Noel Gallagher On David Bowie

Please note that this interview was conducted in English first, then translated into Japanese for the December issue of 'Rockin' On' and has been translated back into English by mimmihopps. 

The interview took place before Noel went on tour with U2 earlier this year.

From all the songs in the new album, 'It’s A Beautiful World' is the song with the most David Bowie influence.

Holy Mountain is also influenced by 'Aladdin Sane' era’s Bowie.

Top secret! 'I still don’t know what I was waiting for' from 'Waiting For The Rapture' was 'borrowed' from 'Changes'.

He’s always been listening to David  Bowie since his childhood. His cassette tape he always took with him on the road (his roadie years and Oasis years), was filled with Led Zeppelin, Bowie and Slade.

The reason why Noel got into Bowie's music was Mick Ronson. Mick is his guitar hero next to Johnny Marr

Noel’s favourite Bowie album is Hunky Dory. His favourite Bowie era is Space Oditty to Ashes to Ashes. He doesn’t like Bowie’s Berlin era.

Heathen and Next Day are great albums. To Noel, Let’s Dance is the best album of Bowie’s entire career

Noel met Bowie a couple of times (at Brit Awards etc) and exchanged emails with him 4 or 5 times.

The first email he received from Bowie was something like “Thank you for your kind words about me. Keep making great music. I’ll always support you”. Then a couple of months later he passed away.

Thanks to Mimmihopps

Oasis Dominate Radio X 'Ultimate British Song' Poll

Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody is the ultimate British song according to Radio X listeners, in our second annual Best of British poll.

The classic 1975 single toppled Oasis’s Wonderwall off the top spot, moving up 11 places to be named the best British song of all time by Radio X listeners.

RADIO X BEST OF BRITISH TOP 20:
1. QUEEN – BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
2. OASIS – LIVE FOREVER
3. OASIS – WONDERWALL
4. OASIS – DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER
5. THE VERVE – BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY
6. OASIS – CHAMPAGNE SUPERNOVA
7. THE STONE ROSES – I AM THE RESURRECTION
8. ARCTIC MONKEYS – I BET YOU LOOK GOOD ON THE DANCEFLOOR
9. DAVID BOWIE – HEROES
10. PULP – COMMON PEOPLE
11. DAVID BOWIE – LIFE ON MARS?
12. THE STONE ROSES – FOOL’S GOLD
13. OASIS – SLIDE AWAY
14. THE SMITHS – THERE IS A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT
15. OASIS – SUPERSONIC
16. LED ZEPPELIN – STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
17. NEW ORDER – BLUE MONDAY
18. THE STONE ROSES – I WANNA BE ADORED
19. PINK FLOYD – WISH YOU WERE HERE
20. THE ROLLING STONES – GIMME SHELTER

Source: www.radiox.co.uk

Another Oasis Exhibition Opens In Manchester

Missed Chasing the Sun at Old Granada Studios? Fans now have another chance to see photographer Jill Furmanovsky's work with the Manchester band.

A new Oasis exhibition opens in Manchester tomorrow, following on from last month’s Chasing the Sun retrospective at Old Granada Studios.


Acclaimed music photographer Jill Furmanovsky, who spent years on the road with the band and whose work featured in the band’s official exhibition in October , will be showcasing more of her pictures at the city’s Central Library.

Her show, DNA Oasis, includes striking portraits of the Gallagher brothers as well as early live images and candid behind-the-scenes shots - some of which have never been on show before.

“Noel and Liam were OK with being photographed, but they had short attention spans”, said Jill.

“They didn’t want to hang around for hours, which suited me as a photo-journalist. I work quickly. Maybe that’s why they liked me.

“I look at some of the photos now and remember what moods they were really in - but somehow, I usually managed to persuade them to pose for me.

“I had the sense that Noel thought it was important to document everything that was going on at that time – it was all happening so incredibly fast.”

Jill, who made her name in the 70s and 80s shooting legends including Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin and Bob Marley, took her first pictures of Oasis at a gig in Cambridge in 1994, the year Definitely Maybe was released.

She went on to become their unofficial tour photographer, charting their rise to career-defining shows such as Maine Road, Knebworth and beyond, right up until their split in 2009.

“Oasis had been signed the year before”, Jill said. “At the time, I was putting together a book of my work, The Moment, which started with an image of Paul McCartney from his time with The Beatles. I wanted an up-and-coming group to bookend the collection and they seemed to fit.

“Once I’d photographed them, I thought that was the end of my rock-and-roll years. But then Noel asked me to go on tour with them - and I was still working with them years later.”

The exhibition has already been paid a visit by The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, who is pictured in the studio with Oasis in one of Jill’s photographs.

“I have many images of other great Manchester artists, including Morrissey and The Buzzcocks - so I would love to come back to Central Library in future with a DNA Manchester exhibition”, she added.

DNA Oasis opens tomorrow, November 2, and runs until January 28, 2017, in the library’s first floor exhibition hall. Entry is free.

Source: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Mat Whitecross Says Oasis' Achievements From 1993-96 Were Unprecedented

Mat Whitecross, the director of the forthcoming Oasis movie Supersonic has said the band's achievements from 1993-96 were unprecedented.

The band's first two records - 'Definitely Maybe' and (What's The Story) Morning Glory? - sold millions within a short period of time which culminated in their Knebworth double header which saw the band play to 250,000 people.

"We stopped at Knebworth because what is unique particularly with Oasis is from the moment they signed off the dole in 1993 to the moment they stepped out on stage at Knebworth, that was unheard of," Whitecross explained.

"You don't do that in two and a half years. The Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin did that after 15 years. Noel's theory is it can't happen again because the music business is so broken up and fractured now. For whatever reason there was this little flash moment where everyone's eyes were trained on them, the tabloids, they were hanging out with politicians. It was Blair, it was No 10. And then it was over but those two and a half years were gold."

Whitecross also said the band became too big after Knebworth and the magic they had in the first three years was lost.

“Those songs are like international anthems now," he added. "By becoming big you lose it and it's inevitable. In terms of them taking stock now there's been enough time for them to get to grips with what they really achieved back then. They were keen to talk about the legacy and were going 'We did something fucking amazing can we talk about that rather than the bust ups and the nonsense'."

Supersonic is out in UK cinemas on October 2.

Source: www.nme.com

Andy Bell "Oasis Changed My Life"

Andy Bell's life changed the first time he heard Oasis.

The 45-year-old musician joined the 'Supersonic' band as their bass player in late 1999 as a replacement for original bassist Paul 'Guigsy' McGuigan and admits it was a dream come true for him to be part of the now defunct group because their debut album 'Definitely Maybe' had such a huge impact on him when it was released in 1994.

Andy - who played guitar in Liam Gallagher's post-Oasis band Beady Eye and is now back playing in his original group Ride - recalled: "Oasis definitely did change my life when I first heard them! They were like a breath of fresh air. To put it into context, Ride were working on the third album, 'Carnival of Light', and we were taking a bit of a break. We were starting to get a bit frayed at the edges and we were starting to pull in different directions musically, too. We were really shooting for a kind of West Coast Byrdsy California sound mixed with a little bit of Led Zeppelin and a little bit of classic rock.

"I think we were also subconsciously trying to make a cleaner record, because we'd stopped getting played on the radio ... but then along comes Oasis sounding like the Jesus and Mary Chain meets the Sex Pistols and just completely blew everything out of the water!"

Andy also paid tribute to his former Oasis bandmate Noel Gallagher, insisting his skills as a guitarist are underestimated by too many people.

He told website MusicRadar: "I just want to say that I think Noel's really underrated as a lead guitar player. His playing is like a John Squire-y thing, but there's a lot more muscle behind it. He kind of trademarked his own style, which has become something that everyone uses now - that massively overdriven sound with quite a lot of delay on it. [His playing] just sounded epic."

Source: www.femalefirst.co.uk

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Noel Gallagher, The Stone Roses And Royal Blood Among Best-Selling Vinyl Albums Of 2015

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' latest album 'Chasing Yesterday' is the biggest-selling vinyl album of 2015 so far.

The Official Charts Company has unveiled a list of the Top 40 vinyl albums of the year, with Gallagher's second post-Oasis LP, released in February, beating the likes of The Stone Roses, Royal Blood, Led Zeppelin and Arctic Monkeys to the top spot.

As well as 'Chasing Yesterday', among the Top 10 only two other albums were released this year: Blur's 'The Magic Whip' and Jamie xx's 'In Colour'.

Other records, such as The Stone Roses' eponymous debut and Led Zeppelin’s 1975 album 'Physical Graffiti', were recently reissued.

Outside the Top 10, new albums from Muse, Sufjan Stevens, Foals and The War On Drugs fill the top 20, while Tame Impala, Florence + The Machine, Wolf Alice and more feature elsewhere in the Top 40.

See the full Top 10 below. View a full list of the Top 40 vinyl albums of the year so far here.

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - 'Chasing Yesterday'
The Stone Roses - 'The Stone Roses'
Royal Blood - 'Royal Blood'
Led Zeppelin - 'Physical Graffiti'
Arctic Monkeys - 'AM'
Pink Floyd - 'The Dark Side Of The Moon'
Amy Winehouse - 'Back To Black'
Blur - 'The Magic Whip'
Jamie xx - 'In Colour'
Ed Sheeran - 'X'

Source: www.nme.com

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Noel Gallagher Dominates Vinyl Sales In The UK

Gallagher’s High Flying Birds top sales of both albums and singles on vinyl during the first half of the year.

Let no one say the vinyl market is dominated by the dinosaurs of rock or their fans. Actually, scratch that – because it is. The Official Charts Company has released its lists of the best selling vinyl albums and singles this year, and both are dominated by Men of Rock of a certain age.

Chasing Yesterday by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds is the best selling vinyl album of the year, with Nos 2 and 3 being Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti and the Stone Roses’ debut album. The highest placed album by a woman, or an act including women, is Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black, at No 18. The only other women or acts featuring women to feature in the top 40 are Courtney Barnett (Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit, No 23), Florence + the Machine (How Big How Blue How Beautiful, No 27), Fleetwood Mac (Rumours, No 29), Belle & Sebastian (Girls in Peacetime Want To Dance, No 36), Björk (Vulnicura, No 37) and Wolf Alice (My Love Is Cool, No 40).

The singles chart is even more skewed, with Gallagher and his Birds occupying the top three places, as well as No 7. David Bowie, meanwhile is at No 5 and No 6 , as well as No 10 (for a split single with Television’s Tom Verlaine released for Record Store Day). Florence + the Machine (What Kind of Man, No 14) and Courtney Barnett (Kim’s Caravan, No 17) are the only women in the top 20.

The top 10 vinyl albums of 2015 so far

1 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Chasing Yesterday
2 Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti
3 The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
4 Blur – The Magic Whip
5 Royal Blood – Royal Blood
6 Arctic Monkeys – AM
7 Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon
8 Led Zeppelin – IV
9 Sufjan Stevens – Carrie and Lowell
10 Public Service Broadcasting – The Race for Space

The top 10 vinyl singles of 2015 so far

1 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Riverman
2 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Ballad of the Mighty I
3 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – the Dying of the Light
4 Blur – Y’All Doomed
5 David Bowie – Changes
6 David Bowie – Young Americans
7 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – In the Heat of the Moment
8 Paul Weller – Saturn’s Pattern
9 Mark Ronson – Uptown Funk
10 David Bowie/Tom Verlaine – Side by Side/Kingdom Come

Source: www.theguardian.com

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Noel Gallagher's 'Chasing Yesterday' Tops List Of Amazon's Best Selling Albums Of 2015

Noel Gallagher's new album 'Chasing Yesterday' is Amazon's best selling album of the year so far.

The statistics, which show a snapshot of the first three months of the year (January to March), place Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds ahead of albums by Bob Dylan and Madonna. 'Chasing Yesterday' was named the year's fastest selling album upon its release in March.

Other albums selling well for the online retailer so far in 2015 include releases by Meghan Trainor and Mark Ronson while James Bay's debut album 'Chaos and The Calm' features highly despite only being released in late March.

Scroll down to see the full rundown of the ten best selling albums.

"From Madonna through to Led Zeppelin, 2015 has already seen some high profile album launches," Steve Bernstein, Director of Amazon EU Digital Music said. "With the likes of Blur, Muse and Mumford and Sons set to release albums in the coming months we’re heading into a great summer for music lovers, competition for 2015’s biggest album is only set to intensify."

Amazon's top-selling albums so far are listed below:

1. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds – 'Chasing Yesterday'
2. Bob Dylan – 'Shadows In The Night'
3. Madonna – 'Rebel Heart'
4. Meghan Trainor – 'Title'
5. Mark Ronson – 'Uptown Special'
6. Mark Knopfler – 'Tracker'
7. Fall Out Boy – 'American Beauty/American Psycho'
8. James Bay – 'Chaos and The Calm'
9. Led Zeppelin – 'Physical Graffiti'
10. Imagine Dragons – 'Smoke + Mirrors'

Source: www.nme.com

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Another Review: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds 'Chasing Yesterday'

With a title like "Chasing Yesterday" you would think that Oasis mastermind Noel Gallagher would be trying to recapture the youthful blare of classic Oasis, but you would only be half-right.

The album finds Noel in top-notch songwriting form. Some of these melodies are so undeniable it would be a shame if the album doesn't take Noel to a place where he is finally recognized outside of his band.

With his two solo albums he has decided to market them under the band name "Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds," instead of taking full, unadulterated credit. However, listening to this set of songs hardly gives the impression of the High Flying Birds as a living, breathing "band." Instead, this sounds exactly what you would expect from a Noel Gallagher solo album. Tight songwriting, understated vocals, musicianship and psychedelic production work.

What is missing is Liam's brash, heathen-like personality bending up to sing into the mic with his hands behind his back. But later-day Oasis albums were also bogged down by Liam's basic and repetitive songwriting style. Noel seemed fine stepping back and letting his brother and other bandmates give songwriting a try, but part of it felt like a big brother pushing his little brother on the bike and letting the little brother glide for a bit before crashing into a bush. With Chasing Yesterday you get ten top-drawer Noel Gallagher compositions.

You know an album is strong when the first single is good but completely overshadowed by a handful of album tracks. "In The Heat Of The Moment" (Not the song by Asia) announced a new, hungry sounding Noel with its huge chorus and nearly funky backbeat. "The Dying Of The Light" finds Noel in a dreary mood, with it's world-weary lyrics, but its grunge-meets-Smiths vibe is totally radio-ready. The usually non-experimental Noel tries something completely new with "The Right Stuff" dueting with a chanteuse over a jammy jazz loop. The result is surprisingly sexy and an unexpected left-turn.

Gallagher has always been unafraid to wear his influences on his sleeve, sometimes even coming close to plagiarism and Chasing Yesterday continues this streak. "The Girl With X-Ray Eyes" pillages "Stairway To Heaven", making it the one misstep on the album. The song title "While The Song Remains The Same" also conjures images of Led Zeppelin but with its driving beat and super-catchy melody all can be forgiven. Opener "Riverman" also is a weird image for Noel, who has never portrayed himself as a back-to-nature type gent. Fear not: Noel hasn't gown a grizzly-man beard nor is he wearing a straw hat. It is simply a metaphor of getting back to the basics and the track revels in its psychedelic textures not unlike a jam band.

Noel has always ended his albums on a high note. This time it's "You Know We Can't Go Back" a pummeling, inspiring coming-of-age anthem. If this does not become a world-wide hit, somebody at the record label needs to get fired. It's got everything we loved with Oasis: affirmation, danger, rebellion and hope. Then album closer "Ballad Of The Mighty I" ends the set with a cameo by Noel's hero Johnny Marr and a winding, convoluted song structure that pays off in the end.

Most were unimpressed with Noel Gallagher's first outing with the High Flying Birds. It stuck a little too close to the script and left little to imagination. With Chasing Yesterday he ironically finds his own future. By mixing psychedelic experimentalism with his ear for classic songwriting, Noel could live forever like this and it even makes you wonder if he even needs his brother.

I give Chasing Yesterday by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds 4 and 1/2 Empty Lighthouses out of 5.

Review by A Derer

Source: emptylighthouse.com

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Oasis To Release Knebworth Album And More Next Year

Noel Gallagher has said in an interview with German magazine Event that Oasis will release a documentary and a live album next year to celebrate 20 years since the legendary Knebworth shows that took place in 1996.

When questioned if a Oasis documentary was in the pipeline he said ""Oh yeah! Just because it'll be the 20th anniversary of our Knebworth concerts in 2016. And because we're a bunch a of nutters, we've completely forgotten that we had actually filmed the whole thing. With like 20 cameras and a lot of what happened on the festival ground as well. Like fans arriving, backstage sequences, interviews and flights over the area. Which we've never released. I've no idea why. But we decided that 2016 would be a good moment to do so, since Knebworth was the highlight of our career. We think that the 20th would make a good occasion to reflect on that, or to tell history of Oasis - and then leave it at that. So far there's going to be a documentary and a live album."

Thanks to asimarx for the translation.

Knebworth is a venue that has long been associated with the biggest acts in rock history; Queen, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones had all played there to vast audiences. Oasis saw themselves as part of this rock legacy and there were only few UK locations left that could handle the crowds that followed them. Oasis wanted to set a new benchmark for an open-air performance; they hired the biggest PA, the biggest video screens, and reportedly sold over 250,000 tickets for two consecutive performances.


 

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Noel Gallagher On Oasis, Led Zeppelin, The Smiths, And The Jam Reforming

Noel Gallagher has told the current issue of Q that he would only reform Oasis for the money and that Michael Eavis has not got enough money for Oasis to reform at Glastonbury.

He said "Nobody has made us an offer. I've been in the same room as Liam, and even then nobody's said, 'Weren't Oasis great? You should reform.' But if I was ever going to do it, it would only be for the money. This isn't me putting it out there, by the way.  Would I do it for charity? No way. We're not that kind of people. For Glastonbury? I don't think Michael Eavis has got enough money. But would we get back together? As long as everybody is still alive and still has their hair, it's always a possibility. But only for the money. Look at The Stone Roses. When you're constantly getting asked if you're going to re-form, you can only keep saying 'no' until you say, 'yes'. I've never spoken to John Squire about this, but it's like John got bullied into saying, 'yes'. Now the Roses have re-formed, no one mentions them any more."

He Added "I think it's ingrained in English psyche - this idea that the glory days, the Empire, are behind us. Led Zeppelin! The Smiths! The Jam. They should all reform! Why? So a load of middle-aged people can stand in the 02 and go, 'they're not as good as they used to be'. It'd be the same with Oasis. 'Yeah, we're not as good as we used to be'".

Q magazine is on sale from Tuesday.

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Vote For Oasis, Liam And Noel Gallagher At The NME Awards

Oasis, Liam and Noel Gallagher have been nominated in various categories in the NME Awards, Click here to vote (Login Required).


Best Track
Future Islands – 'Seasons (Waiting On You)'
Jamie T – 'Zombie'
Jungle – 'Busy Earnin''
Kasabian – 'Eez-Eh'
Noel Gallagher – 'In The Heat Of The Moment'
Royal Blood – 'Little Monster'

Hero Of The Year
Alex Turner
Dave Grohl
Kate Bush
Noel Gallagher
Russell Brand
Taylor Swift

Reissue Of The Year
Led Zeppelin – 'Led Zeppelin II'
Manic Street Preachers – 'The Holy Bible'
Oasis – 'Definitely Maybe'
Pixies – 'Doolittle'
Public Enemy – 'It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back'
Smashing Pumpkins – 'Adore'

Best Band Social Media
?uestlove's Twitter
Alana Haim's Twitter
Albert Hammond Jr's Twitter
Fat White Family's Facebook
Liam Gallagher's Twitter
Slaves' Facebook

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Video: Kasabian's Tom Meighan Wants Oasis Or Led Zeppelin To Headline Glastonbury

Kasabian's Tom Meighan has backed either Oasis or Led Zeppelin to reform and headline Glastonbury in 2015.

The frontman spoke to NME at the NME Awards Launch Party about headlining Glastonbury and who he'd like to see play the festival in 2015. See above to watch now.

Foo Fighters are the current favourites to take one of the three headline slots at next year's festival. Dave Grohl himself has told NME that he is interested in the headline slot, with Emily Eavis responding to his comments. William Hill subsequently cut the US band's odds from 14/1 outsiders to 8/11 favourites.

Click here to watch the video.

Source: www.nme.com

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Noel Gallagher On Oasis, The Rolling Stones, John Lennon, David Bowie And More

During 18 years as the guitarist, primary songwriter and sometime vocalist for Oasis, Noel Gallagher became one of the biggest rock icons of his era. His sales and chart statistics were downright gaudy: 23 UK Top 10 singles, seven UK No. 1 albums, concert audiences as large as 125,000 a night, and album sales of over 70 million.

But as anyone who followed the music press knew, the group's alliance of Noel and his younger brother Liam was a fractious and temperamental one from day one. (For context, this YouTube of a legendary NSFW Oasis interview sums it up.) In 2009, just days before the end of an Oasis world tour, Mr. Gallagher and his brother fought one time too many. Noel left the venue, and the band was done.

"My whole attitude toward songs like that is that if you're going to fucking say it, say it. Don't piss around pretending it's a song about a tree when it's really about sex. And I'm talking about Radiohead here." - Noel Gallagher

After nearly two years of quiet, Gallagher re-emerged with a solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, last fall. The record showed that Noel's still got quite a knack for a melody, and drew mostly critical raves and strong sales worldwide, turning a few months of touring into over a year of travel.

The tour concludes this week with three stops in Texas before a friends and family gig in London, after which Gallagher claims we'll not see him for a while.

CultureMap recently called Gallagher at his Chicago hotel to discuss his solo debut, the Internet, David Bowie and this week's U.S. elections.

CultureMap: It's a strange couple of weeks for you to be in America with the elections and the hurricane. Are you having some interesting conversations on the road? 

Noel Gallagher: Yeah, I think this is my third election in a row that I've been in America. I am actually planning on applying for a vote next time since I spend enough fucking time here. I find the whole thing fascinating, American politics is fascinating. It's so confusing and bizarre. I like to watch it play out. But I don't begin to understand it.

But for instance, last night I was watching. You can watch Fox News on one channel and it gives you the exact opposite view of CNN on the other, but using the same figures. And it's insane how it's even legal to do that stuff. You can't do that in England, you know what I mean?

CM: I think for a long time in the U.S., media was supposed to be neutral, but then the UK have always kind of had Rupert Murdoch on one side and The Guardian on the other, and everybody knew their points of view. Now we have more of that here.

NG: Yeah, but the TV station itself — that should be neutral! You can voice any opinion, but the anchor of the program should be neutral. You watch Fox News… I can say it's fucking insane. Fox News is insane.

And then you watch CNBC or something, and they are using the same stories and the same figures but with completely different [results] — they interpret them completely differently, and I mean it's fascinating to watch as somebody from another country. I love it here, I've got to say, I think it's fucking great, but it's very confusing. Who is going to win?

CM: I think Obama is going to win, but I think it's incredibly close, and I think we are all going to stay up half the night to see. 

NG: Yeah, I'll be on a tour bus somewhere, but I think I'm definitely going to stay up. It's exciting to be here. Because British politics is very sedate and a bit more subtle and only goes on for two weeks. This has been going on for the last fucking year, hasn't it?

CM: Absolutely. Another difference: There's not as much religion in British politics today, in my experience. 

NG: Yeah, and there is an insane fight over the women's vote. The [media] seem to have categorized it, they've herded all women into a group now, like some minority group, and they're [acting like] they are all gonna vote as a group, and they are talking about abortions and birth planning and all that. I don't know. It makes you think it's kind of an archaic way of thinking about women.

I think it's just so far removed from what we are used to in the UK... like all women in America are gonna get together and kind of block vote on one particular issue is ludicrous, isn't it?

CM: I know you have a daughter and I do too, so it's strange to watch all of this play out.

NG: I've seen on Fox news two guys debating what Jesus would say if he walked into a family planning clinic.

CM: Amazing.

NG: I was watching it, with my mouth open going, "What did they just say there?" What would Jesus say? One of them was saying, "Well, I think he'd reconvert them to Christianity because obviously they are not Christian if they are in a birth planning clinic." Another guy was saying he'd give out free condoms, and I was like: "Fuck me."

CM: You grew up in a Catholic family, if I'm remembering correctly. 

NG: That's correct.

CM: Does it ever strike you — were things ever this extreme when you were growing up in Manchester? 

NG: I was thinking about that this morning, but I don't know whether in England… it's the same, but it's slightly more subtle. I mean, the message was the same, but you don't really notice that you are receiving it. I mean, America is very in your face. I've gotta say, religion isn't as massive an issue when it comes to the election. Religion isn't a massive issue in the UK anyway, you know what I mean?

I don't think many people 'do' religion any more. There's not so many where there's a serious obsession with it. The people who are into it in America are obsessed by it and they're obsessed about what the religious right think and what rights they have and all that kind of thing. I guess that's the same with any extremists, you know? There are Christian extremists and Catholic ones, all of that is fuckin' as mad as Muslim extremists, you know what I mean?

CM: It's crazy. I think we all may have too much information. It's too easy to get angry with people that are different than you.

NG: Well yeah! I mean, of course! I don't think it's any coincidence that all the wrongs of the world have coincided with the birth of the Internet, you know what I mean?

CM: I wanted to ask you about that. I lived in London in 1995 when the second Oasis record came out, and I remember the joy of walking down to HMV when you put out a new single because I wanted to see what B-sides you'd thrown on it. And, you know, nobody knew. You'd go and you'd take it home and listen. Do you feel like some of that record store magic or some of that attentive music listening that we both grew up with is gone now? 

NG: Yeah, of course. And the software was invented by people that didn't go to record shops. You got some guys in fucking Seattle or wherever these guys with bald heads and glasses sit, they're thinking: "I don't want to fucking go to record stores, I want the record stores to come to me." The Internet, for all the great things it has given us, because people are connected all around the world — it has destroyed magic. It's destroyed word of mouth.

You know, particularly in the music industry, before a record is out, an opinion is formed. It's destroyed the ability of people to think for themselves. Like you, we were in London in 1995, and the single was out on that day, and you didn't even know what it sounded like unless you caught it on the radio. But there was no forum to tell you. It wasn't pre-leaked. There wasn't a free download before.

You went and you took it home and you formed your own opinion. You probably didn't have a mobile phone in 1995. So the next time you would talk about it is when you actually met somebody down the pub or something and said, "Fucking hell, have you heard that track 'Listen Up' on the B-side?" There would be no "I'll press the little wheel on the computer and go, um, it's alright." You know.

CM: What do you think that means for young musicians now? I know you're a fan of Jake Bugg and have brought him out on the road with you. What does it mean to someone like that, who is good but is living in a different world than you did? 

NG: Well, he's growing up with it. He's fully immersed in the machine now as it is, you know? For the likes of me and every artist from the '90s, we had to make the transition. So it was difficult. Young acts now, they're kinda brought up in the machine, so they don't know any different. I was talking with him the other night, and he was saying that it was mind blowing to him that [Oasis] sold 700,000 albums in three days in England. And you wouldn't even sell that now with people on their computers.

He said, "How would you manage to shift all those people down to the record shop?" Well, it's just magic, you know. I mean, that kind of magic is gone now. You know, music has now become... I don't think it's a force now. I mean there's still nerds who believe in it, like me and you and other people. And that's who you make music for.

But, you know, now people will have bought my album and put it on a blank CD to listen to it at a dinner party and just chuck it away like it is worth nothing to them. You know what I mean? 'Cause it's just a piece of plastic.

CM: I get the feeling that not many people are going to get rich making music anymore. That it's becoming more of a working class gig where you live in the bus or the van and that's how you earn a living.

NG: Well, absolutely. Trust me on this: The days of Led Zeppelin and David Bowie and fucking Marc Bolan and all that — they're all gone. Those flamboyant rock stars flying around in fucking jets. There won't be another Rolling Stones, there won't be another David Bowie, that's for sure. Because the industry doesn't want that. They don't want a guy like David Bowie completely murdering Ziggy Stardust to go off and become another character.

They would want Ziggy Stardust for the rest of his fucking life, you know. But it serves the industry right, I think. You know what I mean? Because for starters, they overcharged for music in the first place. So there was a quest by young people to get music for what they felt was the right price. And in the end, they're getting it for free now. So it serves the industry right.

CM: Were you surprised that Oasis actually lasted as long as it did? That it took until 2009 to wind down and you to leave? 

NG: Yeah. I mean, we tried. You know, to our credit, we tried to keep it going for as long as possible. We were never... with all the various members of the band, it was kinda fractious, and there were cliques, and it was never quite a happy ship at any point in the 18 years.

But to our credit, all of us, we all tried to keep it going for as long as possible. And then there just came a point for me, where I just thought, "This is never gonna change. And it's time for a change." But I think we did pretty fucking good, you know. I've got to say, I think we did pretty good.

CM: When you left Oasis, you laid low for a solid year-and-a-half or so. What do you do with your time off? 

NG: Well, I got married, I had another baby. I moved house.

CM: That pretty much takes care of it. 

NG: It's just life, you know what I mean? I'm not really driven as an artist. I don't get back after a tour and sit down and think like, "What's my next project?" I just think, right, let's go back to being a regular fucking guy for a while. Because I like sitting around the house, you know what I mean? And I don't really ever wanna overdo it, because I don't want to have contempt for my job, so to speak.

So the guys in my band now, well, they're not in my band, they're just guys that play with me on the road. They're kind of fishing for what's gonna be there in the next couple of years. I've got to say, "Don't fucking hang around waiting for me," because I could conceivably not make a record for the next five years. I just do things when I feel like it, and I might not feel like it for a few years, and that's great. And I don't really believe in saying anything unless you've got something to say. And at the moment, I've got nothing to say. You know, in regards to doing a new record.

CM: I read something by George Harrison once, where he said that money doesn't buy you happiness, but it does buy you options. It gives you the ability to take some time away and just do whatever you want. 

NG: Absolutely. What I did at the end of the Oasis thing, my first thought was I knew exactly what I was gonna do. And that was doing nothing. And then I was going to wait for the call from somewhere. That call might be that two songs might come in a row that excite you and you think, now I've got an album. And I wait for that kind of call.

So one night I went to bed, and I wasn't thinking of music, I wasn't that bothered. I'd just moved house, it was all fucking great and lovely, and my son was growing up. Then the next morning I got up and I was having breakfast and I thought, I'm gonna book a studio. And I don't know why. So I wait for that call. And whenever that'll come will be whenever it will be.

CM: There were always rumors during Oasis' earlier days that you would squirrel away songs and save them for later. A couple of things that had been kicking around for a long time made it on to this record. Any reason that you chose those two songs? Because I'm sure there are more. 

NG: You mean "Record Machine" and "Stop The Clocks"? I just thought they were great songs and I thought…if I don't put them out now, there's no point in putting them out. Those two songs are kind of the bookend of the Oasis story, really. I mean the bottom line is I thought they were great songs. I've got to say, I do tend to write — I'm either in two stages of writing. I'm either writing lots of songs or I'm writing none.

I don't really keep it ticking over. I haven't written anything for months now. But before that, I wrote a lot of songs. So I do always have a backlog. And every record that I make is never really quite representative of where I am at that moment, because I have got such a backlog of songs from over the years. That is what I do. That's my style.

CM: Where are you today musically? What are you listening to or influenced by?

NG: I have become heavily obsessed with David Bowie again. Don't know why.

CM: That's a crazy catalog to get into. You can kind of dig deep and get lost.

NG: Yeah, yeah, yeah. On the road, I've been listening to him regularly. I always thought he was great, but I never really thought he was as great as I think he is now. I think he is up there with John Lennon and fucking Bob Dylan and those guys.

His recorded output is fucking phenomenal. But every single style of music that he attempted, whether it be pop in the '60s and this glam rock thing in the '70s and the avant-garde electronic music in the late '70s and then, like, electro-pop in the '80s. All fucking truly amazing. And it's beginning to blow me away, so I've been listening to it lots recently.

CM: When I lived in New York, I was able to see him a couple of times, and it was really good. It makes me sad that he's walked away from live performance. 

NG: Yeah. I think he's been ill. There was a picture of him in the UK papers a few months back. I guess if you're David Bowie and you're gonna get up on the stage, people are expecting you to be fucking brilliant, you know what I mean? And if you can't give it a hundred percent and be the David Bowie that everybody expects, then I guess there's no point in doing it. I would hate to go and see David Bowie and just be like, "Wow, I'm so disappointed."

CM: Speaking of which, there have been so many reunions of classic, beloved bands as of late. Have you gone to see, say, The Stone Roses or Led Zeppelin or any of the bands you really like that have done that?

NG: I did see Led Zeppelin and I did see The Stone Roses, yeah. I've seen them both.

CM: How did you think it turned out in either case? 

NG: Well, you know, the Zeppelin thing was a one-off gig and it was great. It wasn't John Bonham who was there, so obviously it wasn't really Led Zeppelin. But that was great. It was an event, that moment. The Stone Roses thing —  I've seen them five times and I've seen them do two truly great shows. They're friends of mine, and I think it's turned out good for them, you know what I mean.

CM: Yeah. It didn't end so well the first time, so that may have been more about fence mending. 

NG: Well, I guess, and it's a financial thing. I don't think they made much money the first time around, and who doesn't wanna make a few fucking million dollars, you know? But The Stone Roses are playing now, and actually, I wouldn't go to see them again, you know what I mean.

CM: Yeah. I don't think we'll see Led Zeppelin again. Robert Plant's actually been living here in Austin. We've been seeing him around at the coffee shops.

NG: You know, I've been hoping I might bump into him in the pharmacy somewhere.

CM: On your tour set list, you have about a half dozen Oasis songs sprinkled in among your solo record. You probably have a hundred Oasis tunes. How do you actually decide what 25 minutes of Oasis you're gonna put in there? 

NG: I've gotta say, it's fucking difficult. I've had over 15 months now of people shouting out Oasis songs, not one of which is on the set list. First and foremost, I put together what I wanted to do of my new stuff and that amounted to about 45 minutes. So we're just filing it out, really, but I don't expect to do any more than half a dozen next time. But I guess it's just what feels right at the time.

I guess people are always gonna expect to hear "Don't Look Back In Anger," so that's kind of a given. But, I like the more obscure stuff that I did. They were always hidden away on B-sides, because Liam couldn't sing them or wouldn't sing them, and they should've been album tracks. A lot of them would've been great Oasis songs if only the singer could be arsed. They are about to take a new lease on life, I think.

CM: To end in the present, on the new record, "If I Had A Gun" may be one of the best songs you've ever written. It feels pretty direct compared to some of the other ballads you've done. Is there a good origin story for that song? 

NG: When I put together a set of chords and a melody and it lends itself to being a romantic song, I always go back to the first night that I met my wife. She was then my girlfriend, you know, and she's since become my wife. And so I remember what that felt like. And what those first few weeks felt like. You know what I mean?

CM: Absolutely. 

NG: And then try and make it as believable as possible. And just really, if you're gonna write a love song, write it from the heart. And write it about someone you actually love. I'm not going to mention her name, because people don't know her, but I make it as universal as possible. My whole attitude toward songs like that is that if you're going to fucking say it, say it. Don't piss around pretending it's a song about a tree when it's really about sex. And I'm talking about Radiohead here.

Source: www.culturemap.com

Bid For A Signed Guitar By Former Members Of Oasis And More

A guitar signed by some legendary figures from the Manchester music scene is to be auctioned for charity.

Pop fans will get the chance to bid for the instrument - signed by everyone from The Stone Roses and Noel and Liam Gallager to Elbow and Peter Hook - on e-Bay.

The man behind the project is Altrincham resident Adam Masters who hopes the piece will fetch “at least four figures” for the three respective good causes it’s being auctioned for.

Adam said the money raised will be spent at Francis House Children’s Hospice in Didsbury and Claire House Children’s Hospice in Liverpool - via the organisation Children’s Hospice Arts (Chart UK).

Adam said the auction will run for 10 days from November 1 and he said the item is a “must have” for all music fans.

He said: “I’d seen an article in a guitar magazine - Bryan Adams of all people had done a similar thing with artists like Led Zeppelin and Sir Paul McCartney and The Who. It went for some obscene amount of money. i just thought what’d be really good would be if someone did one for the Manchester bands. We’re the musical hub of the UK.”

The third good cause will be chosen by a mutual friend of Adam and Suzanne whose daughter Lucy died - the guitar is dedicated to her.

Anyone interested in finding out more about the auction should visit here.

Source: www.messengernewspapers.co.uk

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds have released International Magic Live At The O2 DVD through Sour Mash Records.

They are currently playing the US and Canada alongside Snow Patrol and Jake Bugg.

For details on the above and more click here.

Annie Mac 'Skream And Benga Make Liam And Noel Gallagher Look Like Pussies'

Dubstep DJs more hardcore than Sex Pistols says Radio 1 host

Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac says dubstep DJs Skream and Benga are more hardcore than the Sex Pistols or Oasis ever were.

Mac – full name Annie MacManus – is a successful club DJ away from her Radio 1 day job. Speaking to The Guardian about the art of being a superstar DJ, she revealed the level of excess some of her friends from the circuit exert themselves to. Mac says Magnetic Man stars Skream and Benga are so hedonistic makes Noel and Liam Gallagher "look like pussies". It's crazy, Skream and Benga are like the Sex Pistols!

They are everything that's wild and anarchic about underground music. You know bands like The Who or Led Zeppelin were famous for their excess? It's spoken about, revered. But that's happening every day in DJ world. Even compared to Oasis and what went on at Supernova Heights... mate. Go to Croydon on a Friday night. Skream and Benga are gonna make Noel and Liam look like pussies.

Speaking more about Skream's drinking habits, Mac said: "Skream is some sort of weird bionic man. No matter what he puts inside himself he's always fine and at the studio at 8am the next day making bangers. He often goes four days without sleeping. It's hard for him, too, because everywhere he goes, people are like, 'Shit we have to get ready, Skream and Benga are coming to town'. They're expected to fulfil that role of rock'n'roll party boys. From our perspective, we have one crazy night with them; for them, it's crazy every night of their lives. We always say that Skream's just gonna get really fat overnight. Everything's going to crack. He'll age 70 years because he's put so much alcohol into his system."

Elsewhere in the interview, Mac speaks of her interest in starting a night were revelers are asked to hand in their mobile phones at the door to stop people filming DJs. She also says David Guetta should be praised for "changing everything".

Source: www.nme.com

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds have released International Magic Live At The O2 DVD through Sour Mash Records.

They will embark on a number European dates before they tour the US and Canada alongside Snow Patrol and Jake Bugg.

For details on the above and more click here.

Oasis Feature In The 100 Best Albums Of All Time

Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon has come top in a new poll of the 100 best albums of all time.

Oasis’ (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? was second and Definitely Maybe is at number twenty.

'(What's The Story) Morning Glory?' has sold over 14 million copies worldwide, 4.2 of which are in the UK alone.

The number one album marked the band's first UK number one single with 'Some Might Say' and featured live favourites such as 'Roll With It' and 'Champagne Supernova'.

It also contains the singles 'Wonderwall' and 'Don't Look Back In Anger'.

'Wonderwall', released in 1995, was the band's 8th single in the space of 18 punch-drunk months that saw the band rise from noisy Manchester lads to the most talked about band in the world.

'Definitely Maybe' was released on 30th August 1994 on Creation Records and debuted at number 1 in the album charts. On release it became the UK's fastest-selling debut album and featured classics such as 'Rock 'n' Roll Star', 'Live Forever', 'Supersonic', 'Cigarettes & Alcohol' and 'Slide Away', all of which became live favourites throughout the band's career.

The full list can be heard today and tomorrow on Absolute Radio between 10am and 2pm.

1. Pink Floyd – Dark Side Of The Moon
2. Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
3. U2 – The Joshua Tree
4. Keane – Hopes And Fears
5. The Stone Roses – Stone Roses
6. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV
7. David Bowie – The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust
8. Queen – A Night At The Opera
9. The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
10. Guns N’ Roses – Appetite For Destruction
11. Meatloaf – Bat Out Of Hell
12. AC/DC – Back In Black
13. The Beatles – Abbey Road
14. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
15. Nirvana – Nevermind
16. Radiohead – OK Computer
17. The Clash – London Calling
18. Depeche Mode – Violator
19. The Smiths – The Queen Is Dead
20. Oasis – Definitely Maybe

Noel Gallagher Wants The Smiths To Reform

Noel Gallagher says the one band he wants to reform is The Smiths and he hasn't given up hope they will perform together again, despite Morrissey and Johnny Marr's fractured relationship.

The 'If I Had a Gun' hitmaker is a massive fan of the iconic 80s indie band and though frontman Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr have always maintained they won't get back together, Noel is still holding out hope.

The former Oasis star's hopes have been boosted by The Stone Roses' recent decision to reunite even though frontman Ian Brown and guitarist John Squire hadn't spoken for over a decade.

Asked which group he would like to reunite, he said: "The one everybody would like to see is The Smiths and they say it's not going to happen but they said the [Stone] Roses wouldn't happen and they said Led Zeppelin wouldn't happen."

Noel believes The Stone Roses concerts next year are going to be special and he has every confidence the seminal band will be able to live up to the hype.

The rocker - who ended Oasis when he quit the band in August 2009 following a fight with his brother Liam - said: "I'm happy for them, it's great for the fans. It's going to be great, what can I say?"

Noel Gallagher Test Wings For 'High Flying' Solo Launch

He's already selling well at home in the U.K. His sound includes Oasis-type numbers and disco. 'I haven't lost the sense of wonder of writing songs,' he says.

"No one told me Neil Young recorded here!" Noel Gallagher exclaimed, standing amid stuffed polar bears and ornate Italianate antiques in the grand room of the Paramour. The Silver Lake mansion is where Young made "Le Noise," and it's where Gallagher shot his music video in August for "If I Had a Gun…," the first U.S. single off his solo debut, "High Flying Birds," released Tuesday.

Gallagher is both an apt pupil of rock history and a part of it: He rose to fame in the '90s as the guitarist and songwriter for Oasis, penning hits like "Wonderwall" and "Champagne Supernova" that transformed the Britpop group from Manchester, England, into superstars, selling more than 70 million albums worldwide. On the flip side of that fame was a sibling rivalry that provided endless tabloid fodder. The fisticuffs, press taunting and onstage blowouts between Gallagher and the band's frontman, his younger brother Liam, became the stuff of rock legend.

Despite the constant friction, Oasis continued to perform together until August 2009, when an alleged backstage altercation between the siblings before a Paris concert sounded the group's death knell. Apart, the Gallaghers supplied more grist for the gossip mill. Liam entered the fray first, forming the group Beady Eye and released "Different Gear, Still Speeding" — a successful if tepidly reviewed effort that came out in March.

At a July news conference, Noel announced his own solo plans and then claimed Liam canceled a high-profile festival appearance because he was hung over (and not from laryngitis as his brother claimed). The younger Gallagher immediately responded with threats of a lawsuit. "If people are interested in the music, great," Noel said. "As for the stuff that's going on around all that — really, if you're getting your information from the British press, be wary.

Media circus aside, Noel seemed unsure about how he'd be received as a solo artist: "A Noel Gallagher audience — what is that?" he wondered aloud in "It's Never Too Late to Be What U Might Have Been," a documentary about the making of "High Flying Birds." The numbers, however, reveal that Noel does indeed have a following (and holds a leading edge over his brother). His album received three times the number of Amazon pre-orders than Beady Eye's LP and sold nearly double the copies in the U.K. its first week out. The first night of Noel's two-day performance at UCLA's Royce Hall on Nov. 17-18 has already sold out.

Also, Noel Gallagher's single, "If I Had a Gun…," has made inroads at influential radio stations like L.A.'s KROQ-FM (106.7). "The response from commercial radio has been really positive," explains KROQ music director Lisa Worden. "Oasis' songs remain really big library tracks for the station, but Noel having new music on KROQ exposes him to younger listeners."

"Between us and KROQ, there's lots of support," notes Sky Daniels, a revered music-industry figure and current program director for KCSN-FM (88.5), where Gallagher's new material is in power rotation. "I'm always trying to find new music from '90s heroes — and in the case of Noel's record, I was blown away."

According to Nic Harcourt, the L.A. radio tastemaker who currently broadcasts a show on KCSN, Gallagher has reached new levels of respectability. "In the '90s, you heard Oasis between Soundgarden and Pearl Jam," Harcourt says. "Now you'll hear Noel Gallagher next to Tom Waits and Laura Marling." That's reflected in renewed critical acclaim: U.K. newspaper the Guardian raved that "High Flying Birds" represents some of Gallagher's "best tunes in 15 years."

The album also breaks new artistic ground for Gallagher. While he has guested on club grooves by the Chemical Brothers, Gallagher has never written a dance floor track of his own — until now. "My wife said, 'There's no getting around it — this is disco,'" Gallagher said of his track "AKA … What a Life!" off of the new CD. "It made me slightly uneasy: It's a dance song, and I can't dance. But once I got used to it, I decided it's one of the best things I've ever done."

Elsewhere, Gallagher's solo material evokes Oasis in the best way. "AKA … Broken Arrow" recalls the irresistible psychedelic hooks of "Wonderwall"; with its chunky riffs and chanted chorus, "Dream On" suggests "Morning Glory"-era stompers like "Roll With It."

The parallels make sense considering much of the material on "High Flying Birds was written years ago when he was still in Oasis. "I've been hearing some of these songs for years," says Dave Sardy, the studio guru who co-produced "High Flying Birds." "Noel's got stuff tucked away from when he wrote 'Wonderwall.'"

Gallagher and Sardy did significant recording for the album in L.A., holing up at Sunset Sound for sessions. "'Led Zeppelin II' was done there, and 'Riders on the Storm,'" Gallagher marvels. "I've grown to love California: It's the dream of every English musician to come here and work in the sunshine. To walk up Sunset Boulevard, knowing you're going to make music — that's it.

"Even though I'm older, I haven't lost the sense of wonder of writing songs," he says. "I don't think I ever will. It's all me, isn't it? I'm can't sack myself — although that day will come, believe you me!"

Source: www.latimes.com