QTheMusic.com

Wednesday, 3 October

Damon Albarn has explained he has further ambitions within opera, and hopes to bring it closer to his other musical endeavours. The Blur man, joined by Dr Dee director Rufus Norris, was speaking onstage at the London Coliseum this morning as the English National Opera launched a new scheme, Undress For The Opera, to encourage new audiences to attend their productions - including new Philip Glass opera The Perfect American next June. "At some point I hope I can deliver something to you [the ENO] that ticks every single box, that doesn't compromise where I come from as well. If you can do that you will bring in a new audience particularly if it makes sense to everybody," he explained, after hearing that Dr Dee had brought a largely new audience through the doors. "I'm quite clearly someone who didn't have any formal education in opera, I've done it entirely instinctively. I love the fact that the English National Opera is prepared to encourage that. It's a great sign of its health that opera as a form can go forward and allow people to use the facilities to try something new. Not everything can possibly be a great success all the time, but that the process is allowed to continue is incredibly encouraging."
ENO.org

Panic over, the Foo Fighters are not... over. Dave Grohl has sent out an open letter explaining that his onstage comments at the weekend suggesting he didn't "know when we're going to do it again" only meant the group are going hiatus. "There were times when I didn't think the band would survive. There were times when I wanted to give up. But... I can't give up this band. And I never will," he wrote. "Because it's not just a band to me. It's my life. It's my family. It's my world.
EW.com

R.E.M.'s Peter Buck is to release his first solo album. The record will be out this Friday and will be limited to 2000 vinyl copies in its first run. The LP will feature a bunch of collaborators on lead vocals as the guitarist is not "really confident in my singing", though he credits a bad back for inspiring him to write lyrics for the first time.
Guardian.co.uk

Mumford & Son's Babel has gone to Number 1 in the US with the biggest chart debut of the year so far as it with 600,000 copies in its first week.
Billboard.com

The BBC is working on a musical equivalent of iPlayer that will give license fee payers access to music recordings.
Telegraph.com

Danger Mouse looks set to continue producing The Black Keys as they start work on an album for next year... if he has the time. "I talked to him on the phone a couple weeks ago to see what his schedule is like," explained Patrick Carney. "If we ever work with a producer, it's always going to be him. We've been working with him since 2007, since Attack & Release, and we're all really good friends. But he's also really busy, producing so many records lately, so hopefully he has time. He's producing U2′s record - that takes priority over us!"
CBSlocal.com

The Kills and The Shins are to record live albums at Jack White's Third Man Records later this month.
Pitchfork.com

Watch the video for Nas' Amy Winehouse featuring new song Cherry Wine.

It's claimed Nicki Minaj threatened to "knock out" fellow American Idol judge Mariah Carey as the pair clashed on set over a contestant's performance.
Gawker.com

Justin Timberlake has apparently finished relaunching MySpace and is finally working on a new album, according to reports.
Vulture.com

In case there is any doubt, "The Smiths are never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever going to reunite - ever", Morrissey's publicist has felt the need to say. There was some speculation after the singer revealed yesterday Coachella had offered to go meat-free to host them, not that Moz said he was interested in the deal.
Rollingstone.com

The Walkmen are releasing a limited edition new seven-inch single featuring Dance With Your Partner and Vermeer 65. Have a listen.

Ryan Adams and Deadmau5 are recording together. Their collaboration apparently sounds like "Blade Runner starring Don Henley", according to the singer-songwriter.
Pitchfork.com

Example has cancelled his October tour dates because he's suffering from "achilles tendonitis". Ouch.
Thesun.co.uk

I Am Kloot will return with a new album Let It All In early next year. It will be preceded by single Hold Back the Night on 5 November, here's the video.

Bradley Wiggins will host Never Mind The Buzzcocks next month and Liam Gallagher could be among the guests.
Thesun.co.uk

Beck is reworking a 20 minute composition by Philip Glass, which will be streamed online next week.
NPR.org

Today's Track Of The Day is Muse with The 2nd Law: Unsuatinable as we preview all of this year's nominees ahead of the Q Awards on 22 October

That's it for today. More Hot List tomorrow at noon.

12:00 PM | 03/10/2012