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It appears in modern times it is now socially acceptable for a musician, regardless of one’s background (or choice of music for that matter) to start teaching to students. The first of many is Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos, who gave a lecture at Edinburgh University on the sounds of the 21st century. Kapranos joined forces with leading figures from the worlds of academia and classical music in a debate about Scotland’s key roles in today’s modern musical world.

Other names include The Smiths‘ Johnny Marr who gave a staggeringly well received lecture on ‘outsiders in the music industry’ at Salford University. The last time Marr had performed at the university’s Maxwell Hall was with The Smiths in 1986. Remarkable (ah-hem…)

And finally, Jarvis Cocker - who gave a lecture on the art of lyrics and their role in popular music, which was in aid of Manchester’s In The City music conference.

Now, is this a common trend I’ve missed out on? Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for musicians having their say in today’s academic world, but didn’t it used to be about musicians rebelling against the educational system, students leaving school and forming bands? Well ladies and gentleman, this certainly isn’t the case anymore.

I’ll let you decide whether these artists are displaying a reputable guide on sociological topics for the youth of today, or are in fact talking a load of nonsensical twaddle.  Whether it be the former, or the latter - you’ve got to hand it to them, this trend is catching on. To help you decide, here is an excerpt from one of Jarvis Cocker’s lectures:

JARVIS COCKER, Brighton Festival, 23 May 2008

“Let’s take a look at the rhyming structure of I Am the Walrus. First, there’s another Beatles song, Michelle, which has a more conventional rhyming structure: ‘Michelle, my belle.’ These are words that go together well, my Michelle. Rhymes generally come at the end of a line.

“The more complicated rhyme structure here gives the impression that it doesn’t really rhyme at all, which lends more authenticity to its stream-of-consciousness approach. It feels like a genuine and unpremeditated outburst.

“This question of [whether] to rhyme or not to rhyme is where many a songwriter comes a cropper. It’s the one thing they know a song must do, so they pursue it at all costs and they become a rhyme whore…”

“A post-lifestyle anthem which sounds like nothing we’ve done before” is how Pet Shop Boys describe their new single, Love etc, which is out March 16. No - I don’t really know what they mean by that either, but Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe seem like very intelligent chaps indeed, so I’ll just nod politely and smile… then get my groove on and dance like a bad mother coz the middle aged men of pop have, along with Xenomania, created a right old proper pop sensation. Whatever tonic these guys have been taking since they were last prodding at the pop charts, well they need to bottle it and sell it to all those other nostalgia-laden comeback wannabees. Maybe it was a session in the studio with the current queens of all who can do wrong - Girls Aloud. The Pet Shoppers provided the ten-legged, cocktail-swigging party machine with their last hit, The Loving Kind, and now it seems Neil and Chris are all warmed up and ready to hog the limelight once again (after donning compulsory shades, silly hat and black patent mattress doubling as coat of course).

Love etc is a nice little bite sized nugget from the new album, Yes, which is promised for March 23 and is described by Neil as “a fantastic, wide-ranging, pop record.” Oh good I understand that. They even got Johnny Marr to strum his guitar on a few tracks and Last Shadow Puppets’ Owen Pallett to lend a hand to the orchestral arrangements. Oooo get them. It’s all indie-electro-pop nowadays isn’t it? We’re all one big happy, wide-ranging family. How lovely. Well it’s very good indeed to have Pet Shop Boys back in this gloomy old recession-hit town, and on the strength of Love etc I reckon they are just the ones to remind us all to party like it’s 1985…

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?

Have yourself a merry little Cribsmas with the Live At The Brudenell Social Club limited edition triple DVD released on Dec 15 in the UK. It includes live renditions of every Cribs song ever recorded - some of which have ever been released. Recorded a year ago, the DVD also includes a bunch of behind the scenes footage and interviews with the likes of Johnny Marr and Alex Kapranos.

The Brudenell Social Club is where The Cribs played their first ever gig and this three-day-long celebratory event sees them play each of their three albums on separate nights in their entirety. They played to an intimate crowd of fans, family and friends… oh and some other impressive types along the lines of Franz Ferdinand, Kate Nash and Kaiser Chiefs also happened to mooch along as well. How lovely.

Perfect stocking filler for your discerning indie fan…

With Dirty Pretty Things announcing their split after their forthcoming tour, I thought I’d check out what the other former Libertine Pete Doherty is up to.

Having completed a string of solo shows with mixed reviews - a Coventry audience thought he was superb, whereas London gig goers were left a little disappointed by what turned out to be ‘Pete Doherty and friends’ - a showcase of his mates’ bands, Pete can now be found larking about on Youtube, uploading some brilliant videos which hint on a very promising upcoming album filled with brilliant collaborations. Graham Coxon, Johnny Marr and Lee Mavers all feature in Pete’s videos making them definitely worth a watch, even if the Hitchcock aspirations fail to entertain you.

Pete’s latest offering combines a studio performance of 1939 with legendary producer Stephen Street giving his own version of historical events. Brilliant.

Check them out on his YouTube channel

After Cut Copy, we managed to catch the end of Modest Mouse’s set - which was fun just because the legendary Johnny Marr was in our presence. Just to see him onstage playing had fulfilled something in me because let’s face it, The Smiths are never coming back are they?

During a supposed quick toilet break - I managed to bump into Alan Donohoe, front man of The Rakes! Since I had chatted to Matt earlier, I couldn’t let Alan just walk past without a picture. Had a quick chat and learned that he actually lived in Melbourne for a few months, years ago. Spoke about Little Red (The Rakes seem to be quite big fans of the local band), and about the Jesus and Mary Chain support shows. Danny and I got our pictures with him and we let him go. Such a lovely soft-spoken man, compared to his wild on-stage persona. A little bit Ian Curtis-like.

After a lot of messing about and wasting time, I was ready to really start my day and who better to kick things off then the stunning Roisin Murphy!

…more to come…