The week’s 20 biggest news stories (04 March)

1
 

Graham Coxon has said that his new solo album ‘A+E’ is about “the bleaker side of things”. The Blur guitarist said that his forthcoming new LP, which is released on April 2, will focus less on romance and “moaning about relationships and girls” than his previous studio efforts. “This time I started to listen to the bleaker side of things more,” he said.

2
 

Peter Hook has branded ‘Aerial’, a track that surfaced online this week that purported to be an unreleased song from Joy Division as a “bloody awful hoax”. Asked if he’d heard ‘Aerial’, he said: “I’ve heard it. It’s a hoax and it’s bloody awful. They’re quite clever, these guys, they sound like college kids to me, they’ve captured the atmosphere quite well, but it’s a hoax.”

3
 

Florence And The Machine, The Horrors and Arctic Monkeys were the big winners at the 2012 NME Awards at London’s O2 Academy Brixton. Florence And The Machine won two awards, taking home the prizes for Best Solo Artist and Best Track for ‘Shake It Out’. The Horrors were awarded Best Album and the Arctic Monkeys won Best Live Band

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4
 

Tenacious D have revealed all the details of their new album ‘Rize Of The Fenix’. The duo will release the album on May 15. The album is the follow-up to 2006’s ‘The Pick of Destiny’ and 2001’s self-titled debut. Dave Grohl, who has drummed on both of the band’s previous efforts, has once again contributed to the album.

5
 

Casting for a musical based on the music of the late hip hop star Tupac Shakur will begin later this week in New York. ‘Holler If Ya Hear Me’ will be directed by three-time Tony Award winner Kenny Leon, reports All Hip Hop. Tupac’s mother Afeni Shakur has approved the new production, which has put a call out for “African American Male and Female rappers ages 18 – 35”

6
 

Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris has denied claims that an impersonator sang on her father’s posthumous album. TMZ reported that Paris had claimed that singer Jason Malachi had contributed vocals to the LP ‘Michael’. However, she has now taken to Twitter to deny the claims, writing: “‘Hold My Hand’ IS my dad actually singing.”

7
 

George Michael wants to record a duet with Adele, according to reports. With the former Wham! man now recovering after his battle with pneumonia at the end of last year, a source said: “George is working on his album for the first time since his life-threatening illness and he’s in great shape. It is no secret that he adores Adele.”

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Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong has said that the band’s new album will be “the first time we ever really sung about fucking”. With the band confirming earlier this month that they had begun work on the LP, Armstrong said: “I think it’s so personal and so voyeuristic. This is the first time we ever really sung about fucking.”

9
 

Whitney Houston’s death is likely to be ruled as accidental, according to sources close to the investigation. The source claimed that “nothing suspicious” had been found in relation to the singer’s death. They added: “She has no marks on her body whatsoever to indicate a struggle, and she was the furthest thing from trying to kill herself.”

10
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The money raised by Led Zeppelin’s 2007 comeback show at London’s O2 Arena has helped to fund a £26 million donation to Oxford University. The show took place as a tribute to the late Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun. Ertegun’s widow, Mica, has now donated money from the fund to Oxford University, to help create scholarships for humanities students.

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The Monkees’ singer Davy Jones has died at the age of 66. The Manchester-born entertainer died at his home in Florida on February 29 after suffering a heart attack in his sleep, according to his publicist Deborah Robicheau.

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12
 

Adele is set to break David Bowie terms of number of weeks spent at Number One in the UK’s Official Albums Chart this weekend. The singer’s monstrously successful second album ’21’ is set to achieve its 22nd non-consecutive week on top of the Official UK Album Chart this Sunday (March 5). She would then pass David Bowie’s total of 22 weeks.

13
 

Odd Future’s Frank Ocean has insisted that he is “paying homage” to The Eagles’ Don Henley on his track ‘American Wedding’ and doesn’t deserve to be sued. He went on to add: “They also asked that I release a statement expressing my admiration for Mr.Henley, along with my assistance pulling it off the web as much as possible. Shit’s weird. Ain’t this guy rich as fuck?”

14
 

Noel Gallagher has released ‘Shoot A Hole Into The Sun’, the first new material from his collaboration with Amorphous Androgynous, online. The former Oasis man will put out the track as the B-side to his latest single ‘Dream On’ which will be released on March 12 via Gallagher’s own Sour Mash label.

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