LONG BLONDES SPLIT
The Long Blondes have announced that they have split up, following a stroke suffered by guitarist Dorian Cox back in June.

Writing on the band's MySpace blog, Cox said: "We have decided to call it a day. The main reason for this is that I suffered from a stroke in June and unfortunately I do not know when / if I will be well enough to play guitar again. On behalf of the band I'd like to say a big thank you to anyone who ever came to one of our shows, bought one of our records or danced to one of our songs in a club. Thank you, if it wasn't for you the whole thing would have been pointless. Finally on a personal note, thanks for all your well wishing messages".

The band release a compilation of their early releases on Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation and Angular Records today, and frontlady Kate Jackson will DJ at Twisted Licks at The Last Days Of Decadence in London in 7 Nov.

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U2 GOT $19 MILLION IN LIVE NATION SHARES AS PART OF 12 YEAR DEAL
U2 received an estimated $19 million worth of shares in Live Nation as part of that 12-year deal struck between the band and the live music conglom back in March.

Unlike Live Nation's multi-million dollar deals with Madonna, Jay-Z, Nickelback and Shakira, Bono et al's expanded business relationship with the company did not include their recordings or publishing rights, though in addition to an exclusive touring relationship, Live Nation did get a stake in the band's merchandising and online activity. U2 will continue to release albums, however, via Universal Music.

The share component of the U2/Live Nation deal became public last week when Live Nation made a filing with the US's Securities and Exchange Commission which registered 1.56 million shares in the company to U2.

Other specifics of the U2/Live Nation deal are not known, although as the band's Vertigo tour from 2005 to 2007 had reported revenues close to $400 million, over a twelve year relationship tour revenues could easily exceed a billion, so presumably the live music firm offered the band a pretty good deal to secure the twelve year partnership, even without recordings.

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NEW COMMS MINISTER PLANS REPORT ON DIGITAL BRITAIN
Our new Minister For Communications, Technology And Broadcasting, former OfCom chief Stephen Carter, has announced he has commissioned a report on 'Digital Britain' which will inform government on what role it should play in the ongoing development of the digital and communications industries.

The report comes as one key digital media platform - digital audio broadcasting - faces an uncertain future following the decision by Channel 4 to bail out of its ambitious plans to launch a second national DAB network, and past decisions by some of the major radio firms who were instrumental in setting DAB up in the first place to sell off or close down their digital-only stations. The BBC remains committed to DAB, and with internet capacity issues already a concern as more people start to use rich media services like BBC iPlayer, the wider radio sector is probably advised to continue investing in a digital radio system that doesn't rely on the internet for delivery. Though with ad revenues from digital services still somewhat less than the cost of operating them, and with ad budgets set to be even further slashed in the coming year, it's not surprising commercial radio chiefs have lost their enthusiasm for DAB.

Carter will also have to consider what to do about internet piracy. Although the ISPs have this year reluctantly agreed to take a more proactive role in helping record companies distribute warnings to those who access illegal sources of music online, if the warnings campaign doesn't prove to be a success and the labels start to push the ISPs towards taking more extreme action against copyright infringers - maybe even the 'three strikes and then you're cut off' proposal being considered in France - then they may need the government to come good on their promises to legislate in this area, and Carter may have to oversee that.

Still, with the 'Digital Britain' report in its early stages at the moment, Carter didn't get bogged down with specifics when discussing it last week, telling reporters instead that: "Our ambition is to see Digital Britain as the leading major economy for innovation, investment and quality in the digital and communications industries. We will seek to bring forward a unified framework to help maximise the UK's competitive advantage and the benefits to society".

In his new role Carter reports to both the Culture and Business ministers in government, the latter of which is, of course, that Peter Mandelson fella. Here's what he has to say about the Digital Britain report, which is set to be published next Spring: "The government is determined that the UK will strengthen its place as a word leader in the communications and digital technology sectors. For the present financial and banking crisis, Britain must get through the worst and prepare for the upturn. The digital economy will be central to this. The Digital Britain report will lead the way".

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LEVI STUBBS DIES
Four Tops frontman Levi Stubbs has died at his home in Detroit at the age of 72. No cause of death has been confirmed, but the singer had, in his later years, suffered from a variety of ailments, including cancer and a stroke.

The legendary group formed whilst the original members - Stubbs, Obie Benson, Abdul Fakir and Lawrence Payton - were still at school in the fifties, before becoming one of the major lynchpins of the Motown label in the mid-sixties, achieving huge hits with tracks like 'Baby I Need Your Loving', 'Reach Out (I'll Be There)' and 'I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)'. The band maintained its original line up for more than forty years, and only drafted in replacements in the late nineties, because of the death of two members, Benson and Payton, and Stubbs' failing health. The sole surviving member, Abdul Fakir, has continued to tour, with Payton's son Roquel plus former Temptation Theo Peoples and Motown veteran Ronnie McNair.

In addition to his Four Tops career, Stubbs did some other voicework; he was the voice of Audrey II in 1986's 'Little Shop Of Horrors', and of the character of Mother Brain on the cartoon show 'Captain N: The Game Master'.

Stubbs is survived by his wife of 48 years, Clineice, five children, and eleven grandchildren.

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CILMI SWEEPS ARIAS
Teenage pop singer Gabriella Cilmi has won six awards at the ARIAs, the Australian Recording Industry Association Awards (basically Australia's Brits), amongst them Breakthrough Artist, Single Of The Year, Best Pop Release and Best Female Artist. The number brings her equal with other girl stars Kylie Minogue and Delta Goodrem, in the 'having a big night at the ARIAs' stakes.

Goodrem this year only managed one gong, for highest selling album. Other winners on the night included Nick Cave, The Presets, hip-hoppers Bliss N Eso and indigenous musician Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu.

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SKIRMISH IN ATLANTA
Details on this are sketchy, to say the least, but according to reports a short fracas took place in Atlanta last week involving the respective entourages of rappers Jim Jones and Juelz Santana.

The clash apparently occurred after two video shoots took place in the same neighbourhood: on one side of the street newcomer Ace Hood was recording the promo for 'Ride', featuring Trey Songz, Juelz Santana and Rick Ross, while on the other Busta Rhymes was taping his promo for 'Arab Money', and attracting visits from various celebrities who were in town for the BET Hip-Hop Awards.

As the aforementioned c'lebs were departing the set, amongst them Polow Da Don, Young Buck, Jadakiss and DJ Khaled, there was a chase in which an unidentified man was apparently assaulted by members of the two entourages. It seems it wasn't a conflict between the two groups, because they were, in fact, united in attacking the one victim. It's not clear what the victim did to piss off both hip hop clans, though reports suggest he wasn't greatly injured.

Jones and Santana were rushed away from the area following the attack.

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SOUL TRAIN GUY ARRESTED
Don Cornelius, the former host and producer of US music programme 'Soul Train', was arrested on Friday on suspicion of perpetrating domestic violence. The LA police were called to his Hollywood Hills home after someone reported a domestic dispute, and Cornelius was subsequently booked for felony domestic violence and ordered to appear in court next month.

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JURY NUMBER TWO AUDITIONS BEGIN: SPECTOR TRIAL UPDATE
Hey people, guess what's back on the CMU agenda. Yep, the Phil Spector Trial. Again. You lucky people. Jury selection is due to begin later today.

As you all surely remember, legendary music producer Spector is accused of killing former actress Lana Clarkson at his home in Beverly Hills in February 2003. He was tried for murder last year.

The prosecution claims Spector has a split personality, and is prone to go a bit loony when alone with women late at night. Given that fact, and having pulled guns on women before, the prosecution said it was only a matter of time before he injured someone, deliberately or by mistake. On those grounds they said he was guilty of murder.

Spector's defence argued the prosecution's claims were circumstantial, and that the forensic evidence actually suggested Clarkson had been holding the gun when it went off. Portraying the former actress as a depressive on the edge, they said she killed herself, deliberately or otherwise.

In the end the defence's forensics case wasn't as strong as they had promised, but strong enough to put doubt into the minds of at least a couple of the jurors. As a result the jury failed to reach a unanimous decision as to Spector's guilt or otherwise, and a mistrial was declared.

The prosecution announced almost immediately they intended to have a second go, though with Spector's defence team not keen to go through the whole thing again, there was a year plus delay for trial two as the producer appointed a new legal team.

With said legal team in place, jury selection is now under way. Prospective jurors were asked to fill out a questionnaire earlier this month which asked them about their awareness of this case, other high profile celebrity cases, their opinion of the US criminal justice system, their knowledge and opinion of Spector's artistic work, their opinions on firearms and whether they reckon they could cope with being shown gory pictures from the scene of the crime. 85 potential jurors are now expected to come to court for questioning by the prosecution and defence in a bid to find the required number of jurors for the retrail, which could run for up to four months.

In related news, our old friend Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler, who will oversee the retrial, has said that a new witness will be allowed to testify that he had seen Spector use "incendiary language" about women and that the producer once stated that they should be shot. The defence team had said that a testimony by Vincent Tannazzo, a retired New York city policeman who met Spector when he worked as security at two of Joan Rivers' Christmas parties, was not relevant to the case. The prosecution, Spector's lead lawyer Doran Weinberg says, are planning on pursuing a case against Spector based on the allegation he hates women. But, he says, Spector can't be tried for "having an attitude". Fidler, however, disagreed, saying he thought Tannazzo's testimony was relevant to the prosecution's case, and that he was inclined to let it be presented to the jury.

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SINGLE REVIEW: Nitin Sawhney - Distant Dreams (feat. Roxanne Tataei) (Cooking Vinyl)
Taken from his 'London Undersound' album, which explores London since 9/11, 'Distant Dreams' broods with a sinister, claustrophobic menace, presumably representing the suspicious times Sawhney has witnessed in the capital in recent years. Dark, stalking percussion creates an atmosphere of tension, while demonstrating Sawhney's long established production skills, particularly in merging eastern and western musical traditions. Brit school alumni Roxanne Tataei's vocals offer a sense of the forbidden too, providing a sultry commentary on a changing city. There's elegance in her performance as well, with the same kind of soul we heard in Amy Winehouse when she was best known for her music. A gripping three minutes, if not the most hopeful. TM
Release Date: 27 Oct
Press Contact: Cooking Vinyl IH [all]

Buy from iTunes
Buy from Amazon

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LLOYD-WEBBER INVOLVEMENT IN EUROVISION CONFIRMED
As per those previously reported rumours, it's been confirmed that Andrew Lloyd Webber will be involved in this year's UK Eurovision efforts, and as it turns out, his role will be bigger even than the rumours suggested, in that Lloyd Webber will compose the British entry. A singer will then be found using a familiar talent show format, comparable to the composer's previous TV outings to find stars for his various West End shows. The programme will be called 'Your Country Needs You', will be hosted by Graham Norton, and will see judges select six finalists, who will then compete on television, with the public deciding the eventual winner.

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EMINEM ON NEW ALBUM
Eminem has confirmed via his Sirius radio station Shade 45 that his new album will be called 'Relapse' and that it's mostly been produced by Dre. He also previewed a track from the LP, entitled 'I'm Having A Relapse'. So there you go.

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ESAU MWAMAWAYA AND RADIO CLIT BECOME THE VERY BEST
Now, this is an interesting set up. Having met while working in the same street in Dalston, North London, Radio Clit and Esau Mwamawaya have been working on a project together for two years now, and we'll be able to hear the results of that project very soon.

With Radio Clit's Etienne Tron and Johan Karlberg coming from France and Sweden, and Mwamawaya originating from Malawi, the trio set out to make music that celebrated their international influences whilst still operating within pop structures. he trio have recorded an album with the help of the likes of Vampire Weekend, MIA and Marina Vello of Brazilian three-piece Bonde Do Role, and that long player is now due for release next spring.

But you don't have to wait that long to hear some of the fruits of their labours. On 1 Dec they release 'Mixtape Vol. 1', which will feature tracks from the album, as well as unique collaborations with MIA and Santogold on the track 'Get It Up', and fresh takes on MIA's 'Paper Planes', Hans Zimmer's 'True Romance OST' and Michael Jackson's 'Will You Be There'.

For more information and to download the mixtape, visit The Very Best's MySpace here.

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CUT OFF YOUR HANDS, CMJ SHOWS, US RELEASES
It's only the bloomin CMJ Music Marathon in New York this week - hurrah. Among the bands due to play are kiwi indie types Cut Off Your Hands, who have five shows in NYC during CMJ. I'm mentioning them because the US dates coincide with an announcement from Frenchkiss Records that they'll release a new EP from the band - the 'Happy As Can Be EP' - in the US later this month. I think Frenchkiss will also release the band's Bernard Butler produced debut album 'You And I' Stateside, probably early next year.

If you're going to the CMJ, you can catch Cut Off Your Hands at these shows...

21 Oct: The Delancey New Zealand Showcase
23 Oct: Continental Army Plaza Todd P Party
24 Oct: Cake Shop New York Noise Showcase
25 Oct: Glasslands Daytrotter/Snowghost Party
25 Oct: Public Assembly Crashin' In Party

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FUCKED UP UK DATES
Following the release of their debut album 'The Chemistry Of Common Life', and a rather interesting sounding twelve hour gig in New York last week (assisted by the likes of Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig, Dinosaur Jr's J. Mascis and Moby, apparently), Fucked Up have announced a run of UK dates, as follows:

7 Nov: 93 Feet East, London
8 Nov: Freebutt, Brighton
9 Nov: Barfly, Birmingham
10 Nov: The Zodiac, Oxford
11 Nov: Cavern, Exeter
12 Nov: Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
13 Nov: Sugarmill, Stoke
14 Nov: Bodega, Nottingham
15 Nov: Kasbah, Coventry
16 Nov: King Tuts, Glasgow
17 Nov: Corporation, Sheffield
18 Nov: Cockpit, Leeds
19 Nov: Roadhouse, Manchester

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MARTIN SAYS COLDPLAY TO PLAY KNEBWORTH GIG
Chris Martin has told Zane Lowe on Radio 1 that Coldplay are to hoping to play a huge gig at Knebworth, following in the footsteps of that old Robbie Williams character. Martin said: "We're trying to book a place that rhymes with Blebworth. We realised there's a lot of people who don't like us in Britain but, you know, they don't have to come. We're not gonna do three [nights], Robbie did three. We'd be happy with one. Then the next day can be some kind of caravan conference".

The Thursday night radio show also featured the first airing of Coldplay's Jay-Z collaboration, a reworking of 'Viva La Vida' album track 'Lost!', which, as previously reported, is set to appear on the band's forthcoming EP 'Prospekt's March'.

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TIMBERLAKE SAYS NO MORE SEXYBACK
Justin Timberlake has said that he won't perform his track 'Sexyback' anymore. The singer hosted a star-studded benefit show in Las Vegas on Friday, and announced prior to a rendition of the song that he would be singing it for the last time. I bet he does though. Perform 'Sexyback' again that is.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Bluba Lu - World Melancholy (Bluba Lu Records/Botchit & Scarper)
'World Melancholy' is the fourth full-length album from Bulgarians Bluba Lu, a duo who, apart from getting four albums under their belts, also founded Bulgaria's first independent record label, Yellow Music. Here the guys, Konstantin Katsraski and Dimitar Paskalev, join forces with vocalist Andronia Popova (aka Roni) to write what, on first listen, evokes images of an Eastern European themed James Bond movie. In fact, the dramatic strings and marching beat on 'Free Me' make it a good contestant for the 23rd Bond theme. Conductor Ilia Mihaylov leads a chamber orchestra in creating the multi-layered sounds that weave through each track, most of which have minimalist elements similar to Portishead, a comparison that is emphasised by Roni's vocals. The press release insists each song has a story but the vocals don't really need a meaning, Roni seems to mesmerise as her voice floats through chromatic patterns you'd struggled to hum along to - think Kaa from Disney's 'The Jungle Book' when he is trying to hypnotise Mowgli. The album as a whole is a chilled out mix of melancholy emotions with tracks that that differ ever so slightly in tone to create a journey through all of those sludgy, sepia colours. But don't let me give you the impression that this is in any way depressing; once you get to the other end, it just leaves you extremely relaxed. AW
Release Date: 27 Oct
Press Contact: Trailer Media [all]

Buy from iTunes

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FACEBOOK MAY LOOK FOR STREAMING PARTNERS TO EXPAND ITS MUSIC OFFER
Despite their grand plans to take on MySpace in the music domain not coming to much, partly because it's so flippin hard to work out how to set up and use an artist profile, and partly because they failed to win major label support for their plans, Facebook reportedly still has ambitions in the music area. Word has it they are now looking to do deals with existing streaming music services to enhance their music offer, rather than going the MySpace route of setting up their own JV music firm with the major labels and launching their own streaming whatnot. Companies they are talking to in the US reportedly include Rhapsody, Imeem, iLike and Lala, which is interesting because at least some of those are potentially competitors in the social networking space.

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PANDORA MAKE JOB CUTS
Pandora are not being talked about for a possible Facebook tie up, which is a shame because they could do with a boost. The last.fm style service, which was CMU's streaming service of choice before licensing issues saw UK access to it cut off, announced last week it was laying off 20 of its 140 employees, mainly because of the old credit crunch.

As previously reported, Pandora has struggled to negotiate viable royalty rates with the music firms, and received little help from the US's Copright Royalty Board who approved rates much higher than they could afford. That said, the streaming service's boss, Tim Westergreen, has said they are now close to reaching an acceptable arrangement with the labels and publishers.

But licensing politics make business development for companies like Pandora difficult, which is even more of a problem when you have a relatively high workforce because you use human-based music analysis to classify songs. That, on top of the collapsing economy, has forced Westergreen to make some difficult decisions. He told reporters last week: "Today we reduced our staff from 140 to 120 employees. Like virtually every company, Pandora is not immune to the challenges presented by the current economic turmoil".

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UK MUSIC APPOINT POLICY ADVISOR
UK Music, the sort of new trade body that will represent the wider music business, including the recordings, publishing and artist management sectors, has announced the appointment of Jo Dipple to the role of Policy Advisor. Given UK Music sees government lobbying on issues like copyright extension and combating internet piracy as one of its main priorities, Dipple is a strategic appointment, given her former job as Special Comms Advisor for 10 Downing Street. Prior to that Dipple worked as a Daily Mirror journalist.

Confirming the appointment, which precedes UK Music's official launch on 27 Oct, the body's top man Feargal Sharkey told CMU: "Having someone of Jo's calibre onboard is a clear indication of UK Music's aims and ambitions. Her vast experience of both media and government will be a huge asset and invaluable to our strategy of placing music at the centre stage of the creative industries".

Jo herself added: "I am delighted to join Feargal Sharkey, Andy Heath and the team at UK Music. This is a very exciting time for the UK's commercial music industry. The formation of UK Music heralds a strong united voice for the whole of the industry. Together, we can ensure music continues to be not just an essential part of our daily lives, but also one of Britain's leading creative forces".

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MURDOCH SAYS SKY SHARE RULING UNJUST
Rupert Murdoch has gone public about the UK Competition Commission's ruling that his BSkyB company should be forced to sell some of its shares in ITV.

As previously reported, competition authorities said that BSkyB buying a 17.9% stake in one of its major competitors, while not against media ownership rules, was anti-competitive. They've been told to reduce their stake from 17.9% to 7.5%. While there is actually quite a lot of interest in Sky's ITV stake among other broadcasters, most notably Channel Five owner RTL, it's thought that, given the current economic climate and the slump in TV advertising hitting ITV's financial performance, Sky stand to lose out big time by selling their shares in ITV now rather than later.

Speaking at the AGM of his News Corp empire, Murdoch said the Competition Commission's decision to force the share sale, a decision Sky may as yet appeal for a second time, was unjust. He told the meeting: "The purchase of those shares in ITV was totally within the law. It's a huge injustice that Sky has suffered and it's still subject to court review".

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TWO LONDON STATIONS PUT UP FOR SALE ON THEIR WEBSITES
London based media firm Litt Corporation, which owns various local radio stations around the UK, including Asian service Sunrise Radio, has announced it is selling two of its smaller stations in South East London. The announcement was made on the two station's websites, which also encourages readers of the site to make a bid. The message on the websites of Greenwich-based Time 106.8 and Lewisham-based South London Radio reads: "Our current owners operate large regional and national services and they feel the community would be better served by a local company running a radio station in the area instead of a large media group. Therefore [the station] is for sale, and we would welcome the opportunity to speak to any potential buyers for the radio station".

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CHART UPDATE
Wow, did I offend someone by calling the chart boring last week? I don't know, but there's certainly been a lot of action this week. Pink holds fast at number one with her lies about being a rock star, and Kings Of Leon, Ne-Yo, Rihanna and Sugababes all stay in the top ten (although only just in the case of the latter).

But those guys are all old news. Coming in at number three is last year's 'X Factor' winner Leon Jackson with 'Don't Call This Love'. However, he is not the highest new entry. Jackson has been kept off second place by Geraldine McQueen and 'The Winners Song', the lead single released by the, erm, 'winner' of Peter Kay's spoof talent show, 'Britain's Got Pop Factor And Possibly A New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly On Ice'. Make of that what you will.

Also breaking into the top ten are, The Saturdays, who make it to number five, Snow Patrol, who move from 15 to six, and Sash, who makes a huge leap from 180 to nine. Not bad. The rest of the top 40 is still pretty dull, though. Katy Perry's new single, 'Hot N Cold' moves from 63 to 26, The Ting Tings' 'Be The One' moves from 46 to 28, and Razorlight's 'Wire To Wire' is a new entry at 30.

Over to the albums chart now, and there you'll find a brand new number one, Keane's 'Perfect Symmetry', which I discovered at the weekend is, apart from a couple of really awful songs, actually quite good. Although none of it matches up to 'Spiralling', which it the first song. Something to work on there, boys. Also a new entry in the top 10 are Boyzone with 'Back Again - No Matter What'. Is it just me, or does that conjure up images of the group fighting their way through angry protesters?

There are a few more new entries in the top 40, also. Dave Clark Five's 'The Hits' enters at number 15, Funeral For A Friend's 'Memory & Humanity' is straight in at 17, Ray LaMontagne's 'Gossip In The Rain' is at 23 and Boyzone make their second new entry this week at 34 with 'B-sides & Rarities'.

The chart comes from the Official Chart Company - www.theofficialcharts.com

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TOTAL ROCK WORLD ALBUM CHART
It's the Total Rock World Album Chart, as counted down on Total Rock over the weekend - www.totalrock.com. New entries and re-entries marked with a *.

1. Metallica - Death Magnetic (Universal/Mercury)
2. Kid Rock - Rock - N' Roll Jesus (Warner/Atlantic)
3. Slipknot - All Hope Is Gone (Warner/Roadrunner)
4. David Gilmour - Live In Gdansk (EMI)
5. Trivium - Shogun (Warner/Roadrunner)*
6. Buckcherry - Black Butterfly (Warner/Atlantic)
7. Disturbed - Indestructible (Warner/Reprise)
8. Metallica - Metallica (Universal/Mercury)
9. Nickelback - All The Right Reasons (Warner/Roadrunner)
10. Queen - Greatest Hits 1,2,3 (EMI)
11. Amon Amarth - Twilight Of The Thunder God (Metal Blade)*
12. Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight (Warner Bros)
13. Queen + Paul Rodgers - The Cosmos Rocks (EMI)
14. Led Zeppelin - Mothership (Warner/Atlantic)
15. Staind - The Illusion Of Progress (Warner/Roadrunner)
16. Daughtry - Daughtry (SonyBMG)
17. Journey - Revelation (Frontiers)
18. The Offspring - Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace (SonyBMG)
19. 3 Doors Down - 3 Doors Down (Republic)
20. Avenged Sevenfold - Live In The LBC/Diamonds In The Rough (Warner Bros)

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SUB.TV PLAYLIST
Yes, it's the Sub.tv playlist, the videos played on the Sub.tv network of screens in students' unions around the UK this coming week. New entries marked with a *. More info from [email protected].

A-List
Adele - Make You Feel My Love*
Bloc Party - Talons
Fleet Foxes - He Doesn't Know Why*
Keane - The Lovers Are Losing
The Last Shadow Puppets - My Mistakes Were Made For You
Lemar - If She Knew*
Luigi Masi - Strobelight
Ne-Yo - Miss Independent
Noah and The Whale - Shape Of My Heart
The Pigeon Detectives - Say It Like You Mean It
Red Light Company - Scheme Eugene
Roots Manuva - Let The Spirit*
Stereophonics - You're My Star*
Team Waterpolo - So Called Summer*
Vampire Weekend - A-Punk*
The View - 5 Rebbecca's

B-List
A Place To Bury Strangers - I Know I'll See You*
The Acorn - The Flood Pt 1*
The Dears - Money Babies*
Filthy Dukes - Tupac Robot Club Rock*
Hawnay Troof - Connection*
In Case Of Fire - This Time We Stand*
Jordin Sparks - Tattoo
London Elektricity - All Hell Is Breaking Loose
Mercury Rev - Butterfly's Wing*
Pint Shot Riot - Holes*
Ra Ra Riot - Ghost Under Rocks*
The Raid - Oh Lillee*
The Shaky Hands - We Are Young*
Sky Larkin - Fossil, I
Twisted Wheel - Lucy The Castle*
VV Brown - Crying Blood*

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ALESHA'S LABEL HEARTBREAK
What a great headline, it's like something from Take A Break magazine. Anyway, poor Alesha Dixon. The former Mis-Teeq singer has spoken about how heartbroken she was when Polydor dropped her in 2006 because her second solo single failed to make the top forty. "When I got dropped, I was heartbroken, distraught", she's quoted as saying. "It took me a long time to get the strength to go back in the studio".

Anyway, since winning 'Strictly Come Dancing' last year, the world's been her oyster and nothing can possibly go wrong, ever again. She's releasing a new single ''The Boy Does Nothing', via Atlantic, on 3 Nov. She says: "this time I feel like I've put a protection around myself and I'm stronger. I'm trying to be more practical about it while still putting my heart into everything I do".

I hope things do go well this time around. I like her a lot.

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MADONNA'S BROTHER BLAMES DIVORCE ON KABBALAH
Madonna's brother - the one who wrote the book she didn't like - has said that Kabbalah is largely to blame for her marriage breakdown. He told German newspaper Bild: "The Kabbalah sect, to which Madonna is completely devoted, played a large role in this marriage. It was based on it. And that is not enough on which to base a marriage. It couldn't have survived. As for a reconciliation, I really don't think so. With two such ambitious and headstrong personalities, it would just be too hard".

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AMY, LILY AND CHARLOTTE HAVE ANNOYING VOICES, OFFICIAL
A few music types have made it into a survey about people with annoying accents. Amy Winehouse topped the poll alongside David Beckham, and Lily Allen and Charlotte Church were not far behind. If I didn't know better I'd say it was a conspiracy against the women. God, I'm sick of living in this male patriarchal society. Well, okay. Elsewhere on the list are Ozzy Osbourne and Chris Moyles. But they actually deserve to be there.

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