The film was shot over 20 concerts on Cohen’s 1972 European tour and represent a near mythical piece of music history featuring one of musics genuine geniuses.

The film will be premiered in the UK at the sold out Green Man Festival in Wales, where a 2,000 capacity cinema will be converted from the Far Out Tent.

Leonard Cohen  – Bird On A Wire  film trailer;

Holding Back The Years was the second of the two standout tracks on the album and was released in 1986, reaching number 2 in the UK charts.

Simply Red – Holding Back The Years

Fiona Apple – Across The Universe

Their self-titled album was released in August 2009 on Young Turks Records and received critical acclaim from such luminaries as the NME in the UK and Rolling Stone magazine in the United States.

Another admirer is Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons and Futurama, who has personally chosen The XX to perform at this summer’s All Tomorrow’s Parties he is curating in May in Minehead.

The XX debut album has so far spawned four singles: Crystalised, Basic Space, Islands and most recently VCR which was released in January 2010.

Their music is intense and low-fi, sparse and brooding. Their appeal may be the quality of the songs, coupled with the fact that they sound so distinct in a world of carbon copy music.

The XX use analogue synthesizers and drum machines alongside bass and guitars and have been likened to Hot Chip and Four Tet. The whispering vocal delivery also reminds me of Massive Attack.

Last year they supported the likes of The Big Pink but 2010 looks like it’s going to be their year as they set off in March to headline their first UK Tour.

Concert tickets for The XX tour are now on sale.  The dates include Brighton, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh.

The XX UK Tour Dates

1 March
Komedia Theatre
Brighton

2 March
Shepherds Bush Empire
London

3 March
Shepherds Bush Empire
London

5 March
O2 Academy
Birmingham

6 March
Manchester Academy 2
Manchester

8 March
The Cockpit
Leeds

9 March
Studio 24
Edinburgh

viagogo is an online ticket exchange that allows people to buy and sell live event tickets in a safe and guaranteed way.

bon jovi-the circle album & tour

New Jersey rock band Bon Jovi have been rocking audiences world wide since forming in 1983 and are still going strong having recently released their eleventh studio album The Circle, preceded by the lead single We Weren’t Born To Follow in November.

Uniquely in rock music Bon Jovi have managed to keep going with the same line up that they started out with over 25 years ago, with Jon Bon Jovi on vocals, Richie Sambora on lead guitar, David Bryan on keyboards and Tico Torres on drums.

In February 2010 Bon Jovi start an ambitious three leg tour to be known as The Circle Tour, that will encompass both North America and Europe, featuring a ten night residency at London’s O2 Arena in June. The residency will be split by a single date in Paris, France on June 16th.

Always a fantastic ‘live’ experience, Bon Jovi tickets are on sale now for the UK and Paris dates, but demand is bound to be high, so don’t miss out.

To mark 25 years in the music business Bon Jovi featured in a rockumentary, When We Were Beautiful, in April 2009. The film was made by Phil Griffin and debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival.  It charts the ups and downs of a lifetime spent together as a band and includes footage from The Lost Highway Tour that took place between October 2007 and July 2008, to promote the bands Lost Highway album.

In June 2009 Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora were inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame, the pair later that month recorded a version of Stand By Me with Iranian singer Andy Madadian, in support of victims of violence in Iran.

This is the current video for the new single;

Bon Jovi – We Weren’t Born To Follow

The Circle UK and Paris dates:

07.06.2010 United Kingdom O2 Arena, London, United Kingd
08.06.2010 United Kingdom O2 Arena, London, United Kingdom
10.06.2010 United Kingdom O2 Arena, London, United Kingdom
11.06.2010 United Kingdom O2 Arena, London, United Kingdom
13.06.2010 United Kingdom O2 Arena, London, United Kingdom
16.06.2010 France Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, Paris, France
17.06.2010 United Kingdom O2 Arena, London, United Kingdom
19.06.2010 United Kingdom O2 Arena, London, United Kingdom
20.06.2010 United Kingdom O2 Arena, London, United Kingdom
22.06.2010 United Kingdom O2 Arena, London, United Kingdom
23.06.2010 United Kingdom O2 Arena, London, United Kingdom

Bon Jovi Ticket Information
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This track is Cover From The Sky from the 1991 album Fellow Hoodlums and is a solo effort from the gorgeus Lorraine McIntosh and written like most of the Deacon Blue songs by Ricky Ross.

Deacon Blue – Cover From The Sky

Here is the official unreleased video for Madonna’s first UK hit, Holiday.

The promo video was recorded in 1983, possibly around the same time as when she recorded a pre-show video from Manchester’s Hacienda nightclub for Channel 4’s The Tube in 1983, as it features the same dancers, same dance routine and Madonna wearing the same clothes!

Holiday was taken from Madonna’s self-titled debut album which was released in the UK in the same year.

Madonna moved to New York in 1977, looking to become a professional dancer and a career in modern dance. After performing with different groups she turned her attention to launching a solo career in pop music; and the rest is history.

Since she first hit the UK charts in 1983 Madonna has hardly been out of the spotlight and has been rightfully given the title – Queen of Pop.

She has released 11 studio albums, the odd soundtrack, starred in several movies and survived high profile marriages to actor Sean Penn and film director, Guy Ritchie.

Madonna’s Studio albums:

1983: Madonna
1984: Like a Virgin
1986: True Blue
1989: Like a Prayer
1992: Erotica
1994: Bedtime Stories
1998: Ray of Light
2000: Music
2003: American Life
2005: Confessions on a Dance Floor
2008: Hard Candy

Madonna’s 2009 Sticky & Sweet Tour

In 1983 Madonna played to a handful of people at Manchester’s infamous night club, The Hacienda. In 2009 she is once again touring the world, and Madonna Sticky & Sweet Tour tickets are like gold dust.

The Hacienda has long since closed its doors and been replaced by executive apartments, while Madonna now plays live concerts to sell-out stadiums with more dancers onstage than were present in the audience at her 1983 Hacienda gig in Manchester.

Madonna’s 2009 Sticky & Sweet Tour will begin on 4th July in London and will see Madonna performing in places never before visited such as Werchter Belgium, Marseille France, Hamburg Germany, Oslo Norway, Helsinki Finland, Tallinn Estonia, Ljubljana Slovenia; as well as live concerts in Romania, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria.

Additional appearances by Madonna will include return visits after more than 15 years to Madrid, Gothenburg and Munich.

Viagogo will be the official ticketing partner on Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet 2009 summer tour concerts in the UK, Spain and France.

Viagogo will handle VIP packages and all premium concert tickets for Madonna’s European shows this summer, enabling safe and secure transactions for her fans for one of the most anticipated concert tours of the year. In addition fans will be able to resell their tickets through viagogo and, as always, all ticket trades are guaranteed.

The Fire Engines were a part of the young, vibrant Scottish scene, and in 1980 released their debut single, Get Up and Use Me. A treble lo-fi treat of jangly guitars with a post-punk tribal beat.

If not as manic, The Fire Engines are definitely a reference point for the contemporary indie pop group Franz Ferdinand; and in 2004 The Fire Engines reformed and recorded a limited edition single with the band.

Franz Ferdinand recorded a version of Get Up & Use Me, while The Fire Engines recorded Franz Ferdinand’s Jacqueline.

The Fire Engines were Davy Henderson (vocals & guitar), Russell Burn (drums),  Graham Main (bass) & Murray Slade (guitar).

For more information visit The Fire Engines MySpace page.

Fortunately, we’ve chosen to include the rarely seen promo video for The Fire Engines version.

This is simply one of my favourite songs of all-time.  There are a few songs I can listen to when feeling down and it will still make me smile.

Do You Realize?? by The Flaming Lips is truly one of those songs.  Great tune, beautiful lyrics and a great video too.

In 1981, before The Spice Girls and their limp squeal for ‘girl power’, there was Grace Jones.

Grace Jones had more ‘girl power’ than any other female performer, and was 110% more scary than Scary Spice – that’s the real one, not the Bo Selecta version.  Do you remember the assault on the late Russell Harty?  What great live television.

Pull Up To The Bumper is Grace Jones at her funky best, and the promo video shows off her elegance and that brilliant shuffle that beats Michael Jackson’s moonwalk every time.