Jarvis Cocker, Johnny Marr, Alex Kapranos and Pete Townshend are among a list of musicians who have signed a letter calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to release Pussy Riot.

The President will arrive in London today to meet with Prime Minister David Cameron, who is expected to raise the trial of the band members.

Three members of Russian punk collective – Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich – have been in detention since March of this year, after they staged a protest gig against Putin’s re-election. They are currently on trial in Moscow, facing up to seven years in jail on hooliganism charges.

Writing in The Times today, a roll call of artists which also includes Kate Nash, the Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant, Cornershop, Micachu, and The Joy Formidable condemn the “preposterous” charges against the band. They write:

“We are extremely concerned about the treatment [Pussy Riot] have received since their arrest and during their trial. We feel that a minor breach of the peace for an incident at the Cathedral of Christ The Saviour in Moscow in February was a legitimate protest.”

The musicians add: “Dissent is right in any democracy and it is entirely disproportionate that they face seven years in jail for what we consider a preposterous charge of ‘hooliganism motivated by religious hatred'”.

At the start of their trial this week, the three women were led into court in handcuffs and locked into a cage of bullet-proof glass. In court, Tolokonnikova said they would not plead guilty, but that did not mean they were not prepared to apologise for the pain their performance in the cathedral had caused.

Earlier this week, other members of the group claimed that Putin is frightened of them. One member, known as Squirrel, said: “Putin is scared of us, can you imagine? Scared of girls. The most important dictator, Putin, is really afraid of people.”

She added: “More specifically, he’s afraid of Pussy Riot. Afraid of a bunch of young, positive, optimistic women unafraid to speak their minds.”

Franx Ferdinand have previously voiced their support for the band at gigs in Moscow along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The three women were arrested following an impromptu Pussy Riot performance at Moscow’s Christ The Saviour Cathedral, where the band sang a song called “Holy Shit” as a protest against the Orthodox Christian church’s alleged support for Putin. Although Putin regained power in the last Russian election, the verdict has drawn accusations of fraud by his competitors.

Shortly before their arrest, members of Pussy Riot spoke to NME, calling Putin’s reaction to their church protest “childish”. “We knew what the political situation was but now we’re personally feeling the full force of Putin’s Kafka-esque machine,” they said. “The state’s policy is based on a minimum of critical thinking and on a maximum of spite, and a desire to get even with those who don’t please it.”

Amnesty International have called for the release of the band members, arguing that they are “prisoners of conscience”.

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Ed Sheeran has confirmed he will duet with Pink Floyd at the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The “+” singer had been rumoured to be joining The Who at the August 12 ceremony, but has now told Australian radio station Nova that he will in fact be playing with Pink Floyd.

Asked if he was playing, the singer said: “I’m playing the closing ceremony – which I think is kinda cool right? A lot of people think that I’m doing a song with The Who but I’m not – I’m doing a song with Pink Floyd. I’m doing ‘Wish You Were Here‘.”

Sheeran then confirmed that the performance would not feature all the surviving members of Pink Floyd, but said that drummer Nick Mason would definitely be involved. This means that either Roger Waters or Dave Gilmour will not be present for the performance.

The surviving members of Pink Floyd last performed together in 2011 when Gilmour and Mason joined Waters onstage to play “Outside The Wall” during his headline show at London’s O2 Arena.

The line-up for the closing ceremony, which will celebrate 50 years of British music, is being kept a closely guarded secret, with only The Who, Kaiser Chiefs, Take That, George Michael and Emeli Sande reportedly confirmed so far.

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Bjork and legendary broadcaster David Attenborough have teamed up for a music documentary.

Attenborough And Bjork: The Nature Of Music looks at the evolution of music, our relationship with music and how technology could impact this relationship in the future.

Directed by Louise Hooper, the film is set to be broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK, reports Hollywood Reporter.

It has been made by Pulse Films – who were also behind the Blur film No Distance Left To Run. The film’s executive producer, Lucas Ochoa, has said of the documentary: “Born from Bjork’s revolutionary music project [2011’s ‘Biophilia’] we are thrilled to be able to document this incredible journey with her; she is undeniably one of the most iconic figures in popular culture and truly pushes boundaries like no other artist does”.

Bjork’s multi-media ‘Biophilia’ project will feature strongly in the film, and Attenborough will show how music exists in the natural world, using footage of the lyre bird, reed warbler and blue whales.

Bjork and Attenborough collaborated last year, as the BBC presenter and naturalist provided an introduction and narration to Bjork’s three-week Manchester International Festival residency, her first UK shows in three years. Bjork declared her admiration for Attenborough since childhood in a Rolling Stone interview, describing him as “my rock star”.

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The Stone Roses are set to release a brand new studio album in 2013, according to tabloid reports this morning (August 2).

The Manchester legends, who originally split up in 1996, reunited last year and have taken part in globe trotting reunion tour this year, which has included three sold-out gigs at Manchester’s Heaton Park and a series of festival headline sets.

When the band reunited they signed a new two-album deal with Universal Records, but have debuted no new material in their live sets so far. However, according to today’s The Sun, they will release a brand new album next year.

A source told the tabloid: “John [Squire] and Ian [Brown] have been sending each other ideas for over a year now. During rehearsals they have tried some new songs and really felt that the old magic was still there with the songwriting. They have decided they will give it another spin with new music next year.”

The report also suggests that the band will play a secret gig later this week for Adidas to help celebrate the Olympic games, though no details on when or where that will take place have emerged as yet.

The Stone Roses will headline next month’s V Festival in Chelmsford and Stafforshire as well as Northern Ireland’s Tennent’s Vital Festival.

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A documentary celebrating the Rolling Stones‘ 50th anniversary is to air on HBO, home of The Sopranos and The Wire, this autumn.

In a statement, HBO President of Programming Michael Lombardo said: “This is all done as part of the band’s 50th anniversary. This documentary has the full involvement of the four current band members – Mick, Keith, Charlie and Ron – as well as the former band members Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor. We’ll follow the band from their early club days through their arrival as the greatest band in the world.”

Speaking in March to Rolling Stone, director Brett Morgan, best known for The Kid Stays In The Picture, said: “Nobody has put the story together as a narrative. We’ve been looking under every rock, going through their archives. It will be music never heard before, and I’ve conducted 50-plus hours of interviews so far. By the time we’re done, they will be the most extensive group interviews they’ve ever done.”

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Bob Dylan will preview two songs from his new album, Tempest, on the American TV show Strike Back, according to breaking news this morning.

We’ll get two songs – “Early Roman Kings” and “Scarlet Town”. You can “Early Roman Kings” below, on a video of clips from the new series of Strike Back, while “Scarlet Town” will play over the end credits of an episode showing on Friday, August 17 on the Cinemax channel.

Strike Back, it seems, is a globe-trotting action series about a top secret intelligence agency – you might think of Ultimate Force with a higher production budget. But for our purposes, what’s more interesting here is that this is the first time Dylan’s chosen to debut new music via the trailer for a TV show.

Dylan, of course, has a history of releasing songs by this kind of unorthodox method. Thanks to our own Damien Love – an assiduous Dylan spotter – here’s a list of previous instances where a Dylan song, at the time unavailable anywhere else, has appeared in a film or TV.

Dylan’s cover of Dean Martin’s “Return To Me” recorded specifically for the Sopranos soundtrack

“Tell Ol Bill” for the movie North Country

“Cross The Green Mountain” for Gods & Generals

“Huck’s Tune” for the movie Lucky You

“Things Have Changed” for Wonderboys

“Waitin For You” for Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

“People Get Ready” for Flashback

“You Belong To Me” Natural Born Killers

Let us know if there’s any others we might have missed!

There’s other, weird Bob TV interactions, too.

You can check out his 1999 cameo in on Dharma And Greg here. My personal favourite, however, is his appearance on Pawn Stars – an American reality TV series about a pawn shop in Las Vegas – where Dylan’s supposedly doorstepped in Vegas and signs a copy of Self Portrait for one of the show’s presenters.

Anyway, here’s the clip for “Early Roman Kings”.

The Grateful Dead are set to release an 18-CD box set on September 1.

According to a report on Rolling Stone, the set – released by Rhino in America and available to pre-order at www.dead.net – is limited to 9,000 copies and includes six full concerts, one from each venue on that tour and a 60-page hardcover book.

The shows in Spring 1990 will not be sold individually, but Rhino also has in the works a two-CD compilation of material from the box.

It is not clear whether the Spring 1990 box set will be available in the UK.

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PIC CREDIT: IAN DICKSON/REDFERNS

Bob Dylan has been speaking about his new album, Tempest.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Dylan explained that the album – his 35th studio record – started out as “something more religious,” he says. “I just didn’t have enough [religious songs]. Intentionally, specifically religious songs is what I wanted to do. That takes a lot more concentration to pull that off 10 times with the same thread – than it does with a record like I ended up with.”

The album was recorded in Jackson Browne‘s studio in Los Angeles with Dylan’s touring band – bassist Tony Garnier, drummer George G. Receli, steel guitarist Donnie Herron, and guitarists Charlie Sexton and Stu Kimball – as well as David Hidalgo on guitar, violin and accordion.

The title track is a 14 minute epic about the Titanic disaster, with Dylan drawing from a number of sources including the Carter Family song, “The Titanic”.

“I was just fooling with that one night,” Dylan explains to author Mikal Gilmore. “I liked that melody – I liked it a lot. ‘Maybe I’m gonna appropriate this melody.’ But where would I go with it?”

Dylan also makes reference in the song to James Cameron‘s multi-Oscar winning movie about the disaster, which took place in April, 1912. “Yeah, Leo [DiCaprio],” says Dylan. “I don’t think the song would be the same without him. Or the movie.”

As to whether the title is, as some have suggested, a reference to Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest, Dylan was quick to make a distinction, explaining to Rolling Stone: “Shakespeare’s last play was called The Tempest. It wasn’t called just plain Tempest. The name of my record is just plain Tempest. It’s two different titles.”

You can read Uncut editor Allan Jones’ sneak preview of the album here.

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Bruce Springsteen passed a whole new milestone last night [July 31] by playing a show that lasted for over four hours.

The singer, who was played the final night of his European tour in the Finnish capital city of Helsinki, played a set that lasted for four hours and six minutes in the city’s Olympiastadion.

Springsteen’s set lasted for 33 songs and included four covers, John Fogerty‘s “Rockin’ All Over The World”, Southside Johnny’s “I Don’t Want To Go Home”, Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher” and The Isley Brothers’ classic “Twist And Shout”.

All of Springsteen’s sets on this European tour have been lengthy and this caused a controversy during his set at London’s Hard Rock Calling. After the singer passed the show’s allotted end time, the decision was made to pull the plug while he was onstage with Paul McCartney.

The decision drew criticism from Mayor of London Boris Johnson and prompted consternation on Twitter, with Springsteen’s guitarist Steven Van Zandt leading a chorus of disapproval. He wrote: “Is there just too much fun in the world? We would have been off by 11 if we’d done one more. On a Saturday night! Who were we disturbing?”

Bruce Springsteen begins a US tour next month in support of his latest album Wrecking Ball, which came out earlier this year.

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Bill Doss of Olivia Tremor Control has died at the age of 43.

A singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, he was also a co-founder of the Elephant 6 collective, and played with the Sunshine Fix and Apples in Stereo, as well as being part of cult indie rock group, Olivia Tremor Control.

The band announced the news on their website – via Rolling Stone – writing: “We are devastated by the loss of our brother Bill Doss… We are at a loss for words.” A cause of death has not yet been announced.

Doss started the band in Athens, Georgia with Will Cullen Hart and Jeff Mangum in 1994. The band went on hiatus in 2000 after the release of two albums – ‘Music from the Unrealized Film Script: Dusk at Cubist Castle’ in 1996 and ‘Black Foliage: Animation Music Volume One’ in 1999 – but reunited in 2005 to play a number of shows for All Tomorrow’s Parties.

Olivia Tremor Control were thought to be working on a new album, following the 2011 release of the single “The Game You Play Is In Your Head“. Their last live show took place last week, on July 26 at The Georgia Theatre in Athens.

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Pic credit: Gary Wolstenholme/Redferns via Getty Images

Tom Waits has released a cryptic picture, fuelling speculation that he is set to announce live shows, possibly of port cities or even aboard a boat.

The photo, pictured above and entitled Permission To Come Aboard?, sees Waits dressed as a cigar chomping pirate – complete with cutlass and eye patch – above the date August 7, on which a full announcement is expected to be made.

The eccentric singer-songwriter last toured in 2008, with the Glitter And Doom Tour, which comprised 13 shows in the United States and 15 in Europe, including two shows in Edinburgh.

Earlier this month, Tom Waits performed material from his most recent album, 2011’s Bad As Me, live for the first time. He appeared on the Late Show With David Letterman to sing “Chicago”, accompanied by his son Casey Waits on drums, bassist Larry Taylor, guitarist David Hidalgo, keyboardist Augie Myers and guitarist Big Bill Morganfield.

Waits also appeared on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon where he played another song from his 17th studio album, “Raised Right Men”. Scroll down to watch footage of both appearances.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcbksRsGAsE

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KISS have revealed full details of their new studio album ‘Monster’.

The album, which is the 20th LP of the metal veterans’ career, will be released on October 15 in the UK and October 16 in the US. You can see the album’s artwork at the top of the screen.

Monster contains a total of 13 tracks, including recent single “Hell Or Hallejulah”, which serves as the album’s opening track and which you can hear by scrolling down to the bottom of the page.

Speaking about the album, bassist Gene Simmons said that KISS are “going where no bands have gone before” and praised newer members Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer for their “work ethic”.

He said of Monster: “There are no symphony orchestras, boy choirs, keyboards, outside producers or songwriters on this album. The best thing we did was to turn inwards to ourselves.”

He continued: “Tommy and Eric have revitalised this band with a work ethic and the talent to back it up. This is a real band effort. Kiss has become a behemoth. We’re going where no bands have gone before.”

Kiss were due to headline this summer’s Sonisphere Festival, but instead played an intimate show at London’s HMV Forum last month after Sonisphere was cancelled. They are expected to return to the UK for a full tour in the coming months.

The tracklisting for Monster is as follows:

‘Hell Or Hallelujah’

‘Wall Of Sound’

‘Freak’

‘Back To The Stone Age’

‘Shout Mercy’

‘Long Way Down’

‘Eat Your Heart Out’

‘The Devil Is Me’

‘Outta This World’

‘All For The Love Of Rock & Roll’

‘Take Me Down Below’

‘Last Chance’

‘Right Here Right Now’

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Blur played two intimate gigs at London’s Maida Vale Studios yesterday (July 31) and aired a number of rare tracks.

The four-piece, who recently broadcast their two new songs, “Under The Westway” and “The Puritan” from a secret UK location via a live video stream performance on Twitter, first performed an intimate session for BBC Radio 6Music, which you can see at the bottom of the page.

Among the tracks aired in the BBC Radio 6Music session were “Caramel“, a track from the band’s 1999 album 13 which they had never previously played live, and “Young & Lovely”, a B-Side from 1993, which they’d only previously played live once.

The band then played a gig for BBC Radio 2 which was aired live. This saw Blur play a 12-song set, which included “Popscene”, “For Tomorrow”, “Tender”, new single “Under The Westway”, “The Universal” and the first airing of “Mr Briggs” since 1999.

Blur kick off an intimate UK tour tonight (August 1) at Margate Winter Gardens. They will then play two shows at Wolverhampton Civic Hall on August 5 and 6, before finishing off at Plymouth Pavilions on August 7.

The shows will act as a warm-up for the band’s huge outdoor gig at London’s Hyde Park on August 12, which sees Blur topping a bill that also includes New Order and The Specials. The gig has been put on to coincide with the closing ceremony of the Olympic games. Blur are also scheduled to headline Sweden’s Way Out West festival in August.

Blur released a career-spanning boxset on Monday (July 30). Titled 21, the collection includes the band’s seven studio albums as well as over five hours of previously unreleased material including 65 tracks, rarities, three DVDs, a collector’s edition book and special limited edition Seymour seven-inch vinyl.

Blur played:

BBC Radio 6 Setlist

Jubilee’

‘Under The Westway’

BBC Radio 2 Setlist

‘Tracy Jacks’

‘The Universal’

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Killing Joke have appealed for information about the whereabouts of their singer Jaz Coleman, who they say has gone missing.

The band, who released their 15th studio album 2012 earlier this year, have posted a statement on their official Facebook page saying that they are “concerned for Coleman’s welfare” as they have not heard from him.

The band have posted the statement after a post on their Facebook page, purported to be from Coleman, suggested that they were pulling out of a tour with The Cult and The Mission.

They wrote: “A statement was posted on Facebook, reputedly by our singer, maligning both The Cult and The Mission and pulling us out of the shows. He is now AWOL and has not contacted any of his band mates. We are deeply embarrassed by this and offer our sincere apologies to all involved. We are all concerned about our missing singer’s welfare.”

They continued: “Killing Joke made a collective decision to play with The Cult and The Mission in September. It was agreed by all of the band that we would do these shows. Indeed, we thought that they were something to look forward to, even though they were downsized. We would still like to honour our commitment to this tour, the other bands, and all the Gatherers and people who have already bought tickets and made travel arrangements.”

They continued further: “If this proves not possible, Killing Joke will make alternative arrangements to compensate for the trouble caused. Meanwhile we are doing everything we can to make this tour happen and locate our missing singer.”

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Aerosmith have revealed that Julian Lennon and Johnny Depp are set to feature on their forthcoming album Music From Another Dimension!.

The album, which is the band’s 15th, will be released on November 6 in the US. It was previously slated for August 28 but was pushed back because of that week’s hectic release schedule.

Frontman Steve Tyler told Rolling Stone that he met Julian Lennon while he was in Los Angeles working on music reality TV show American Idol. John Lennon’s eldest son contributes vocals to the track “Love Three Times A Day”.

“He’s such a sweet fucking guy,” Tyler said. “And he’s John’s first son with that voice and sense of humor – gimme a break!”

Johnny Depp also features on the album – adding backing vocals to the track “Freedom Fighter”. However, guitarist Joe Perry says the song may end up on a later deluxe version of the album.

Perry added that he’s happy the band finally have new songs to play onstage: “Everyone wants to hear the same ‘Dream On’s and ‘Walk This Way’s, but that’s not what I had in mind to be in a band – to be the best cover band you can be,” he said. “We can be the best Aerosmith cover band out there, and I was getting tired of it. So I’m really glad to have this record.”

Speaking about his recent departure from American Idol, Tyler said: “I loved it and hated it. It was a great job, I sat next to J Lo and I made a ton of money. It was a moment in life and it became larger than life.”

“It was just hard work: seven-hour days and then I went and did the [Aerosmith] album for eight hours after that,” he said. “The show’s about kids and what you do to nurture their talent. They wanted me to take the piss out of the kids and I don’t have that in me. That’s not what I’m about. That’s more about that other guy. Not me.”

Music From Another Dimension! is the follow-up to 2004’s Honkin’ On Bobo and has been produced by Jack Douglas, the man behind 1975’s Toys In The Attic.

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David Byrne and St Vincent have released a second track from their forthcoming album, Love This Giant.

The track, “Weekend In The Dust”, follows “Who”, which they released in June.

You can hear “Weekend In The Dust” here.

It can be downloaded when you pre-order Love This Giant. The album is released on September 11 on 4AD/Todo Mundo.

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Singer Tony Martin has died at the age of 98.

The legendary crooner, who was best known for his hit singles “I Get Ideas”, “Begin The Beguine” and “There’s No Tomorrow”, passed away on Friday (July 27) from natural causes at his home in West Los Angeles, reports Reuters.

Martin, who enjoyed the most successful periods of his career in the 1930s and 1950s, was a contemporary of the likes of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra and sold over one million copies of his most successful single “To Each His Own”.

He also appeared in over 25 Hollywood musicals, with roles in the likes of Kentucky Moonshine, Two Tickets To Broadway, Here Come The Girls and Meet Me In Las Vegas.

Paying tribute to Martin, musician and long-time friend Gabriel Guerrero said: “He’s the ultimate crooner who outlasted all his contemporaries. He has truly remained the butterscotch baritone until he was 98.”

Martin enjoyed two high-profile marriages during his life, first to musical star Alice Faye, and secondly to actress Cyd Charisse, who he remained married to until her death in 2008.

He will be buried in the coming days at a memorial park near Los Angeles that is also the resting place of Charisse.

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PIC CREDIT: NBC via Getty Images