So, the next leg of the JD Set is nearly upon us, and it's down to me to start handing out places on the guestlist, on my show. The tour visits Belfast, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester and London, so if there's a gig near you - get blagging! There will be loads happening on my show - guests on the forum, interviews, sessions - but it really started today with Matt from Dinosaur Pile-Up choosing his top 5 tunes. As befitting a band who are bringing giant grungey riffs back into the public eye, there were some familiar names on the list: Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Foos, and what seems to be a (very healthy) obsession with the first few Weezer albums. Matt also let slip that he ended up loving all of these albums by finding them all, at the time, in his older brother's bedroom!

Dinosaur Pile-Up play the JD set Tour on the 14th of May, I reckon it's going to be a blinder..Right, time to get back to the show - loads more JD set stuff on the way....

So, after their triumphant gig for NME Radio at the weekend, Today was the time to broadcast the exclusive session and interview that Howling Bells did for the JD Set.
Juanita and Brendan from the band discussed where the title of the album "Radio Wars" comes from (fighting over who plays what on the car stereo, apparently!) They also chatted about how the album took quite some time to record (it all happened over the course of three years) leaving them frustrated at times - but they channeled that frustration back into their songwriting, and the album emerged much stronger because of it.

They also revelead that they've already got sixteen tracks lined up for the NEXT Howling Bells album, including some tracks which didn't make the cut this time round!
Plenty of other JD Set stuff happening in my show this week, including the last chances to blag tickets - you've got until Thursday, so get going! We've also got Owen from General Fiasco coming in on the Forum tomorrow from 4, then on Thursday you can hear a Top 5 from the Curator of this year's JD Set gigs, the one and only Don Letts. Don has done some amazing things in his career, from being the first-ever Punk Rock DJ at legendary Punk venue The Roxy, to managing The Slits, to being in 80's heroes Big Audio Dynamite - he's done it all. His Top 5 should be very interesting indeed, you can hear it on my show, Thursday from 5pm!

Another busy week for the JD set kicked off with the lovely Juanita Stein, smoky-voiced chanteuse for Aussie rockers Howling Bells choosing her top 5 tunes. Alongside some tunes you could possibly have predicted (Bjork's sinister masterpiece "Human Behaviour" for example), there were definitely some choices you wouldn't have expected: the gravel-voiced Tom Waits's "In The Coloseum", for example. Howling bells play the JD Set tour in Newcastle next week, and you'd be mad to pass up the chance to see them play an intimate little gig like this, so get on the case and try to win some tickets!

Our next JD Set guest was Matt, drummer from the Brute Chorus, London's kings of raucous, dark Rockabilly. He'd just come from sessions to mix The Brute Chorus's debut album, recorded at the Roundhouse, in London, in just one take! Despite the rigours of the recording studio, he was in top form, by turns flummoxed and impressed with the weeks big releases on the Music Forum. Matt's favourite tune? "Whole World On Its Head" by Post War Years.
Then, on Thursday, Everything Everything gave us one of the sessions of the year so far - seriously, they were amazing: the version of their first single "Suffragette Suffragette" was jaw-droppingly good. Charming fellas too, just as happy to talk about famed poet Ezra Pound as they were to chat about the rigours of touring!

Lots more JD Set stuff next week, including of course, the last chances to get your hands on those precious tickets.....

So, the JD Set has returned once again, and we're getting into the swing of things at NME Radio! On Tuesday, electropop's latest heroine Little Boots gave us her Top 5, and she dropped into the studios for an exclusive session and interview as well!
She did a version of "Meddle" for us, which was even better than this......

She's doing the JD Set tour, and i've got tickets to give away every day on my show, so get blagging!
And while we're talking about the tour, It was great to get the legendary Don Letts in on the forum - he's curating all the gigs on the JD Set tour, and was on top form. There's loads more JD set tour stuff to come next week, including a Top 5 from Juanita Stein of the very wonderful Howling Bells, I'll keep you all posted, more soon!

So, let’s look back at the first week of the JD set UK tour here at NME Radio. We’ve had lots to do, loads of people in the studios, and lots of people clamouring for tickets. Kicking it all off was Stranglers legend Hugh Cornwell, who is the curator of the current JD Set Tour. Hugh came down to do a takeover of NME Radio, play some of his favourite music, and chat about his career and the tour. He was on fine form, and seemed really energised by his new album, the latest in a solo career that’s now lasted longer than the time he was actually in The Stranglers. His new album “Hoover Dam” was recorded with Liam Miller at Toe Rag studios, famous as the place where The White Stripes recorded, and to keep himself plugged even further into the zeitgeist, it’s been released as a free download! You can get it now, free, from here!. Hugh played a track off the album, as well as some of the tunes that have influenced him over the years – so we were treated to a wonderfully diverse selection: from honky-tonk country to the crooning of Bobby Darin, from Richard Thompson to the theme tune to Batman. Great stuff!

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