Weekly News Round-Up: Ride, Muse and more

Missed any of the week’s top news stories? Live4ever has it covered with our Weekly News Round-Up, looking back at ten of the biggest headlines we featured during the last seven days in British music.

Ride @ Leeds O2 Academy, October 2015 (Photo: Gary Mather for Live4ever Media)

DJ Erol Alkan is producing a new Ride album and has revealed as much on Instagram.

In putting a studio picture up on his account, Alkan has confirmed the reunited band are working on their first album in over two decades following their live return last year.

The Rolling Stones‘ new album Blue & Lonesome is now up and streaming on Spotify after its release on Friday.

The Stones have also posted a video for Ride ‘Em On Down, featuring Kristen Stewart, as their first studio record in a decade is unleashed on the public. It’s a love letter to the blues, comprising various covers recorded with producer Don Was over just three days at London’s British Grove Studios.

Liam Gallagher‘s live plans for 2017 in support of a debut solo album are continuing to emerge.

The former Oasis frontman has been added to the line-up for Norway’s Bergenfest between June 14th-17th next year.

The Beatles, Queen and The Pogues have some of the UK’s biggest selling Christmas singles, the Official Charts Company has confirmed.

The Top 20 will hold no surprises for any festive shoppers, but it does confirm the original Do They Know It’s Christmas? as the top seller, closely followed by Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. The Beatles, who dominated the traditional Christmas number one at the height of Beatlemania, have three tracks on the list.

A previously unreleased version of Rubber Ring will feature on a newly issued vinyl single of the Smiths classic The Boy With The Thorn In His Side, reports True To You.

In grand tradition, the artwork has been designed by the band’s frontman Morrissey, and is to be available as a 45 though concrete release details haven’t yet been forthcoming.

Muse (Photo: Paul Bachmann for Live4ever Media)

Muse are the first band to be confirmed for next year’s joint Reading/Leeds Festival in what will be a UK exclusive headline performance for 2017.

“We’re very excited to be playing Reading and Leeds again. More news about our plans for 2017 coming in the new year,” the band have said as they gear up for the bank holiday weekend of August 25th-27th.

Festival producers Continental Drifts – the team behind Glastonbury’s Shangri-la area – have announced their own brand new festival for next year.

As the curators of one of the must-visit areas of Worthy Farm every June, the team are guaranteed to put on a memorable weekend when the Grinagog event is introduced to the 12th century Torre Abbey in Torquay between April 7th-9th 2017.

Richard Ashcroft and James have now been confirmed as part of next year’s Sounds Of The City series in Manchester.

Blossoms were signed up for July 8th next year, supported by The Coral, Rory Wynne and Touts, and now Ashcroft is at Castlefield Bowl too on June 30th, while James play on Friday, July 7th. The Hacienda Classical project has a gig there, on July 1st.

Laura Marling‘s follow-up to Short Movie will be released on March 10th next year.

Semper Femina is joined by a video for first single Soothing – her directorial debut – and UK tour dates, also for March 2017, which start in Leeds. “I started out writing Semper Femina as if a man was writing about a woman,” Marling has told The Fader.

Johnny Marr and Paul Weller will be back at the Royal Albert Hall for Teenage Cancer Trust in March 2017.

The next round of charity gigs is to bring Marr, the Pet Shop Boys and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra together for a show on Sunday, April 2nd. Weller plays on March 31st while Olly Murs has also been booked.

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