News

Happy Mondays are planning a new album, they have confirmed. The Manchester band's management told NME that they are working on a new record, which will be the first time all the original line-up of the band recorded new material album of new material since 1992's Yes Please!.

Animal Collective look back over their entire career in the brand new issue of Uncut.

The Velvet Underground's classic debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, is set to be re-released as a six disc package on October 1. The 1967 album will be re-released in order to celebrate its 45th anniversary. The six discs will include the original stereo and mono versions of the album, as well as Nico's Chelsea Girl album and two live discs taken from a show at the Valleydale Ballroom in Columbus, Ohio.

Dinosaur Jr's new album features a funk influence and a song about vampires. The band are set to release their tenth studio album I Bet On The Sky on September 17. "There's a couple of songs with more of a groove, a little bit mellower, but there’s some heavier stuff on it too," singer J Mascis told NME. "It's funky for us, but not that funky. I like the first song 'Don't Pretend You Didn't Know' the best, that’s one of the funkier numbers, it seemed to come together in a good way."

Joe Strummer’s secret history is revealed in the new issue of Uncut.

Lou Reed is set to play a one-off London show as part of the Antony-curated Meltdown festival this August. The former Velvet Underground frontman will play at London's Royal Festival Hall on August 10, as part of the Southbank Centre’s Festival of the World with MasterCard. We have a pair of tickets to give away to one lucky winner to see Reed's Meltdown show, as well as a signed self portrait photo, and Meantime ale to drink throughout the night for free.

New Order have announced their first North American since 2005. The band's seven-date tour begins in San Francisco before visiting Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. Said singer Bernard Sumner said, “We’ve been having such a great time together this year, playing shows all over Europe, and we're all really excited to be playing America again. We have so many friends and fans there we can't wait to get back!" New Order's last American show was at the Hammerstein Ballroom in May, 2005. Their last Canadian show was 11 years ago, in 2001.

The xx have announced a trio of intimate UK shows for September. The London band will take to the stage at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire on September 10 - the same day they release second album Coexist. They will follow this hometown show with gigs at The Coal Exchange in Cardiff on September 11 and Edinburgh's Usher Hall on September 12. The xx are also scheduled to perform at Bestival on the Isle of Wight on September 7.

Bruce Springsteen and E-Street Band member Steve Van Zandt made a surprise appearance last night [July 22] at a memorial concert in Norway to mark the anniversary of last year's terror attacks. The event, held in Oslo's City Square, featured a number of local artists. Springsteen and Van Zandt appeared to play protest song, "We Shall Overcome" [watch below], telling the 60,000 strong audience: "Steve and I are honored to be included here tonight. For all of us who love democracy and tolerance, it's an international tragedy."

Blur have launched their own interactive app for iPad and iPhone. Blur: The App will be available to download free via iTunes from today (July 23). The software has been designed to serve as a companion for the band's upcoming 21-disc retrospective, Blur 21: The Box, which will be released on July 30.