Noel Gallagher has said that Russell Brand asked for a cameo in the video for 'AKA... What A Life!' the day before filming the music video ended.
Noel told the current issue of the NME that his original thoughts were "fu*k that" and added "we rewrote a load of stuff and he's in it now as some sort of crazed... well, you'll see it. He wears a top hat it's fu*king ridiculous".
Below is the full version Of 'I'd Pick You Every Time' by 'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds', the track is the b-side to the 'If I Had A Gun' digital download.
Noel Gallagher is appalled at recent events in the U.K., insisting economic crisis, the death of Amy Winehouse, and the phone hacking scandal have turned his native country into a "disaster movie".
The former Oasis rocker spent much of the summer (11) in the U.S. and he looked on aghast as a series of scandals and tragedies blighted Britain, leading to calls for an overhaul of the country's social fabric.
Gallagher agrees desperate measures are needed to tackle the issue - but he is adamant the problem runs so deep, only a fictional superhero such as Batman could fix it. He tells Q magazine, "(When I'm away) I miss the family. And, well, I feel like I'm watching a disaster movie when the news from home comes on the TV. Amy Winehouse dies - what a f**king waste of life and talent, eh?
"The Euro seems to be dying. Every person you can think of's phone has been hacked into. The police are in on it. I mean, what the f**k is going on, man? We need Batman to come down and sort it all out, we really do."
The rocker is also surprised he didn't fall victim to a phone hacker working for the now defunct News of the World tabloid, because even British soccer pundit Andy Gray was targeted.
Gallagher adds, "The phone hacking scandal p**sed me off actually. There was a part of me thinking, 'Andy f**king Gray is having his phone hacked and not me?' That's the final insult. I must have infinitely more interesting phone messages than Andy Gray."
Noel Gallagher's record label Sour Mash are pleased to announce that they will be hosting 2 exclusive fan only playbacks of the forthcoming debut album from Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. The playbacks will be held in London and Manchester on the afternoon of 8th October and all those lucky enough to attend will also leave the session with some exclusive signed artwork and get the chance to review the album for www.NoelGallagher.com.
To enter the competition all you need to do is leave your email address and postcode in the form below. Or you can enter via the brand new app from Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - download it here and then ensure you register within the app with both your email address and postcode to be in with a chance of winning. Over 18s only.
Winners will be drawn at random and those successful will be notified by email on 4th October. Open to UK residents only. Unfortunately Sour Mash cannot contribute to travel costs.
Head on over to Noel's facebook page here for details.
The new issue of Q (out on 27 September 2011) features 25 different covers with the artists who are shaping music right now. Each issue features a new interview with all the cover stars, but which one will you pick? The full list of cover stars are: Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, Biffy Clyro, Cee Lo Green, Coldplay, Damon Albarn, Dizzee Rascal, Elbow, Florence And The Machine, Foo Fighters, Green Day, Jessie J, Kasabian, Laura Marling, Liam Gallagher, Mumford & Sons, Muse, Noel Gallagher, Paolo Nutini, Paul Weller, Plan B, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Snow Patrol, The Killers and Tinie Tempah.
You can the order Liam and Noel Gallagher one, by clicking here.
Noel Gallagher has been speaking to Mojo about his album , 'Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' that's released on October 17 via Noel's own label Sour Mash.
When questioned about how the album isn't what people were expecting with shades of Wings, Neil Diamond, ragtime jazz and Disco.
Noel said "Well that's the great thing about being on your own. That bit in 'The Death Of You And Me' when the New Orleans thing happens... that section had been left open for a while. I came up with the melody for it, then it was, 'What about a brass section?' The way it is now I don't have to sit at the end of Liam's bed and go, (gentle voice) 'I'm gonna have to say something that may upset you - we've been talking about trumpets.' and have him start slinging shit around the room."
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Bird's single AKA... What A Life Is out now! visit www.noelgallagher.com for details.
Noel Gallagher thinks his solo sets will be short with only High Flying Birds songs, so he has now upped the number of Oasis songs he will play to ''seven or eight''.
Noel Gallagher will play "seven or eight" Oasis songs at his solo gigs.
The 'AKA... What A Life!' singer is currently rehearsing for his debut concerts with his High Flying Birds project and as well as performing his forthcoming album almost in its entirety, he realised the shows would be short so will include more of his formed group than originally intended.
He said: "It was f***ing very short. [The number of Oasis songs] has gone from four, to six. In fact, it could actually be seven or eight now."
Noel will also play B-side 'The Good Rebel' and a new track at the shows.
Two tracks on Noel's album, 'Everybody's On The Run' and 'If I Had A Gun', were written during Oasis' South American tour three years ago - after he had stopped travelling with the rest of band as his relationships with his brother, frontman Liam, had got "so f***ing bad" - and the 44-year-old rocker says he only started penning more songs out of boredom.
He told NME magazine: "That's when it was at its f***ing lowest ebb. That was it. It was my decision. Mine and Liam's relationship, it got so f***ing bad, it was like, 'I'm gonna do everybody a favour here, I'm going to travel alone because it's a bad atmosphere.'
"I'm alright being on my own. So at that point I was writing, not for any specific reason, just because I had a lot of time to kill."
Noel Gallagher has been talking about Nirvana's 'Nevermind' album being twenty years old this month.
Nevermind became an instant music classic and launched Nirvana into rock superstardom.
Released in September 1991, Nevermind has since sold more than 30 million copies and has spent 253 weeks on the Billboard 100 chart.
Noel told the new edition of the NME "I remember when Nirvana came to Manchester - one of my regrets is that I never saw the gig. That album made me realise that you can do pop music with loud guitars. Sonically , 'Nevermind' and 'Definitely Maybe' are not that far apart. Really we were both writing melodic, Beatles-esque pop songs with loud guitars".
Sometimes it helps to bide one's time, as Noel Gallagher has surely done in the two years since he walked away from Oasis, effectively shuttering the biggest British band of the last 30 years. While brother Liam rushed out and grabbed the first ray of new rising sun with Beady Eye, offering up a fair-to-decent version of Oasis-sounding songs, Noel took the long-view approach, realizing that a great album has to be nurtured, coddled and brought up right.
Of course, he has some experience in this area; indeed, a couple of the numbers on his solo debut, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - the album's name is the same as his band - have been percolating for a decade now, with demos and soundcheck recordings leaking famously on the internet.
Some might say (oh!) that Noel has always held all of the cards: He was the principle songwriter for Oasis, penning the lion's share of the catalogue and all of the hits. Not only that, but his singing voice - a rich, throaty delivery, alternating between a tenor and a baritone - was the more expressive, and widely underused, of the two Gallagher brothers.
All right, so let's cut to the chase: The 10 songs on Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds rank as the best set of material the singer-songwriter and guitarist has assembled since (What's The Story) Morning Glory? As it is with the best of composers, the emotional buttons - desperate, angry, joyful, melancholy and everything else - are right there in plain sight, but the light and dark between the hues are swimming about, too, and they're up for grabs.
Working in both London and Los Angeles between 2010 and 2011, with frequent collaborator Dave Sardy serving as co-producer, Gallagher utilized the talents of now bandmates Jeremy Stacey (drums), Lenny Castro (percussion) and Mike Rowe (keyboards). It's a close-knit bunch, and the manner in which they jump through so many moments of epiphany, sometimes in the space of one song, is astonishing.
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - an intensifier of feelings, and a strong contender for Record Of The Year - will be released on 17 October (8 November in the US). On the following pages, we'll take a look at this wondrous album track-by-track.
Everybody's On The Run
After a few seconds of studio prep sounds (talking, clanging, a cough), a snare kicks off this rousing opener that immediately recalls the epic grandeur of George Harrison's All Things Must Pass.
Soaring background vocals and heart-tugging strings blend for a massive dramatic sweep. Throughout, Noel sings like a desperate, impassioned soul - "Hang in there love/ you gotta hold on/ 'cause everybody's on the run," he pleads in the chorus - weaving melodies that swirl around one's head but stick like glue.
The arrangement is grand but never artificial. The bridge has a classic rock feel and a symphonic intensity. Acoustic guitars overwhelm and lead into the last resounding chorus, during which Noel extends and hammers home his lyrical meaning. A smashing lead-off track, but can the rest hold up?
Dream On
You wouldn't think that Noel Gallagher would give a damn about any trumpet-playin' band, but he uses horns on this track, and elsewhere on the album, to stunning effect. And it most certainly is rock 'n' roll!
A jaunty, pounding beat underpins briskly strummed, robust-sounding acoustics (and a bit of Link Wray riffiness), making Dream On feel like something of a more aggressive She's Electric. But Noel, using a more mature vocal, brings a new kind of charm - and vulnerability, an unmasked need - to the proceedings.
The choruses are doozies, complete with "la-la-la" sing-alongs. Brass creeps in, dominating the end section, bringing a taste of New Orleans as the tune bops along to a flourish. Expect many iPhones waving in the air as Noel plays this baby live.
If I Had A Gun
Talk about anticipation. Ever since leaked soundcheck demos of this song appeared on the internet, much interest has attended its inevitable studio rendering. We can happily report that the results meet every expectation and then some. With piano and acoustic guitar guiding him, Noel - moody, delicate and restless - sings, "If I had a gun, I'd shoot a hole into the sun/ and love would burn this city down for you" in this quasi-Wonderwall-like gem.
Haunting background vocals create a stirring leitmotif. If I Had A Gun pops with electric guitars, heading right into the first chorus in which Noel intones, "'Scuse me if I spoke too soon/ my eyes have always followed you around the room/ 'cause you're the only God I will ever need/ I'm holding on and waiting or you to find me." That's major-league writing, in what will surely become a modern-rock standard. Noel keeps his delivery in check, never surrendering to showboating, and even as the instruments pile up and peak around him, he stays the course. A hands-down winner, this one.
The Death Of You And Me
The first single from High Flying Birds is a whisper, starting with a capoed, 12-string acoustic intro figure that ushers in Noel's sweet falsetto. The overall mood here is laid-back, '70s-era Kinks, but it's honest and sailing, with nothing getting in the way, as a melancholy Noel sings, not ironically, "High time, summer in the city/ kids are looking pretty/ but isn't it a pity in the sunshine."
The beauty in these lines is how Noel personifies the words, making them his own, and in that way, because we know they're special to him, we can relate. Even the way he draws out the word "sunshine," making it a sneery "sunshiiiiine," is a communal expression - whether it's Johnny Rotten or Liam, we get it. He does it with wink, and we're there.
While the track bears an unmistakable resemblance to The Importance Of Being Idle, it gradually takes on its own form, looming larger, with another taste of New Orleans-style brass skillfully moving in.
(I Wanna Live In A Dream) In My Record Machine
At first, we hear the sounds of schoolchildren on the playground - innocent, unspolied, complete in their world - and then, amidst an acoustic guitar and and a Phil Spectorish jingle stick, Noel begins singing what very might be his own teenage symphony to God.
Bass and electrics climb aboard, with Noel's double-tracked voice becoming mega. Strings emerge, big and bold, in a chorus that's an absolute grabber - we're talking fists in the air. Whether it's an homage to the Wall Of Sound or not, it caresses the senses in much the same way.
The sonics increase, and before long Noel is at the top of his lungs, open-hearted and open-throated - it's a delirious feeling. After a brief, gentle break, the song breaks away into a grand gallop. Here's one pony that can't be tamed.
AKA... What A Life
A pounding four-on-the-floor beat drives this incessant, piano-heavy rocker. Noel, cynical and evil, sings with a world-weariness, "Some say you might find your hero/ some say you might lose your mind."
In the chorus, he twists and raises his voice, elegantly and poetically, making the last word of the title sound like "liiiiiiife." He plays with nuance, finding a center and skirting with the outer edges.
A piercing guitar line links the verse and chorus sections, and right when you least expect it, an honest-to-goodness six-string solo breaks out - and it's a spine-tingler, too. An elongated verse ends the song on an ominous note, but it's one that leaves the listener breathlessly waiting for more.
Soldier Boys And Jesus Freaks
It's a pop-sounding cut, and appropriately so, this ode to the Turtles, all stark guitars and a moving bassline during which Noel sings what are perhaps his most pointed political lyrics.
The chorus is a cymbal-heavy crasher, but horns meet Noel and carry the bridge in true '60s fashion. Here's it's a mishmash, a bright mix of Sgt. Pepper meets The Association meets The 5th Dimension with even The Doors a la The Soft Parade thrown in for good measure.
The ride-out is a smasher, ending with a jingle-jangle of tambourine. It puts a smile on one's face, and it's a crafty counterpoint to the weight of the song's message.
AKA... Broken Arrow
Perhaps the most straightforward song on the album. A sparkling mix of drums and acoustics lead into Noel singing what feels like a love song: "Fallen angel/ a broken arrow/ she comforts me and eases my troubled mind/ she shines a light out into the shadows/ all the world that we will leave behind."
Like all of Noel's best compositions, the hooks and resolves flow naturally, revealing little to no artiface. The dynamics, including his voice, rise and fall effortlessly, as if there's no other possible way to go. Scores of songwriters strive for unbridled spirit, but only a few, and Gallagher is one of them, can tap into, and master, such feelings.
(Stranded) On The Wrong Beach
A thumping garage rocker, glowing with a bass-note pattern over which Noel sings in his most wistful voice. At first, it feels like a bit of a trifle, especially in light of what's come before, but it's affecting nonetheless, working its way under your skin and into your being.
Some artists can do that; they touch us and they matter; they loom large and take on a space of importance that even friends and relatives can't occupy. The sound of their voice triggers emotions and stirs our blood. It's a gift, and it's one Noel possesses, and like the brightest of Hollywood stars, he can rule our passions with just the subtlest of gestures.
Handclaps accentuate the drums, and the tone grows aching as Noel sings, "Drowning, I'm sinking in the quicksand/ stranded on the wrong beach/ come and rescue me."
Stop The Clocks
Written sometime in 2001, Noel said of the track a year later that it was about "a dream I had one night. It's wondering about if you were dead, how would you know you were actually dead, how would you know you were actually alive."
Originally intended to be included on 2004's Don't Believe The Truth, Stop The Clocks has achieved something of a mythic status amongst Oasis fans, with studio and live versions leaking onto the internet over the years.
How can you blame anyone for not holding back this five-minute piece of genius? It's difficult. On the other hand, did they hear the memorable organ riff than informs the body of the finished song? Did they know of the explosive power when the number kicks in, not once but twice? The final version that Noel Gallagher has realized makes good on all past promises.
"Stop the clocks and turn the world around/ let your love lay me down," Noel sings in the opening verse, displaying his heart and making his feelings come through his pores. He has a way of sharing with the the listener why he's sweating - it's as if he's trained to do so, but then that would be too easy an explanation.
After a furious build-up, the song rides out on a bonkers lead guitar break. It's a star-turn, sure, and Gallagher might very well end his set milking this rocket for all it's worth, but it works dramatically, and that's all that matters. After the numerous builds and releases that this album provides, going out on anything less than the highest of highs would be a letdown. On High Flying Birds, Noel Gallagher might have reached his Everest.
Below is an interview with Liam Gallagher from Argentinian radio station Metro 951, Liam said during the interview that Beady Eye are currently in London rehearsing for the tour and that they have added new songs to the band's live set.
Noel Gallagher has told NME his forthcoming solo album is "the best collection of songs I've written for a long fucking time".
The former Oasis man, whose recent single 'The Death Of You And Me' charted at Number 15, said he is happy with how his new material has been received so far. "I know that this is the most concise, literal and lyrical album I've written for a long time and that says more about me as a songwriter because it's all me, apart from the drums and some of the keyboards," he said
This week's NME cover star also recently told us in a video you can watch here that he thinks rock'n'roll is "dead" at the moment. He added: "[The state of rock'n'roll is] really fucking bad now but when it's bad there's someone somewhere like Ian Brown, Liam or Bobby Gillespie or a songwriter like me who can retell the story.
"That's all rock 'n' roll is; retelling this great fucking story. Music snobs will think when this band come along that its all been done before, but it's only a story that needs retelling for a new generation. Rock'n'roll is gone at the minute but it'll never die because Neil Young said so."
To read more on Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, his current obsession with the Apple iPad and the state of music get the new issue of NME, which is on UK newsstands now (September 27) or available digitally.