New Bands Storm The Charts

Storm the Charts, a grassroots campaign aimed at filling the UK singles chart with new music, has been brewing for six months and this week is calling on music fans for support.

40 songs by 40 artists who aren't on major labels and haven't charted before have been selected to fight for sales against big name acts.

The initiative was set up by Wes White after he was inspired by the 'Rage Factor' endeavour at Christmas, which saw Rage Against The Machine triumph over X Factor winner Joe McElderry for the number one slot.

London band Revere, Glasgow's A Band Called Quinn and Leeds four-piece Middleman are among the 40 acts put forward.

Listen to my package below:

A Flaming stage invasion

Some of you may know last year I was standing by the side of the stage for N.E.R.D at Glastonbury when they called for moshers. Within seconds I was up on the Pyramid Stage rocking out during lapdance next to Pharell in front of thousands of people in yellow wellies doing embarrassing mum dancing! This year I felt I couldn't go without some sort of onstage antics so when asked by Flaming Lips manager if I fancied joining a load of croatian teens to dance in a silly outfit onstage for the WHOLE of their set at the INmusic festival in Croatia's capital Zagreb, I couldn't really pass him up on the offer.

Admittedly I was eager to back away as soon as I saw the costume but upon that first sighting of the orange monstrosity, I was immediately enrolled into the group by one of the roadies and there was no going back! The show really was something else from that vantage point though. The ultimate showman, Wayne Coyne entered the stage and walked on top of the crowd in his "space bubble' and throughout the set there were confetti canons, smoke machines and hundreds of giant balloons thrown into the crowd. Seeing 20,000 passionate Europeans singing every word to Do You Realize is something I'll never forget.

I caught up with Wayne Coyne at the hotel before the show and we looked ahead to Glastonbury. They are headlining the Other Stage on Friday night. No doubt it's going to be spectacular. Listen to a bit of that interview below:




The reason I went to the INmusic festival was to write a piece for BBC Entertainment Online about Croatia's blossoming festival market. It's here if you've got some time to kill have a read....

Watch This (My)Space - 2:54

They are friends with The XX, who have royally smashed it here and in the US and probably everywhere else. A friend 'in the know' recommended them to me. They are a very new addition to MySpace.

They are 2:54. Listen to Creeping. Love it.

Fake Blood funk

Stupidly catchy and danceable summer choon I can't get out of my head courtesy of Fake Blood from his last EP Fix Your Accent.

New Strokes album 'amazing'

THE band of the last decade The Strokes made their live return on UK soil last weekend with performances at the Isle of Wight festival and Rockness. It was admittedly the reason I went to the festival and they smashed it, despite playing no new material from that fourth album which every Strokes fan is yearning for. Julian Casablancas was as 'rock 'n' roll' as ever with some cringeworthy inter-song ramblings which verged on embarrassing dad drunk at a wedding, but all the same the band were still tight. They weren't doing press but I chatted to two friends of the New York dons; singer Devendra Banhart and Noah Georgeson, who produced Little Joy (the side-project of Strokes drummer Fab Moretti). They gave me a wee album update.

Listen here:

Florence's Fine Fashion

Florence Welch aka Florence and the Machine just after I chatted to her at Isle of Wight festival for 6 Music. Stardom is clearly treating her very nicely as she came complete with gorgeous leather Mulberry jacket and John Lennon-esque shades! The singer supported Jay Z on the Main Stage to a full field, two years after her last appearance at the festival where she was DJing for an hour. G'wan girl!

IOW: The wonder of Juliette

Was truly lucky to meet the legend that is Juliette Lewis at the weekend at Isle of Wight. I watched the early Johnny Depp classic What's Eating Gilbert Grape last week and LOVED it so it was even more crazy to chat to her. PLUS she worked with Omar from Mars Volta on her latest album Terra Incognita. Bam, that's a touch. And who could forget Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers!? She was rocking some serious double denim too - in a good way - with some amazing flares with American flags on them and a denim jacket. As if she wasn't cool enough with her matching blue hair, when she came down the media run to me she started raving about my feather earring and Tatty Devine genie lamp necklace. Wish I'd given my earring to her right then and there! I have four. That would have been alright! "Here you go Jules, my treat!" Oh hindsight isn't a wonderful thing really, it's like the time I walked past Diplo the day after the best DJ set ever at Mad Decent Soundystem. Still wish I'd hi-fived him. He played a dubstep version of Pixies Where Is My Mind?. TOO MUCH.