Alt-J live out their teenage hip hop dreams

The theatrical performer, who - like Boy Azooga earlier today - graduated from the Music News LIVE school of Newbie Tuesday, continued her rapid rise this weekend.

Connie, who performed at the BBC's "sick" Biggest Weekend in May, played another big gig on the BBC Music Stage at Latitude at the weekend.

The young Watford singer said she loves playing festivals but confessed that she gets a "big comedown" about two days later.

She's also enjoying the challenge of winning over new supporters along the way with her genre-straddling sound, as she no doubt did earlier today on 6 Music (above) with Gilles Peterson.

She told MNL:

Quote Message: I think I am a bit confusing as an artist but I kind of enjoy that because I don't ever want to stop experimenting with what I'm doing creatively.

I think I am a bit confusing as an artist but I kind of enjoy that because I don't ever want to stop experimenting with what I'm doing creatively.

Quote Message: So if i'm gonna throw out a more punky tune and then go a little more jazzy afterwards then I'm just gonna do it.

So if i'm gonna throw out a more punky tune and then go a little more jazzy afterwards then I'm just gonna do it.

"I think as long as you can tell it's still a Connie Constance track that's important to me."

Tonight marks a huge moment for Connie as she headlines her biggest ever London show at the city's Omera venue.

"Yeah that will be my biggest headline show," she said.

"I've only actually done two [headline shows] in London.

"One ages ago in a really cute church in Kings Cross. My mum made mulled wine and stuff and we proper Christmas'd it up."

July's a bit early for mulled wine maybe but we're sure tonight's show will be a real cracker.

Well there's no point beating about the bush, we know just who the heroes of this new Queen biopic are going to be.

Strange considering Bohemian Rhapsody has been exec-produced by... oh yeah... the surviving members of Queen.

In the new trailer for the movie, which is due out later this year, we get to see more of Rami Malek as Freddie from the long hair and lycra catsuits to the tight jeans and white vest of Live Aid.

Much criticism was aimed at the first movie teaser which all but ignored the fact Freddie was gay. This new trailer featured more longing glances and a brief hand touch (shocker!) but enough to stave off any further criticism?

Check it above.

If the Official Charts company handed out points/prizes for band names then Boy Azooga would surely be sitting near the top of the pile.

Sadly - as it stands - they do not.

Handy then, that the Cardiff psychedelic rockers already have a body of work to match it.

Their debut LP album, 1,2 Kung Foo - released in June - demonstrates the full extent of the musical talents of band leader Davey Newington, who played (almost) all the instruments on the record.

Speaking backstage at Latitude, Davey - who has drawn comparisons to a Welsh Kevin Parker of Tame Impala fame - said the name is taken from an old favourite kids film from the 90s, called The Little Rascals.

"In the film they go 'azooga, azooga, zooga'.

"My cousin's in a band called Man of Moon from Edinburgh and when we were kids, we used to go to our gran's house and watch that film and we still text that to each other to this day.

"The reason I called the band it is because it's just a personal thing.

Quote Message: I feel like if you have personal reason it doesn't matter if it's a bit naff as it means something to you. That was my whole intention to make sure it means something to me.

I feel like if you have personal reason it doesn't matter if it's a bit naff as it means something to you. That was my whole intention to make sure it means something to me.

Quote Message: And the other thing is it's really google-able! I typed it into Google and nothing else came up!

And the other thing is it's really google-able! I typed it into Google and nothing else came up!

Boy AzoogaCopyright: Boy Azooga

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

While the memorably-named Welsh musician and his band of merry men may have an impressive new debut album out and recently broke their UK TV duck on Later... with Jools Holland (above), they are by no means newbies to the music scene in general.

In fact, Davey worked for years as Charlotte Church's drummer - providing the backbeat to her Late Night Pop Dungeon - as well as playing in a string of other bands.

As the old showbiz adage goes, he's been working for roughly 10-15 years to be an overnight success.

"I don't know about being a success," he laughs. "But we've certainly been working hard!

"To actually go somewhere and there be people wanting to see you play or to be asked to do TV or radio stuff is really cool."

Quote Message: Some songs I had when I was 18 but I was playing drums in other bands and this project was kind of just like the thing I did on the side on my own and I got obsessed on the idea of making a record, so I kind of just built up a bunch of songs.

Some songs I had when I was 18 but I was playing drums in other bands and this project was kind of just like the thing I did on the side on my own and I got obsessed on the idea of making a record, so I kind of just built up a bunch of songs.

He added: "It's kind of handy as we're doing the second record now. Going into that, I've had to write a little more stuff but I still had a fair bit of stuff banked up as well.

"The third album, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do - the tricky third album!"

While, for many young bands, rock 'n' roll constitutes a rebellion against the man, the world around them and quite often, parents, Davey is intent on making BA a family affair.

His dad plays strings on three of the tracks on the current record, including Hangover Square, which Davey describes as "a nice moment" and there's plans to get his mum involved on the next one, as well as some other local female Cardiff singers.

"Now I've got the rest of the boys in the band so I wanna do some double drum stuff with Dav, our amazing drummer, and my mum is a clarinet player I want to get her doing some clarinet on it and stuff and see what happens.

"I definitely did a bit of rebellion in my teens, so this is me trying to get them to forgive me - 'come play on the record, I'm sorry for being a pain when I was growing up!'"

Boy Azooga play a host of festivals this summer including Blue Dot, Green Man and End of the Road.

Read Newbie Tuesday #35: Skinny Pelembe is throwing it all in the mix

Scottish noise pop/rock pioneers Mogwai provided the alternative to The Killers on Saturday night at Latitude in Suffolk.

The Scottish band enjoyed a relaxing afternoon and of course a dip in the lake, after having played a rather more rowdy sounding festival in Belgium the night before.

Guitarist Stuart Braithwaite spoke to us backstage about the band's new soundtrack Kin, which is their first foray into a Hollywood sci-fi movie, having previously provided the music for indie films, Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait - about the former Real Madrid and France star footballer - and Atomic: Living in Dread and Promise.

The latter concerns the threat of nuclear warfare which has become a political hot potato once again following Donald Trump's nuclear disarmament talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The controversial US president was in Stuart's native Scotland - playing golf at his Turnberry resort - as they prepared for their set and the musician was delighted to see that he was made to feel a little unwelcome by many, including one man (below) who flew over the course with a "Trump: Well below par #Resist" banner.

"I thought the images of the protest yesterday [Friday] in London and Glasgow were so inspiring," said Stuart.

Quote Message: All kinds of people, just everyone saying 'we don't want this, we don't want to live in this world where that kind of person is allowed to behave in a dreadful way and affecting people's lives in a way that no-one wants to see.'

All kinds of people, just everyone saying 'we don't want this, we don't want to live in this world where that kind of person is allowed to behave in a dreadful way and affecting people's lives in a way that no-one wants to see.'

He added: "It's almost always the people with the least that are affected worst by this kind of thing and you've got to applaud when you've got decent leaders and people standing up for hope rather than hate."

Listen above.

Here's one to watch.

Australian singer Eves Karydas has supported Dua Lipa on her tour down under and has also held down support slots with the likes of Skye Ferreira and Courtney Barnett.

Her new track Couch, was co-written with frequent Sia collaborator Sam Dixon, while the video was directed by Jake Jelicich who made Dua's Thing Bout You video.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Benny and Bjorn from Abba say Cher is "perfect" in Mamma Mia 2 and makes their music "sound like it was hers".

"She's an icon," Benny told Newsbeat.

"She makes Fernando her own. It's her song now," says his co-writer Bjorn Ulvaeus, adding, "Cher is a wonderful storyteller, and she's a bit mysterious like that song (Fernando) is."

Glad they liked it as she's recorded an albums worth of their other songs too.

We're guessing they'll keep a hold of the royalties.

A few weeks back we told you how Spanish indie four piece Hinds were gaining a member for the day for their gig on the BBC Music stage at Latitude.

Singer/guitarist Carlotta Cosials' mum Clara did indeed join them for the Suffolk event and - after an early flight from the Spanish capital - was given the responsibility of managing their merchandise.

We caught up with the latest member of Team Hinds backstage to see how life on the road was going.

Quote Message: [It's] harder than I thought because we arrived yesterday at five o'clock in the morning to the hotel and we sleep just five hours... but it's very enjoyable! from Clara Cosials

[It's] harder than I thought because we arrived yesterday at five o'clock in the morning to the hotel and we sleep just five hours... but it's very enjoyable!

The band also revealed that in the two weeks off since their last gig on these shores - alongside Queens of the Stone Age, Iggy Pop and friends at London's Finsbury Park - that they've written a new song.

Working title: British Mind.

Listen above.

BBC/Now MusicCopyright: BBC/Now Music

The 100th edition of Now That's What I Call Music will be released this Friday, featuring the biggest chart hits of the last four months.

The compilation series began in 1983 as a way of showcasing the success of Virgin Records and its artists including Culture Club, Phil Collins and UB40.

The label soon joined forces with its rival EMI - the first time that two major labels had collaborated in such a way.

Now all the major labels are involved.

Our music reporter Mark Savage went behind the scenes at Abbey Road as the Now team chose the tracks for the compilation's centenary.

It's a fascinating glimpse behind closed doors.

The soul singer popped into Simon and Jo's studios for a rendition of his latest single Beyond, which you can hear above.

It's taken form his amazing second album, Good Thing, which came out in May

In 2016, Leon was asked to perform at the White House for the Obamas and two years later, he said it is still surreal.

"As a black man from Texas, performing in front of the first black president... incredible.

"It was an honour to be there but it was hard to enjoy because I was nervous the whole time."

In the words of Gary Barlow, above, there will be a "twist".

Not sure what that will be yet, but stay tuned.

And Gaz, Mark and Howard follow that up with a live show in 2019 featuring "all the hits" from the past three decades.

That That indeed.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

2018 is shaping up to be quite a year for Cardi B, she's been breaking records, got married, had a baby and now she's leading the MTV VMA charge with 10 nominations.

The 25-year-old New York rapper, made the shortlist in the top categories, including best artist and best new artist, as well as best video, collaboration and choreography.

Beyonce and Jay-Z - as The Carters - scooped eight nominations for their video shot inside the Louvre in Paris, while Childish Gambino's hard-hitting This Is America is up for seven.

Taylor Swift managed only three nominations for her comeback, Look What You Made Me Do, with Ed Sheeran landing four nominations, including song of the year, for Perfect.

The gongs will be handed out in New York City on 20 August.

This is not a drill people - this is for real.

The inventive Leeds indie band have never been ones to follow the crowd and now they've headed off in a new direction entirely by announcing an album of hip hop re-workings of their recent tunes.

Reduxer will see the likes of Pusha T, Little Simz, Danny Brown, GoldLink, Twin Shadow and Rejjie Snow re-interpret tracks from their 2017 third studio album, Relaxer.

Speaking backstage before their headline slot at Latitude at the weekend, Gus and Joe from the band told MNL all about the interesting new project.

"It's been a dream of ours for a long time to do a hip hop album and we've finally done it," said Gus.

"I think we've always been interested in hip-hop as a genre," added Joe.

Quote Message: We enjoyed it as teenagers and I think some of our music reflects some elements of hip hop, like the heavy bass and the beats.

We enjoyed it as teenagers and I think some of our music reflects some elements of hip hop, like the heavy bass and the beats.

Quote Message: I think it's always been something we've been interested in as an idea, working with hip hop artists as our ideas and their ideas marry quite well together and we wanted to explore that with this album, Reduxer.

I think it's always been something we've been interested in as an idea, working with hip hop artists as our ideas and their ideas marry quite well together and we wanted to explore that with this album, Reduxer.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

US rapper Pusha T and LA synth pop artist Twin Shadow joined the band last month for a surprise TV performance of their track, In Cold Blood, on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

They then went on to record and release the track (above) which appears on the new album, alongside another track - out today - a new version of Deadcrush, featuring the lyrical flow of Danny Brown.

Sadly Kanye is nowhere to be seen, however, which is remarkable in itself given he's been involved in nearly every other hip hop record of the year so far.

You can check out the full details of who is on what on the record, which is out on 28 September, below.

Alt-J, Reduxer - tracklisting:

1. 3WW (feat. Little Simz) (OTG Version)

2. In Cold Blood (feat. Pusha T) (Twin Shadow Version)

3. House Of The Rising Sun (feat. Tuka) (Tuka Version)

4. Hit Me Like That Snare (Jimi Charles Moody Version)

5. Deadcrush (feat. Danny Brown) (Alchemist x Trooko Version)

6. Adeline (feat. Paigey Cakey and Hex) (ADP Version)

7. Last Year (feat. GoldLink) (Terrace Martin Version)

8. Pleader (feat. PJ Sin Suela) (Trooko Version)

9. 3WW (feat. Lomepal) (Lomepal Version)

10. In Cold Blood (feat. Kontra K) (Kontra K Version)

11. Hit Me Like That Snare (feat. Rejjie Snow) (Rejjie Snow Version)

Here at MNL towers, the extended UK heat wave got us all thinking about our song of the summer and a few weeks back we picked ours - with answers ranging from Cardi B to Courtney B, via Chaka Khan and the Arctic Monkeys.

Quite a mix. But what do we know - really?

At Latitude Festival this weekend, with the sun cranked all the way up we asked many of the real experts - aka the bands themselves - what beats/grooves are soundtracking their summer?

Watch above as headliners The Killers and Alt-J pick theirs, along with Wolf Alice, Superorganism, Connie Constance, The Vaccines and more....

Some pretty far out shouts in there, right?

Here's a selection (above and below) of some of their suggestions now for your audio/visual pleasure...

Mamma Mia you might say.

The pop legend was ever-so-slightly pressganged into confirming earlier that she has recorded an entire album's worth of Abba songs which could hit digital shelves by September.

The singer was a guest on Chris Evans Breakfast show and answered a question from a listener. admitting "the guys", we presume she means Benny and Bjorn have heard her efforts recorded in London.

She's currently starring in Mamma Mia 2, in which she does a spirited performance of the Swedish band's classic Fernando.

Listen above, where she also says that if the Eavises of Glastonbury phone about a 2019 slot, then she is taking the call.

Right after they've got off the phone to Kylie that is.

The Modfather will be accompanied by a live orchestra when he plays at the Royal Festival Hall over two nights on October.

Weller tweeted that the shows will be the only two performances in the UK which will mark the release of his new album True Meanings.

More details on the show above.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

If you're reading Emily and Michael Eavis...

Kyles has revealed she would accept an invite to headline next year's Glastonbury music festival.

The 50 year-old Aussie pop star was due to headline the Worthy Farm event back in 2005 but had to cancel her performance in order to undergo treatment for breast cancer, so Basement Jaxx filled in.

Speaking to the Press Association, she said: "When I was supposed to do it, I think I would have been the first solo female to headline in however many years it was, so I was really proud of that at that time.

Quote Message: Obviously it didn't happen. So yes, it would be amazing and very emotional to be standing there and doing what I didn't get to do all those years ago, for sure.

Obviously it didn't happen. So yes, it would be amazing and very emotional to be standing there and doing what I didn't get to do all those years ago, for sure.

Miss Minogue did eventually make it to the Pyramid stage in 2010, with a cameo during the Scissor Sisters set.

The former Neighours actress-turned-singer will play an outdoor show for BBC Radio 2 in Hyde Park for sure on Sunday 9 September

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

The Irish band are the highest earning musicians of last year, according to Forbes magazine's annual list of over-achieving rich people.

Thanks to their Joshua Tree tour and current world tour, their pre-tax earnings took them to number six on the top ten.

Coldplay's even four-way split of £87m will keep the heating on this winter in any of their houses while one man band Ed Sheeran's touring costs are considerably lower than both those bands, it has to be said, and his £83m only gets split one way

Their earnings however are dwarfed by the the £180m made by Hollywood acto George Clooney thanks in part to the sale of the tequila company he co-founded.

And he is still a place behind boxer Floyd 'Money' Mayweather who got £215m from a half hour "fight" against MMA star Conor McGregor.

We know what you're thinking - how do they manage?

Read more

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

The rapper has done an interview with his local paper, The Chicago Tribune, and confirmed a new album is apparently on the way.

He won't share any details about it and it's not clear if what he is talking about, is the Kanye collab which he has mentioned in previous interviews.

He told the paper, the idea to work together came when he visited Ye during the production of his own album in Wyoming: “We’re up in the mountains around these wild animals - it’s very different out there - and we got some music done, and then he asked me if he could do an album with me.”

He added: "I don’t know of a timeline on it yet, the trajectory of it... we’ve just started making it, but I don’t want to manipulate the situation and impose any time frame, because that can hinder you.”

Read more.

Hello again everyone and welcome back to Music News LIVE, where it's a good day for U2, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran who lead the Forbes filthy rich list for musicians.

• Now That's What I Call Music reaches the 100 mark
• Abba's Bjorn reveals details of new Abba songs
• Cardi B leads the field with 10 MTV Video Music Award nominations
• Chance the Rapper says he's releasing a new album this week
• Latitude act Boy Azooga on the art of a good band name
• Kylie Minogue 'would accept invite' to perform at Glastonbury 2019

All that coming up and much more.