The Killers reveal all about their hugely anticipated new album, coming soon to a field near you courtesy of their forthcoming Reading and Leeds Festival headlining slot. Plus we reveal the rest of the line-up, thus far, for the legendary rock fest – Manics, The Enemy, Metallica, RATM, MGMT, The Cribs and more…

Elsewhere in News, we catch up with Metallica’s Lars Ulrich about headlining Reading and Leeds Festival's infamous ‘Rock Day’, we look at The Raconteurs new album ‘Consolers of the Lonely’ and get the low-down on Glasvegas’ James Allan’s murky past as a pro footballer who, reportedly, has a very good dribble on him...

In Radar this week NME takes a closer look at tech-punk progressive poppers Heartsrevolution and Foals give an insiders perspective on the Oxford music scene.

Elsewhere Spiritualized mainman Jason Pierce talks to NME’s Hamish MacBain about how his near-death stint in Intensive Care with pneumonia affected new album ‘Songs In A&E’, The Long Blondes get reinvented in time for another new album and we meet the anti-Mark Ronson, nu-folk pioneer, Adem.

The 80,000 references to In Rainbows being "lush" and "sparse" were correct. People who like Radiohead with guitars and melodies should be very happy today, people who like weird bleeps and bloops maybe a bit less happy. If OK Computer is your favorite album In Rainbows might be your second favorite......

- A Class Ryan Sheckler Pro Model Trucks
- Inverted kingpin for hang up prevention.
- Axle shields to prevent truck axle damage.
- Lock in nut sleeve to allow your trucks to stay at their desired tightness longer.
- Reinforced pivot.
- Light and low profile. ( truck measures just 1.875" from baseplate to axle and weighs only 11oz.)

Thierry Henry has agreed to join Barcelona after eight years with Arsenal.

The former captain made a massive contribution to the Club since moving to Highbury from Juventus in August 1999.

During his time at Arsenal, Thierry became the Club’s all-time leading goalscorer with 226 goals from his 370 appearances. He was also an integral part of the 2003/04 ‘unbeaten’ League season, won the Premiership twice, the FA Cup twice, the Premiership ‘Golden Boot’ four times, was voted the PFA Player of the Year twice and won the FWA Player of the Year on three occasions.

The name of the band causes some confusion for those unaware of its meaning. It is the plural of the name of a group of seabirds (but most often meaning the Common Guillemot Uria aalge) and should be pronounced 'gillimott' (and not in a French style). The 4-piece are often joined by two saxophone and woodwind players, Alex Ward and Chris Cundy, who are known as the "Bridled Guillemots" (a real-life variation of the band's namesake).

Birds are the source of inspiration for the band not just in name. For example, their 2006 EP "From the Cliffs" continues the Guillemot theme, the bird's natural habitat being steep sea cliffs. In their myspace entry their influences are given as 'BIRDSONG first and foremost', although the only artist that all the band members have publicly stated as being an influence is Björk. Their first album features recordings of Red-throated Diver Gavia stellata and European Robin Erithacus rubecula, as well as the line 'flitting like a flycatcher', a reference to the mercurial movements of these birds, and the song "Redwings", after the thrush species of the same name.

The band are signed to Fantastic Plastic, who released their debut album in 2006, but after offers from several majors they will eventually move to Polydor.

The James Brown commemorative issue: NME celebrates the life and times of the original rock'n'soul rebel

Including:
- Why The Godfather Of Soul matters so much to the music we listen to everyday

- We have tributes from the stars of today who were inspired by James Brown's music

- A look back at our bizarre 1988 interview with JB by Paolo Hewitt. (Brown to a bowl of fruit: "Adam!")

- The 10 James Brown commandments - how to live your life the Godfather Of Soul way

In NME Ireland this week...

- Nominees for the Choice Music Awards are announced - find out which albums are in the running

- Snow Patrol light up, light up Dublin with a triumphant homecoming show

Also in NME...

news

- Parties, piss and Peaches: we witness the mayhem that was the Towers Of London's post-Big Brother freedom gig

- In The Studio: Kings Of Leon and The Coral talk about their new albums

- Kaiser Chiefs announce they will play a Shockwaves NME Awards show

reviews

America's sweethearts The Hold Steady and London's most brutal Gallows are this week's top Radar bands

- We review The View's long-awaited debut album, and The Shins' return with their third LP

- Live, live, live! Kylie Minogue, The Pigeon Detectives, and Dustin's Bar Mitzvah

The Worst Band Name Of The Week Award goes to: Severed Nerve (playing at the Corporation, Sheffield, on Saturday, January 20). For more information on 425 gigs happening this week, go to page 58 of the magazine

The Divine Comedy is Neil Hannon.

Over the years, the name has encompassed other musicians, but the driving force of the band and its main (sometimes only!) member has always been Neil Hannon. He chose the name 'The Divine Comedy' aged 18, almost at random. He and two Enniskillen school friends needed a new name for their band and Neil spotted a copy of Dante's epic poem on the family bookshelf. It stuck, and a year later it was the name under which the trio signed to Irish run indie Setanta Records. They left Northern Ireland, moved into a squat in London, released a mini-album, 1990's REM/Ride influenced 'Fanfare for the Comic Muse' and '91's 'Europop' E.P. then split up. Neil's bandmates went to university and Neil returned home.

Retaining the name, he spent 18 months living in his parents' attic, sleeping during the day, watching old movies and writing songs at night. Influenced by everything from Jacques Brel, Scott Walker and Michael Nyman to "A Room with a View", Wordsworth, and Mr Benn, these songs eventually evolved into two albums. The first of these, 'Liberation' was released in 1993. Totally different to anything else around, and indeed his previous work, he now considers it his first album proper. The press adored it. The NME described it as "..an array of seductive yarns.. glorious, gleeful tunesmanship.".......

**z o z i**

he's a loaded gun
In my shaking hands
Am I in hell, or the promised land, yeah

(What's your name)
So I tell you my name when I'm on your skin
(You can be)
You can be the queen, and I'll be the king
(I'll get born)
Now I'm gonna echo but never again, not for anyone, anyone

She said
Show me yours, (Show you what I got yeah)
I'll show you mine (Will you tell me what you need)
Show me yours, (So put your money where your mouth is)
I'll show you mine (Scream...)

And the beat goes on
She knows nothin' is wrong
She goes down, like a setting sun, ow

(What's your name)
If I tell you my name you gotta let me in
(You can be)
You can be the sinner, I'll be the sin
(I will take)
I'll take what I want, and it's easy to see, I got everything, everything

She said
Show me yours, (Show you what I got yeah)
I'll show you mine (Will you tell me what you need)
Show me yours, (So put your money where your mouth is)
I'll show you mine (Scream...)

Come on

[Break/Solo]

Show me yours, (Show you what I got yeah)
I'll show you mine (When you tell me what you need)
Show me yours, (So put your money where your mouth is)
I'll show you mine....(Watch out, watch out...)
Any face, (Yeah yeah yeah...) anytime c

**Z O Z I**

In this week Carling Weekend Reading and Leeds festivals review special!


24 ace pages of madness from the rock 'n' roll event of the year starring:

- Muse's Supermassive triumph!

- Franz Ferdinand's drumming extravaganza!



- Slayer's bloody mosh pit!

- Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O dressed like a Sexosaurus!

- The Klaxons cause a new rave riot!

- Syd Barrett reviews the Mystery Jets and loads loads loads more!


- Where were you? See if you can find yourself on our FREE Reading and Leeds Aerial Posters



Kasabian guide us a track by track guide to their new album

- The second coming or the apocalypse*? The Rapture's new album 'Pieces Of The People We Love' gets reviewed



- Peter Robinson Vs The Young Knives


*Neither it's only a bloody record. Who the hell writes this shit?

Guitarist to release solo album

Franz Ferdinand guitarist Nick McCarthy has announced details of his side project's album.

Box Codax, which features the star and bandmate Alexander Ragnew, are set to release their debut LP, 'Only An Orchard Away', on September 4.

The duo also promise to release a new EP every six months.

The pair first met when they were introduced to each other as teenagers in a club in Munich run by McCarthy's brother, however shortly afterwards Ragnew moved to Toulouse and McCarthy to Glasgow.

Their collaborations continued at distance, and were eventually paused when Franz Ferdinand took off.

It's understood Box Codax are currently planning live dates for later this year.
© IPC MEDIA 1996-2006, All rights res

Date: 13th Oct 06
Venue: S'pore EXPO
Tickets: $125/ $85/ $65 (Available @ Inokii, Far East Plaza #03-30)

One of the most requested Savier bags from pro skaters and industry people. If enough kids see their favorite pro or "cool guy" rolling around with one on TV or in a magazine, it could plant the seed for a future purchase.

When skaters start to travel and their needs expand to a larger bag, will they leave the skate industry? All skaters want everything skate if they can get it, because people who wear clothes to display a certain identity are going to consider bags (and shoes and watches, et cetera) as an extension of that identity. Skate bags have become such a part of our image that skate video games now even have characters that wear them. "Non-skaters go to skate shops to buy everything, backpacks included," Swart says. "Everybody wants to buy the skate look."

Perhaps I'm missing the point completely with all this talk about the "skate look." When I think of the near riot of kids scrambling out of the school that day with their backpacks stuffed tight with homework, I have a hard time relating. When I was in grade school, I could fold my homework, if I had any at all, into my back pocket. I didn't have any use for a backpack until high school. Today bags are a necessity for younger and younger kids, who also happen to be the biggest demographic in skating. Maybe the skate- bag industry's most powerful allies are the evil teachers who started this whole thing with their avalanche of homework. You know, I'm starting to smell something fishy...

In this week's NME...


Special Smiths Anniversary Issue
WITTICISMS! VEGETARIANISM! GIRL GROUPS!

How The Smiths' Queen Is Dead influenced a generation



- The original members talk us through their masterpiece, track by track

- Why I love The Smiths by Razorlight, Oasis and Radiohead

- How Moz became an emo icon

- Plus Read the original 1986 NME review by going to http://www.nme.com/smiths


- On the set of Dirty Pretty Things' new video shoot and the artwork to Thom Yorke's solo album revealed



- Razorlight team up with The Kinks p11

- "Macca, Elton and a ton of crap..." Scissor Sisters explain the ingredients to their new long player

- NME goes into the studio with Kasabian to check on the progress of their new album. It's still "EMPIRE" of course



- "You're the metal Eurovision answer to Zoolander aren't you?" Peter Robinson takes on Lordi p14

- Letters slagging crap festivals, a letter about Snow Patrol and a letter calling Whiskas from Forward Russia dead posh.


- A cut above or a long painful death? The Longcut's 'A Call And Response' rated

- "Did you know that in media circles liking Keane is the most subversive out there thing you can do?" Find out what Tim Jonze made of their new album 'Under The Sea'

- The Klaxons bag this week's Track Of The Week


- Albums by The Delgados, Ludes, Fujiya and Miyagi, Def Leppard and Stuart A Staples

- Singles by The Kooks, The Rumble Strips, The Fratellis, The Noisettes and other bands that don't begin with 'The'

- Live The world's scariest, loudest, noise rock duo Lightning Bolt try to remould NME's brain




Marc Bolan smoking crack with Dr Who, a Jimi Hendrix statue, Swedish riot pop, a band named after the Thundercats cartoon and a chance to win Morrissey and The Smith's complete back catalogue.

Muse reveal new single details
The band reveal comeback track

Muse have revealed details of their comeback single.

The band will release 'Supermassive Black Hole' on June 19 with their as-yet-untitled fourth album following on July 3.

B-sides for the single are yet to be confirmed.

As previously reported, Muse recorded their upcoming studio album with producer Rich Costey in New York.

Singer Matt Bellamy told NME.COM: "I was going out dancing in clubs around New York. That helped create tracks like 'Supermassive Black Hole'. Franz (Ferdinand) have done it very well, with that dance type beat going on mixed with alternative guitar and I've always wanted to find that."

Oh baby dont you know I suffer?
Oh baby can you hear me moan?
You caught me under false pretences
How long before you let me go?

You set my soul alight
You set my soul alight

(You set my soul alight)
Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive

(You set my soul alight)
Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the 'supermassive'

I thought I was a fool for no-one
Oh baby I'm a fool for you
You're the queen of the superficial
And how long before you tell the truth

You set my soul alight
You set my soul alight

(You set my soul alight)
Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive

(You set my soul alight)
Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the 'supermassive'

Supermassive black hole
Supermassive black hole
Supermassive black hole

Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive

Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive

(You set my soul alight)
Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive

(You set my soul alight)
Glaciers melting in the dead of night
And the superstars sucked into the supermassive

Supermassive black hole
Supermassive black hole
Supermassive black hole

---------------------------------------------------------

The Babyshambles man is stopped hours after court appearance

Pete Doherty has been arrested in east London this afternoon (April 20).

The Babyshambles singer was stopped by plain clothes police offices while driving.

According to a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police: "At 14.10 this afternoon two men, one aged 27 the other 21, were arrested after a vehicle was stopped in Roman Road, E2, by plain clothes officers in an unmarked police car on routine patrol.

"They were arrested for what was believed to be class A drugs with intent to supply are and both men are currently being held in a east London police station. The older man was the passenger the younger the driver."

The new arrest comes just hours after Doherty was sentenced for admitting seven charges for possession of drugs at Thames Magistrates Court.

As previously reported, Doherty was given community order with two years supervision and 18 months drug rehabilitation plus he was banned from driving for six months.

Additionally Doherty is already serving a 12 month community order that dates from his appearence at Ealing Magistrates Court in February after he pleaded guilty to a different set of drug-related charges.
© IPC MEDIA 1996-2006, All rig

Vue Weekly sheds some light on what goes on behind the Illuminati’s closed doors


Secret societies have existed for centuries. With their confidential agendas, fabled initiations, and affiliations with the occult, one would have to either be pretty privileged (or extremely impressionable) to be invited into their top-secret clubhouse, most likely hidden deep underground, in a tomb or behind some sort of levered bookcase. But when hard-rockers the Illuminati decided to take the name of one such secret society, they weren’t thinking about brotherhood and bonding, but rather of the supernatural, deviant reputation of Germany’s most notorious secret society.

The old-school Order of the Illuminati was founded by a dude named Dr. Adam Weishaupt as a secret society within another secret society, the Freemasons. With Satan on their side, they purportedly engineered the French Revolution, invented Communism and currently control the music industry behind the scenes. Talking on his cellphone while walking down the streets of Toronto, bassist/vocalist Nick Sewell says the band’s moniker might seem a tad audacious, but it sounds super-cool and fits perfectly with their music.

“We wanted a name that might have certain connotations to it, but was sort of open-ended enough to have people read whatever they wanted into it. We had all been through the ringer playing in bands for years and our outlook on the Illuminati was there would be no bullshit, so like there would be this core group of exclusivity,” he says, interrupted by a car’s honking horn. “Since there are only three of us in the band, we see it as a very internal thing. Some things we do keep secret. Then with the name there are connotations of mysticism, fear and unnatural wonder.”

He adds, ”And you know we dabble in psychedelic-type stuff, so it has that connotation, too.”

But there’s no shroud of mystery surrounding the band’s formation. Since they were 18, Sewell and guitarist/vocalist Les Godfrey had been rocking heavily in Toronto-based band Tchort. In 2002, after almost 10 years in their first real band, the two began writing and singing their own material and, in a matter of days, left Tchort to start the Illuminati with an old friend, drummer Jim Gering.

“Tchort just wasn’t jiving,” he says. “You get to that point when you’re in a long-term relationship where you’re still slugging it out, you know it’s not working and you know it’s not permanent. As cheesy as it sounds, the music was suffering and there was a philosophical divide in terms of what everybody wanted to do.

“We kind of woke up one day and it wasn’t happening. So it all ended with Tchort’s lead singer going off to do his own thing and me and Les starting the new band. It’s funny, because our last show as Tchort was on August 28 and the first Illuminati show was September 4. So in less than a week we were on tour with Danko Jones. It definitely proved to be the right thing to do.”

Even though it took almost a decade for fate to step in and bring the Illuminati together, there’s no question that someone or something is pulling the band’s strings, as the current musical incarnation of the Illuminati has been filled with absurd coincidences and equally eerie experiences that they can’t explain. There’s the obvious symbolic symmetry of the pyramid-like the enigmatic Freemason emblem that the band members make on stage, and all three members are left-handed, but play their instruments with their right hands. At a show a couple years back, Sewell had an out-of-mind experience that he’ll never forget.

“We were playing with the Tea Party in a pretty big venue, like 2000 seats. There was this weird moment where I was playing and I walked out beyond the line of floor monitors and all of a sudden I couldn’t hear anything,” he recalls. “It was like the air was all ions. It felt like I was in that movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, just floating in space. I couldn’t hear what was happening and I just had this cable connecting me to the stage. I felt like the astronaut floating through space with only this tiny, little lifeline. A very bizarre situation to say the least.”

Sewell learned his lesson well, and although he won’t cross that line on the Illuminati’s latest tour, the band’s high-energy kicks and onstage antics are never out of the question. Along on the tour will be Edmonton’s own fur-trimmed spectacle Whitey Houston and the good-looking guys of From Fiction, who Sewell guarantees “will freak people out.”

Also along for the cross-Canada road-trip: the Illuminati’s second release, Cheap Powers. The record will be only be available at the shows until most likely the fall, when it will be released for retail. It’s a tactic that Sewell and his bandmates consider not only a gift to their fans and music lovers who haven’t become entranced by their cock-rock stylings yet, but a sound business decision.

“The golden days of having the big hit on the radio and selling enough records to cover your costs are gone,” he says. “There was a really big article in the New Yorker saying that the majority of bands, like big mainstream ones, are not generating money from the traditional ways, like selling records. It’s coming from merchandise sales and touring. It seems like it’s more back to basics, like what we independent artists do everyday. Specifically regarding Cheap Powers, it’s something we’ve been working on in secret. We just wanted to give it to people and thought it would be a real treat.”

While it may never be clear if the members of the Illuminati are simply pawns in a game controlled by mystical forces or some bureaucratic cult set out to warp and corrupt unsuspecting youth with their rock ‘n roll music, long hair and tattoos, Sewell says they’ll keep on playing. One day, maybe years from now, the Illuminati will become his day job—and even amidst all inherent band-related drama he’s sustained by the memory of a moment back in 1986, when he adopted rock as his religion.

“When I started to get into heavy rock, hard rock, I was about 11 years-old. My dad took me and a friend of mine to see a Saturday night showing of The Decline of Western Civilization: Part Two—The Metal Years. I remember that being a key moment where I really freaked out. That was definitely when I got the bug,” he says. “And that’s when I stopped cutting my hair. At least until I started shaving it and having Mohawks and stuff. I guess it was also the birth of my relationship with non-traditional haircuts.”

TOM-YUM-GOONG is the story of a young man named Kham (Tony Jaa) whose life is turned upside down when an international mafia syndicate, based in Australia , captures his two beloved elephants and smuggles them thousands of kilometers away to Sydney . The two elephants are far more than mere animals to Kham and his father. They are part of his family and were being prepared to be presented as a token of devotion to his Majesty the King of Thailand. The only way Kham can possibly save the animals is by venturing into a foreign land for the first time.

Taking on a mafia group to rescue two elephants from a foreign country presents a huge challenge, even for a martial arts master like Kham. Despite the help of Sergeant Mark (Petchthai Wongkamlao), a Thai police Sergeant based in Australia , and Pla (Bongkuch Kongmalai), a Thai girl forced into modern day slavery, the going gets tough. They must take on the ruthless gang of Madame Rose (Jing Xing), whose henchmen include Johnny (Johnny Nguyen), a Vietnamese thief and martial arts expert, and the hulking TK (Nathan Jones).

Kham has no choice but to risk his own life for the animals he loves…

With high demand coming from young drummers, drum lines and theater/pit drummers, Vater has developed the new Color Wrap Series.

The core of the Color Wrap Series is made up of Vater's extremely popular 5A, 5B and Power 5B wood tip models. Each model is available in Blue Sparkle, Gold Sparkle, Red Sparkle, Black Optic, Silver Optic and Purple Optic finishes.

The eye-catching wraps themselves are high density without compromising the feel, weight and balance of the stick. Perfect for drummers looking to add an exciting visual aspect to their playing. Each color is available in the 5A, 5B and Power 5B models.

I WANT TO GET ONE.

This Week
World exclusive Babyshambles interview - their three-act concept album, why Pete butted Johnny and the mystery of who shopped Kate Moss
Superlads! Oasis and Kasabian unite
Unreleased Nirvana tracks reviewed - including the one that brought them together

Plus!
John Peel day - what's happening near you

The stars' verdict on The Strokes' new single

Sex Pistols shocker - the day Sid got done for murder

Should Thom Yorke meet Tony Blair? NME readers decide

Brit-rockers beware - Editors prepare to take over the world

Meet America's favourite new band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Club NME on Tour - on the road with The Rakes, and the booziest bands in Britain

Varied in tone and stylistically uncategorisable, one thing is clear about Bloc Party's debut album: it's bloody brilliant...

It's the most cringeworthy thing a new band can do and Bloc Party are the latest band to be guilty of it. "We're unpigeonholeable!" they've squealed in recent interviews. Sheesh, fellas, frankly you're not being helpful. I've got more than 1,000 words to write and I fully intend on finding you a cosy little pigeonhole to squeeze into - sit back, relax, this won't hurt a bit...

I've heard Bloc Party are the new Franz Ferdinand: arty, '80s indie-recalling, danceable, the hipster band of choice. Coming from the same place Franz were 12 months ago - slightly off the radar but within its catchment... right? RIGHT?

The themes of sex, boredom and consumption should be familiar to students of that haunting album. Just check the railing against America on the Bush -baiting 'Helicopter' (sample lyric: "Just like his dad, just like his dad (same mistakes)/Some things will never be different"). Or the military march-meets- Berlin Love Parade stomp of'Price Of Gas', the price of course being not 91.4p a litre but the corpses of thousands of innocent Iraqis ("I can tell you how this ends/We're gonna win this - WAR WAR WAR WAR WAR WAR WAR!").

Beyond politics, Kele and Gordon's lyrics also take in sex ("I still feel you and the taste of cigarettes" - 'Blue Light'), boredom and consumption ("The fear and the yearning/The fear and the consumption" -'Positive Tension') and loneliness/depression/paranoia in 21st-century Britain (the first lyric on the LP is "It's so cold in this house", for fuck's sake).

Bloc Party are to be believed in because they are a band for the whites, the blacks, the straights, the hip-hop kids, the freaks, the geeks, the emo kids, the punk-funkers, the queers and, yes, the fashionistas. Not because they are all these things (though they are a lot of them), nor because they're all things to all men (in fact they're the complete opposite).