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Every week we roundup the best music news from the past week!

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News Report

Your 2022 Glastonbury Festival line-up is here!

Welcome to another edition of our weekly music News Report! Where else could we start this week other than the line-up reveal for the mother of them all – Glastonbury Festival!

Yes, Worthy Farm is set for a spectacular celebration this June which will be headlined by Billie Eilish, Paul McCartney, Kendrick Lamar and Diana Ross.

Highlights on the line-up include Fontaines D.C., HAIM, IDLES, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Primal Scream, Self Esteem, Skunk Anansie, Squid, Supergrass, Turnstile, Wolf Alice and Wet Leg.

All the info can be found here.

Read our review of Wolf Alice live in Norwich

Beautiful Days reveal line-up

No Glasto tickets? Well, perhaps your summer lies at Beautiful Days festival who this week revealed their line-up!

Performing over the weekend will be the likes of Flogging Molly, The Specials, Levellers, The Dandy Warhols, Maximo Park, Seasick Steve, Funke And The Two Tone Baby, Billy Bragg, The Magic Numbers, Samantics, Millie Manders And The Shut Up and more.

Tickets and info here.

Read our review of ‘Nature Always Wins’ from Maximo Park

Latitude Festival announces line-up

Another option for festival lovers this summer is Latitude Festival who this week revealed their line-up. Headlining this year will be Lewis Capaldi, Foals and Snow Patrol.

They will be joined by the likes of Manic Street Preachers, Fontaines D.C., Maximo Park, Self Esteem, Bessie Turner, Gaffa Tape Sandy, JOHN and Porridge Radio.

Tickets here.

Read our review of Fontaines D.C. live in Cambridge

2000trees add Creeper and more

The always incredible 2000trees Festival this week grew their 2022 line-up with the additions of Creeper, The Regrettes, Puppy, Strange Bones, Calva Louise, Sick Joy and Gloo.

They join an already packed bill including headliners Jimmy Eat World, Thrice, Turnstile and IDLES.

Tickets are here.

Read our review of Creeper live in London

Boardmasters line-up gets bigger

The flow of festival announcements continue as we press on with our News Report with the latest line-up for Boardmasters.

Playing the festival this year will be the likes of George Ezra, IDLES, Bastille, Kings Of Leon, The Wombats, Self Esteem, Pale Waves, CRAWLERS and Peaness.

Tickets and info here.

Read our review of IDLES live in London

Live At Leeds In The Park adds more acts

Live At Leeds will be hosting an outdoor edition this year and this week the line-up saw a number of huge additions.

Playing the event will be Bombay Bicycle Club, The Vaccines, Sports Team, The Pigeon Detectives, The Snuts, Dream Wife, The Mysterines, Lauran Hibberd, Kid Kapichi and Zuzu.

Tickets and info here.

Read our review of The Snuts live in Colchester

Bingley Weekender reveal line-up

Bingley Weekender this week revealed a packed line-up for this year including headliners Rag’N’Bone Man, The Libertines and Pixies!

They’ll be joined by the likes of White Lies, Peter Hook & The Light, The Amazons, Sea Power, Lottery Winners, Beans On Toast, The Hara and Asylums.

Tickets and info here.

Watch The Full Pelt Music Podcast with guest Beans On Toast

News Report

Limp Bizkit add additional UK Dates

Our News Report moves on now to the latest tour announcements. We start this week with Limp Bizkit who have added two additional dates in the UK whilst also moving their existing dates to September.

Tickets are here.

Read our review of ‘Still Sucks’ from Limp Bizkit

Salem announce new UK Tour

This week also saw Salem announce a new UK Tour set for April. ‘The Unholy Communion’ Tour will feature guests Bad Nerves and includes a dates at The Underworld in Camden.

Tickets are here.

Read our review of Salem live in Norwich

Von Hertzen Brothers announce UK Tour

Also stopping in at The Underworld in Camden will be Von Hertzen Brothers who this week announced a UK Tour to take place in May.

The tour will be in support of new album ‘Red Alert In The Blue Forest’ which arrives on March 18th.

Pre-order the album and grab your tickets here.

Listen to ‘All of a Sudden, You’re Gone’ from Von Hertzen Brothers on our ‘Hard & Heavy’ Spotify Playlist

News Report

Red Hot Chili Peppers debut ‘Poster Child’

Red Hot Chili Peppers – ‘Poster Child’

New music releases take centre stage now in our News Report, and we start with global superstars Red Hot Chili Peppers. This week the band debuted new single, ‘Poster Child’, which you can listen to above.

The track comes ahead of new album, ‘Unlimited Love’, which arrives April 1st.

Pre-order your copy here.

Listen to ‘Black Summer’ from Red Hot Chili Peppers on our Spotify Hot List!

Placebo unveil new single ‘Happy Birthday In The Sky’

Placebo – ‘Happy Birthday In The Sky’

Another huge act readying the release of a new album is Placebo. This week they released their latest single, ‘Happy Birthday In The Sky’, which you can listen to above.

Commenting on the track frontman Brian Molko says:

“Happy Birthday In The Sky for me, is one of the more heartbreaking moments on the album. Happy Birthday In The Sky is a phrase that I’ve been using for quite some time.  When I say, happy birthday to people who aren’t with us anymore, it communicates the kind of heartbreak that we’re really, really good at communicating I think. You know that sense of loss, that sense of desperation. It’s as if a part of your body and your soul has been ripped from you unfairly. And you pine and you pine, and you wait.

What I am thinking is that this is kind of so visceral and so intense emotionally that it’s really going to communicate something very powerful to the listener. And that’s basically all I’m interested in. At what cost? Who cares. As long as the song really, really moves people, then whatever sacrifices you have to make in order to get there are fine with me. It’s not such a bad thing to inhabit these emotions – you’re very, very much alive and in the moment while you’re doing so.”

Their new album, ‘Never Let Me Go’ arrives on March 25th.

Pre-order your copy here.

Listen to ‘Beautiful James’ from Placebo on our Spotify Hot List!

Puppy debut ‘Shame’

Puppy – ‘Shame’

Another new track to enjoy this week came from Puppy as the band debuted ‘Shame’, which you can listen to above.

The band will release their new album, ‘Pure Evil’ on May 6th.

Pre-order your copy here.

Listen to ‘…And Watched It Grow’ on our ‘Hard & Heavy’ Spotify Playlist

October Drift debut ‘Insects’

October Drift – ‘Insects’

A couple of bands next who we recently featured on our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist on Spotify. Firstly October Drift who returned with new track, ‘Insects’ this week which you can listen to above.

Regarding ‘Insects’ vocalist and guitarist Kiran Roy says, â€œIt’s a coming-of-age song, about feeling life pull you in different directions. It’s about growing up but finding yourself smaller and more up against it than ever. I wrote the lyrics after visiting the Kelvingrove museum in Glasgow and seeing all the Victorian butterflies and beetles pinned up on display.”
 
The latter is reflected in lyrics of the powerful chorus as Kiran sings, â€œWe’re still insects pinned to walls, trying to crawl, trying to crawl”.

More from October Drift here.

Listen to ‘Airborne Panic Attack’ from October Drift on our ‘Discover’ New Music Playlist

James and the Cold Gun debut ‘It’s Mutual’

James and the Cold Gun – ‘It’s Mutual’

The second of those ‘Discover’ New Music bands in our News Report this week is James and the Cold Gun who this week released new track ‘It’s Mutual’, which you can check out above.

More from the band here.

Listen to ‘Plug Me In’ from James and the Cold Gun on our ‘Discover’ new Music Playlist

News Report

Speaking of our ‘Discover’ New Music’ Playlist, let’s see who has been added this week!

‘Don’t Come Back’ – Guise

The first track added to the playlist this week is the brand new single from Guise. You can check out ‘Don’t Come Back’ now on the playlist.

The single comes ahead of their debut album, ‘Youngest Daughter’ which will be released through Xtra Mile Recordings on April 29th.

‘Lies’ – Cosmic Ninja

The next band added this week is Cosmic Ninja with their track ‘Lies’. The single features on their forthcoming new EP, ‘Dissident Transmission’ which arrives on April 8th.

Commenting on the track, the band said: â€œâ€˜Lies’ is about the dishonesty and corruption rife in UK politics. The endless lies and lack of integrity has reached an extreme level—we are fearful of the consequences and the damage it is doing to society. Politics has lost sight of trying to make a better place for everyone and, instead, those with influence climb to the top and pull up the ladder by any means necessary.” 

“In most lines of work, you would be held accountable for lies, but, for politicians, it seems acceptable practice; a tool that is extremely effective in misleading and wrongly influencing public opinion. This song is about calling out those lies, seeing through the misconception and positively challenging those walking blindly through corruption.”

‘Love Kills The Demons’ – Krush Puppies

Finally this week we have added the new track from Krush Puppies, ‘Love Kills The Demons’. The band will release their debut EP of the same name on May 6th.

It’s an acknowledgment from vocalist and bassist Alexa about the night terrors she had for years, where she’d be up all night seeing shapes in the darkness. Then she met someone and suddenly it all went away as if his presence made her feel safe.

Alexa explains, “This faceless shadowy figure would sit at the end of the bed and wake me by pushing on my chest so that I was gasping for air. I used to be up all night, then I met someone and suddenly I started sleeping all the way through, soundly next to him. I guess I suddenly felt safe, which feels very soppy now I’m having to write it down. But I can’t describe this overwhelming sense of peace that I felt almost instantly. I came into the studio with the chords and melody, then we all finished it that day. A few weeks later we recorded it with John Bisset, and Jenny and I sang the whole song together in unison, so our voices kind of blended to make one. It almost sounds like a whole new band member.”

Thus concludes our weekly News Report. Remember to also check out our ‘Discover’ New Music Podcast. We released two more episodes this week with recently Playlisted acts as guests. Our chats with both Daytime TV and PET NEEDS are available now.

Audio Options here

Share our News Report on Social Media

Watch our ‘Discover’ New Music Podcast with guests Daytime TV

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Features

Full Pelt’s Greatest Christmas Songs

Just what are the Top 10 greatest Xmas Songs?

Santa singing xmas songs
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

It’s that age old debate, just what is the greatest Christmas song of all-time? Christmas Songs. You either love them or you hate them, but as the holiday season approaches they are usually inescapable. We all have our favourites, our guilty pleasures and probably those that we despise with a passion.

As I discussed in my recent blog ‘Mental Health, Music and Me’, we all have a powerful connection to certain pieces of music. Some songs fill us with joy and sadly others can fill us with sadness. This is probably never truer than when talking about Christmas Songs. Christmas after all is generally an emotive time for people, whether celebrating good times with family and friends or mourning those bad times we all suffer on occasion.

Either way, the odds are that we have an emotional connection to a particular Christmas song. We all have our favourites and who am I to argue with your choices? The rules for selecting Full Pelt’s Greatest Christmas Songs are therefore very simple.

  1. They are all true Christmas songs and not simply a song that achieved fame at Christmas and is treated as a Christmas song. Therefore no ‘Mad World’ or ‘Stay Another Day’just adding snow to a music video doesn’t make the song a Christmas song!
  2. There are no other rules! These are simply my personal choice of my Top 10 Christmas songs! Don’t agree? Tell us your favourites in the comments or on social media with #fullpeltxmas.

So what are we waiting for? Let the countdown begin…

10

Chuck Berry
‘Run Rudolph Run’

Chuck Berry – ‘Run Rudolph Run’

Released by Chuck Berry in 1958, ‘Run Rudolph Run’ is a great little rock n’ roll song and it’s also a great Christmas song!

9

Wham!
‘Last Christmas’

Wham! – ‘Last Christmas’

In 1984, Wham! gave us what is now one of the most played Christmas songs of all-time in ‘Last Christmas’. In the context of this list, I guess this could be deemed our guilty pleasure but we don’t consider it so. That’s because we feel no guilt whatsoever for loving such a fantastic piece of music that seems to tick every element required for a Christmas song, most importantly tugging on the old heartstrings!

8

The Pogues w/ Kirsty MacColl
‘Fairytale of New York’

The Pogues featuring Kirsty MacColl – ‘Fairytale of New York’

‘Fairytale of New York’ truly is the marmite of Christmas songs. Many hate it, many many more love it. I dare you not to sing along after a few too many sherries “…it was Christmas Eve babe, in the drunk tank…”.

7

Band Aid
‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’

Band Aid – ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’

For clarity here for a talking the original and best Band Aid that brought the world together in 1984. Bringing together a wealth of musical talent, the song ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ has transcended its origins and whilst still reminding us of the charitable endeavours required in this unfair world, it is also simply a Christmas song staple.

6

John Lennon & Yoko Ono
‘Happy Xmas (War is Over)

John Lennon & Yoko Ono – ‘Happy Xmas (War is Over)’

‘…so this is Christmas…’, John and Yoko manage to perfectly capture the essence of Christmas time in this quintessential festive song.

5

Elton John
‘Step Into Christmas’

Elton John – ‘Step Into Christmas’

As we enter the Top 5 greatest Christmas songs, competition is high! The criteria for the top five does appear to be that the Christmas songs must be feel good music. Sir Elton John gave us one of the greatest feel good Christmas party anthems in 1973 with ‘Step Into Christmas’.

4

Paul McCartney
‘Wonderful Christmastime’

Paul McCartney – ‘Wonderful Christmastime’

The second Beatle to make our Top 10 greatest Christmas songs list is Paul McCartney with ‘Wonderful Christmastime’. Celebrating the togetherness and wonder of Christmas this track is essential listening at Christmas.

3

The Darkness
‘Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)’

The Darkness – ‘Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)’

The Darkness were at the height of their powers in 2003, and they seized the opportunity to release their festive rocker ‘Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)’. The outlandishness of the band translates perfectly into a Christmas song that some 17 years later has stood the test of time.

2

Wizzard
‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’

Wizzard – ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’

Roy Wood and his group Wizzard made festive magic with this great Christmas song that echoes the thoughts of kids everywhere – we all wish it could be Christmas everyday!

1

Slade
‘Merry Xmas Everybody’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpfHSqLXePI
Slade – ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’

Who can resist screaming along to Noddy Holder on this Slade favourite – “…it’s CHRISTMASSSS…”. Enough said, ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ is a stone cold classic and deservedly takes our number one spot!

There is of course a plethora of great Christmas songs that fail to make our Top 10, if you disagree with Full Pelt’s greatest Christmas songs make your opinion known in the comments, or let us know on social media.

Enjoy our festive
Spotify Playlist