Imogen Heap, Bill Bailey, Jarvis - the stars have been lining up to take our Tweet Nothings test, where followers of @NMEmagazine on Twitter and users of NME.COM supply the questions, and now 30 Seconds To Mars are the latest to face the test.

When Bill Bailey did the interview recently he told us why Buzzcocks sucks now and what music to choose to impress a first date among other things; watch the interview here:

So what do you want to ask Jared Leto and 30 Seconds To Mars as they take the test? Let rip and let your imagination go wild. We need answers by the end of this afternoon...

Alright: so by ‘World exclusive info’, what I actually mean is ‘who I think will be the other two headliners at Glastonbury next year’. Technically, that is world exclusive information. So I’m not conning anyone here with that headline, OK?

Read more...

As pop phenomena go, Jedward has to be one of the most short-lived, far-reaching and utterly ridiculous. Like a fly trapped in the ointment of 'The X Factor', it was always going to be brief but messy.

John and Edward couldn't sing to save their lives. They definitely couldn't dance. And they weren't even particularly likeable – showing their true colours early on in the audition stages of the competition, they were snipey, arrogant and hungry for overnight fame with all of its hollow trappings. Asked where they saw themselves some years in the future by the judges, one of the twins (God knows which) replied "older" with a petulant wisecrack that saw the judges' faces drop with annoyance.

Read more...

So U2 will be playing the 40th anniversary Glastonbury festival, on Friday, June 25. We shouldn't be too surprised. Michael Eavis promised a huge name. It was hardly going to be Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong.

The only weird thing is that it's taken them this long to do it. Few artists crave the giant spectacle more than Bono – and Glastonbury, these days, is about the biggest spectacle there is. Already, the NME office is resounding to cynical carping: it'll be too slick, too earnest. Bono will treat the Pyramid as his own personal pulpit. And so on.

But cynicism doesn't belong at Glastonbury. Here's why I reckon it'll be a spectacular show (and bear in mind Eavis has an even bigger act lined up for Saturday night...)

Read more...

Tell a certain kind of serious-minded music fan that Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours' isn't perfect, and he'll give you an uppercut to the jaw. And he'd be right to. I love that album more than is probably healthy. Yet even a tragic Fleetwood Mac nerd like me would admit that it could have been better.

This morning, during a rain-lashed trudge to work, 'Oh Daddy' came on my iPod – the closest thing 'Rumours' has to a filler track – and I thought, What, you included this, yet you rejected Stevie Nicks' astonishing, hymn-like ballad 'Silver Springs', a song that positively bellows: Rousing Album-Closer?

Read more...

There's a flood of new entries to the NME Chart this week. Ellie Goulding has the highest debut, sliding in to sixth place with 'Under The Sheets', while Them Crooked Vultures and Radar favourites Marina & The Diamonds both also break the Top 20. Elsewhere and there's new offerings from Frightened Rabbit, Groove Armada and Muse too. Arctic Monkeys and The Big Pink are among the highest climbers, while The Prodigy and Miike Snow make dramatic falls.

Don't forget you can hear the brand new chart on NME Radio every Monday from 10am, and you can watch the Top 10 vids on NME TV every Tuesday and Wednesday at 9am and 6pm, as well as the complete Top 40 on Saturday at 4pm and Sunday at 8pm.

Let us know what you think of the results below...

Read more...