NME Article

Music-News Article

Muse put family first

Muse have been working ‘regular office hours’ on their new album so they can get home and ‘spend time with kids. The British rock band are busy perfecting their sixth studio record ‘ a follow-up to their multi-million selling album, The Resistance (2009).

Muse, comprising of Matt Bellamy, Chris Wolstenholme and Dom Howard, are family orientated and have planned their working hours around their partners and children. Matt has five month-old son Bingham with fiancée Kate Hudson, while Chris has five children (and one more on the way) with his wife Kelly.

“[We want to] go home every night and spend the evening with the kids” Chris told Kerrang! magazine. “The plan was always get into the studio and start writing and see what happens. I don’t think there’s any master plan, we just put out heads together and see where it takes us.”

Chris is unsure what direction the band is going to take with their new sound. The bassist wants to keep himself open to a wealth of ideas.

“[The band] feel like we are drawing a line under a certain period of what we’ve done in our career, it feels like it’s time to move on and do something radically different” he explained. “But then you could get into the studio and go back to what you’re comfortable with. You get in the studio and there’s a natural process and you have to see where a song will take you.”

Muse’s new LP will be their sixth studio album and is due to be released in late 2012. The band have not given any details on who will be acting as producer for the record as yet.

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Music on my mind today:

Muse – TaB Symphonic MIX (Ian Cologne)

Hello everyone!

Still remember me? Oh, nevermind that, a much better question is: do you still remember Muse?

I’ve been lazy as fuck lately, which isn’t surprising considering that nothing band-related is going on. And of course, I am not about to start blogging about the fact that Matt’s been spotted at a fashion show wearing pink socks and a hat with a feather (no, I am not kidding)… Oops! I guess I did blog about it after all. Nor do I think that anything new got recorded during the short time that Muse were in the studio last month, although they did rehearse a few things.

What I came here to say was that aside from being unbelievably lazy and hardly interested in Muse (my Muse interest has been approaching ’0′ for quite some time now), I have been entertaining myself with drawing yet more t-shirts. The shirt above is meant to vaguely resemble one of my pictures from Reading (Darkshines Visuals). Also, I am planning on running another Random Musings contest in January 2012, the first one was a lot of fun (for me) to do:

Previous Contest: Winners, Questions, Answers

I will keep the questions simple and light like I did last time (yes, they really were simple and light!), and the winner will receive a unique, hand-painted, Muse-inspired t-shirt. What do you all think?

Music on my mind today:

Muse – Backdoor Large Snippet (This Is A Muse Demo, 1995)

Hello Musers!!

It has been a long time… Well, long enough that I almost forgot how to update this thing. *Note to self : Do not click the ‘delete blog’ button, as tempting and shiny as it may be*

I’d actually be quite curious to hear what everyone is doing for entertainment these days; I’ve been reading awful books (One Day by David Nicholls) and listening to shitty music (Coldplay’s newest creation with a strange name). The one good thing about this month was listening to Muse’s Exogenesis Symphony while watching a sunrise in the Gulf of Mexico:

Vacation Pictures on Flickriver

Who would have thought that Exo goes with sunrises just as well as peanut butter does with jelly? (btw, I hate PB&J sandwiches) It made me happy to be alive… /end daily sappy quota.

A shout out and two thumbs up go to Mott Bollomy, a Twitter account parodying Matt, for making #8 on the list of top 16 Gadhafi/ Gaddafi/ Quadaffi/ WhateverHisNameWas tweets (extra points for mentioning Justin Bieber!), a tweet that was mistakenly retweeted and made famous by none other than Chevrolet, one of the largest US auto makers:

Chevrolet Retweets Mott Bollomy

Top 16 Gadhafi Tweets According To Buzzfeed

– Who wants to bet that the person who retweeted the hit list with Bieber’s name on it no longer works for GM?

And, last but not least, Muse’s manager Anthony Addis talks to Billboard.biz and reveals that the band are already in the studio… something I would have never believed had I not seen the picture-proof below (click on it to enlarge it):

Anthony Addis Interview Link

October 17, 2011
By Richard Smirke, London

“Often praised as one of the greatest live acts in the world today, Muse’s latest touring run was its most successful yet. Beginning in October 2009 and wrapping this summer with a headline slot at the U.K. dual-site Reading and Leeds festival, the U.K. alt-rock act’s Resistance tour – in support of its fifth studio set, 2009′s “The Resistance” – was a 14-month global trek that included headline gigs at festivals Coachella, Glastonbury and Lollapalooza, and a stint supporting U2 in South America. (The group’s totals for the tour through the end of 2009 as reported to Billboard Boxscore saw a gross of $33,141,559 with 561,304 tickets sold on 45 shows, 21 of which were sellouts).

In this exclusive interview with Billboard.Biz, Anthony Addis, the band’s manager and director of U.K.-based Brontone Management, which also represents The Pogues and Pulled Apart By Horses, discusses what they plan to do next.

Billboard.Biz: How is work progressing on Muse’s next studio album?

Anthony Addis: They’ve now gone into the recording studio. The plan is to do it all in London… Hopefully, [the album] might come out October next year. They’ve written a lot of material already but you don’t know how it’s going to gel between them all. They write constantly. They write on the road, so before or after a gig they’ll write nearly every night. It’s a serious process, but you don’t know how it’s going to turn out [until] you start practicing it together, because everybody’s done it individually.

BBB: Have you heard any of the new material?

AA: No — I will not listen to it. I’m not interested until they believe it’s in the right form. If you trust an artist, you’ve got to trust the music that they make. You’ve got to trust that they will get it right. What’s the use of listening to something that is half-baked? … Our job is to plan the next two and half/three years from when you think they will finish it.

BBB: The Resistance Tour was Muse’s biggest and most successful yet. Is there room to further grow the band’s live operations?

AA: In America, the answer is yes — although I think the sheds are a problem. We did a joint headline show with Rage Against The Machine in L.A. at the 90,000-capacity Memorial Coliseum and there were about 55,000 people there. … People haven’t got the money anymore. I think it’s worldwide. I think it’s just hitting into the U.K. now as you can see with retail.

BBB: So what will be the live strategy going forward?

AA: I don’t know. You’ve got to look at things as you get into that position. America you can actually go into places within a two/three-month period to book upfront, whereas in Europe, you’re looking six months upfront. It’s a different strategy. You’ve got to look at what the world is out there and what your fans can afford.

BBB: A key factor in Muse’s growth as a live act has been keeping ticket prices affordable. Will that continue?

AA: Yes. Our strategy is never to rip off the fans. The fan comes to have an experience. …. He or she has worked for that money. Either that or they robbed a bank. So you’ve got to give them an experience at the right price. We’ve increased worldwide [ticket sales] by 40% each time. And that’s how we increase the fan base, because they’ve enjoyed it as a spectacle. Every night after the show we have an analysis of what went down right and what didn’t, and all of that is logged in into a database. We know what happened in every show and every city going back all the years. If a number didn’t go down well, then it will not appear in the set next time.

BBB: Muse are one of the few modern rock acts to make the transition to arena-sized venues. Why do you think so few bands are making the grade?

AA: I think the music industry has a lot of mediocre artists and groups at the moment. The record companies are feeding off mediocre, instant success and “The X-Factor” was the trouble that started it… People don’t follow the same band anymore. [Artists] are like disposable cartons. That’s what we’ve got now in the music industry, and he [Simon Cowell] started it. And you’re going to have more fallout if Warner or Universal buy EMI because they’re going to drop all the lower level [artists]. There’s still a lot of good stuff, don’t get me wrong. But it’s harder to build a career with a band because the record companies want it, but they also don’t want it. They want a killer band within an album cycle.”

P.S. Oh yes, I completely forgot to mention that the Q Awards will take place on Monday, October 24th 2011. Muse are in the running for the top title, remember? And I still think it will be the surviving members of Nirvana who will walk away with the Greatest Act Of The Last 25 Years title. What do you reckon? Now is the time to submit your guess.

Music on my mind today:

QuiFM – Muse Live At Reading 2011 (September 25th Broadcast)

Once again, we are reminded not to trust anyone who promises to broadcast Muse Live At Reading 2011 in its entirety (did OuiFM even promise to do that?), – New Born and Plug in Baby were the only songs from Origin of Symmetry that were played. Still, the quality was amazing, so I’ve recorded a small wav file. Enjoy the WordPress-compatible mp3 version of that!

BTW, have a look at the link below… Do you happen to recognize one of my Reading pictures that OuiFM lifted from my Flickr account without even asking? Love the strategic cutting out of my name from the bottom of the pic too, really impressive work. Cheeky fuckers!

OuiFM Cheeky Fuckers

Music on my mind today:

Kasabian – Goodbye Kiss

Click To Download The Latest Magazine Here

Pulp were named the Top Festival Band of 2011 (Muse came in at #2), and even though Q Mag rates Pulp as the best band at this year’s Reading & Leeds, NME concedes ’2011′s Defining Festival Moment’ to Muse. Yes, that’s right after ripping them a new one in their post-R&L review, so go figure.

And, of course, it is none other than Kasabian who steal the spotlight this week. Their new album Velociraptor! was released on Monday and is more than worth a listen or two. Or twenty.

From muse.mu:

“Thanks to your votes Muse have made the shortlist for the Q Awards, and not just any awards but the Best Act in the World Today and the Greatest Act Of The Last 25 Years – a special award to celebrate Q’s 25th Birthday.

The competition is tough, the band are up against the likes of Nirvana, Radiohead, Arcade Fire and U2. So if you think Muse deserve to win,

 click here

Also Muse are up for a BT Digital Music Award – the People’s Choice Award for the Best Official Site for An Artist.

So get voting!”

– Voting closes on Oct.7th and the ceremony will take place on Monday, Oct.24th 2011. The one bad thing, or maybe it’s a good thing, depending on how you look at it, about the Q Awards is that a small, dedicated group of Musers can’t really do a whole lot to influence the outcome. You know, the joys of multiple voting and all… As far as the online polls go, Q is the least transparent one, – just read the small print at the bottom of the page: “The Q Awards is voted for by the readers and listeners of Q magazine, Qthemusic.com and Q Radio and by the staff of Q. The final decision is the reserved right of the Q staff.”

So, since the final decision is the reserved right of the Q staff, I think the winners have already been selected and I think it will be the surviving members of Nirvana who will walk away with the Greatest Act Of The Last 25 Years title. Not that I am complaining, mind you, I love Nirvana.

This makes me really excited about the upcoming NME voting, when the aforementioned small group of Musers will once again be able to inflict a special brand of fuckery on the NME site. Who else is looking forward to that?

Music on my mind today:

Freddie Mercury – In My Defence

Original Gigwise Link

“Muse, Foo Fighters and Beyonce are all in the running for the title of Best Festival Headliner Of 2011 in Gigwise’s new poll.

With the festival season now firmly drawing to a close following Bestival last weekend, which saw an unforgettable performance from Bjork on the main stage, we’re rounding up all this summer’s events over the coming weeks.

In our poll, you can vote on some of the biggest headline performances of the summer, including Coldplay’s headline at the Glastonbury Festival and Eminem’s much-anticipated slots at the V Festival.”

So Get Voting HERE

Download The Latest Magazine Here

Music on my mind today:

Kasabian – Days Are Forgotten, 2011

I totally forgot to post this Tuesday night, but here we go, better late than never. If you, like me, simply can not get enough Dave Grohl lately, then this issue is for you – Dave’s interview starts on page 30 and, of course, they talk about Nirvana and Nevermind. A lot.

And if you don’t want to download the whole PDF (you will need Adobe Reader to open the file), then clicking on each picture below makes it large enough to read.

BTW, what do you think of the new single from Kasabian?

Any Nirvana fans in the house? You might want to check out the new NME…

Download The Latest Magazine Here

 <— Also, if you haven’t seen me tweet about it yet, according to tomorrow’s edition of NME, Muse’s Origin of Symmetry album sales spiked 436% after Reading. So congrats to Muse!! It won’t surprise me at all if the album develops a brand new following over ten years after its release.

Thinking about it, I should start doing ‘Random Musings’ NME Tuesdays’ section. I usually download the new magazine every Tuesday afternoon, so I might as well share it here. Proper Muse News are going to be few and far between for the next several months, so this site (along with all the other regular Muse sites) will be running pretty slow.

If you can think of new and interesting ways to entertain the troops (bored Musers), then please let me know.

My Flickriver Photostream

Muse Live at Reading Festival 2011 – A Set on Flickr

I still don’t know how to start talking about Reading, so here’s my photo set from Sunday night. I can barely wrap my head around the fact that I’ve seen Origin live, much less that it’s already been a week since it happened.

Here’s one easy thing to talk about: the set visuals were incredible! And you know me, I never look at or give a shit about all the extra things that aren’t music. If anything, I am one of those annoying people who think that putting too much emphasis on lighting, visuals and the stage itself limits the band’s ability (or desire) to play a more spontaneous, varied set. None of that applied at Reading. Muse played their second album Origin of Symmetry in its entirety, and regardless of what any of us have expected, I am sure that no sane Muser can complain about the setlist.

When Muse came on stage and my jaw dropped to the floor, all I could do was gather it back up and keep taking pictures, I didn’t want to miss a thing. It was probably the best gig I’ve ever seen, and this is coming from someone who doesn’t know (and doesn’t care) what The Resistance tour visuals looked like…

I was too far away to photograph each individual hair on Matt’s face (what I normally do), so instead, I tried to capture the amazing Origin of Symmetry visuals and the feel, the intense vibe of the crowd from the middle of the mosh pit. I can only hope that after looking at some of these, you’ll have a small measure of understanding of what it looked and felt like for me. I can’t let you see it through my eyes, but I can certainly try!