Happy Mondays, Pixies, Razorlight, festival tragedy, INXS, Zane Lowe and Jennifer Lopez...

Intro...

Welcome to today’s slice of stuff. Read on to learn about a new single from the Pixies, a cunning stunt from Razorlight, tragedy at a major festival, the latest and greatest in reality TV shows, Zane Lowe’s play list for this week and Jennifer Lopez's new flip-flops. But first up it is the return of the Happy Mondays.

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22nd August Party People...

Get your Joe Bloggs jeans out of the wardrobe, don your purple hooded top and prepare for the second baggy coming. Happy Mondays are to reform for a one off gig taking place on Clapham Common this August!

The ‘Madchester’ veterans are to headline the ‘Get Loaded In The Park’ festival taking place on Sunday 22nd August to help promote unsigned bands from around the country.

Shaun Ryder said: "For me this is about putting something back in. I’ve been working with Get Loaded and Kav (promoter) for some time now and when the lads came up with the idea and said we’d be pushing loads of new bands as well, it just seem only right to be involved.

"I’m not dealing with corporates here, I’m dealing with a group of lads who just wanna make something happen!"

But it isn’t just the Monday’s who will be at the one day event, if you go along you will also have the chance to see some other famous faces from the music world including Bez's new band Domino Bones and the legendary Arthur Baker.

As well as live acts there will be a number of DJ slots being filled by some heavyweights of the Madchester scene including former hacienda resident Graeme Park, M-People’s Mike Pickering, Inspiral Carpets' Clint Boon, New Order bass player Peter Hook and The Smiths Andy Rourke & Mike Joyce.

Tickets for the event went on sale on Monday 14th June with a limited number priced at £15 through TicketMaster. To get your grubby little mitts on tickets for which will be one of the most surreal events of the summer visit the TicketMaster website or call 08700 601 801.

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13 – Lucky Number For Fans...

After a 13 year absence the Pixies have returned to the studio to produce a record. Don’t get too excited though, it is only a single song and is only available through Apple’s iTunes music store.

The track is called Bam Thwok and was written by bassist Kim Deal. Rather eccentrically the song is based on a surreal story written in an book found by the Breeders singer while on tour years ago (sounds like a typical Pixies song to me!).

Deal said: "From the handwriting, you could tell that this book must have belonged to a little kid.

"This kid had written a short story, a paragraph really, about a party that took place in another universe, about people and monsters that were partying together. That's what provided the inspiration for the lyrics.

"It's a song about loving everyone, showing goodwill to everyone."

Sound strange enough for you? No? You want more weirdness? What if I were to tell you that the song also features an organ solo, recorded by guitarist Joey Santiago's father-in-law when he was a missionary in the Philippines years ago?

Got to get my hands on that song!

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Get Back To Get Ahead...

In an effort to get a bit of free publicity (it is working already lads) Razorlight have decided to ape The Beatles by playing a free rooftop gig this Friday. The rockers release their new single ‘Golden Touch’ this week and have organised the event to raise awareness of the release.

Fancy it? Just turn up at the Bricklayers Arms this Friday at 8.30pm. The Bricklayers Arms is situated at 62 Charlotte Road, Old Street, London, EC2 so if you live outside the capitol then tough shit I guess.

As well as being a ‘secret gig’ (spattered across the pages of the music press as well as streaming its way around a load of music sites – yeah, dead secret!) it is also a free one so simply turn up for bragging rights over your makes.

If you can’t make it to London to see them, don’t despair; they will be playing some of the festivals this summer so there is still a chance to catch their show.

They will be taking the stage at ‘T In The Park’ up in Scotland, which takes place on Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th of July and at the ‘Carling Weekender’ at Reading and Leeds between Friday 27th and Sunday 29th August.

Their debut album 'Up All Night' will be released on June 28th.

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Festival tragedy...

It has been reported that two festivalgoers in America have been killed over the weekend. The deaths of a 22-year-old woman from Kentucky and a 20-year-old Michigan man occurred at the Bonnaroo festivalg near Nashville and have been linked to drugs.

Despite the pair being rushed to the nearby Manchester Medical Centre, they were both pronounced dead on arrival.

Jonathan Mayers, co-owner of Superfly, co-producers of the event said: "I would say we have one of the best EMT [Emergency Medical Treatment] staffs out there.

"Our medical director has been on a lot of these type events, [including] Woodstock and the Phish events. He knows how to handle these situations, and how to react carefully. People's safety is the number one concern out here.

"Every year you're learning. Every time you think you've got a handle on it, new situations happen. That's why every year we step it up, and we know next year's gonna be better, and the next better than that."

90,000 people attended the event to see the likes of Bob Dylan, Kings Of Leon, David Byrne, Yo La Tengo and My Morning Jacket.

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New Sensation Needed Tonight...

Love it or hate it reality TV gives us, the humble masses, a chance to get famous, make it big and get our hands on some serious Benjamin’s. The latest show to have you gawping at the screen like a sedated wide mouth frog sees INXS looking for a new singer. Yes, the INXS!

I shit you not!

The winner of the competition run by the band in association with the producer of 'Survivor' and 'The Apprentice', Mark Burnett, will record an album with the band and almost certainly tour the world with the veteran Aussie rockers living the dream.

Burnett told the official INXS website: "I am a long-time fan of INXS and feel very fortunate that INXS approached us with this idea and have entrusted us with their future."

Don’t think that just because the show will be shown in the US first that you will miss your opportunity to try out, Burnett has assured fans that auditions for the show will be held worldwide.

Phew! We all get a crack at playing with the band, playing in front of 80,000 fans and if art imitates life, playing with Kylie Minogue!!!

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Zane’s Brain...

It’s that time again, time for a quick look at what Radio 1’s Zane Lowe is playing on his evening show. A quick glance sees that this week Zane will mostly be playing The Earlies who were in the studio with our favourite import from New Zealand since their lamb.

The Streets - 'Dry Your Eyes'
Blink 182 - 'Down'
The Ordinary Boys - 'Talk Talk Talk'
Armand Van Helden - 'My My My'
Young Heart Attack - 'Starlite'
Ryan Adams - 'Wonderwall'
Goldie Lookin' Chain - 'Guns Don't Kill People...'
The Distillers - 'Beat Your Heart Out'
Amusement Parks On Fire - 'Venus In Cancer'
High Contrast - 'Twighlights Last Gleaming'
Red Hot Chili Peppers - 'Suck My Kiss'
Lady Sovereign - 'Chi Ching'
Kings Of Convenience - 'Misread'
Velvet Revolver - 'Slither'
The Killers - 'Mr Brightside'
TV On The Radio - 'Staring At The Sun'
Beastie Boys - 'Right Right Now Now'
The Secret Machines - 'Nowhere Again'
Leftfield - 'Original'
Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster - 'I Could Be An Angle'
The Earlies - 'Devil's Country'
Mark B - 'Move Now'
The Earlies - 'Bring It Back Again'
The Bled - 'You Know Who's Seatbelt'
The Earlies - 'Sweet Dreams My LA Ex'
RJD2 - 'Exotic Talk'
New Rhodes - 'I Wish I Was You'

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Bling Bling Again For Lopez...

"Money’s too tight to mention" as fat-wap Mick Hucknall once bleated in the 80’s – not if you are Jennifer Lopez it isn’t. ‘Little Miss Bling’ is famous for her spending although if you listen to her she will tell you she is still just Jenny from the block – the team here at Audio Truckstop Towers believe her:

(Taken from the 50 worst singles article)

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Jenny From The Block – Jennifer Lopez

Kliffton: Get out of your own arse...

Kos: Whatever Jen, if you were REALLY from the block you'd have the bad HIV, a huge smack habit, be turning tricks for a tenner and a boyfriend who beats you regularly, I like that version better...

Mitch: Don’t be fooled by this gun that I’ve got...

Philamental: So despite all your millions of dollars and the fact you dress like diamond-clad whore, you haven't changed a bit? Christ, I never knew the Bronx was like that! Movies have clearly lied to us all.
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Anyway, back at the ranch... Lopez’s new husband obviously knows what a magpie she is and so when he decided to nip into Littlewoods to get her a new pair of flip-flops he knew the pressure was on to please his meal ticket, erm I mean lovely wife.

After elbowing his way around pissy-biscuit reeking grannies for an hour or so he finally found the ideal sandals for our Jen. He snapped them up and took them back to their 2 up, 2 down terrace in Withenshaw.

The sandals he picked are no ordinary sandals; they cost a whopping £13,000 and have a feather pattern on them made up of 18 carat gold shavings!

Ah, only the best for Jenny who is determined to remind us that despite having a lot these days she still knows were she came from. I want to be sick...

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