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Glastonbury has unveiled its first line-up poster for the annual festival, which will take place this year from June 22nd to 26th at Worthy Farm. The newly confirmed acts will join already announced headliners Muse, Adele and Coldplay, with a further 800 acts to be announced on a second poster in the coming weeks. 

We’re pleased to reveal our first Glastonbury Festival 2016 line-up poster (by Stanley Donwood)… pic.twitter.com/k6t3d7b1PH

— Glastonbury Festival (@GlastoFest) March 29, 2016

Continue reading: Glastonbury Festival Reveals First Line-Up Poster

Despite being about as VIP as you can get in the world of rock stardom, Sir Paul McCartney was turned away from Tyga’s Grammy Awards afterparty in Los Angeles last night along with Beck and Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins.

As reported by TMZ, the 73 year old Beatles legend was twice refused entry to the Argyle in Hollywood, where Kylie Jenner’s boyfriend Tyga was hosting a lavish afterparty following the conclusion of the Grammys. In a video clip, he can be seen with his wife Nancy Shevell and his two fellow musicians talking in vain to bouncers who didn’t seem to recognise him.

Sir Paul McCartney was not allowed in to Tyga's Grammys afterparty in L.A.

Continue reading: Sir Paul McCartney Refused Entry To Tyga's Grammys Afterparty

Is it really a surprise that Kanye West generated one of the biggest headlines from last night’s Grammys? No. No is the answer. What is surprising, however, is that he didn’t *exactly* pull a Kanye, as the media have dubbed his 2009 stunt.

When you're making controvercial statements, it probably helps if you look awesome doing it.

This time, many Grammy attendees held their breath as Kanye took the stage after Beck’s win for Album of the Year (Beyonce was also nominated in the category). But West kept things civil, at least during the show. Only afterwards, speaking to E! News, did he let loose his true feelings on Beyonce’s snub. Beck should have given his award to Beyonce was the gist of it.

Continue reading: Kanye West At The Grammys: "You All Know What It Meant When 'Ye Walks On The Stage"

Nope, we promise we haven't formed a news story from a selection of random rock legends, and musical devices. Neil Young has launched his first 'Pono' music player - an alternative to the iPod - via crowdfunding website Kickstarter.

Neil Young Is Taking On Apple

Young posted a video featuring fans like Jack White, Arcade Fire and Mumford & Sons, promising a high-fidelity alternative to Apple's music player and promising that it helps convey "the feeling, spirit, and emotion that the artists put in their original studio recordings".

Continue reading: Neil Young Crowdfunding Alernative To The IPod. Think About That.

Lena Dunham will host the second episode of the new season of Saturday Night Live, which will be broadcast on the 8th March, according to Deadline. The Girls creator will be making her hosting debut on the comedy entertainment show during the same episode that Brooklyn rockers The National are set to also grace SNL for the first time.

Lena Dunham Will Host 'SNL' On The 8th March.

SNL has parodied Lena Dunham's HBO comedy before, in the memorable skit where Tina Fey plays a new girl from Albania in a send-up of the core characters' entitled lives. Now Lena will in turn make her mark on the show after having called the hilarious SNL parody of Girls "a true honor."

Continue reading: Lena Dunham To Host 'SNL' As The National Make Their Musical Debut

Beck's first real album in six years Morning Phase is billed as a companion piece to his 2002 confessional LP Sea Change, which itself was considered the singer-songwriter's best work upon its release. Since the Dangermouse produced Modern Guilt, there's also been an album of sheet music - Song Reader - though his latest record harks back to the subtle brilliance of that acoustic-driven album, 12 years ago.  

Beck Has Returned with 'Modern Phase'

Morning Phase was preceded by the dreamy tones of first single Blue Moon and critics agree that the record is rich with similarly ethereal gems.

Continue reading: Sea Change For Beck As 'Morning Phase' Gets Back To Brilliant Basics

The Coachella festival always manages to bring out the big names for its annual two weekend spectacular in April. This year, organizers have outdone themselves with a feast of big name acts that will take to Coachella’s sun soaked stage. From the relatively new wave makers like Lorde and Bastille to heavyweights such as Muse and of course the reunited Outkast there is something for everyone in the Californian sun. In order to really whet your appetite, we’re running down the 10 acts you simply cannot afford to miss at this year’s Coachella Festival.

Beck will be preforming at this year's Coachella festival

Beck

Continue reading: Coachella Festival 2014: Your Guide To This Year's Lineup

Beck and Foals have been added to the line-up of this year’s Bestival festival, joining fellow headliners Outkast. Beck will headline the main stage on Thursday night, with Outkast on Friday and Foals on the Saturday night.

Foals will headline Bestival on Saturday night

Festival curator and DJ Rob da Bank made the announcement saying, "Ahoy there shipmates and welcome to my desert island! Yes folks, HMS Bestival has set sail once more and we have finally landed back on the Isle of Wight for our 11th instalment - a Desert Island Disco. Foals were voted best live act of last year and I'm delighted they'll be headlining the Saturday night – there’s no better indie guitar band in the UK right now.

Continue reading: Bestival Line-Up Just Keeps On Getting Better As Beck And Foals Join Outkast

Coachella 2014 will be returning to Indio, California, this spring for a two-weekend spectacular that will see some of the world's biggest performers gather in one polo field in the middle of the desert. This week the full line-up for the latest incarnation of the ever-popular festival was announced, with the bill yet another feast for the eyes (and eventually the ears too).

Big Boi and Andre 3000 will reunited for the headline performance

Eight years since their last album and eventual hiatus, Outkast will reform to headline the first day of the festival, which will kick start on the weekend of 11-13 April. The Grammy-winning hip-hop duo will be joined on the first day by fellow returnees The Knife, who released their first album in seven years - the acclaimed Shaking the Habitual - in 2013 and The Replacements, who reformed in 2012. Ellie Goulding, Chromeo, Haim, A$AP Ferg, Bryan Ferry, DJ Falcon and many others will also appear on the first day.

Continue reading: OutKast, Muse And Arcade Fire To Headline Coachella 2014

Life Is Beautiful Festival 2013 brings top artists of all walks of life to Downtown Las Vegas this weekend for two days of cracking music, scrumptious gourmet food and breath-taking art.

This brand new festival opens for the first time this year from October 26th - 27th and will certainly be marked as a highlight for festival lovers this autumn. Headlining the event are The Killers, who will hit the Downtown Stage on the Sunday, and Kings Of Leon who will perform likewise on the Saturday. Californian singer Beck will also be making an appearance alongside Vampire Weekend, who topped the US chart with their album 'Modern Vampires of the City' earlier this year, and Imagine Dragons who are returning home to play some of their platinum hits to the neighbours. 

Continue reading: Life Is Beautiful Festival Debuts In Vegas - With An Understatement Of A Name

Treasure Island Music Festival returns to San Francisco, California this October for two days with an impressive selection of live music and other entertainment at a stunning location on this popular man-made island.

Headlining Saturday, October 19th is Radiohead singer Thom Yorke's supergroup Atoms For Peace - a band with a dream team line-up in itself who released their debut album earlier this year - who will be joined by the likes of dancehall DJ Major Lazer and British duo Disclosure. Sunday 20th sees yet more great sets from exclusive headliner Beck, as well as Animal Collective, hyped band of the moment Haim, London indie group Palma Violets and pop duo Sleigh Bells. What's more, you don't have to miss out on any of this incredible music as bands will be spread out on two stages, with no-one playing at the same time and, more importantly, no interruptions.

Continue reading: Treasure Island Music Festival 2013 To Arrive With Another Weekend Of Uninterrupted Musical Fun

It is perhaps Beck's strangest album. Song Reader - the record made up entirely of sheet music - was played in full at London's Barbican Theatre on Sunday (July 7, 2013), with a huge cast of musicians including Jarvis Cocker, Franz Ferdinand and Beth Orton. This potentially had disaster written all over it, though reviews suggest the album was perfectly  realised in the historic setting.

Song Reader contains twenty new songs, all publishing on song sheets. The tracks are scored for keys, guitar and voice though Beck's intention was for fans to elaborate and change the songs to their liking. As noted by the Financial Times' Ludovic Hunter-Tilney in his review, songwriter Ed Harcourt was given that job on the piano. He was accompanied by flugelhorns, ukuleles, drums and guitars.  The veteran punk poet John Cooper Clarke read prose between songs while female vocal trio The Staves helped out on vocals.

David Smyth of the Evening Standard suggested the concert will have encouraged fans to have a go themselves, writing, "The songs Beck performed himself sounded the most predictable, with acoustic guitar to the fore, though a jazzy, catchy Do We, We Do would have stood out regardless of the singer. For those buying the book in the lobby, it was a case of do try this at home."

Continue reading: Song Reader: Beck Plays Album Of Sheet Music At London's Barbican

Depending on the way you look at it, Beck's decision to release his last album in the form of sheet music was either incredibly innovative or unforgivably pretentious. Released in December 2012, Song Reader comprised of twenty songs in sheet music form as well as over one hundred pages of art. The idea behind the unusual decision was to let the fan become the composer, with many interpretations quickly surfacing online showing the versatility of the pieces.

Prolific Experimentalist Beck Invited A Host Of Artists To Help Him Perform Song Reader live.

This was all very well if you're a Beck fan with some degree of musical talent but for those hungering for the white rap of Odelay, the pop experimentation of Midnite Vultures or the sweet melancholy of Sea Change were left feeling a little bemused and perhaps even cheated.

Continue reading: Beck Summons An Army To Help Him Turn 'Song Reader' Into Music