November 15th, 2010

In the days where too many bands stick to the high tempo, jangly guitar-driven template, a sound as distinctive and thought-provoking as that of the We Are Augustines should be revered for its invention.

Rounder Records is excited to announce that Robert Plant has confirmed a 15-date North American tour. Beginning January 18th in Asheville, NC, this will be the first tour on these shores since the triumphant release of his latest album, Band of Joy, which Rolling Stone magazine in its four-star review called “sweet, elegant folk that still swings like Satan’s barn door.” The touring band will once again be the same that made the record: Patty Griffin, vocals; Darrell Scott, multi instrumentalist/vocals; Byron House, bass/vocals; Marco Giovino, drums and percussion/vocals, and co-producer Buddy Miller, guitar/vocals. North Mississippi Allstars will be supporting on all the dates. The full itinerary is listed below.

I’ve downloaded a ton of apps on my phone, and aside from stuff like my RSS reader and Tetris (I spend a lot of time on the subway) most of them never get used. Every once in a while, though, these seldom used apps idly occupying space on my phone’s flash memory do come in handy. One of those apps is Shazam (and no, I’m not sponsored by them, unfortunately… hey Shazam people, if you’re reading this, get in touch…”Live4Ever Reviews sponsored by Shazam” has a nice ring to it, no?). For those who don’t know what Shazam is, it’s an app that identifies songs. If you happen to hear a song you’re not familiar with but you kind of like, you can load up the app and it’ll listen to the song for a brief period after which it will display all the relevant information about the song: title, artist album, etc. There are some other features, too, but I can’t say I’ve bothered to try any of them out. The five times I’ve actually used it, it’s worked remarkably well. However, I almost never have a reason to use it.

Sky Larkin are currently on an epic tour across the UK with label mates Les Savy Fav and Cloud Nothings and with wonderful timing you can now stream their new EP with LP track YEAR DOT, an amazing cover of a HEART song in ‘Barracuda’ as well as some rather fine remixes (be sure you enjoy the extended Minotaur Shock remix). Tour dates are listed below!

Former Kinks frontman Ray Davies has added his thoughts to the ongoing crisis currently befalling London’s famous 100 Club, and has claimed X Factor judge Simon Cowell should foot the bill to keep the club open.

Suede frontman Brett Anderson has dismissed mainstream reality TV shows such as the X Factor as ‘cheesy’, and claimed the genre of shows inspires other acts to make more exciting music.

Kings Of Leon have added another huge headlining show to their ambitious 2011 itinerary, and will now top the bill at next year’s Isle Of Wight festival.

Radiohead have provided fans with a further update of the progress of their new album, and have also refuted earlier claims that their new record would contain 10 songs.

Start your week right here as Live4ever’s music collection offers you all the weekend’s chart news, our pick of the week’s new releases, and you can also plan your next seven days with our UK Gig Guide where you will find tickets for some of the best shows currently going on across Britain.