest Hits album, will be re-released in the UK on June 2^nd, especially for Father’s Day, as it’s most definitely the only album of choice for any serious rockfather or rockdaughter like me.

With increased chit chat surrounding a 2008 release of Chinese Democracy doing the rounds, the 14 track collection will contuinue to excite roxkers around the globe for the most anticipated album release in musical history.Even Dr. Pepper is promising the whole of America a can of their sweet and fizzy beverage, if the new album is released this year.

From first single and anthem of the late-Eighties LA underbelly, ‘Welcome To The Jungle’, through to the epic balladry of ‘November Rain’ to the last single and cover of the Rolling Stones’ classic ‘Sympathy For The Devil’, this album features the band’s finest moments.

The full track listing is as follows:

1. Welcome To The Jungle
2. Sweet Child O’ Mine
3. Patience
4. Paradise City
5. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
6. Civil War
7. You Could Be Mine
8. Don’t Cry (Original)
9. November Rain
10. Live And Let Die
11. Yesterdays
12. Ain’t It Fun
13. Since I Don’t Have You
14. Sympathy For The Devil

PopJunkieTV #7 Why Madonna Should Retire

Sean and Victoria - the indie Johnny and Denise - pun their way through the latest music news, gigs and reviews. This week Sean argues that all rock stars, and especially Madonna, should retire at 50 while Victoria disects the Glastonbury line up. Videos from The Shortwave Set and unsigned band is Sweden's Hyacinth House.

PopJunkie TV Episode 4

Sean and Victoria the modsters in waiting hit you with the weeks music and festival news plus album reviews from The Triffids, The Courteeners, Blood Red Shoes and The Last Shadow Puppets.

PopJunkieTv Episode 2

Popjunkie Tv Episode 1

Bat for Lashes Supporting Radiohead

Hooray the rather gorgeous and magnificantly talented Natasha Khan and her equally fabulous cohorts will be the support act for Radiohead's summer gigs in Victoria Park.

The group are known to be huge fans of BFL's Natasha Khan, with Thom Yorke choosing her track "Horse And I" in his top ten iTunes list for Pitchfork magazine saying: “I love the harpsichord and the sexual ghost voices and bowed saws.This song seems to come from the world of Grimm's fairytales”.

Bat for Lashes will be the official support for all of their U.K shows, as well as the the two shows scheduled for Malahide Castle in Dublin.

Dublin Malahide (June 6 / 7)
Paris Bercy (9/10)
Barcelona Day Dream festival, Parc del Forum (12)
Nimes Arenes (14/15)
Milan Civica Arena (17 / 18)
London Victoria Park (24 / 25)
Glasgow Green (27)
Manchester LCCC (29)
Amsterdam Wester Park (July 1)