Our latest Soundbites has the latest updates from R.E.M’s new album, a dispute involving a track worked on by the late, great Jimi Hendrix, details of an unexpected Pink Floyd reunion, while Muse ponder selling their soul to Twilight, while Arcade Fire get extremely charitable…sort of.
R.E.M have finished work on their forthcoming 15th studio album, according to reports. The trio completed their work in Berlin’s famous Hansa studios, which was the base for two of David Bowie’s legendary Berlin Trilogy albums, and was also used by U2 for their 1991 record ‘Achtung Baby‘. The new LP will be R.E.M’s first since 2008’s ‘Accelerate‘, and is due for release next year.
Saxophonist Lonnie Youngblood is suing the estate of his former bandmate Jimi Hendrix over claims he a song he co-wrote in 1969 was released without his permission. The pair spent a short time writing together in New York in ’69, “Jimi had moved on to another place by then, but it was his way of saying thank you,” Youngblood told the Associated Press, but the resultant tracks were never officially released. However, one song, ‘Georgia Blues’, was featured on a 2003 rarities compilation, and Youngblood is now insisting he owed money from the release.
Chris Wolstenholme, bass player with rock group Muse, has been discussing the band’s decision to write a song for the new Twilight Saga soundtrack, saying groups sometimes have to ‘sell their soul’ in order to get their music heard in the US. Wolstenholme told the BBC: “I’m not sure how cool it is to be on those kind of things but sometimes you’ve just got to get your music out there in different ways. You have to take every opportunity you get over there and sometimes you have to sell your soul.”
Arcade Fire have promised to donate $1m to the Haiti Earthquake appeal, but will only come up with the goods if the public match the figure. Arcade Fire’s Régine Chassagne helped has already launched the charity Kanpe, which pledges to rebuild Haitian villages affected by the earthquake which struck in January.
Pink Floyd legends Roger Waters and David Gilmour performed together at a recent charity gig in support of the HOPING Foundation. The duet marked the first time the pair had played together on stage since the 2005 Live 8 concert and they treated fans to a rendition of The Teddy Bears’ ‘To Know Him Is To Love Him‘, as well as their own classics ‘Wish You Were Here‘, ‘Comfortably Numb‘ and ‘Another Brick In The Wall (Part Two)‘. The event, which took place at Kidlington in Oxfordshire, raised £350,000 for the charity.