Canadian dentist Dr Michael Zuk has outlined his plans to clone John Lennon using DNA from the singer’s tooth.

Speaking to Channel 4‘s Dead Famous DNA, Dr Zuk told presenter Mark Evans: “He could be looked at as my son.”

Dr Zuk, who lives in Alberta, Canada, bought the wisdom tooth for nearly £20,000 at an auction two years ago. It was previously in the possession of Lennon’s housekeeper. However, he accepted that the technology to clone the singer is not currently available to him.

Explaining how he would raise the potential clone, Dr Zuk said: “He would still be his exact duplicate but you know, hopefully keep him away from drugs and cigarettes, that kind of thing.”

He added: “But you know, guitar lessons wouldn’t hurt anyone right?”

The dentist also appears to believe that the clone could make a claim on Lennon’s estate, saying: “I don’t think I would be the one, you know, owning his property, he would have the rights when he was old enough to make er, make a claim.”

Referring to possible legal restrictions, Dr Zuk added: “[It] depends where you do these things. If it can’t be done in one country you can do these things in another.”

The dentist even suggested that he could clone Lennon multiple times.

He said: “Well, if it works once it’s going to work again, right?”

The CIA reportedly used Red Hot Chili Peppers music to torture prisoners in Guantánamo Bay.

US officials speaking anonymously to Al Jazeera confirmed details techniques used by the CIA during the George Bush administration following the declassification process for the report on its own “enhanced interrogation” procedures used after September 11. Among the techniques used to torture those suspected of being terrorists was exposure to the Californian band on repeat.

One specific segment of the Senate Intelligence Committee report states that a suspect, named as Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn Abu Zubaydah, was subjected to the technique at a black site prison out of Guantánamo Bay between May and July in 2002.

The report also reveals the fact that Abu Zubaydah was stuffed into a pet crate and was shackled by his wrists to the ceiling of his cell as well as being subjected to an endless loop of loud music.

Earlier this year, industrial band Skinny Puppy revealed that they invoiced the US government after finding out that their music had allegedly been used as a ‘torture device’ at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

The surviving members of Nirvana reunited last night [April 10] at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

They were joined by four female vocalists, filling in for Kurt Cobain.

Joan Jett sang “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, Kim Gordon took on “Aneurysm”, St. Vincent performed “Lithium” and Lorde covered “All Apologies” with bassist Krist Novoselic, drummer Dave Grohl and guitarist Pat Smear.

Earlier, the band had been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Michael Stipe, who said, “Nirvana were artists in every sense of the word. Nirvana tapped into a voice that was yearning to be heard. Nirvana were kicking against the mainstream. They spoke truth and a lot of people listened.”

Grohl and Novoselic gave speeches upon accepting their awards, along with Wendy Cobain and Courtney Love, who buried the hatchet with her husband’s bandmates, embracing them for a hug.

You can watch Joan Jett perform with Nirvana below.

Bruce Springsteen inducted the E Street Band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last night [April 10].

The current line-up of the E Street Band was on hand for the induction, alongside original drummer Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez and keyboardist David Sancious. Danny Federici’s widow Maya accepted on his behalf, and Victoria Clemons spoke for her late husband Clarence.

You can read Springsteen’s entire induction speech below:

Bruce Springsteen: Good evening. In the beginning, there was Mad Dog Vini Lopez, standing in front of me, fresh out of jail, his head shaved, in the Mermaid Room of the Upstage Club in Asbury Park. He told me he had a money-making outfit called Speed Limit 25, they were looking for a guitarist and was I interested? I was broke, so I was. So the genesis point of the E Street Band was actually a group that Vini Lopez asked me to join to make a few extra dollars on the weekend.

Shortly thereafter, I met Dan Federici. He was draped in three quarter-length leather, had his red hair slicked back with his wife Flo—she was decked out in the blonde, bouffant wig—and they were straight out of Flemington, NJ.

So Vini, Danny, myself, along with bass player Vinnie Roslin, were shortly woodshedding out of a cottage on the main street of a lobster-fishing town: Highlands, NJ. We first saw Garry Tallent along with Southside Johnny when they dragged two chairs onto an empty dance floor as I plugged my guitar into the upstage wall of sound. I was the new kid in a new town and these were the guys who owned the place. They sat back and looked at me like, “Come on, come on, punk. Bring it; let’s see what you got.” And I reached back and I burnt their house down.

Garry Tallent’s great bass-playing and Southern gentleman’s presence has anchored my band for 40 years; thank you, Garry! Thank you, sir.

Then one night, I wandered in the Upstage and I was dumbstruck by a baby-faced, 16-year-old David Sancious. Davey was very, very unusual: he was a young, black man who—in 1968, Asbury Park, which was not a peaceful place—crossed the tracks in search of musical adventure and he blessed us with his talent and his love. He was my roomie in the early, two-guys-to-one-six-dollar-motel-room years of the E Street Band. He was good, he kept his socks clean; it was lovely. And he was carrying around a snake around his neck at that time, so I lucked out with Davey as my roommate. [laughs] AND, Davey’s the only member of the group who ever actually lived on E Street!

So I walked in and he was on the club’s organ. And Davey’s reserved now, but at the time, he danced like Sly Stone and he played like Booker T, and he poured out blues and soul and jazz and gospel and rock & roll and he had things in his keyboard that we just never heard before. It was just so full of soul and so beautiful. Davey, we love you and we still miss you so, you know?

But predating all of this was Steve Van Zandt. Steven: frontman, frontman. I walk into the Middletown Hullabaloo Club; he was the frontman for a band called the Shadows. He had on a tie that went from here down to his feet. All I remember is that he was singing the Turtles’ “Happy Together.” During a break at the Hullabaloo Club in New Jersey, he played 55 minutes on and five minutes off, and if there was a fight, he had to rush onstage and start playing again.

So I met Stevie there and he soon became my bass player first, then lead guitarist. My consigliere, my dependable devil’s advocate whenever I need one. The invaluable ears for everything that I create, I always get ahold of him, and fan #1. So he’s my comic foil onstage, my fellow producer/arranger, and my blood, blood, blood, blood, blood brother.

Let’s keep rolling for as many lines as they’ll give us, alright?

Years and bands went by: Child, Steel Mill, the Bruce Springsteen Band — they were all some combo of the above-mentioned gang. Then I scored a solo recording contract with Columbia Records and I argued to get to choose my recording “sidemen,” which was a misnomer, in this case, if there ever was one.

So, I chose my band and my great friends, and we finally landed on E Street — the rare, rock & roll hybrid of solo artistry and a true rock & roll band.

But one big thing was missing — it was a dark and stormy night, as a Nor’easter rattled the street lamps on Kingsley Blvd. and in walked Clarence Clemons. I’ve been enthralled by the sax sounds of King Curtis and I searched for years for a great Rock and Roll saxophonist. And that night Clarence walked in, walked towards the stage, and he rose, towering to my right on the Prince’s tiny stage, about the size of this podium, and then he unleashed the force of nature that was the sound and the soul of the Big Man. In that moment, I knew that my life had changed. Miss you, love you Big Man. Wish that he was with us tonight; this would mean a great, great deal to Clarence.

An honorable mention and shout-out to Ernie “Boom” Carter. The drummer who played on one song only: “Born to Run.” He picked a good one. So here’s to you, Ernie. Thank you, thank you.

Thanks of course Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan, who answered an ad in the Village Voice. And they beat out 60 other drummers and keyboardists for the job. It was the in-fatigable, almost dangerously dedicated Mighty Max Weinberg and the fabulous five finger of Prof. Roy Bittan. They refined and they defined the sounds of the E Street Band that remains our calling card around the world to this day. Thank you, Roy. Thank you, Max. They are my professional hitmen; I love them both.

Then, 10 years later, Nils Lofgren and Patti Scialfa joined just in time to assist us in the rebirth of Born in the U.S.A. Nils, one of the world’s great, great rock guitarists, with a choir boy’s voice, has given me everything he’s had for the past 30 years. Thank you, Nils. So much love.

And Patti Scialfa — a Jersey Girl — who came down one weekend from New York City and sat in with a local band, Cats on a Smooth Surface and Bobby Bandiera at the Stone Pony, where she sang a killer version of the Exciters’ “Tell ‘Em.” She had a voice that was full of a little Ronnie Spector, a little Dusty Springfield and a lot of something that was her very, very own. After she was done, I walked up, I introduced myself at the back bar, we grabbed a couple of stools and we sat there for the next hour or thirty years or so—talking about music and everything else. So we added my lovely red-headed woman and she broke the boy’s club!

Now, I wanted our band to mirror our audience, and by 1984, that band had grown men and grown women. But, her entrance freaked us out so much that opening night of the Born in the U.S.A. tour, I asked her to come into my dressing room and see what she was gonna wear! So she had on kind of a slightly feminine T-shirt and I stood there, sort of sweating. At my feet, I had a little Samsonite luggage bag that I carried with me, and I kicked it over. It was full of all my smelly, sweaty T-shirts and I said, “Just pick one of these; it’ll be fine.” She’s not wearing one tonight. But Patti, I love you, thank you for your beautiful voice, you changed my band and my life. Thank you for our beautiful children.

So, real bands — real bands are made primarily from the neighborhood. From a real time and real place that exists for a little while, then changes, and is gone forever. They’re made from the same circumstances, the same needs, the same hungers, culture. They’re forged in the search of something more promising then what you were born into. These are the elements, the tools, and these are the people who built the place called E Street.

Now, E Street was a dance; was an idea; was a wish; was a refuge; was a home; was a destination; was a gutter dream; and finally, it was a band. We struggled together, and sometimes, we struggled with one another. We bathed in the glory, and often, the heartbreaking confusion of our rewards together. We’ve enjoyed health, and we’ve suffered illness and aging and death together. We took care of one another when trouble knocked, and we hurt one another in big and small ways.

But in the end, we kept faith in each other. And one thing is for certain: as I said before in reference to Clarence Clemons — I told a story with the E Street Band that was, and is, bigger than I ever could have told on my own. And I believe that settles that question.

But that is the hallmark of a rock and roll band—the narrative you tell together is bigger than anyone could have told on your own. That’s the Rolling Stones; the Sex Pistols; that’s Bob Marley and the Wailers. That’s James Brown and his Famous Flames. That’s Neil Young and Crazy Horse.

So, I thank you my beautiful men and women of E Street. You made me dream and love bigger than I could have ever without you. And tonight I stand here with just one regret: that Danny and Clarence couldn’t be with us here tonight.

Sixteen years ago, a few days before my own induction, I stood in my darkened kitchen along with Steve Van Zandt. Steve was just returning to the band after a 15-year hiatus and he was petitioning me to push the Hall of Fame to induct all of us together. I listened, and the Hall of Fame had its rules, and I was proud of my independence. We hadn’t played together in 10 years, we were somewhat estranged, we were just taking the first small steps over reforming. We didn’t know what the future would bring. And perhaps the shadows of some of the old grudges held some sway.

It was a conundrum, as we’ve never quite been fish nor fowl. And Steve was quiet, but persistent. And at the end of our conversation, he just said, “Yeah, I understand. But Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band — that’s the legend.”

So I’m proud to induct, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the heart-stopping, pants-dropping, hard-rocking, booty-shaking, love-making, earth-quaking, Viagra-taking, justifying, death-defying, legendary E Street Band.

Led Zeppelin have released a trailer for their forthcoming reissues.

The clip is previously unreleased and was recorded live at L’Olympia, Paris, October 10, 1969.

The full concert will be included on the Led Zeppelin album companion disc.

Led Zeppelin will kick off a major chronological reissue programme of their entire catalogue on June 2, 2014 with deluxe editions of Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II, and Led Zeppelin III.

Copies of Neil Young‘s Record Store Day reissue of his long-out-of-print 1973 album, Time Fades Away, have been manufactured and are sitting in warehouse, according to Record Store Day co-founder Michael Kurtz.

The album was scheduled for release as part of Young’s Official Release Series Discs 5-8 Vinyl Box Set, alongside On The Beach, Tonight’s The Night and Zuma. It was delayed in March “due to several other projects that Young has in the works that he wishes to focus on.”

But in an April 9 interview on East Village Radio Kurtz explained that the box set had been manufactured and shipped to the warehouse before Young decided to delay the release.

“One of the big projects we had for Record Store Day was the Neil Young box set, which was all of those last four albums of his iconic period of his career,” Kurtz explained. “And Neil had put it together, Warner Bros, who’s a good partner with Record Store Day created it, and they manufactured it, shipped it to the warehouse and then they got the call from Neil, ‘I don’t want to do that. We’re going to wait and put those out on Black Friday.’ They were already ordered, the stores were expecting to get it. But this is Record Store Day, there’s always a bit of chaos involved in it, because it does come down to the artist, what they want to do, and if they change their mind as Neil did in the last minute, those records are going to wait another six months before we all get a chance to get them.”

Record Store Day takes place this year on April 19; no date has been confirmed for Black Friday 2014, although last year’s event took place on November 29.

Meanwhile, Young recently finished a four-date residency at the Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles. His next run of solo acoustic shows take place on April 17 and 18 at the Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas, Texas and then on April 21 and 22 and the Chicago Theatre, Chicago, Illinois.

Patti Smith has been discussing a potential future film adaptation of her memoir Just Kids.

Speaking to NME, she has revealed that she wouldn’t want Charlotte Gainsbourg to play her. Although the actress – who has been tipped to play the punk icon – would be “ideal” for the role, she would prefer two “unknown” actors to play her and her friend, the photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, whom the book centres around.

Watch the interview below.

Smith recently aired a new track, “ Mercy Is“, a collaboration with Kronos Quartet and Clint Mansell from the film, Noah.

Mick Fleetwood is to host a series of TV specials titled 24 Hours With Mick.

The concept sees the drummer spending a full day with his interviewee, during which they will have one-on-one conversations and partake in activities. Guests will be friends and colleagues of the veteran rocker from the fields of music, entertainment, technology, politics, art, architecture and more, reports Billboard.

The show will be filmed in a variety of locations, from his home in Hawaii to cities around the world while on tour with Fleetwood Mac. It has not yet been confirmed when the TV specials will air.

Fleetwood Mac are soon to tour with returning member Christine McVie for the first time in 16 years. The band will be heading out on a North American tour with McVie, who revealed that she would be rejoining the band at the beginning of the year. The 34-date tour begins in Minneapolis on September 30 and finish in Tampa on December 20.

A copy of an Aphex Twin album that only reached the test pressing stage is being sold for $13,500 (£8,000).

The extremely rare album, titled Caustic Window, was printed on four sides of vinyl and is currently listed for sale on Discogs.

According to Fact, the album reached the test pressing phase in 1994, but was scrapped and never released. The seller claims that the release is one of five test pressings that were never released and that he was given the record by the electronic musician’s own Rephlex Records label in 1994. The seller claims Rephlex will never press the album itself.

Fact also report that users of online forum We Are The Music Makers are working on a Kickstarter campaign that would buy the test pressing and turn it into a one-off digital release. Rephlex Records has apparently offered one-time duplication rights to the first 500 people who contribute to the campaign.

The group plan to put the record up for auction on eBay. Once it is sold, a third of the profits will go to Aphex Twin (real name Richard James) and his Rephlex label as a royalty payment, a third will go to the Kickstarter contributors, and a third to a charity that they will all vote on.

Once the auction is complete and payment received, everyone will get to download their promised digital version of the LP.

Aphex Twin’s last full album was 2001’s Drukqs, although James has since released a number of EPs and recordings under various aliases.

Kim Deal has revealed that The Breeders are working on new material.

The group released their last full length album, Mountain Battles in 2008, followerd by an EP in 2009, “Fate To Fatal”. After that, Deal put the band on hold while she went on a two-year tour with Pixies.

The Breeders got together for a string of live dates last year, however, to mark the 20th anniversary of their 1993 album, Last Splash .

Speaking to Stereogum , Deal revealed that the band are now back in the studio recording new material.

“We’re down in the basement recording and the songs are sounding good,” she said. “Today we’re working on Josephine [Wiggs, bassist]’s song and it’s sounding really good. I’ve got a good melody line for it and got some lyrics. So that’s what we’re going to be recording today, one of her songs. Then I’ve got two that have lyrics and a melody line but I don’t like the drum part on one of them. The other one sounds pretty cool. We’ll probably get those three going. And I have other songs. There’s one song that I really like but I don’t think Josephine likes so much, but I really like it.”

Last month, Deal unveiled the latest in her series of her solo seven-inch singles, a collaboration with Morgan Nagler of the group Whispertown titled “The Root”.

The The have announced the release of a re-mastered and expanded version of their major label debut album, Soul Mining, on Monday June 30 through Sony Music.

The vinyl-only release includes a reproduction of the 1983 release on 180g vinyl, plus an extra 12” gatefold vinyl of alternative versions and remixes.

The box set also includes a ‘news-poster’ containing extensive notes written by Johnson about the making of the album.

The release is available to pre-order here.

The track listings of the albums are as follows:

LP 1 – SOUL MINING

1. I’ve Been Waitin’ For Tomorrow (All Of My Life)

2. This Is The Day

3. The Sinking Feeling

4. Uncertain Smile

5. The Twilight Hour

6. Soul Mining

7. Giant

LP 2 – SOUL MINING RECOLLECTED

1. Uncertain Smile (New York 12” version)

2. Perfect (New York 12” version)

3. This Is The Day (12” version)

4. Fruit Of The Heart

5. Perfect (London 12” version)

6. I’ve Been Waitin’ For Tomorrow (All My Life) (12” mix)

Elvis and Priscilla Presley‘s Palm Springs home is up for sale.

The estate, where the couple honeymooned in 1966, is on the market for $9.5 million, according to Rolling Stone.

The property at 1350 Ladera Circle, Palm Springs, California is approximately 15,246 square foot and comes with four bedrooms and five bathrooms while the grounds include a pool, stage, private garden, tennis court, and fruit orchard.

The property was dubbed “the House of Tomorrow” by Look magazine.

Stevie Wonder has been announced as the second headliner for London’s Calling Festival.

Calling, a new version of Hard Rock Calling will take place on Clapham Common on Saturday June 28 and Sunday June 29.

Stevie Wonder will perform on Sunday (June 29), joining previously announced headliners Aerosmith, who will headline on Saturday (June 28). Thunder, Walking Papers and Joe Bonamassa have also been confirmed to appear. Some 20 more acts will be announced in coming months.

Aerosmith’s performance will be the first time the US rockers have played in the capital for four years.

Guitarist Joe Perry said in a statement: “Speaking for myself I’ve been so involved writing my autobiography I did not realise how long it had been since we have played across the big pond. Its been far too long since we have performed in the UK. We can’t wait to bring back some of the classics as well as some of the new songs from ‘Music from Another Dimension’. We miss our UK fans. See you soon.”

Photo: Richard Johnson

Billy Corgan is to release an album of experimental recordings made in 2007 for a price of $59.95 (approximately £36).

Titled AEGEA, the album comes in an edition of 250, each hand-numbered and annotated by Corgan. It will be released in the next six to eight weeks, reports Pitchfork.

Speaking about the album, Corgan said: “As a work, AEGEA is experimental in nature, and comes across as more a soundtrack to some lost foreign film than the kind of music I’m usually associated with. Listening back I quite like how ‘EGEA goes along, as it has qualities that are both meditative and alien; but not alienating.”

Corgan has recently been turning in a series of esoteric performances at his Chicago teahouse Madame ZuZu’s. In February, around 40 people squeezed into the café to catch a glimpse of Corgan play an eight hour long gig based on author Herman Hesse’s 1922 novel Siddhartha. At the end of March, he played a gig inspired by the poetry of 13th century mystic Rumi.

Photo credit: Andy Willsher

Woods release their new album, With Light And With Love, on April 14.

We’re delighted to be able to bring you a stream of the album – which you can scroll down to hear.

The new album follows 2012’s Bend Beyond, and will be released on Woodsist label. You can pre-order With Light And With Love via the label’s website here.

The tracklisting for With Light And With Love is:

Shepherd

Feather Man

Meanwhile, Woods tour the UK and Europe later this year. They will play:

August 31, End Of The Road, Dorset

September 27, Liverpool Psych Fest