Carl Barât reveals solo album and memoir book details

Carl Barât will release his self-titled debut solo album on October 4.

The Libertines man will also release a book about his experiences in bands, Three Penny Memoir, around the album's release.

The album features collaborations with Miike Snow's Andrew Wyatt and The Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon. A single, 'Run With The Boys', will be out on the same day as the album.

Watch the video on the right to see Barât discussing why he's going solo.

The tracklisting of Carl Barât's solo album is:

'The Magus'
'Je Regrette, Je Regrette'
'She's Something'
'Carve My Name'
'Run With The Boys'
'The Fall'
'So Long, My Lover'
'What Have I Done'
'Shadows Fall'
'Ode To A Girl'

The Libertines recently announced details of a Reading And Leeds Festivals warm-up show set for the HMV Forum, London on August 25.

Arcade Fire announce new album tracklisting plus Reading And Leeds Festivals warm-up

Arcade Fire have announced the tracklisting for new album 'The Suburbs' - as well as details of a warm-up gig in London to prepare for their headline appearance at the Reading And Leeds Festivals this August.

The album, which is released on August 3, has the following tracklisting:

'The Suburbs'
'Ready to Start'
'Modern Man'
'Rococo'
'Empty Room'
'City With No Children'
'Half Light I'
'Half Light II (No Celebration)'
'Suburban War'
'Month of May'
'Wasted Hours'
'Deep Blue'
'We Used to Wait'
'Sprawl I (Flatland)'
'Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)'
'The Suburbs (continued)'

The venue for the band's London warm-up gig is being kept secret at present, but fans wanting to go are being urged to pre-order the album from Store.Universal-Music.co.uk. Once an order has been taken, the buyer will qualify for a pre-sale of tickets to the gig, which will take place during the first week of July.

All those who qualify for the tickets will be offered tickets on a first come-first served basis.

See Store.Universal-Music.co.uk for more information.

Earlier this month (June 7), Arcade Fire previewed 'The Suburbs' live with a comeback gig in Granada Theatre, in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

U2 'lose £100m over cancelled tour'

Bono could cost U2 £100million.

The lead singer of U2 has been told by doctors to rest for two months following emergency back surgery and will now miss out on the start of the group's US leg of their 360 Degree tour.

Bono was said to be “heartbroken” after pulling out of 17 US dates and Glastonbury festival in the UK, and now the problem may hit his bank balance too.

A source told The Sun newspaper: "Bono and the band are covered by insurance but the cost of overheads and missed revenue could easily reach £100 million by the time he's fit enough to perform again."

Paul McGuinness, the manager of the Irish group – made up of Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. - said: "If we play or not, touring still costs us £500,000 a day."

Earlier this month bassist Adam Clayton admitted he and his bandmates would have been happy to put on a simpler tour, but Bono had other plans.

He said: "It was Bono's vision. He's that kind of performer. I think the rest of us would be happy to stand on an old beer crate but he's the person working the stage."

New tour dates are expected to be released later this week.

Ozzy Osbourne, Muse and Weezer Headlining Voodoo Experience Festival

Ozzy Osbourne, Muse and Weezer are set to headline this year's Voodoo Experience Festival in New Orleans that will be held Oct. 29-31. Over 100 bands will play the 12-year-old event, which is held annually over Halloween weekend.

In a press release, heavy metal hero Ozzy Osbourne, a first-timer at Voodoo said, "I can't think of a better way to celebrate Halloween then with a performance in New Orleans."

Other confirmed artists include MGMT, Drake, Florence and the Machine, Paul van Dyk, Hot Chip, Metric, Deadmau5, Street Sweeper Social Club, Jakob Dylan and Three Legs, Jonsi, Eagles of Death Metal, Cage the Elephant, the Airborne Toxic Event, Minus the Bear, Janelle Monae and a reconvened Interpol.

This year's festival will feature a wide variety of musical genres including electronic artists, who've been mostly overlooked in past years. Also, the festival will honor the city's musical bedrock of traditional jazz and Delta blues while exploring new collaborations including collaborations by Preservation Hall Jazz Band with the Stanton Moore Trio and Anders Osborne; Robert Walter with Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars featuring Tab Benoit; and Uncle Lionel Batiste with Cedric Burnside and Lightnin' Malcolm.

The performances will be held in New Orleans historic City Park, near the famed French Quarter. Tickets for the Voodoo Experience can be purchased at the festival's official website.

Kasabian Want To Play Glastonbury Next Year

The `Fire' hitmakers had such a good time performing at last year's event that they are hoping to be asked to top the bill at the world-famous music festival - which takes place in Worthy Farm, Somerset, South England, every June - in 2011.

Singer Tom Meighan said: I remember the sun going down and I had straw jacket on and long hair blowing everywhere all these flags - it was wonderful.

"Last year was amazing so hopefully we'll be about next year and play it."

The group were one of many names linked to replacing U2 - who were forced to pull out of this year's Glastonbury after singer Bono suffered a spinal injury - but insist they were never asked, though they imagine the Irish rockers will be upset about being unable to play.

He added to BANG Showbiz: "It's sad about Bono because he'll be distraught."

Following their festival commitments this summer, Kasabian are planning to go back to the recording studio, but are keeping tight-lipped about who they will be working with on the follow-up to their 2009 LP `West Ryder Pauper Lunatics Asylum'.

He said:" We've got a record coming. We're going to start recording it in the winter, in October. I can't give you any names - I can't say anything."

Pretty Green - Year One

He was voted 'The Greatest Front Man of All Time' by Q magazine earlier in 2010. But Liam Gallagher's no longer merely an iconic rock star. His menswear label Pretty Green has clobbered naysayers with its first three collections. Hard-to-please London fashionistas are reported to be 'pleasantly surprised' indeed some 'very impressed'. Moreover, customers have voted with their wallets on Pretty Green's combination of high production values and classic looks spun with street-style acumen.

Liam has also found time to announce his first movie production. The Longest Cocktail Party which is a "behind the scenes movie" of The Beatles no less, adapted from the word-of-mouth smash book by former Apple Corps 'house hippie' Richard DiLello. And as if that's not enough he is currently in the studio working on a new album with his band Beady Eye.

One year on from the original launch of Pretty Green on June 4th 2009, I met up with Liam at one of his preferred Hampstead watering holes to get his own impression of the last twelve months - and find out what he's planning for the coming year.

Has it been a hectic period since you started Pretty Green?

"Not for me mate, not hectic one bit. It is for other people. If it was hectic I wouldn't be doing it. It's been a good year, man."

Was it a surprise, Pretty Green taking off quite so quickly?

"I'm liking the way it's expanding and all that - it's been great and people seem to like it, the clothes and everything. But am I surprised..? No. Without sounding like an arrogant fucker, no I'm not. Because it's good, isn't it? And people like good things."

True, do you feel the pressure to produce collections that are expected twice yearly, as opposed to albums that are only due once every 2 years or so?

"Not really... You'd have to ask everyone else, It's not hard for me. It's a buzz isn't it man? Making new clothes. It's not hard for me pointing out things, saying 'Yes' or 'No' and 'Do it this way', bringing my ideas to the table. But I'm sure it's hard for the others at times."

What new designs can we expect?

"We've got footwear coming out - pumps, desert boots, jeans, you know - as usual with a twist. Some top jackets, like Steve McQueen used to wear. All sorts, something for everyone - shorts for the summer..."

And what items have been the most successful of the three collections to date?

"Everything man. The parkas were obviously popular but the big logo T-shirts, the polos, monkey jackets, everything does well. It's all popular man."

Sounds like you guys have been very busy, How many people are working for you on the brand now?

"I haven't got a clue man. But every time I look we've got someone new. Last time I checked it was around 30."

Your website receives very flattering comments from Pretty Green customers all over the world. Was a good website an important element for you, being someone with a global fan base?

"Yeah, without a doubt. Everything's important. Pretty Green, the whole package, it's the real deal. And that's why it's important to make sure everything we do is done right. The website's great, I'm proud of it and it looks good."

How many countries do Pretty Green sell to now?

"The last time I checked it was over 80 countries now, so a little birdie told me."

That's rather impressive for a company only 12 months old.

"Yeah, I suppose so. But we've only just started."

Which countries are currently your biggest customers?

"The UK has always been very strong, but Japan, the US, Italy and Germany are doing great. Come to think of it, Scandinavia is as well."

And in the UK what are the main stores stocking Pretty Green?

"Selfridges, who are increasing Pretty Green's space this September to make it even bigger, Cruise & Xile in Glasgow, Sarah Coggles in York, and Psyche in Middlesbrough."

What about your own Pretty Green store?

"Definitely man. We're just waiting for the right place to come along, and I'm not gonna rush into it. We're looking to do a temporary store in London this summer, the website will tell you where and when it's happening..."

In addition to the long list of movie stars, rock icons, DJs and TV presenters already wearing Pretty Green, a number of this year's World Cup footballers have been spotted sporting the label - namely England's Joe Cole and Jermaine Defoe plus key members of the Italian squad who are said to be huge fans of the brand. This is an amazing accomplishment for a label that's only a year old. What do you put your success down to?

"Me!"

Joe Cole is clearly a big fan of the brand, would you be happy if he signs for Man City?

"Yeah, I will. I think Joe Cole is a top player. He can always turn the game around, d'you know what I mean? So, yeah, I'm having him man. He's got a lot of energy."

Are you glad he is part of the England Team?

"I am glad Joe Cole was part of it and I'm glad Shaun Wright Phillips is too."

So you are going to be stuck to the TV when the World Cup is on?

"Without a doubt!"

Paul Weller - himself a style icon to more than one generation - wore a Pretty Green suit onstage during his five-night, sold-out, run at the royal Albert Hall in May. He stated here on Pretty Green News that he's going to work on some designs of his own with Pretty Green. Will this open the doors for others to follow or is this something that you will strictly control?

"Well... We will definitely control it, but yeah... I mean, I know Liam Howlett from The Prodigy. He was talking to me the other night about maybe doing the same kind of thing. We'll see how it goes. The ball's in their court. But it's good that Paul Wellers' doing it, 'cos he's cool and he's into his stuff. It's got to be the right people."

Moving on what else have you been up to other than the fashion stuff?

"I've been recording our fantastic new record with a musical pop combo called Beady Eye, sorting out the film, and working on Pretty Green's new designs."

Busy then! I hear you even manage to find time for running?

"Yes, I'm a keen runner. Every morning man. Got to be done."

The film's a strong concept, how did you come across it?

"Someone gave me the book ages ago and it was always knocking around our tour. I read it over and over. Couldn't stop reading it. One of them books you can't put down. And I just thought: "There's nothing else to do, now Oasis have split up I can do what I want."

Yoko Ono is clearly a fan after her recent comments. Have you ever met her?

"Yep, met her once. She invited me round to the Dakota building. Had a lovely day and I'll never forget it, great woman."

You must have some amazing stories from your many years on the road, do you ever envisage doing a book or film about them?

"Yep, without a doubt. Very soon. Before I forget them all."

So you've just got back from Lake Como for Andy Bells wedding how was it?

"Amazing!"

You guys all seem very close Andy, Gem, and Chris?

"Yep, we're as close as can be man."

So when you do get time to relax at home in front of the TV what's normally on?

"The usual shit, Eastenders, Coronation Street, I can't wait for the World Cup to take over on every TV in my house. I like that Pineapple Dance Studios as well. That Louis dude, he reminds me of Noel."

I hear your brother Paul is involved in the new movie production company?

"Just about."

What exactly will Paul's role be?

"Making the fooking tea." (Liam breaks into loud laughter)

What are your most vivid memories as a kid growing up?

"Just fucking about in the park playing football, really man..."

What do you think is different now for kids from when you were growing up?

"Everything's different now. They've got it all haven't they? You don't see many out in the park playing, or in the streets, they're just all indoors staring at screens. I'd hate to be a kid growing up today. It's fucking soulless."

Any plans for a holiday this summer ?

"I'm not going on holiday this year. Staying at home and watching the World Cup."

Thanks for your time Liam.

Liam Gallagher planning to write Oasis film or book 'very soon'

Liam Gallagher has said he intends to turn his memories of former band Oasis into a book or film in the near future.

Gallagher, who launched film production company In 1 earlier this year to make a film about The Beatles' Apple Records, was asked whether he planned a similar venture for Oasis in the near future.

"Yep, without a doubt. Very soon," he said in an interview on his clothing company Pretty Green's official website, adding that he wants to compile his memories "before I forget them all".

Speaking about his forthcoming plans for the clothing company, Gallagher added that he's set to open a bespoke store in London offering the garments.

He said: "Definitely man. We're just waiting for the right place to come along, and I'm not gonna rush into it. We're looking to do a temporary store in London this summer, the website will tell you where and when it's happening."

Gorillaz 'Got in There First' to Replace U2 at Glastonbury

Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis has revealed that Gorillaz were the first band to ask to perform instead of U2, after the Irish band were forced to pull out of an appearance at the 2010 festival because of Bono's back problems.

Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett's cartoon outfit will take the headline slot on the Pyramid stage on the Friday night, June 25.

Eavis added that predictably enough, he was inundated with artists from across the globe hoping to step in to U2's shoes, but it was Gorillaz, with their impressive animated projections in their live show, who "got in there first," according to Eavis.

In an interview with the Radio Times, he said, "It sounds like a really interesting thing, and they have the most amazing guests they're going to bring on, who shall remain nameless.

"It gave me so much encouragement for the future, because it could have been a disaster. When we needed them, they [the music industry] came to the rescue."

Other headliners at this year's Glastonbury are Muse and Stevie Wonder, with Dizzee Rascal, Pet Shop Boys and Flaming Lips also playing.

Liam Gallagher names new band Beady Eye

Pretty Green founder Liam Gallagher has named his new band Beady Eye, it has been reported by the BBC.

The singer has teamed up with former bandmates Gem Archer, Andy Bell and Chris Sharrock to record new material.

Speaking earlier this month at the Cannes Film Festival, Gallagher announced his band would record the entire soundtrack to a film he is making about The Beatles. Read about the film here.

The newly formed band are now in the studio working with producer Steve Lillywhite, famed for his work with U2.

The Libertines perform together

The Libertines have performed together for the first time in almost six years.

The quartet – co-frontmen Carl Barat and Pete Doherty, drummer Gary Powell and bassist John Hassall – played a short set at London’s Boogaloo bar following a brief press conference in which they discussed their return, which will take place at the Reading and Leeds festivals in August.

The rockers began their performance with a rendition of ‘Georgia On My Mind’, before launching into their own material.

At one point, the group – who split in 2004 amid Pete’s drug addiction struggles – were joined by their friend ‘Rabbi John’ to play the traditional shanty ‘Sally Brown’, before teasing the small crowd with the introduction to classic hit ‘Can’t Stand Me Now’.

However, Carl then quipped: “If you want to hear how that ends, you’ll have to come to Reading.”

Following a brief conversation with Pete, they then launched into a full version of the track, all their former animosity forgotten as they embraced during the performance.

In the question and answer session, the group insisted they had no plans to perform any new material at the festivals – because they are struggling to remember their old songs.

Pete joked: “We haven't got plans to play new stuff because it's going to be hard enough to work out the riffs from the old stuff."

While the ‘Up The Bracket’ hitmakers are hopeful of recording together again, they admit their tumultuous past may again rise to the fore and prevent a long-term reunion.

Carl said: "Four months is a long time for the Libertines, so whatever happens, happens. We're going to see how it goes. If it works, it works."

Liam And Noel Gallagher Want Same Band

Liam and Noel Gallagher are both competing to work with the same backing musicians on their respective new musical ventures.

Liam and Noel Gallagher are competing for the same backing musicians.

The feuding brothers are both keen to work with Andy Bell and Gem Archer - who were members of their band Oasis, who split up over a fall out between Liam and Noel in summer last year - on their respective new musical ventures.

While Noel is writing a solo album and wants the bassist and guitarist to back him on demos of his material, Liam has formed a new, as yet untitled, group with them both and wants them to rehearse with him for live dates later in the year.

A source told The Sun newspaper: "It's a tricky situation for Gem and Andy.

"They are working with both Liam and Noel. Liam's begun rehearsing tracks for his new project, while Noel has been doing demos of songs as well.

"It's great for Gem and Andy, though. They get paid twice, but it's bound to lead to trouble in the future."

Noel has reportedly already amassed enough material for his solo debut and is ready to start recording. He has also previously reunited with Gem onstage, when the guitarist played with him at a pair of solo shows in March.

Meanwhile Liam has mapped out the plans for his new band, saying they will be less "heavy" than his previous group, and planning an album for next year.

He said: "We are going to be more musical than Oasis. It's not going to be so f***ing full-on, heavy chords, you know? More sophisticated.

"By next June we'll be recording our album then, or will have finished recording it."

It's one of indie music's great philosophical quandaries: If the Libertines exist, is there any point to Babyshambles?

According to rumours, the answer is no. Following the announcement of Pete Doherty and Carl Barat's big reunion gig at this summer's Reading and Leeds Festivals, Doherty's other band has cancelled two gigs and the singer has been quoted as saying the group are "no more."

Babyshambles management have denied the speculation, calling the reports "categorically untrue" in an official statement. Drummer Adam Ficek, meanwhile, has taken to Twitter to reject suggestions of the band's imminent demise, responding a fan's inquiry with the words "It'll all be fine, boyo."

Doherty created Babyshambles towards the end of his first stint in the Libertines, and the group became his main project following his estrangement from Barat in 2004, releasing two albums (2005's 'Down in Albion' and 2007's 'Shotter's Nation').

More recently, however, Doherty has concentrated his musical activities on solo material before, on March 29, announcing the Libertines would be re-forming.

Arctic Monkeys To Work On New Album After Touring

According to Nme.com, the Arctic Monkeys have decided not to take a break after hitting the road and will begin working on their next record after their North American tour next month.

In an interview with Nme Radio, the group stated they would immediately start writing and recording their follow-up to 2009's Humbug.

"We've said we'll stop touring this album and we're eager to start working on new stuff again, not have time off again," said drummer Matt Helders.

The group member went on to say the band likes the idea of working with Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme again as their producer but isn't entirely sure if it will happen. Frontman Alex Turner commented on the progress of the next record and admitted the Arctic Monkeys have already begun writing.

"We haven't tied our shoelaces yet, so it's hard to say what it would sound like," he said. "There's a few things we've been playing around together and we've spoke about how we might go about it. We haven't started walking yet, the laces are undone, never mind dancing."

Over the past four years the Arctic Monkeys have released three albums, including Whatever People Say I Am I'm Not and Favourite Worst Nighmare, and a handful of EPs.

Oasis' Liam Gallagher voted as 'best frontman ever'

The cocky former Oasis star, who has never been shy to brag about his brilliance, tops a list of greats compiled from thousands of readers of Q magazine.

It comes as Gallagher's brother Noel prepares to play his first show tonight since quitting Oasis last summer.

Liam - who last month handed a special award into the crowd when he appeared at the Brits - is known for his charismatic performances, often sneering into his microphone with his hands behind his back, or messing with his tambourine.

His brother once made a crack that Liam was constantly "developing new techniques of how to balance that f ***ing tambourine on his head".

In an interview with Q, Liam said he was on a par with Elvis Presley.

"There is Elvis and me. I couldn't say which of the two is best," he said.

Asked about the secret to being an effective frontman, Liam responded: "Behaving yourself and not jumping round like a b****."

And in an uncharacteristic show of brotherly support, or possibly sarcasm, he reckoned Noel was his own personal choice as the greatest frontman.

Noel often took centre-stage at Oasis gigs to perform a handful of tracks.
Kasabian star Tom Meighan - who was ranked 19th in the poll - chose Gallagher as his ideal frontman.

"(Coldplay's) Chris Martin is all right if you're 35 and feeling sad that your mortgage repayments have gone up but Liam is the voice you want if you're you and free and up for anything," he said.

Oasis split in August last year when Noel walked out on the band after years of squabbling with his brother. He is due to play the first of two shows for the Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall in London tonight, performing with a string section and choir.

Liam is planning to continue performing with the other members of the band.

The May edition of Q magazine is on sale on March 27.

The top 20 for Q's greatest frontman is as follows:

1) Liam Gallagher
2) Bono
3) Freddie Mercury
4) Damon Albarn
5) Chris Martin
6) Matt Bellamy
7) Jim Morrison
8) Bob Marley
9) Paul McCartney
10) John Lennon
11) Robbie Williams
12) Debbie Harry
13) Mick Jagger
14) Morrissey
15) John Lydon
16) James Brown
17) Bruce Springsteen
18) Robert Plant
19) Tom Meighan
20) Joe Strummer

OFFICIAL:The Libertines reunite for 2010 Reading And Leeds Festivals

The Libertines are set to reunite to play at the Reading And Leeds Festivals this year.
Pete Doherty, Carl Barat, John Hassall and Gary Powell will reconvene to play second from top of the bill at the August 27-29 event – their first full gigs as a band since the 2004 split.

The group will perform at Leeds on the Friday (August 27) of the festival, before headliners Arcade Fire. They will play in Reading on the Saturday (28).

"We're reforming the band to play the songs that people want to hear," Barat told. "We're going to get together, play songs which have been collecting dust in the garage. People want to hear them, so we’re going to give them a run. We'll be playing them like we’re playing them for the last ever time."

Pete Doherty added: "I can’t really believe it yet. I haven’t quite digested it. It’s been a bit of a pipe dream."

Guns N' Roses, Arcade Fire and Blink-182 are set to headline the 2010 bash. Read the full 2010 Reading And Leeds Festivals line-up on.

Many exciting moments as symphony helps re-create Beatles album

Most people don't expect to rock out at an orchestral pops concert. But that's exactly what happened Saturday night with Classic Albums Live and the Akron Symphony in a note-for-note performance of the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Joining in a baby boomer-driven trend that joins classical orchestras with classic rock, the Akron Symphony played backup to a visiting six-piece rock band that drew an enthusiastic crowd enticed by the chance to hear in its entirety one of the greatest albums of all time live onstage.

The Toronto-based Classic Albums Live was founded by Craig Martin in 2003 to re-create classic 1960s and '70s albums note for note and cut for cut. In Akron, expectations were undoubtedly high for rock lovers who have every nuance of the Beatles' influential 1967 concept album engraved in their brains. For the most part, Classic Albums Live delivered.

But in the opening title song Saturday night, the sound balance was off among the Classic Albums musicians, who consisted of two guitarists, a bass player, drummer, percussionist and keyboard player. The keyboard sounded shrill and overamplified in both Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds and Getting Better. Even worse were the underwhelming, under-pitch vocals of bass player Mark Stewartson, singing lead in Lucy.

It was a rough start, and the orchestra was sitting around doing nothing for a while until the repeat chorus of Lucy. But things picked up with Marty Morin's ultra-cool vocals in Fixin' a Hole and the orchestra's beautiful strings in the lyrical She's Leaving Home, which also highlighted harpist Melody Rapier.

The 36-piece Akron Symphony came close to the 40 live orchestral musicians the Beatles used to record their groundbreaking A Day in the Life. From the orchestra's careening carousel sounds in Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite to the mellow clarinets in When I'm 64, it was fun to hear the synergy between orchestra and rock band.

But the true partnering came with concertmaster Alan Bodman playing the sitar's melody on violin in the exotic Within You Without You, which also had an awesome call-and-response section between strings and synthesizer. Most brilliant were the tension and excitement in A Day in the Life, complete with wildly extended orchestral crescendos and an offstage alarm clock replicating the album's shift in music from John Lennon to Paul McCartney's vocals.

Rock album re-creations are rare, Akron Symphony folks say, because few bands have taken the time to create the charts, or sheet music, for their material. Creating the charts for Sgt. Pepper as well as the Beatles' Abbey Road and Revolver exactly as the albums sound was a gargantuan task, CAL founder Martin said.

Saturday night, his band didn't engage in much patter and the musicians certainly weren't trying to impersonate the Beatles. For Classic Albums Live, it's all about a deep respect for the original music.

The Akron Symphony hasn't done a pop rock concert since its 2003 performance of The Music of Led Zeppelin: A Rock Symphony. Last weekend, the orchestral musicians and the visiting rockers thrilled audience members with a rowdy second act filled with a variety of Beatles hits. Concertgoers sang along and swayed with lit-up cell phones to Hey Jude and jumped up to dance for the first of two encores, the Beatles' cover of Twist and Shout.

Ex-Libertines singer Carl Barat's solo album 'finished'

Ex-lead singer of The Libertines Carl Barat says his forthcoming debut solo album is finished, saying the LP is "in the can".

The guitarist and singer is currently starring alongside Sadie Frost in a stage production of Fool For Love in London, a run which ends on 21 March.

Speaking about his solo material he said: "It's a bit different. It's a bit older - like myself really.

"It's kind of naked, kind of stripped down. It's more piano based."

He added: "It's definitely different from The Libertines. It's different from anything I've done before. It's more me."

Regarding persistent rumours of a reunion with Libertines band mate Pete Doherty, Barat added: "I see them all regularly."

Speaking to the BBC in January regarding the reunion Barat said: "I guess I'll have to have a chat to Pete about it. He wanted to do it sooner but we missed all the dates."

Live solo gigs or a release date for Barat's debut solo album have yet to be confirmed.

Noel Gallager played his first post-Oasis gig tonight (March 25), headlining the Royal Albert Hall in London for a Teenage Cancer Trust show.

The singer/guitarist, set to play a second gig at the venue tomorrow, played songs from his Oasis back catalogue including several b-sides. He refrained from playing new material despite calls from some fans to do so.

His former Oasis bandmate, guitarist Gem Archer, performed with him throughout the set. Jay Darlington, Oasis' former live keyboard player, also played for much of the show, along with a drummer playing a minimal kit and percussion. They were backed up by an eight-piece all-female orchestra and the Crouch End Choir for many songs.

Following a support slot from The Courteeners, Gallagher and his band arrived on stage at 9pm (GMT). He greeted the crowd with a brief "Hello" and opened with '(It's Good) To Be Free' - the b-side to Oasis' 1994 single 'Whatever', which was played later in the set.

He followed with another b-side, 'Talk Tonight' (the flipside to 1995 single 'Some Might Say'), then responded to a crowd member's shout for new material. "Play a new song?" he said. "No, we don't do new songs for charity."

After 'Fade Away' he adjusted his shirt and quipped, "Behave - JLS was last night, wasn't it?" He then introduced the Crouch End Choir, who performed 'Cast No Shadow' with the band.

Following 'Don't Go Away' he pointed out, "I don't know if you've noticed - this is exactly the same set I played two years ago. But it's OK - I'm wearing different clothes." He was actually referring to his Teenage Cancer Trust show in 2007.

'Listen Up' came soon afterwards, Gallagher responding to another request for new songs and ribbing a crowd member after finishing it.

"We've already gone through that - we're not playing new songs," he said following shouts from one fan. "As fucking brilliant as they are, now's not the right time or place. Are you American? You're from Liverpool? Try and be American - it's better than being a fucking scouser."

'Sad Song', b-side to 1994 single 'Cigarettes And Alcohol', was up next then crowd favourite 'Wonderwall'. The fan Gallagher had bantered with earlier then shouted for b-side 'Rockin' Chair' - flip-side to 1995 single 'Roll With It'. "Had you seen the setlist before we came on?" he joked before playing the song. "Did you nick one? Come on, did you rob one?"

Nearer the end of the set he dedicated 'Digsy's Dinner' to The Courteeners, although he said, "Unfortunately they come from the red side of Manchester."

'Whatever' closed the main set before he encored with 'The Masterplan', 'Married With Children' and closer 'Don't Look Back In Anger'.

"It's been a pleasure to play for you tonight," Gallagher said before leaving the stage. "Thank you for coming along and supporting the charity. We'll meet again."

Noel played:

'(It's Good) To Be Free'
'Talk Tonight'
'Fade Away'
'Cast No Shadow'
'Half The World Away'
'Don't Go Away'
'The Importance Of Being Idle'
'Listen Up'
'Sad Song'
'Wonderwall'
'Rockin' Chair'
'Slide Away'
'Digsy's Dinner'
'Whatever'
'The Masteplan'
'Married With Children'
'Don't Look Back In Anger'

Damon Albarn recruits Liam Gallagher's bandmember for Gorillaz

Damon Albarn has revealed that he has recruited a member of Liam Gallagher's new band to play with Gorillaz.

He told Australian radio station Triple J that he had signed up a man named "Jeff" to play with Gorillaz, who are set to go on a low-key tour of the UK later ths month, play live at the London Roundhouse next month then perform more shows later in the summer.

"We have a young lad called Jeff who funnily enough is in Liam's new band," he said – confirming that he did mean Liam Gallagher. Albarn, who when in Blur in the '90s had a rivalry with the Manchester band, added, "I just thought that was quite funny."

Albarn has also enlisted two former members of The Clash, Paul Simonon and Mick Jones, to play with the live Gorillaz set-up. He said that the band would make sure any visual effects they had didn't affect their sound too much.

"We have used holograms in the past," he said, "but to really successfully put a hologram on the stage you need so much smoke you can't see anything else, or you stretch a piece of very fine transparent film across the stage and project across that. But you can't have any bass, because the film starts rattling. This time we're going out al guns blazing, with the best bass sounds on earth."

Albarn also revealed that he had tried to get Engelbert Humperdinck and The Bee Gees' Barry Gibb to appear on Gorillaz's latest album, 'Plastic Beach'.

Speaking of Gibb, he said, "He was doing it then he wasn't doing it then he was doing it again. He was going into a studio, it was a studio in Miami, then he got to the studio and decided he had an earache and that was the end of that."

Paul Weller: 'Wake Up The Nation' Tour Dates

Paul Weller has announced a large headlining tour for the winter, including several arena shows.

Between 23rd November and 10th December, the Modfather will perform thirteen concerts, following his five sold-out gigs at London's Royal Albert Hall this May.

The tour coincides with Weller's new album "Wake Up The Nation", as released on 19th April.

Tour dates are as follows:

11/23 - Brighton Centre
11/24 - Brighton Centre
11/26 - Birmingham Arena
11/27 - Cardiff International Arena
11/28 - Bournemou Int Centre
11/30 - Sheffield Arena
12/01 - Newcastle Arena
12/03 - Manchester MEN Arena
12/04 - Glasgow SECC
12/05 - Aberdeen ECC
12/07 - Blackpool Empress Ballroom
12/08 - Liverpool ECHO Arena
12/10 - London Wembley Arena

Jarvis Cocker, the pop rebel doing battle with the BBC

Navigating around the Henry Moore sculptures on show at Tate Britain this weekend with his mother and Albert, his six-year-old son, the unmistakable bespectacled Jarvis Cocker is approached by a couple of well-wishers. They are fans of 6 Music, the threatened BBC digital radio station where the former Pulp front man has built up a cult following, and they tell him they will be sorry if his show ends.

Although Cocker is a newcomer to the station, he emerged last week as a key voice in the struggle to keep 6 Music going. It is a campaigning role that has also seen the singer acknowledged as a potential successor to the late John Peel.

Cocker is an idiosyncratic champion of good music, as Peel was, and he is also well on his way to recognition as a bona fide "national treasure". It is an unexpected development for the lanky pop maverick once notorious for mocking Michael Jackson in front of a television audience of millions.

It is nice to be regarded with affection by the public, Cocker says. "I don't look in the mirror in the morning and think, 'Hello, national treasure', but people are generally very pleasant to me and friendly. I don't know why that is."

This level of attention, which stepped up last week, is "unavoidable", something to be taken in his lengthy stride.

"I don't crave celebrity," he says. "I probably did when I was younger. It was that thing of the slightly awkward kid who wanted to overcome his particular problems that way. But it didn't solve those particular problems, so I have had to learn to do it in different ways now."

Cocker has also learned to handle having his voluble opinions quoted back at him and analysed.

"You get used to being in a particular position, and you try to preserve your sense of self if you can. Just because you are a part of a bit of the establishment, you don't have to sell out your ideas. The thing to do, if possible, is to try to change that establishment; to try to engage with the establishment to make something good."

At 46, Cocker may be sanguine about life as a middle-aged rocker and quasi-establishment figure, but he is still full of fight. His convictions about politics, the environment and music culture remain undimmed and now, frighteningly for them, he has the BBC management elite squarely in his sights. "It is time to man the barricades," the singer urges.

His sense of loyalty and gratitude to 6 Music is clear. Although he joined its team of DJs only this year, Cocker has found a natural home that has helped broaden his own musical horizons.

"It is quite funny to find myself talking about 6 because I have only been working there about two months," he says. "But I am grateful. They made me welcome and they gave me a show and said I could do what I want. And that is a very rare thing."

The comparison with Peel, whose pioneering Radio 1 shows promoted new and unconventional forms of pop and rock music over 40 years, he finds "flattering", but undeserved.

"I can't pretend to have anything like the musical knowledge that he had," Cocker says. "I am curious about music though. People send in suggestions to the show and that leads you on to other discoveries and that is helpful, I think, because you can get a bit ossified in your tastes."

Cocker has devoted this year to trying to get his radio show right. It is something he takes seriously. "I have stood in for people on the radio before, but I have never had a regular show. So I haven't really been making music recently, though the show has helped me to clarify what I like."

It is all part of a journey that Cocker says started in this newspaper when he was responsible for a magazine piece that asked the question, "What is music for?" "That was the beginning of an investigation for me. I now know I find the mixture of music and lyrics very potent. You can have a perfectly good song without a good lyric, but for me the words are very important. It is definitely different to poetry, though, because in poetry the effect is all down to the rhythm the words have on their own, while in a lyric even the syllables are broken up by the rhythm of the music. You can look at a lyric on its own, of course, but half of the thing is missing."

Cocker is not expecting any other radio station to give him the chance to pursue these interests.

"No one else is going to offer me a show where I can play my own music with no adverts. I doubt anyone is going to come and poach me."

On Friday, Tim Davie, head of BBC audio and music, reluctantly supported the decision to drop the station.

Inside 6 Music HQ, however, the plan is to carry on regardless. "The attitude at the station right now is that is the beginning of something. We have this three-month period where people can register their disapproval and we have to encourage them to do that. It is a battle," he says.

Cocker questions the corporate rationale behind the planned closure. The station, he suggests, more or less runs itself.

"The BBC keeps talking about the demographic, and that's very patronising. You don't want to just hear music aimed at you. You want to hear different things. Radio 6 is not the most popular radio station out there, but it has a decent listenership. It really doesn't cost much either. They don't pay ridiculous fees, I can vouch for that, and they share a building with Radio 2."

The chances of Radio 1 incorporating the best of 6 Music in the future are minimal, Cocker believes.

"They might put on one token eclectic music show at three o'clock in the morning, I suppose," he says, adding that his station performs a function that television contests such as The X Factor can merely ape: it actually finds new talent.

The singer has spoken out against broadcast talent shows, but doesn't want them banned. He just thinks they are a form of entertainment in which personality is far more important than the music. "These shows are just there for the human side of it. You are not going to watch them to find interesting music." He objects to Simon Cowell's presumption that he has found a golden formula for musical success. "It is such an accumulation of things that makes a band work. It can't be reduced to a code."

It is certainly not down to hard work either, Cocker points out. "There was a band in Sheffield when I was young called Haze, an awful prog rock band. And every time you looked in the listings, they were on. They used to play every Thursday at a pub called the Pheasant, but they never got anywhere and they didn't deserve to. They were crap."

The singer agrees that he is no diplomat. "I am not very good at being discreet. I said something a few months ago that made people think I was endorsing the Conservatives and that made me laugh." As a general election looms, he fears that British political parties "represent a bygone age". "They don't really address the issues that are current. At the moment, we have three used car salesmen offering us repayment deals."

After 15 years in the public eye, Cocker concedes he is no longer an outsider, and yet his central subversive themes of class and sex are likely to endure. Citing the example of veteran performer Leonard Cohen, Cocker argues that it is possible to write well about human relations and attraction at any age. "I am, let's call it middle-aged, but I have no choice. I have a set of preoccupations."

The Strokes are on course to release their eagerly awaited fourth album in September. Spin magazine are reporting that the band have almost finished recording in New York and that the album is a more collaborative affair than any of their previous efforts.

"I've written a lot of melodies for it, but the other guys have also contributed a lot more: melodies, choruses, parts," Julian Casablancas told the magazine. "It's way more collaborative. So it'll have a different feel than our other albums."

The band have also been confirmed as headliners for the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago between August 6 and 8. The Strokes will also headline nights at the Isle Of Wight Festival (June 12) and Rockness (June 11 or 13).

Pete Doherty becomes a style icon at Paris Fashion Week

The controversial rocker donned a Harris tweed suit for a guerrilla gig in Paris, looking every inch the country squire.

We know him well from the much-documented tales of drug abuse; the repeated visits to rehab; the court appearances; the filthy nails, greying skin and shabby clothes; and the now-ended relationship with Kate Moss.

Despite starting a craze for little Trilby hats, there was little evidence of any abiding interest in style.
Yet, the Paris prêt-a-porter season last night, witnessed the launch of a "new" Pete Doherty, a Kinks-style "dedicated follower of fashion", some might say.

Doherty gave one of his “guerrilla gigs”, on Paris’s "fashion boulevard" on the Right Bank, the ultra-chic, avenue Montaigne, to celebrate the opening of the new Joseph store, barely a cigarette butt’s throw from Christian Dior, Valentino, Louis Vuitton and Dolce & Gabbana, et al.

Standing on an impromptu stage, against a large Union Jack, Doherty looked the very model of a squire’s young son.

He was dressed, improbably, in a three-piece, olive tweed suit, the jacket and waistcoat lined in scarlet, the trousers held up with old-fashioned braces. The suit was made in Harris tweed, woven on handlooms on the remote isle of Lewis and Harris, part of Scotland’s Western Isles, also known as The Hebrides.

The suit was designed by Marina Maclean, 40, who was born on Harris, and whose grandfather was once a tweed-weaver.

A graduate of Cardonald College, she is based in Glasgow and works as a couture wedding dress designer.

The three-piece suit, made-to-measure for Doherty, was part of a new fashion collaboration with a young Glaswegian tailor, Camille Lorigo, of Che Camille.

“Pete was our first customer,” said Maclean. “We made it specially for tonight.”

Doherty wore the suit with a (clean) bandage on his right-hand, and accessories by Chanel – shirt, tie, pocket handkerchief, and hat - which came courtesy of his former fiancé and Babyshambles collaborator, the model and singer, Irina Lazareanu, who put in a fashion “Mayday” call to Karl Lagerfeld.

Doherty, poet and singer, held the audience enthralled in an hour-long set, accompanying himself on a battered Gibson, with tracks from The Libertines/ Carl Barât era and Babyshambles days, as well as his own songbook, including For Lovers, Can’t Stand Me Now, Last of the English Roses, What a Waster and Delivery.

Two ballet dancers, in tattered tutus and Union Jack bodices, occasionally pirouetted in the background.

The country squire look appears to be just the first stage in Doherty’s fashion makeover. He has started work on a design collaboration with the young Central Saint Martins graduate and rock ‘n’roll jeweller, Hannah Martin, which Joseph hopes to be selling within a few months.

Life-long rocker Paul Weller

Paul Weller will keep making music until he dies.

The 51-year-old musician is writing more material the older he gets and he intends to keep surprising his fans with his work.

He said: "The fact I'm where I am and still doing it makes me think that, aside from keeling over and dying, I'll never stop making music. If anything, I think I'll get more far out and experimental in my old age.

"That idea excites me, the possibilities of what I could do."

As well as his desire to continue making exciting new music, Weller also

loves seeking out new bands and albums.

The 'Changing Man' rocker added to NME magazine: "I think it helps I'm still really passionate about music, just buying it and listening to it. Whether it's old or new, it doesn't really matter to me.

"There are a lot of people my age who aren't fans any more, a lot of musicians who get to their 30s and just stop listening to music and that's f***ing weird to me. I can't imagine my life without it."

Weller rose to fame as the frontman of The Jam in 1976, and the group enjoyed huge success scoring four UK number one singles before splitting in 1982.

He then went on to record six albums in a more synth-driven style with The Style Council before launching his solo career.

John Lydon Attacks Arctic Monkeys

Sex Pistol John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten is now bagging Arctic Monkeys.

Lydon is calling them "A mockery".

Arctic Monkeys were on the end of a bashing from John Lydon in a recent interview with Q. The Sex Pistols frontman said the Sheffield indie rockers had no substance.

"That's not a band', he told the magazine. 'That's a showbiz construct. A mockery. That's very much like that awful band Green Day or Avril Lavigne'.

Lydon also knocked Alex Turner’s songwriting skills.

"He just turns on the computer and types in 'punk' and it goes ping. I see no gut-wrenching soul-searching going on there. Just pleasant little ditties. There's room for that, but I'm seeking more substance."

Muse Track Boned From Eclipse

Muse have been dropped from the third Twilight movie.

The new 'Eclipse’ film will not feature a brand new Muse track drummer Dom Howard told entertainment website dose.ca that

The third film in the popular 'Twilight’ series was also set to include a Muse song after the band’s music had featured in the two previous films.

'Twilight’ creator Stephenie Meyer and director David Slade are reportedly massive fans of the band, but Howard said the final say was not theirs.

"Oh, it’s nothing to do with Stephenie, she’s totally cool. It’s the people in the movie business, completely outside of the writers and the creative types, the non-creative types I suppose are the people who are quite hard to deal with in Hollywood, so it didn’t work out."

Muse were reaqdy to hand over a new track they planned to produce with Nirvana wizard Butch Vig.

"It was a love song, so it’s a personal song, and it wasn’t really to do with the films. But it was sounding good.

"We worked on it in Australia, we were ready to record, we were going to do some recording with Butch Vig, so we might still do it. I’m sure the song will definitely come to life for real at some point, but I think for this film it’s not going to happen."

Paul McCartney Announces UK Tour

As we reported yesterday, Paul McCartney has announced a UK tour for June. It includes the rumoured gig at Glasgow’s Hampden Park on June 20.

The former Beatle will also play two festivals in the UK. The first is the Isle Of Wight Festival on June 13, with an appearance at Hard Rock Calling two weeks later on the 27th.

Further whispers suggest these dates form the UK leg of a ‘Farewell Tour’, which will take McCartney up to his 70th birthday in 2012.

Paul McCartney’s full UK tour is as follows:

June
12 RDS Stadium, Dublin
13 Isle of Wight Festival
20 Hampden Park, Glasgow
26 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
27 Hard Rock Calling

EMI not selling Abbey Road Studios

EMI has announced that it has no plans to sell Abbey Road studios, following recent reports suggesting that the record company were planning to offload the iconic studio to help clear debts.Following the news, several campaigns were started to try and save Abbey Road, with Paul McCartney also giving his support. EMI have since released a statement stating that the company will now not sell the studios, and that it is "holding preliminary discussions for the revitalisation of Abbey Road with interested and appropriate third parties."Several campaigns were set up on Facebook in response to the news, it was also reported that Andrew Lloyd Webber was interested in launching a bid, reports BBC News.

Keith Richards hints at new Rolling Stones studio sessions

The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards has hinted that the band could hit the studio later this year.Talking to Rolling Stone, the guitarist said that although no plans were set in stone new material before the end of 2010 could be on the cards for the veteran rockers."There's no definite plans, but I can't see any of them [band members] stopping," he explained. "I wouldn't be surprised if we did some recording later this year."Despite the potential for a new album, Richards added that the band may consider scaling down any future touring plans."Maybe we'll search for a different way for the Stones to go back on the road, maybe not the football stadiums anymore," he admitted. "Maybe something different. You can't go around there in lemon-yellow tights forever."Meanwhile, The Rolling Stones are to reissue their 1972 album 'Exile On Main Street' with 10 previously unreleased tracks on May 17.

Gem Archer performs with Paul Weller in the NME Awards

As many of you may already know, the Modfather Paul Weller picked up the Godlike Genius Award at last week's NME Awards. No argument from us; the guy is a legend. No one would agree with us more than Noel and Gem.

Noel recorded a special message for the awards and Gem was asked by Paul to join him on stage to perform as part of his band playing guitar and providing backing vocals.

If you're not in the UK or didn't catch the TV broadcast you may have missed the guys so we decided we'd go trawling the interwebs to find you the footage:

HERE's Noel talking about Paul (approximately 3'20" in).

And a little later on in the same video Gem performs 'Start' and 'Eton Rifles' with Weller.

Gem also performed with Paul at his performance at the Haiti Benefit at The Roundhouse on the 25th February.

Noel Is Set For Solo Comeback

Noel is set to headline two nights at this year's Teenage Cancer Trust benefit later this month. The support bands for both nights have now been announced:

The Courteeners will be playing on Thursday 25th March whilst the support for the Friday 26th gig comes from Plan B.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Teenage Cancer Trust's series of benefit shows and the fifth year that Noel has performed.

Gallagher had a concert at the event, in 2007. He remembers that he got a call from Roger ten years ago, to join him for the first ever concert for this charity. Since then, he says, he had got the opportunity to support the institution with his programs. That gave him some of the best nights he ever had on a UK stage.

The Arctic Monkeys, The Specials, and Them Crooked Vultures also will join at the event. Daltry says that he is over the moon as this event can make this year only Noel's

Liam Gallagher Angry At Indie Music

iam Gallagher thinks indie music is a "f---ing disease", reports Contactmusic.com.

The singer - whose brother Noel quit Oasis last August - has blasted British bands like Bloc Party branding their music "nonsense".

He said: "I really despise this new f---ing disease of indie f---ing s--t, f---ing student music, the likes of Bloc Party and all that f---ing nonsense. They don't keep me awake at night, but it's just s--te, and they can f---ing have it mate."

The 37-year-old star - who runs his own fashion label Pretty Green - has also blasted musicians who don't take care of their appearance and thinks scruffy rockers look like homeless people.

He added to Esquire magazine: "The thing is, man, you can make your clothes look like they've been worn in and look as if they've had a bit of character, but underneath you've got to have a f---ing wash. Those f***ers wear the clothes all the f---ing time and they don't wash, so it's like, 'Where's the f---ing bench?'

"I've heard plenty of bands that can write a decent enough tune then you see them and I go, 'Thank f--k - they look like s--t.' If you look good and you've got the tunes, you're away man."

In other news, Kiss' Gene Simmons admitted the only "interesting people" in British music are Liam and Noel Gallagher.

"God bless the UK for giving the world the music that makes all our lives better", said the Kiss bass player.

"A thousand years from now they’re going to look back on the 20th Century and what have the countries of the world given us? The United States gave the world atomic weapons. England gave the world music. What a great legend".

He continued: "The most interesting people to me are the Gallagher brothers. The interesting thing about them is they’re drug addicts and alcoholics and they fight with each other. That’s really it".

Kasabian and Kings of Leon to headline V Festival

The rockers – who have played before at the annual two-day festival which is held in Essex and South Staffordshire over the last weekend of August – admit it is "an honour" to top the bill.

Guitarist Serge Pizzorno said: "It’s a real milestone. We’ve been doing this for two years now and it’s nice to get to the point where you’re headlining a major festival. It’s an honour. Those two nights are going to be the shows of the year I think. It’s been difficult to keep it under wraps. I’m glad the cat is out the bag."

Serge and his bandmates will pack their set list with hits, rather than debuting new material, because that's what festival goers want.

The musician told Absolute Radio, who will be broadcasting live from the Virgin Media V Festival: “Headlining a festival is a real moment for a band. The set will probably just be good festival music, I don’t want to play anything new. I’ve learnt my lesson from a lot of people who have played these shows."

Kasabian – who will headline alongside the Kings of Leon – will also be joined by Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole who will make her first solo festival appearance, as well as bands including the Stereophonics, The Prodigy, Paul Weller, The Kooks, Faithless, Paolo Nutini and Florence And The Machine.

The festival, which takes place on August 21 and 22, will also see sets from the Pet Shop Boys, Madness, Editors, White Lies, Mika, Groove Armada, The Courteeners, The Charlatans, Temper Trap, Amy McDonald, Goldfrapp, Shed Seven, Newton Faulkner, La Roux, Skunk Anansie, Passion Pit, Ellie Goulding, Kate Nash, Paloma Faith, Plan B, Sugababes and Pixie Lott.

Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll (The Film) - 2010

After a fine start to the decade with ‘24 Hour Party People’, the British music film has become an increasingly drab prospect. Sanitised, reverential biopics like ‘Control’ and ‘Nowhere Boy’ have reduced our most vital rock legends to overanalysed everymen, robbing them of power and mystery in an effort to ‘understand’ them – a pointless and impossible task best left to the cultural scholars.

But ‘Road to Guantanamo’ director Mat Whitecross is having none of it. Tackling the rise and fall of bolshy proto-punk gobshite Ian Dury, ‘Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll’ is a riot of clattering noise and kaleidoscopic colour, off-kilter imagery and foul language, all the good things the title promises and much more. Taking his cue not just from former collaborator Michael Winterbottom’s celebrated Factory exposé but from Todd Haynes’s ramshackle, revisionist rock ’n’ roll masterpieces, ‘Velvet Goldmine’ and ‘I’m Not There’, Whitecross presents Dury as a verbally abusive, dishonest, thoroughly disreputable but endlessly fascinating lyrical genius, exploring his past in a way that informs – but never seeks to explain – his present.

That present is the mid-’70s, the period in which Dury (Andy Serkis) split from his old band Kilburn And The High Roads – and from long-suffering spouse Betty (Olivia Williams) – to form the Blockheads, with whom he would achieve stellar homegrown success. Taking up with teenage tearaway Denise (Naomie Harris), Dury attempts to juggle the demands of family, fame and mounting alcoholism, but always ends up putting his own needs first.

It’s this refusal to sugarcoat Dury’s shortcomings that really impresses: yes, Whitecross and screenwriter Paul Viragh ask us to empathise with their self-pitying, class-obsessed, emotionally and physically crippled hero, but they never expect us to forgive his excesses. Serkis’s performance is remarkable, alternating between Gollum-esque bug-eyed lunacy and a more subtle, heartfelt portrait of a life in turmoil.

A scene in which Dury revisits the hospital where he spent his childhood, coming face to face with a new generation of angry young outcasts, is quietly heartbreaking: sentimental, perhaps, but entirely schmaltz-free. Similarly, the central relationship between Dury and twitchy pre-teen son Baxter (a superb Bill Milner) does a great job of outlining the unpredictable lows and (often literal) highs of having a deadbeat pop star for a father. You don’t need to be a fan of Dury’s music to enjoy ‘Sex & Drugs…’. This is just gorgeous, celebratory cinema, unfettered and courageous, if unashamedly scattershot, much like the man himself. Forget young Lennon and his tedious Oedipal angst – this is the one by which a new decade of music movies will be judged.