Remember Keane? Who could forget the wonderful indie lilts of Bedshaped and Silenced By The Night. We do, and ever so fondly. Well four years have elapsed since Keane’s last album ‘Perfect Symmetry’; two since ‘Night Train’, the mini-LP which followed its three full-length predecessors to the top of the British album charts, and now they return with their latest (and bound to be a hit) offering, Strangeland, which is set for UK release on May the 7th.

Prior to this the band release their debut single from the album ‘Silenced By The Night’ on 30th April 2012. The band play Record Store Day on 21st April, and we caught up with Tom on his thoughts on Records Store Day, and what 2012 holds for Keane.

MUZU.TV: It’s great to see Keane so involved with Record Store Day. Why do you think RSD is important to the Music Industry?

Tom: Every independent record store has it’s own personality, a sense of being truly in touch with the music itself. As soon as you walk in a record shop you hear music playing that you may never have heard before, you can get recommendations and you can buy bits of old vinyl that give you a sense of being part of a much greater musical picture than you would ever get from the internet.

MUZU.TV: Are you supporters of independent record stores? Where do you buy your music?

Tom: There’s a great store called Grammar School Records in my local town. I’ve bought some beautiful vintage records in there. And, of course, Rough Trade when I’m in London.

MUZU.TV: Do you think the prevalence of digital is detrimental to bands or artists attempting to make a career from music? With so much music available for free on the internet, it becomes very difficult to make money from it these days.

Tom: It certainly means that live music has become far more important, which has been one of the more surprising benefits of the digital music revolution. To be a great band, I think you have to be able to connect with people live. However, I do subscribe to the point of view that people should pay for records. This argument happened when tapes first appeared but I think the mountain to climb is much higher this time. Once a digital copy of a record is available, you basically hand over the rights to your music. This allows people to make their minds up as to whether they want to pay for it or just plain steal it. To me, that’s a pretty shit situation. I think CDs became way too expensive and the greed and short-sightedness of record companies has a lot to do with the state of mind that people have towards copying music. I hope this will change over time. To me, it’s not so much a question of people making money, as it is a moral question about the value of music. When a band pours time, effort, heart and soul into making an album, it surely has a creative as well as a monetary value. All that said, if you make a great record, then people will still go and buy it – so we hope we keep doing that. We also have an incredibly dedicated and loyal set of fans who keep us alive as a band, so we’re always thankful that they continue to buy our music and come to our shows.

MUZU.TV: What can we expect to see from you at your show in the iconic Rough Trade in London?
Tom: We like to strip the songs back to the bare bones for this kind of thing – I think Keane’s greatest strength is great songs and great singing – if you can pull off a song without any bells and whistles and still hold an audience captivated, then you know you’re on to a good thing. Let’s hope I’m not eating those words when we come and play for you!

MUZU.TV: You’re about to release Strangeland in May which is your fourth Studio album, tell us a bit about the process for the creation of Strangeland and what we can expect to see from it?

Tom: The process was a much longer one this time round. We wanted to make absolutely sure that we got everything about as perfect as we could make it. This meant giving Tim a long time to write, rehearsing the songs, recording many versions and finally committing to working wit a great producer when we felt ready. I think the album represents a band at the very peak of their powers – I really feel like we have made a record that we are truly proud of.

MUZU.TV: What else can we expect to see from Keane in 2012?

Tom: We’re going to be out on the road pretty much permanently. Come and catch us whenever you can. Our live show is something pretty special these days.

Keane – Silenced By The Night on MUZU.TV.

You can catch Keane on tour at the following dates:

May 2012
Wednesday 23, Newcastle O2 Academy, 0844 477 2000
Thursday 24, Glasgow O2 Academy, 0844 4999 990
Friday 25, Birmingham O2 Academy, 0844 477 2000
Tuesday 29, Leeds O2 Academy, 0844 477 2000
Wednesday 30, Manchester O2 Apollo, 0844 477 7677

June 2012
Monday 04, Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall, 0844 847 1776
Tuesday 05, Bristol O2 Academy, 0844 477 2000
Wednesday 06, Leicester De Montfort Hall, 0116 233 3111
Friday 08, London O2 Brixton Academy, 0844 477 2000
Saturday 09, London O2 Brixton Academy, 0844 477 2000

£25 (£28.50 London)

Official website for Keane
Keane’s Facebook
Keane’s Twitter

Check out all the great releases and events happening for Record Store Day in the UK, on the 21st April.

When you think of Kasabian, what springs to mind. Crunching indie riffs? Great haircuts? Even better indie styling?

Kasabian are an English indie rock band who formed in Leicester in the year of 1997. The original line up comprised vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and also keyboardist Christopher Karloff, guitarist, backing, and also occasional lead vocalist Sergio Pizzorno and bassist Chris Edwards. kasabian have released four studio albums – titles Kasabian in 2004, Empire in 2006, West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum in 2009, and the Velociraptor! in 2011. The band currently features members Meighan, Pizzorno, Edwards, and drummer Ian Matthews. Pizzorno has become Kasabian’s lead songwriter since Karloff’s left the band.

Kasabian gained fame and took the British press by storm in the year of 2000 by mixing traces of influences the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, and Primal Scream with a big bunch of swag and a tinge of music that is influenced by electronics. The band were named after Linda Kasabian, who was Charles Manson’s getaway driver. The Leicester based group moved into a remote farmhouse to create its music. This strange communal life and a massive amount of shared influences produced an electronic and rock sound that demonstrated massive amounts of Madchester influences. The band are now notorious for their swagger and rock confidence, inspiring a wealth of like sounding bands!

The most notable amount of swaggering comes from lead singer Tom Meighan, who the press loved. This was also fuelled by Kasabian’s awesome logos and sleeve art which added to the excitement. The hype ensured Kasabian’s self-titled debut cracked the Top Five in October 2004, which was just one month after its U.K. release.

The founding guitarist Chris Karloff left the lineup about two years later, and it was cited that creative differences was the result. Kasabian’s second studio album, Empire, had already been recorded by this point, and then new guitarist Jay Mehler was brought aboard to replace Karloff for live performances, who then became an official member in 2008. Empire was released in August 2006 and debuted on top of the U.K. charts, and the title track became a top ten hit. Kasabian recieved a NME Award in 2007 and began work on another album. Dan the Automator shared production work with Serge Pizzorno, which resulted in the U.K. chart-topper West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum which was released in2009. Two years later he returned for the album Velociraptor!, featuring the leadoff single “Switchblade Smiles.”

Wow, so there you have it. A history of a band that brought back rock n roll to the UK. What’s next for Kasabian? Will the do a Coldplay? Will the shave of their indier than though haircuts? Global domination? You decide.

Kasabian – Goodbye Kiss on MUZU.TV.

Kasabian – Re-Wired on MUZU.TV.

Kasabian – Empire on MUZU.TV.

The Saturdays! Brilliant girl pop with a bang! The burst on to the scene a few years ago with a flurry of colour and different hiarstyles, and proceeded to concur the charts and snag all the hot boys in the UK. Well, kinda. The Saturdays are a British and Irish pop girl group who are based in London. The group consists of members Una Healy, Mollie King, Frankie Sandford, Vanessa White and Rochelle Wiseman. The band were formed in 2007 through Fascination Records, and recieved and instant record deal with Fascination, which is a sub-division of Polydor Records.

The first recieved fame when they released their debut single “If This is Love“, which is was their top ten hit. The then released their first mainstream studio album which was called Chasing Lights. It was accredited platinum certification by the British Phonographic Industry, while “Up“, “Issues” and “Just Can’t Get Enough” all received silver certifications. The band then began a sell-out tour The Work Tour. While on tour The Saturdays began recording their second studio album, Wordshaker released in October 2009, which gained silver certification by BPI.

In 2010, between their 2010 release Wordshaker and their planned 2011 album, the band released their first ep, called Headlines!, with the first single “Missing You” released and the second single being “Higher” which featured guest vocals from massive US rap star Flo Rida. The Saturdays then released On Your Radar which is their third studio album and was released in November 2011, with top ten singles “Notorious” and “All Fired Up” released before the album. The Saturdays have released twelve singles.
Not content with British fame, The Saturdays are now looking to crack the American music industry, and they are currently due to star in their own TV show on American channel E!, in 2012.

The Saturdays – On Your Radar Megamix on MUZU.TV.

The Saturdays – All Fired Up on MUZU.TV.

The Saturdays – Issues on MUZU.TV.

Ahh Coldplay, where do we start? A band with a history spanning two decades, a British band that released Yellow and then sold out global arenas, a band where the frontman got lucky and married a world famous actress (Gwyneth Paltrow).

Coldplay are an alternative indie rock band who formed in the year of 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and also lead guitarist Jonny Buckland while at University College London. Next Pectoralz, and Guy Berryman joined the group on the bass and they changed their name to Starfish. Great choice guys. Then Will Champion joined as a drummer and also backing vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, which completed the line-up. Their manager, Phil Harvey is considered an unofficial member. The band then renamed themselves “Coldplay” in the year of 1998, and then recorded and released three EPs. These were Safety in 1998, Brothers & Sisters in 1999 and The Blue Room in the same year The Blue Room was their first release on a major, when the band signed to EMI imprint Parlophone. Coldplay achieved worldwide fame and success with the release of the single “Yellow” in 2000, which was followed by their debut album Parachutes which was released and the same year and nominated for the Mercury Prize. Coldplay’s second album – A Rush of Blood to the Head was released in 2002 and recieved very favourable reviews, winning multiple awards which included NME’s Album of the Year, and is widely considered the best Nelson poduced Coldplay albums. Coldplay’s next release was X&Y, which was incredibly the best-selling album worldwide in 2005. X&Y was met with remarkably positive reviews. The band’s fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, was produced by music mogul Brian Eno again to favourable reviews, it earned several Grammy nominations and won at the 51st Grammy Awards and in 2011, they released their fifth studio album, Mylo Xyloto, which was the UK’s best-selling rock album of 2011.

Coldplay won a number of music awards throughout their career, including many Brit Awards, these were Best British Group three times, four MTV Video Music Awards, and seven Grammy Awards from twenty nominations. Coldplay have sold and incredible 55 million records worldwide.

Coldplay have also previously been active supporters of various charitable and political causes such as Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair campaign and Amnesty International. Check out some of their greatest hits below, what’s next for a band that has already set the mark so high?

Coldplay – Paradise on MUZU.TV.

Coldplay – Fix You on MUZU.TV.

Coldplay – The Scientist (Edit) on MUZU.TV.

Edward Christopher “Ed” Sheeran was born on 17 February 1991 and is an English singer and songwriter who is currently signed to Asylum and Atlantic Records. Ed Sheeran broke through with commercial success in July 2011 when his debut single “The A Team” which debuted at number 3 on the UK chart. Ed Sheeran was born in Halifax, in West Yorkshire and then moved to Framlingham, Suffolk; Ed Sheeran is also the is a cousin of TV journalist and presenter Gordon Burns. Ed learned guitar in his childhood and began writing songs during his school years. Ed’s referred to his childhood memories in an interview on the Zane Lowe show, which included listening to Van Morrison on his adventures to London with his parents going to a Damien Rice concert in Ireland when he was 11

Ed Sheeran began recording in 2005, leading to the release of his first EP, titles The Orange Room EP. Ed Sheeran also released 2 albums, a self-titled one in 2006 and Want Some? in 2007. In 2008 Ed Sheeran moved to the big city of london to play gigs, starting off in very small venues, playing every day, to as little as five people. In 2009, Ed Sheeran played 312 gigs. Wow, he was unrelentless. His influence in this was that he read an interview with James Morrison that said that Morrison had done 200 gigs in a year, and Ed Sheeran wanted to beat him on this number. In 2009, Ed Sheeran released another EP, You Need Me, before going on tour with Just Jack. In Ed Sheeran was also asked by Example to tour with him, and in February 2010 he released his critically acclaimed Loose Change EP, which featured his later debut single “The A Team“.

In January of 2011, Ed Sheeran released his final independent EP, No.5 Collaborations Project which featured appearances by grime artists such as Wiley, JME, Devlin, Sway and Ghetts. Ed Sheeran gained mainstream attention and reached number 2 in the iTunes chart without any promotion or label, and sold over 7,000 copies in its first week of release. Three months later, Ed Sheeran put on a free show to fans at the famous Barfly in Camden. Over 1,000 fans turned up to see the show, so Ed Sheeran then ended up playing four different shows to make sure everyone saw a gig, which included a gig outside on the street after the venue had closed. Later that month, Sheeran was signed to Asylum / Atlantic Records.

Ed Sheeran has since appeared on the TV music show Later… with Jools Holland – performing “The A Team”. “The A Team” was the lead single from Sheeran’s debut studio album, entitled +. “The A Team” entered the UK chart at number 3, and sold over 58,000 copies in the first week. In November 2011, “Lego House” was released as the third single from +. The video for “Lego House” features fellow ginger and Harry Potter actor Rupert Grint.

This year, Ed Sheeran is due to support Snow Patrol on their United States tour from late March until May. The only way is up for this lovely little singer songwriter. Will Ed take the states by storm? We think so!

Ed Sheeran – Live In Your Living Room on MUZU.TV.

Ed Sheeran – Drunk on MUZU.TV.

Ed Sheeran – You Need Me, I Don’t Need You v3 on MUZU.TV.

Jason Joel Desrouleaux was born on September 21, 1989 and is better known as Jason Derülo, he is an American singer-songwriter and also actor and dancer. Jason Derulo has produced records for numerous artists and has been writing songs for Cash Money Records, Young Money Entertainment, including owner Lil Wayne and rapper P Diddy. Jason Derülo signed to minor recording label Beluga Heights. Beluga Heights then became part of the Warner Music Group, and Jason Derülo released his debut single, “Whatcha Say” in May of 2009, which then sold over five million digital downloads. It gained an RIAA certification of double platinum, and reached number 1 in the US and also New Zealand. Jason Derülo then released his second single, “In My Head“, in December 2009. His debut album, Jason Derülo, was released in 2010.

Jason Derulo was born in the US, Miami, Florida, to parents of Haitian decent. Jason Derulo changed his name from Desrouleaux to make it easier to pronounce. Jason Derülo has been performing since the tender age of five. Jason Derulo wrote his first song, “Crush on You”, at the youthful age of eight and was heard singing part of the song on a Galaxy FM interview. Jason Derülo then spent his younger years studying opera, theater, and ballet, dancing and singing was in his blood. He attended Dillard Center for the Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York.

At the still tender age of 12, Derülo met his future manager, Frank Harris, a law school student who was helping him with his basketball skills. Jason Derülo was always intent on becoming a solo performer, and has since been writing songs for artists including Diddy, Danity Kane, Donnie Klang, Sean Kingston, Cassie, Lil Wayne, since he was 16. He honed his many talents in performance arts schools and acting in theatre productions like Ragtime and Smokey Joe’s Cafe. Jason Derülo won the grand prize on the 2006 season finale of the TV show Showtime at the Apollo. Jason Derülo was then discovered by music producer J. R. Rotem, who signed him to his record label Beluga Heights Records and consequentally Warner Bros. Records.

J.R Rotem has been quoted saying “Jason Derülo has one of the most impressive work ethics I’ve ever come across – he just keeps knocking out songs in the studio. That’s an amazing quality.”. jason Derulo is know for his hardworking and determined work nature.

Jason Derülo’s music career truly began in 2006, when he was featured on Birdman’s song “Bossy”, whic featured on his album, 5 * Stunna. Jason released his debut single, “Whatcha Say” which was produced by J. R. Rotem and had extra production by Fuego. Whatcha Say samples the Imogen Heap song “Hide and Seek”, the song debuted at number 54 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hit number 1 in November 2009. Whatcha Say’s music video was released in September 2009; which was after the single became successful, and then Jason Derülo started to work on his debut album. Jason released the second single from his album, “In My Head”, on December 8, 2009, which peaked at number five.

Jason Derülo’s debut album, titled Jason Derülo, was released on March 2, 2010. Jason was one of the opening acts for Lady Gaga’s 2009–2010 The Monster Ball Tour. The third single of the album is the incredibly successful “Ridin’ Solo,”. Jason Derülo has also collaborated singer Pixie Lott on a song called “Coming Home”.

Jason Derülo’s second studio album, entitled Future History, was released in September 2011. The lead single, “Don’t Wanna Go Home”, was released in May 2011 and hit the number-one spot in the UK. On January 6, 2012, while Jason Derülo was rehearsing his elaborate dance moves for his Future History Tour, he broke one of his vertebrae. As a result, he canceled all of his tour dates. Jason’s dance moves have been compared to Michael Jackson himself, and we hope to see him on the mend soon! What’s next for Jason Derulo?

John and Edward Grimes were born on the 16th of October in 1991, in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. They are an Irish pop duo. John and Edward are identical twins and perform under the name Jedward since being christened that on The X Factor. Jedward are widely renowned for their huge blond quiffs, with the twins first appearing as John & Edward on the sixth series of The X Factor in the year of 2009. The shot to fame and generated a phenomenon which became widely known as “the Jedward paradox”. Jedward finished sixth and are now managed by X Factor Judge Louis Walsh, who was their mentor during the show. Jedward are know for not being the most accomplished vocal performers, but making up for it in spirit and elaborate dance routines.

Jedward’s debut single was “Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby)“, which featured Vanilla Ice, and was released on the 1st February in 2010. Jedward first performed the song with Vanilla Ice as a duet at the 2010 National Television Awards on 20 January. The single was released by Sony Music UK, and it reached number two on the UK Singles Chart and also number one on the Irish Singles Chart. Jedward were tragically dropped by Sony Music UK but quickly signed to Universal Music Ireland on a three album deal non less than the following day. Jedward released their second single, which was a cover of Blink-182’s “All the Small Things”, on 16 July and then their debut studio album Planet Jedward on 26 July. Planet Jedward was incredibly successful and reached number one on the Irish Albums Chart and number 17 on the UK Albums Chart. It was then certified double platinum in Ireland and then platinum in Northern Ireland.

In 2011 Jedward won the Irish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 on the famous Irish Late Late Show with their entry single “Lipstick”. They consequently represented Ireland at the contest in Düsseldorf, and progressed through the second semi-final on 12 May, and performed at the final on 14 May 2011, achieving a reputable eighth place. “Lipstick” was then released as the first single released from their second studio album Victory. “Lipstick” and the following single “Bad Behaviour” then reached number 1 in the Irish Singles Chart, while Victory also went to number 1 in the Irish Albums Chart.

Not content with only being popstars, Jedward participated in Celebrity Big Brother 2011, and finished in third place. Jedward became famous for their boyish and mischevious antics, much to the amusement of the other housemates. For the second year in a row, Jedward entered the Irish Eurovision national final and won both the jury and the public vote, and will now be representing Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan with their entry “Waterline”.

More recently for MUZU.TV, Jedward took part in an April Fools where the they pretended to get tattoos for Eurovision. This was revealed to be a April Fool’s on April the 1st, and just another mischevious prank from the jokers!

Jedward – Waterline on MUZU.TV.

Jedward – April Fool: Jedward Get Tattoos for Eurovision on MUZU.TV.

Jedward – Lipstick on MUZU.TV.

The incredible new album from Damon Albarn ‘Dr Dee’ is out on May 7th. We have three pairs of tickets to offer to MUZU.TV fans to see Damon perform songs from Dr Dee at OneFest, UK this Saturday 14th at Rockely Manor, Marlborough

Damon will perform songs from Dr Dee at OneFest, ‘The First Festival of the Year’ this Saturday 14th April, Marlborough, Wilts. Set in the middle of the most beautiful countryside imaginable, this year Damon headlines OneFest where he will perform songs from the new Dr Dee album along with several of the musicians who helped make the album.

Dr Dee is set for release on May 7th. To pre-order on CD/Digital click here.

To enter the competition, just head to Damon’s channel on MUZU to enter.

Winners will be picked on Thursday afternoon, good luck!

Damon Albarn – The Marvelous Dream (Static) on MUZU.TV.

Live and Unsigned – Live and Unsigned 2012 Promo on MUZU.TV.

The MUZU Exposure Award is beginning to take shape as more Live and Unsigned Bands and Artists start promoting their music videos to their fanbases. Here’s the Top 10 Artists and Bands who generated the most views in the last 7 days.

1. Pete Clough
2. Mercury Skies
3. The Story Boys
4. Naomi
5. Christian Smith
6. The Antidote
7. Andrew R Barsam
8. Dom Durner
9. Stevey Jay
10. Fret 14

Good luck to everyone in the competition and check out Live and Unsigned Website for the latest news

Rita Ora already has a number single under her belt (“Hot Right Now” with DJ Fresh) and has now secured an opening slot on Coldplay’s European tour this summer (WOW) so it’s great to see the hotly tipped singer with her first solo music video for “R.I.P.,” which has been penned by Drake, which is from her Roc Nation debut. The 21-year-old singer hails from Kosovo showcases her Gwen Stefani style swag as she dances on top of cars (as you do) in a grungy warehouse. Tinie Tempah features in the video directed by Emil Nava.

Rita’s debut album is set for release this summer featuring some other high profile names including Stargate, The-Dream, will.i.am, and J. Cole.

RITA ORA featuring Tinie Tempah – R.I.P. on MUZU.TV.