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Radiohead and Kings Of Leon join Arctic Monkeys as headliners of Reading and Leeds Festival 2009. Prodigy, Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party all get second billing across the three days from Friady 28 to Sunday 30 August. Other bands added to the lineup include Placebo, Maximo Park, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fall Out Boy, Vampire Weekend, Ian Brown, Funeral For A Friend, Gossip, Glasvegas, White Lies, Florence & The Machine, Friendly Fires and Gallows. Tickets are on sale at seetickets.com or by calling 0871 231 0821.

The barmy Christmas season is well and truly in full flow with yet more rumours of bands reforming - fuelling festive nostalgia. Following the news about Blur and then Ska heroes The Specials who are now all set to play together next year - albeit minus an apparently snubbed Jerry Dammers - come more rumours that The Smiths might be on the road to reformation. But perhaps even more unlikely than that are the rumours surfacing that The Stone Roses might also be considering playing together again.

Even though Johnny Marr has only said something along the lines of ‘maybe, who knows?’ - this is more than enough for a few thousand gladioli-growing fans to start earnestly praying and growing their Morrissey quiffs once more. Although the thought of a legion of 30/40-something old Smiths fans bravely ignoring their paunches beneath flowery shirts and charity shop blazers should be reason enough to kill off all thoughts of healing rifts. Or if some big promoter could top a £40 million offer that Morrissey said was most recently on the table then there might be panic on the streets of London once again…

Now Primal Screamer Mani has dropped a big old teaser about the dream you should never dare to dream - that The Stone Roses might get back together. He said to Channelbee that both him and John Squire might be keen but they have yet to persuade Ian Brown. And of course 2009 is the 20th anniversay of their legendary debut album.

So what do you think? Is it a good idea for these bands to hit the comeback trail? Who would you rather see - The Smiths or The Stone Roses? Any other bands ripe for reformation?

With a string of Eastern European dates under his belt in the last few months, James Lavelle describes the Eastern thirst for dance music as leaning towards minimalist tendencies while his much awaited live set at the launch night of new superclub ‘matter’ at the O2 this Friday is going to be anything but. Featuring iconic collaborators Ian Brown and Ian Astbury for the launch night of new superclub ‘matter’ he’ll be off to Shanghai and Korea where table culture, mafia and the harder edge of dance music exists. Anyone that has tingled with the symphonic sounds of F.E.A.R/Reign collaborator Brown will be rubbing their hands with glee and Lavelle himself is using this as an excuse to procure some ‘old faces’ from his past out into the 2,600 capacity, Fabric backed club. A new superclub is an exciting prospect in the landscape of noted clubs such as The Cross and Turnmills disappearing into the indie electro landscape of London, and matter is promising to kick start the Autumn with a vengeance. A rare live show by UNKLE and co, is followed swiftly by Carl Cox and Kissy Sell Out on Saturday and then a descent into a who’s who of the dance scene new and old over the coming months.

Lavelle is an institution in the UK music scene, having started the Mowax label at age 18, and developing it into the coolest label around after the release of Psyence Fiction with DJ Shadow. Going onto release close to 50 records a year on the label, this man knows something about music. Hot off the release of new album, End Titles… Stories for Film he continues in the vein of collaborations with features by Gavin Clark and Joel Cadbury who are also making an appearance at matter — check out the free download —- As a person, he comes across as being someone that knows his own creative mind. When talking about the furor the Rabbit in the Headlights video created, banned by MTV, it comes as no surprise that his reason for standing his ground in favour of keeping the controversial Jonathan Glazer directed video, is that he knew it was integrally right to do so, stating that ‘I’m lucky enough to have a lot of great people around me, whose opinions I can trust’. His close musical community make up some of the most highly regarded people in the industry, with collaborations with Ian Brown, a long standing club night with Giles Peterson, and a long tenancy agreement at Keith Reilly and Cameron Leslie’s superclub, Fabric—Lavelle’s contact book reads like a who’s who of musical stalwarts.

Name checked by Lupe Fiasco in his track ‘Superstar’—you’ll have to bob on down to matter on Friday to find out why.

www.unkle.com

www.myspace.com/unkle
www.matterlondon.com

Get a free UNKLE download of Hold My Hand (Innervisions Orchestra Remix)

Download it
http://frequency.unkle.com/Hold_My_Hand_Innervisions_Remix.zip

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http://66.221.167.99/Utrax/Rstories/hold/index.html

UNKLE releases new single Remix Stories (Volume One) on Surrender All : out this week (8th Sept)

The most amazing thing about this year’s UK V Festival? Muse? Prodigy? The Verve? Girls Aloud? Wellies? Kebabs? Nah… the sun shining on Chelmsford! Okay, okay so Stafford hasn’t had as much luck, but let’s be grateful for this mercy. The atmosphere here this weekend has been one of reckless abandon in the glorious summer sun. The punters were storming the stages - from the Kooks, The Kings Of Leon and the Stereophonics on the V Stage, the Reverend And The Makers to Duffy and The Kaiser Chiefs on the 4Music stage, from Siouxsie, Echo & The Bunnymen and Richard Hawley on the Union stage to The Twang , Hot Chip and Ian Brown in the JJB Arena.

Completely mental moments? Going from an absolutely heaving, thumping, raving crowd of glowing lunatics giving it up big time for The Prodigy on the 4Music stage to a dark, brooding, riveted crowd lapping up Matt Bellamy’s classical piano skills while Muse’s satellite dishes beamed out an amazing light show across the field of worshippers at the V Stage. The JJB Arena got so packed to heaving that you just couldn’t get in if you were 1 minute late for their opening numbers - I’m talking about the Chemical Brothers of course, and, er… Goldie Lookin Chain! These guys need to headline next year if crowd demand is anything to go by! Moment of sublime poetry came when the heavens finally opened last night on an unexpectedly sunburned Chelmsford and The Verve took to the stage. Well if it had to happen what better way for it to do so? Nobody minded as we were all mesmerised by Richard Ashcroft’s sublime delivery of History. Fantastic way to end an almighty weekend.

Coming up - gossip from the Louder Lounge and exclusive video clips of my intimate little chats backstage with the likes of the Futureheads, The Courteeners, The Guillemots, Noah & The Whale, The Young Knives, Bryn Christopher and Tokyo Police Club - as well as Road To V winners Matt Trakker. We’ve been getting down and dirty with the punters - in the campsites and the mosh pits. We have so much to share with you this blog is just fit to burst. So check back soon for more post-festival juice from the sunniest, sweatiest, most rock and roll collection of small fields in Essex, England this summer.

Check out DrMoore’s Flickr photostream for more amazing aerial shots of V Festival.

The winners of the Road To V have been announced! Currently unsigned Matt Trakker and The Rebs are now set to open this weekend’s UK V Festival in Chelmsford & Stafford. They beat over 2,500 competition entrants and most impressed the judges - Carl Barat included - at the final heats in London and Liverpool. Matt Trakker (named after a character is M.A.S.K - remember that 80s cartoon, pop culture kids?) is a singer-songwriter from Hackney while The Rebs are from Southampton and love a good bit of synth pop. Hurrah. Curious? You should be. So make sure you catch them this weekend - as well as Muse, The Verve, Kings Of Leon, Prodigy, Kaiser Chiefs, Amy Winehouse, Stereophonics, Pigeon Detectives, The Zutons, Ian Brown, The Chemical Brothers, Guillemots and loads loads more of course…

You can listen to the V Festival as broadcast on Virgin Radio over the weekend via the magical radio pop up thing up in the corner of this very site. And if you miss that then watch the video footage of Matt Trakker and The Rebs on roadtov.com from 21 August.

Be sure to check back here pronto for exclusive video clips, interviews, gossip and more…