Independent record shops sales soared by 44 per cent in the first half of 2013 compared with the same period in 2012.
According to an analysis of Official Charts Company data by the Entertainment Retailers Association, indies have seen a huge increase in sales, despite an overall decline in the sale of albums over the same period by 1.5 per cent.
Before we get onto the list, a big thank you to everyone who engaged with the Mumfords/class/hate/Glastonbury 2013/Stones/etc blog yesterday, and a quick plug for the new issue of Uncut, out tomorrow in the UK (Alongside all the marquee stuff, I’ve written a piece about the new Tropicalia doc). As for this week’s new music, I suspect a few of you might be interested in Number Two…
At 2011's Glastonbury, Robyn Hitchcock performed all of Captain Beefheart's Clear Spot record - this year the former Soft Boy is toeing the line a little more, and appearing with his American supergroup of a backing band, The Venus 3.
Glastonbury properly begins today (Friday, June 28), with headline performances from Arctic Monkeys and Portishead – and Uncut will be blogging from the festival all weekend.
The week thus far fairly inevitably dominated by Neil Young & Crazy Horse (here’s my review of the O2 gig), but there are plenty of good new things here.
Black Sabbath have made Official UK Album Chart history with their first Number One in nearly 43 years.
Sabbath's new album,13, entered the Official UK Album Chart at the top. The last time Black Sabbath were Number One in the UK was 42 years and eight months ago in October 1970, with their second album Paranoid.
Eric Clapton has been forced to cancel two European shows at short notice, citing back problems.
Clapton was due to play Vienna today (June 11) and Stuttgart tomorrow (June 12).
A statement on Clapton's website reads:
"Unfortunately Eric Clapton has had to cancel his concerts in Vienna, Austria and Stuttgart, Germany on his current tour due to severe back pain.
"He is currently with specialists who will be able to better determine the course of treatment.
Björk has announced a one-off gig at London's Alexandra Palace on September 3.
This will be the first time the Icelandic singer has brought her long-running Biophilia Tour to the British capital and a post on her official site branded it "an emotionally significant show for Björk herself, who called the city home in her youth".
The Beatles' 1968 song "Octopus's Garden", written by Ringo Starr, is set to be turned into a children's book.
Starr has given publishing house Simon & Schuster permission to turn the song into a picture book, with illustrations by Ben Cort, who is currently behind the kids series Alien's Love Underpants, reports The Guardian.
One of our longer playlists this week and, I think, the one with more embedded music than I’ve ever posted before: you can listen to 12 out of 25 entries here, if I’ve counted right…
