Joe Kavanagh's Music News

Irish act The Thrills have just finished work on their third album and are already claiming that it is their 'best work to date'. Given the fact that their last album proved to be a major disappointment, the band's future will almost certainly be determined by just how well their latest work goes over with the public. Writing on the band's MySpace site, singer Conor Deasy claimed: 'It's the last night in the studio. We've been working from noon 'till 1 in the morning for a month and half with one day off a week. I believe this record will be our best work to date. The songs have really risen to the occasion. There's only been one casualty. We're going to go home for a week or so. Get some sleep and perspective, then regroup and mix it.'...

Bono just became a partner of sort in rich man's digest Forbes Magazine after a company he is involved with bought a 40% stake in the company. Elevation Partners reputedly paid 160 million pounds sterling for a share of Forbes Media LLC, giving them part ownership of the magazine and all of the company's media interests...

Kasabian singer Tom Meighan and his band mates have been making a slew of enemies in the music business recently but it appears that the Leicester group went a step to far in an interview with a UK television station last week. Speaking to Channel Four, an obviously drunk Meighan laid into the Rolling Stones for charging Kasabian for tickets to the shows they supported the Rolling Stones at saying: 'It's quite incredible. We're f**king supporting them! So if we get kicked off the stage we've got to buy a ticket, which is about 200 quid. It's probably Americans who are running it, not Jagger. And Richards isn't going to know what's f**king going on, is he?' By the following day - and probably upon sober reflection - Meighan and the band withdrew the comments by issuing an apology for their words. The statement read in part: 'We are sorry for the comments made concerning Rolling Stones ticket prices. We now realize Kasabian as a support band do not have to pay to see the Rolling Stones perform. We are incredibly honoured and excited to be supporting the Stones on some of their European dates - it's like a dream come true for all of us.' Given the amount of inarticulate rubbish that has been coming out of Meighan's mouth recently, he would probably be better off if he stuck to singing the next time a microphone is stuck in front of his mouth...

Dirty Pretty Things lead singer/lead guitarist Carl Barat, will be sticking solely to singing duties after breaking his collarbone only days before the band kicks off their first US tour. An announcement on the band's website read simply: 'Carl had an unfortunate accident and broke his collarbone in Taiwan last week. For those fans that have tickets to the first American tour, which starts tomorrow, fear not. No dates are being cancelled and Dirty Pretty Things will become a five piece temporarily, borrowing Josh from The Paddington's to take over Carl's guitar duties.' ...

Recluse and former World Of Twist frontman, Tony Ogden has passed away from an undisclosed illness at only 44-years-old. In a story that is eerily similar to that of the recently deceased Pink Floyd singer, Syd Barrett, Ogden walked away from music just as it appeared that his band were about to break out on a worldwide level. Ogden suffered a serious nervous breakdown after the band released their only album, Quality Street, in 1991, which drove him to move back in with his parents and turn his back on music entirely. Ogden's friends revealed that he had recently begun work on a new musical project titled: The Bubblegum Secret Pop Explosion. Something of a legend on the Manchester music scene, he will be probably be remembered as much for the music he never made. R.I.P....

Legendary Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has made a return to the music scene, appearing as a guest guitarist on the eagerly awaited upcoming second album from Seattle band: Modest Mouse. Marr's participation with the band will not stop at the studio as he is expected to join the band on their impending US and European tours...

Radiohead fans are wondering if a higher power has muzzled singer Thom Yorke after he removed a posting that he had written on his website earlier in the week, condemning US and British inactivity in the face of the current slaughter consuming the Middle East. Yorke had written: 'I've had enough of this. Our government sitting on the fence with the US while World War 3 appears to be breaking out in Lebanon and Northern Israel. We must throw Tony Blair out of office NOW. He does not represent the views of British people. He does not represent the views of his foreign office and officials. He does not even represent the views of those in his cabinet. He cares too much about his relationship with Bush and Murdoch. This man is not fit to be our Prime Minister.' The message was pulled only days later leading many to suspect that Yorke had been coerced into keeping his political opinions to himself.