Arctic Monkeys Page 3

Arctic Monkeys continue to ascend toward superstardom. Their status as bona fide rockstars capable of disseminating universally lauded records means their prestige can only continue to expand. 2013’s AM saw the band make a total departure from any semblance of their younger selves. Where once they specialised in jagged riffs and quirky tales of misadventures on northern English estates, leading them to a hierarchical position in the mid-noughties indie band explosion, they are now slicker, beefier and with a fan base that extends well beyond the confines of their home nation.

Despite teasing fans last year, a follow-up to AM will not be appearing anytime soon.

More: "Success Doesn't Come From Awards" - Alex Turner

Continue reading: Why Have Arctic Monkey's Scrapped Plans For A New Album?

The latest additions to this year’s Reading and Leeds Festivals have been announced and amongst the fresh batch of acts is the former My Chemical Romance frontman, who will play his first live shows as a solo artists at this year’s dual mega-event. Gerard Way’s iconic band had recently become defunct after mutually deciding to lay the group to bed. The multi-million record selling giants of emo rock recently released a greatest hits album entitled May Death Never Stop You but have failed to announce any farewell tour dates, much to the chagrin of their huge and loyal fanbase.

Gerard Way Is Heading to Leeds and Reading

His Reading and Leeds performances will herald a new chapter in the singer’s career as he puts the finishing touches on an eagerly-awaited solo album, the direction of which is still shrouded in mystery. The musician and prolific comic book artist has directed fans to his new website, which features a brief snippet of an as-yet unnamed song.

Continue reading: Leeds And Reading Festival Line Up: Gerard Way Among The Additions

We've been seriously pushing US and UK music festivals this year but, it has to be said, there's nowhere quite like Europe.

The continent is home to some of the most unique music events in the world and, looking at what's on offer this year, it seems that the festival season is the best time to experience cultural diversity to the nth degree. Whether its sun or snow you're after, rock or dance music, indoor or outdoor, Europe has it all and with the summer quickly approaching, it's time to get on a plane and take the best vacation of your lives as we guide you to the most exciting countries you can hope to visit this year.

Belgium
- Pukkelpop (August 14th - 16th): This Belgian weekend remains seriously cool having first began in 1985 and always playing host to some of the world's best alternative music with early performers including Ramones, The Jesus And Mary Chain and Iggy Pop. Nearly 30 years on, Pukkelpop maintains its excellence with 2014 seeing the likes of Clean Bandit, Gogol Bordello and Die Antwoord on the bill.
- Tomorrowland (July 18th - 20th and July 25th - 27th): If you want to feel like you've entered a fantasy world for a weekend (or two), Tomorrowland is definitely for you. Taking place in the town of Boom, you'll be rocking out against a backdrop of incredible art installations of gargantuan proportions - it really isn't a sight to be missed.

Continue reading: Head To Europe This Year For The Best Summer Festival Experiences!

Lollapalooza has sold out of three-day general tickets. Got that? No more tickets. Which is a shame, considering that one hell of a line-up has just been announced including Eminem, Kings Of Leon and Outkast. More than 100 bands and artists will perform on eight stages at Grant Park - and there's still an opportunity to see some of your favorite bands.

One-day passes to the extravaganza are still available, though, of course, it means that you need to be pretty selective with who you're wanting to see perform. One-day passes are pretty reasonably priced at $100 - which is pretty damn good considering the amount of bands you're going to see.

Continue reading: Lollapalooza Line-Up 2014: Your Guide To The 3 Day Extravanganza

Eminem, Outkast, Kings Of Leon and Skrillex have been officially announced as the headliners for this year’s Lollapalooza festival. The festival will take place over the August 1-3 weekend at its home of Chicago’s Grant Park. This year’s line-up looks pretty impressive, with more dance acts being featured than ever before and a diverse collection of artists.

Eminem is headed to Grant Park for Lollapalooza

Overall, over 130 artists have now been confirmed with Arctic Monkeys playing just before Eninem, giving the British rockers their most prominent US festival slot to date. Lorde will play underneath with Above & Beyond, Interpol, Chvrches, AFI, The Kooks, Rudimental, Iggy Azalea, Bombay Bicycle Club and Warpaint all appearing on August 1st. The next day Calvin Harris supports Outkast with Nas, Chase & Status, Kate Nash and Foster the People also on the bill. The final day sees the Avett Brothers, Childish Gambino, Chance the Rapper, The 1975 and White Denim all appearing on the line up with Skrillex and Kings of Leon.

Continue reading: Lollapalooza Festival To Welcome Kings Of Leon, Eminem, Arctic Monkeys And Outkast

David Bowie still knows how to steal the show. He proved as much during Wednesday’s Brits, without even attending the ceremony. Bowie won best British Male during the 2014 ceremony, making something of a comeback after his last win in 1984. His latest album, The Next Day, represents an musical achievement, unrivaled in the past two decades at least. Without once appearing onstage, Bowie stage-managed his first album in a decade, and managed to top the UK Album Chart and go to Number 2 on the Billboard Chart. In short, congrats to David Bowie, who, at 67, continues to win everything.

David Bowie. That is all.

In other Brit news, the winners this year were quite a diverse bunch, from Bowie to the Arctic Monkeys to One Direction. Indie quartet the Arctic Monkeys, who achieved new heights and international recognition with their 2013 album AM, unsurprisingly picked up the Brit for Best Album too. This prompted frontman Alex Turner to launch into an ever-so-slightly smug victory speech. “That rock-and-roll it just won’t go away. That rock-and-roll, it seems like it’s fading away sometimes, but it will never die,” Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner said as he received the band’s second gong of the night for the Mastercard British album of the year. The Arctic Monkeys also picked up Best Group, to which Turner reacted with “There’s that fifteen quid we put on One Direction to win down the drain.” Solid burn.

Continue reading: The Brits' Split Personality: Bowie, Arctic Monkeys And 1D Rule The Show

Golden Globes Glory: Last weekend's Golden Globe awards set hearts racing ahead of March's Oscars with plenty of deserving winners next to a few jaw-dropping snubs. 12 Years A Slave predictably came out on top with the big gong but a few unpredictabilities set award odds and Oscars speculation askew. Newbie comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine saw off rivals to claim two awards whilst Blue Jasmine's Cate Blanchett took the leading lady award alongside Dallas Buyers Club's  for the men.

Gravity's Alfonso Cuarón stole Best Director from Steve McQueen whilst Breaking Bad and Behind The Candelabra snatched the big TV awards. The surprise wins also made for some truly memorable speeches too, with Elisabeth Moss exclamation of "Oh s**t!" and Jacqueline Bisset's sweary ramble marking two particular highlights. Read about all the winners here.

Continue reading: A Week In News: Globes And Oscars Mania, Prince Finds His Funny Bone, Lena Dunham Gets A Vogue Make-Over

Arctic Monkeys are looking set to be the stars of the show at this year's NME Awards after the newly-released nominees list shows the British rockers sitting atop a pile of nominations higher than any other artist. The Sheffield group are up for an impressive eight awards this year and are only rivalled by Californian sister group Haim, who have gathered six, according to NME.

Arctic Monkeys Are Leading The NME Awards Nominations.

The band's fifth studio album, AM, rocketed to the top of the charts and has earned Mercury Music Prize and Brit Awards nominations, as well as critical acclaim. The R&B-inspired album faces competition in the Best Album category from Queens Of The Stone Age's ...Like Clockwork, In Love by Peace, Kanye West's Yeezus, Savages' Silence Yourself and Drenge's self-titled debut.

Continue reading: Arctic Monkeys And Haim Lead NME Awards Nominations

Darkside 'Psychic' - After an EP in 2011, Darkside released their debut album this year. The duo - the project of Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington - gave as good as they got on 'Psychic', honing their talents as individual musicians. Wonderfully crisp textures ride over its entirety, creating a rich, confident ambience. 

Continue reading: Hayley Fox's Top Albums Of 2013

Vampire Weekend 'Modern Vampire in the City' - 'Modern Vampires in the City' makes it three for three for the New Yorkers and their latest release could very well be their best yet. It shows evolution for the band, but they have retained that essential quality that made 'Contra' and their self-titled debut such wonderfully upbeat and genuine pleasures to listen to each time. 'Modern Vampire in the City' is also the release that marks Vampire Weekend as a band that should be taken seriously, but one who you can still have immense fun with. 'Diane Young' is yet another indie floor filler, standing shoulder to shoulder with previous bangers 'A-Punk' and 'Cousins.' Where the album really excels, however, is when VW reach out to new quarters and sound completely inimitable. The yelps of 'Ya Hey' bring fun to a song that essentially deals with the theme of lost conviction, the graceful 'Hanna Hunt' erupts in the most complete song released this year and album opener 'Obvious Bicycle' sets the whole thing in motion with its refreshingly angelic melodies and steady, train-like clunks that lie beneath all the splendour. Vampire Weekend are no longer the Brooklyn minions rattling at the gates of eminence, the gates have been swung open for them and the welcoming committee should have made them feel rightly at home. 

Continue reading: Contactmusic.com's Top Albums Of 2013

The 2014 Grammy Awards will take place in January 2014, with the full list of nominees being revealed over the weekend. Jay-Z was the most capped nominee, with nine nods in total, whilst Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Kendrick Lamar and Daft Punk were also among the list of potential winners, but there were a number of artists who were nowhere to be seen on the list of nominations.

After their shock win in 2011, Arcade Fire have been ignored this time

Despite their last album, The Suburbs, being a runaway success at the 2011 Grammy Awards, Arcade Fire are nowhere to be seen on next year's list. Their fourth album, Reflektor, was met with almost universal praise and some critics noted that it was an improvement form their latest release, but it seems as though the Grammy committee weren't as impressed as everyone else. The Canadian band don't even appear in the Best Alternative categories, however it is pleasing to see Tame Impala and Vampire Weekend among the nominees in this category, especially considering VW released one of the albums of the year with Modern Vampires of the City.

Continue reading: Grammy Awards 2014 Nominations: Who Are The Notable Absentees On The Nominee's List

The Arctic Monkeys and Katy Perry have been announced as the first acts to be confirmed for the 2014 Brit Awards, due to take place in February next year. The awards showcase will be held at London's O2 Arena and will be hosted by James Cordon, in what will be his fifth and final appearance as host of the ceremony.

The Sheffield band aren't known for taking the BRITs seriously

Despite a history of mockery and at times a refusal to even acknowledge the awards show, the acceptance to open the 2014 BRIT Awards marks an acceptance from the band that they are now the country's foremost rock act and it is high time that they recognised this and took advantage with these types of performances.

Continue reading: Arctic Monkeys & Katy Perry First Acts Confirmed For BRIT Awards 2014

Laura Mvula's debut albumSing To The Moon, one of the contenders for the BBC Sound of 2013 title, could claim a far more lucrative and career-defining prize at London's Roundhouse tonight.

Laura Mvula Is The Favourite For the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize

For weeks, Disclosure's Settle has been the bookmakers' favorite to win the Barclaycard sponsored prize and £20,000 prize money, though on Wednesday Mvula's impressive record - a fusion of jazz, pop and even orchestral elements- was cut to just 4/6 with most bookies. Paddy Power are still holding strong with even money odds, but there's been an undeniable shift in who the bookmakers believe will win the Mercury Music Prize, presented by Lauren Laverne tonight.

Continue reading: Is Laura Mvula The Winner Of The Mercury Music Prize 2013?

Arctic Monkeys kicked off the first night of their UK tour at Newcastle's Metro Radio Arena on Tuesday evening (October 22, 2013), reports NME.com.

Supported by buzz band The Strypes, the band played to a sell-out crowd and opened up with Do I Wanna Know, the first single from acclaimed new record AM. 

Despite rarely addressing the crowd throughout, the band mixed new tracks including Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High? and Knee Socks with classics Mardy Bum, Dancing Shoes, I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor and Teddy Picker.

Continue reading: Alex Turner Continues To Channel Elvis As Arctic Monkeys Play Newcastle

Annual sales of vinyl LPs has benefitted from a surge in sales in the past year, pushing the sales of records over the half million mark for the first time since 2003, reports The Independent. The regrowth in the popularity of the retro format is being attributed largely to releases from UK rockers Arctic Monkeys and French electronic act Daft Punk.

Arctic Monkeys Have Helped Vinyl Sales Recover.

"The LP is back in the groove," says Geoff Taylor - the chief executive of the BPI (British Phonographic Industry). "We're witnessing a renaissance for records - they're no longer retromania and are becoming the format of choice for more and more music fans. This year has been a treat for vinyl aficionados with releases from Daft Punk, David Bowie, Arctic Monkeys and Black Sabbath."

Continue reading: Retro Rocks: Vinyl Sales Highest Since 2003 Thanks To Daft Punk & Arctic Monkeys

The Arctic Monkeys are riding a wave of high praise. Their fifth album, AM, was met with critical acclaim from far and wide, which, judging by their artistic prowess, is all they really wanted from it. But the accolades don’t stop there: they are now record breakers as the only independently signed band to get five albums to the number one slot.

Having dominated the headphones of teenagers all over the land with their 2005 release of I Bet You Look Good on The Dancefloor The Arctic Monkeys have gone from strength to strength, culminating in a refined body of work. They now stand above Blur – five consecutive number ones but not all of them released by independent labels – as the U.K’s truest representation of indie music.

A spokesman for the Official Charts Company said yesterday: “It’s proof that you don’t have to be backed by a multinational to be successful. I guess it’s kind of the flip-side to the likes of the X Factor and The Voice.” (Telegraph)

Continue reading: Independent Arctic Monkeys Set Record With Five Straight #1 Albums

The Arctic Monkeys have done it again! Their fifth album to date has entered the chart at number one after a strong week of sales since last week's release, with AM racking up more than 157,000 in sold units in only a few days. What's more, the band have made history by being the first indie band to achieve the feat of earning five No. 1 albums back-to-back, making the feat all the more impressive.

The Arctics have assumed their place among rock royalty

AM, which was released via Domino Record on Monday, 9 September, is now the second most successful album of 2013 in terms of units sold in the first week. It sits behind only Daft Punk's Random Access Memories, which sold more than 165,000 copies during its first week of release in May, according to the Official Charts Company. The Sheffield band's fifth number one entry is also frontman Alex Turner's sixth number one entry, after his cinematic side project The Last Shadow Puppets topped the charts at the first time of asking with 2008's The Age of the Understatement.

Continue reading: Arctic Monkeys Make History With Their Fifth Consecutive Number One

British band 'Arctic Monkeys' have reached No.1 in the album charts for the 5th time with their new album, AM.

The Sheffield boys will be celebrating their latest album success as AM sold 157,000 copies last week, reported BBC, and in doing so they have broken an album charts record. They are the first band on an independent label to have all of their 5 albums reach No.1, according to the Official Charts Company.

Not bad for four lads from Yorkshire.

Continue reading: Arctic Monkeys Make History With 5th No.1 Album, AM

This year's Barclaycard Mercury Prize could be one of the greatest lists of nominees in the awards history. 2013's nominees shortlist includes talent old and new, rock, pop, and dance with one thing to unite them all: they represent a selection of Britain and Ireland's strongest mainstream albums released during the last 12 months.

Bowie Looking A Favourite To Win.

It would be almost too easy to say that David Bowie will win: the 66 year-old made a triumphant and unexpected return this year with the critically lauded The Next Day which was recorded in secret over two years. He's also the bookies favourite along with Arctic Monkeys at the moment, with odds that are unlikely to change. Last time Bowie was nominated was in 2002 when he suffered defeat to pop star Ms. Dynamite but this time round there's been such a lot of press surrounding Bowie's come-back that he's been hard to ignore.

Continue reading: Mercury Music Prize List Has "More Good Albums...Than For A Very Long Time"

David Bowie came back from his retirement/hiatus completely unannounced this January, when he released the video for the single 'Where Are We Now,' and managed to catch everyone off guard with his birthday announcement of a new release and the subsequent quality of his first album in a decade.

This is Bowie's first Mercury nomination

The Next Day made the critics swoon after Ziggy Stardust once again and now, five months after he released his twenty-fourth album, Bowie is still being fancied by critics as he emerges as the front-runner to win this years Barclaycard Mercury Prize.

Continue reading: David Bowie Leads The Pack In Mercury Prize Nominations

London gig crowds are notorious for their, shall we say, subdued reaction to the music being played on-stage, though one plucky northerner tried to change all that at the iTunes Festival at Camden's Roundhouse last night (September 10, 2013), reports BBC News.

Arctic Monkeys were launching their new album A.M - which has received glittering reviews - with the help of The Coral's former virtuoso guitarist Bill Ryder-Jones, though the crowd's reaction to the cameo was subdued, at best.

It prompted Turner to tell fans to "wake up" at the gig, before yelling another introduction for Ryder-Jones. Earlier in the show, the Sheffield-native had told the audience they were "hard to read" and dedicated the song Snap Out Of It to them.

Continue reading: Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner Asks London Crowd To 'Wake Up' At ITunes Gig

The Arctic Monkeys have a new album coming out. What's more, they're making their fifth release, titled AM, available to stream in it's entirety, for free, on the iTunes store almost a full week before it is due to be officially released.

The Sheffield band are back with their fifth album

With the release of their fifth album, this marks the return of the Sheffield rockers to the music scene on a full-time basis, with promotional appearances and a full arena tour lined up for the coming weeks. Having unveiled the new track 'Arabella' earlier this week during their headlining slot at Zurich's Openair Festival, the band will have a brand new set list to unveil when they head out on tour later this year.

Continue reading: Arctic Monkeys Put New Album Online To Stream For Free [Listen]

Liam Gallagher and his band Beady Eye played an unbilled set at the Glastonbury Festival on Friday morning (June 28, 2013), officially opening three days of music set to be headlined by Arctic Monkeys, The Rolling Stones and Mumford & Sons. The show took place on The Other Stage at the rather early time of 11am, though thousands made the journey from their soaked tents to watch the former Oasis man.

Liam Gallagher Performing With Beady Eye At The Glastonbury Festival

Though Beady Eye's show did not feature in the programme, frotman Liam has dropped a major hint earlier in the week, tweeting, "11am Friday - BE there or BE square.LG," while photographs showed the band travelling to Glastonbury on the train. Gallagher had always vowed never to return to the Pilton site following his former band's headlining set in 2004, telling The Sun, "The sound is s*** and really quiet. You can hear the crowd talking while you're playing.It's like Bond Street with mud, with loads of celebrities walking around in their boots and umbrellas. I'm not having it."

Continue reading: Liam Gallagher Opens Glastonbury Festival With Oasis Songs [Pictures]

Liam Gallagher was given the enviable job of opening the 2013 Glastonbury Festival with a surprise set on The Other Stage on Friday morning (June 28, 2013). The singer, who aired his dismay for the festival following his former band Oasis' set in 2004, arrived on-stage and immediately launched into Flick of the Finger, a recent single for Beady Eye.

Liam Gallagher Performing With Beady Eye At Brixton Academy

The cloudy weather and early start did nothing to deter the famous Mancunian, who was on typically brash form. "It's never too early for a bit of Rock'n'Roll aggro, is it?" asked Gallagher as his new band launched into Morning Glory, an Oasis hit written by his brother Noel Gallagher.

Continue reading: Liam Gallagher's Beady Eye Open Glastonbury Festival With Morning Set

Many Glasto goers woke up to the pitter patter of rain on canvas this morning as Wednesday's warm, humid weather well and truly dissolved into rain. By the Thursday evening, the site was drenched - what had initially been forecast as a "short sharp shower turned into an all-day deluge," according to the BBC. And where there's rain, there's mud: big sticky, gloopy, welly-stealing piles of it. This didn't deter any of the 118,000 ticket holders already onsite, with revellers retreating to indoor tents or embracing the wet weather and sludge with gusto by making mud slides. As the main festival wasn't even fully underway by then, we can't say we'd like to be sharing their tent this weekend - let's hope they've brought some babywipes!

Glastonbury Festival Organisers Michael & Daughter Emily Eavis.

Unlike everywhere else in the country, the rest of the weekend in the South-West is set to be mild, but not exactly toasty, with mean temperatures of 18°C combined with average windspeeds of about 15mph: so that little weather forecaster's cartoon of a grey cloud will pretty much sum up the weekend. 2009's extreme weather saw torrential downpours and thunderstorms lighting up the valley but was followed by 2010's glorious sunshine, which caused sunstroke and dust problems. Punters have a whole weekend of musical, comical and performance joy ahead of them to distract them from any weather woes though. Saturday night will be headlined by The Rolling Stones who have described the Glastonbury headline slot as an experience they were "destined" for, with organisers Michael and Emily Eavis "thrilled" to have the legendary Stones perform.

Continue reading: Glastonbury Weather Dries Up Ready For The Big Acts

The weather forecast for the Glastonbury Festival this weekend does not look brilliant: expect a lot of cloud. However, those visiting the Glastonbury Festival this year may be pleased (or rather not depending on your predisposition) to hear the traditional mud is likely to be back. Around 135,000 people attend the festival annually and this year is no exception. The festival site, located near the Somerset village of Pilton, opened its gates for early goers. Most slept in their cars overnight lying in wait to get a decent (probably on higher ground) site to set up camp.

Beyonce Played A Barmstorming Set At Glastonbury In 2011

The weather forecast for Shepton Mallet (the closest town to the festival site), according to the BBC, is:

Continue reading: Glastonbury Festival Weather 2013: Get Your Wellies On