Quotations of the week
"Trying to carry on writing about soup tins didn't make any sense." Alex Turner defends Arctic Monkeys' new direction on Humbug.
"Those things can look like an obituary." Dave Grohl isn't best pleased at Foo Fighters' Hits album.
"To me, it's an interesting combination- Neu crossed with Beatles ideas." Michael Rother defends Oasis' inclusion on an album of Neu-influenced songs.
1/6.
The week ahead in radio
Robbie Williams and Sugababes do Fearne Cotton (Radio 1, Mon- Fri, 10am), while Brakes are on Nick Grimshaw (Mon- Thu, 10pm). Tony Iommi is on The Rock Show (Tue, 12am).
Morrissey is on Jonathan Ross (R2, Sat, 10am), followed by Dave Grohl and Jimmy Webb on Dermot O'Leary (3pm).
Fleetwood Mac are on Radcliffe & Maconie (Mon- Thu, 8pm). The Blagger's Guide (Thu, 10pm) looks at jazz.
2/6.
The week ahead in TV
Robbie Williams is on Jonathan Ross (BBC2, Fri, 10.35pm) and Favourites (C4, Sun, 11.30), while Athlete and Snow Patrol do 4Music (Sat, 12.30am).
Bloc Party, La Roux and Mika do Live From Abbey Road (C4, Sat, 11.20pm).
Alice In Chains, Martha Wainwright, Steve Martin, Black Joe and Rickie Lee Jones do Later Live (BBC2, Tue, 10pm) and Daniel Merriweather and Noisettes do Buzzc*cks (BBC2, Wed, 10).
3/6.
The week ahead in gigs
Beyoncé starts her tour on Wednesday, while Biffy Clyro kick off on Saturday.
Paul McCartney, Muse and Gary Barlow play at London Royal Albert Hall for Children In Need on Saturday.
Continuing tours include Babybird, Jarvis Cocker, Hundred Reasons, Mew, Liam Finn, Muse, The Flaming Lips, The Airbourne Toxic Event, The Sleeping Years and The Psychedelic Furs.
4/6.
Champs of the week
Steve Martin A friend of PS who saw his banjo gig in Nashville recently said it was an unexpected joy- not only is Steve Martin a decent musician but it's as close as he's got in 30 years to doing stand-up comedy. Which makes his shows here next week sound essential.
Snow Patrol Their secret gig on Wednesday was a joy- rather than a perfunctory few songs, it was a full set, with Gary Lightbody worthy of the stand-up comedy the pub usually hosts.
5/6.
Chumps of the week
The Strokes' Julian Casablancas is doing a Christmas single, Nikolai Fraiture finished about 23, 000 th in the New York marathon- their days of being achingly cool are gone...
Ticketmaster Has anyone tried to get through to a human being over booked tickets with them? PS was able to cancel some tickets bought in error, but only after an hour-long search for a customer services number that was like a very bad Franz Kafka pastiche.
6/6.
Teletext page 824; 6th of November, 2009.
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