NEITHER TING TING UNDERGOING TREATMENT FOR OVERWORK

British pop duo The Ting Tings have had their otherwise impeccable integrity called into doubt this week as it emerged that, contrary to the earnestly-sung lyrics of their latest single, neither one of the two band members has ever suffered from overwork, fatigue, exhaustion, stress, or ever having had to put the minutest degree of effort into any aspect of their lives in the slightest.

“Clap your hands if you’re working too hard” are the words which, in traditional Ting Tings style, are repeated over and over and over again in their new, imaginatively titled, single “Hands”, which has been all over the radio, and on the television, played in the supermarkets, and sung directly into Jools Holland’s smug pale face.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVbtBLZxL6w

Ironically, however, it seems that the band did not work hard enough even on this song itself, with its 1980s beats, its 1980s keyboard sound, its spoken-word intro straight out of the 1980s, and its chorus which could not conceivably be any more patronizing towards the audiences to whom it will be played many times over consisting of real human beings who have to work for a living because they aren’t the grandchildren of millionaire lottery winners and who don’t have a father willing to spend his share of inheritance on forming music management companies with which to propel his beloved daughter to fame and success.*

Meanwhile, The Ting Tings have confirmed that they no longer plan to call their forthcoming album “Kunst”, as originally planned, because they decided it was too early in their career for a self-titled record.**


* http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/latest/2008/05/24/how-feud-tore-ting-tings-star-s-family-apart-115875-20427681/
** http://www.novafm.com.au/article_kunst-not-the-new-ting-tings-album-name_104247

EXCITEMENT MOUNTS AS MALKMUS CONFIRMS JICKS REUNION

The tantalizing rumours have been circulating throughout the indie rock world for months, but now the moment we’ve all been waiting for is glistening alluringly upon the horizon: Stephen Malkmus has finally announced that he is to reform his seminal and hugely influential guitar and keyboard outfit, Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks.

The Jicks, need we remind you, were active in the years 2001-2008 during which time they astounded fans and critics alike with their four LP releases and hit tunes such as Jo Jo’s Jacket, Dark Wave, Baby C’mon, and that song where he says the word “One” over and over again. Since early 2010, however, Malkmus has been inexplicably frittering his time away by playing in the obscure and oddly-named lo-fi group Pavement; a band who are usually accused of causing more irritation than pleasure on account of being too sloppy, too underproduced, too lyrically dexterous, and of not letting Malkmus play enough of his sublimely long and unfocussed not-quite-soothing yet not-quite-rocking nimble-fingered guitar solos.

Having finally put this stain on an otherwise pristine résumé behind him, Malkmus has confirmed on his website that The Jicks are to reform with their classic line-up of Malkmus, Janet Weiss, Joanna Bolme, and that skinny bald guy who makes all those already perfect tunes even more perfect by playing twiddly bits on the keyboard, occasionally hitting a tambourine, and dancing as overenthusiastically as a sexually repressed English Literature masters student having mistakenly overestimated the jollity of the atmosphere at an underwhelming house party.

The Jicks will embark on a world tour next year, with dates on two or perhaps even three different continents, in support of a brand new album produced by none other than the Prince-impersonating Scientologist Beck, a record which will no doubt stringently avoid the pitfalls of sloppiness, underproduction, too few guitar solos, and intelligent lyrical dexterity.

In other news, the long awaited Frank Black and the Catholics reformation has been frustratingly postponed even longer, with Black choosing to schedule further dates with his lackluster vanity project The Pixies.

CHRIS MOYLES ACCUSES BBC OF PINCHING HIS DINNER MONEY

Warthog-faced breakfast DJ Chris Moyles started his show last Tuesday with a half hour rant against the BBC in which he accused the corporation of stealing his dinner money, calling him horrible names behind his back, and giving him a Chinese burn until his arm went bright red and really very sore.

Early reports suggested that Moyles was looking forward to spending the dinner money on two beef baguettes, ten packets of crisps (six cheese and onion, two smoky bacon, and two prawn cocktail), eight kingsize Mars Bars, and a Curly Wurly at the BBC tuckshop.

A small number of the nicknames he is believed to have been called by other BBC employees in the past few weeks are as follows: Fatty Arbuckle, Lard Arse, Pie Face, Swollen Bollock Head, Piss Boils, Blubber Tits, Jabba the Hutt, Jabba the Glut, and Jabba the F***ing C**t.

The Chinese burn is thought to be a metaphorical one of some kind.

The sudden “disrespectful treatment” of the burger-inhaling disc jockey is part of the BBC’s new crackdown on bullying in the workplace; the latest solution being piloted by the broadcasting company is “to fight bullying with bullying.” It seems, therefore, that the bloated kebab swallower has objected to a taste of his own hate-filled medicine; in the six years since he took over the Radio 1 Breakfast Show the waddling human beer-belly has regularly used the word “gay” as a derogatory insult, referred to women as “slags” and “dirty whores”, had his “team” (or “gang”) pin down BBC admin assistants of both sexes while he administered painful wedgies, and once tied a female intern to a chair, instructed “Comedy Dave” to hold her mouth wide open with his pastry-encrusted fingers while Moyles shoved scrunched-up signed photographs of his own balloon-jowlled face down her throat until she could no longer breathe, all because she could not adequately explain the offside rule.

Moyles’ mummy, in the meantime, has denied that her beloved son has ever bullied anybody and says that he doesn’t have to go in if he doesn’t want to until the issue is resolved.

MORRISSEY ADVOCATES CANNIBALISM OF IMMIGRANTS AS ALTERNATIVE TO ANIMAL CONSUMPTION

In an interview with a UK broadsheet newspaper at the weekend, ex-Smiths warbler Morrissey revealed the amalgamation of two of his most notorious viewpoints: his militant vegetarianism and his massive racism. During the Q&A, which was conducted by celebrity Smiths fan and dour northern poet Arman Simontage, the bequiffed misanthrope suggested that the farming of innocent animals should be halted immediately, and that meat-eaters who were still addicted to flesh could have their cravings satisfied by the mass slaughter and consumption of immigrants, both legal and illegal.

Though not pressed on the issue by Simontage, who was distracted in the task of attempting to push into Morrissey’s moisturized hand an unrequested signed copy of his latest underwhelming collection, Another Muted Autumn, Morrissey was given a small amount of time and column space to explain that the scheme would succeed in “killing two birds with one stone.” He added that this was merely a figure of speech and that anybody who willingly killed even one actual bird, by stoning or any other method, was subhuman and would definitely burn in hell forever and ever and ever.

Human rights activists have been up in arms at the revelation, demanding that Morrissey retract his offensive comments, whilst Morrissey’s fans have continued to enthusiastically purchase his records and concert tickets even though this is just one incident in a long line which reveal their hero to be a thoroughly dislikable scrotum.

Unfortunately for the Mancunian xenophobe, the plan has backfired somewhat as his solution to the perceived immigrant problem has proven so popular in Italy that the policy has been immediately implemented by Berlusconi’s government, and, as Morrissey himself spends most of his time residing in Rome, it has been arranged that as soon as he arrives back in the country after his current promotional tour he is to be baked into a fat lasagna.

GUNS 'N' ROSES TURN UP TWENTY YEARS LATE FOR READING FESTIVAL APPEARANCE

Guns ‘n’ Roses have come under criticism from both attendees and organisers of the Reading Festival for showing up over twenty years too late for their headlining slot last weekend. Originally booked to perform at the 1990 event, when the cock-rock group were at the height of their powers, the band were due to appear promptly at 21.30 on Friday 24 August, 1990, but did not manage to reach the stage until 22.30 on Friday 27 August, 2010, after most fans had become bored and irritated.

Axl Rose, whose name is famously an anagram for ‘Lax Sore’, released a statement on twatter.com/axlrose defending the incident, in which he claimed, “Turning up twenty years too late with a troupe of lowly session musicians whilst resembling a bloated Mick Hucknall and squealing like a parched, castrated vole were all terms of our contract. Reading Festival are against Guns ‘n’ Roses. The fans are against Guns ‘n’ Roses. Everyone is against Guns ‘n’ Roses . Guns ‘n’ Roses want their Mommies. Guns ‘n’ Roses are taking their toys and they’re going home.”

Rose also expressed anger that the band’s sound was cut off midway through their encore of ‘Paradise City’, though sources from the festival have explained to us that this was actually an act of charity intending to save the squealing ego twonk any further embarrassment after a set which included a number of tracks from 2008’s “comeback” album Chinese Democracy which nobody wanted to hear as well as numerous unnecessary and underwhelming costume changes.

Guns ‘n’ Roses were not the only unpunctual act at this year’s fest, however, with Blink-182 and The Libertines turning up a good eleven and six years late respectively. Neither of these acts suffered from having their sound cut off, however, as their equally catastrophic lack of musical ability led the stage crew to assume that both bands consisted of deprived or disadvantaged children with learning disabilities who had won a competition or something.

KATRINA SUFFERING FROM THIRD DEGREE BURNS UPON FEET

Katrina Leskanich was admitted into hospital at the weekend for emergency treatment of severe burn wounds to both of her feet. The injuries occurred as matters got out of control when Katrina was engaged in her customary practice of walking on sunshine. At the initial signs of danger, the singer had attempted to extinguish the fire with her Waves but the flames proved just too fierce and uncontrollable. She is currently being treated in the St. Andrew’s burns unit at the Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford. A specialist at the hospital has released a statement highlighting the dangers of Katrina’s activity and warning her fans not to make the same mistake: “It is surprising that Katrina and the Waves were not more seriously hurt, or perhaps even killed. Walking on sunshine is an extremely ill-advised and dangerous activity in which to partake for even two or three minutes. To have been doing this on-and-off for almost thirty years is unthinkable.”

OASIS TO REFORM FOR SPECIAL 'BE HERE NOW' THIRTEEN-YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHOWS

Noel Gallagher today sent shivers of anticipation through the music world by announcing that he is to make amends with his estranged brother Liam, and follow in the footsteps of his archrivals Blur, by reforming his old band: Oasis. The group are poised to play a five-night residency at the HMV Forum, each night performing their seminal third album Be Here Now in its entirety.

The shows are the latest in the ATP promotions’ Don’t Look Back series of concerts, in which cult musicians are asked to recite their most definitive album in full, from beginning to end. Previous successes have included The Lemonheads doing It’s a Shame about Ray, Mudhoney performing Superbuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles, Slint playing Spiderland, and Terence Trent D’Arby blasting through his cross-genre groundbreaking kazoo-wielding opus Neither Fish Nor Flesh.

As well as having coaxed the return of his erratic younger brother, the reunited all-star Oasis line-up will feature the talents of Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs, Paul “Guigsy” McGuigan, Andy “Belly” Bell, Gem “Gemmy” Archer, Tony “Carrolly” McCarroll, and Zak “Zak Starkey” Starkey. Also returning to the fold will be Noel Gallagher’s famous monobrow, “Monny”. The monobrow, sported by Noel during the years of Oasis’ artistic and commercial peak, has not been sighted since 2006 when Noel was persuaded to drop the ‘brow when receiving male grooming tips from his new friend Russell Brand who was dressed as a disabled pirate. Rumours among music industry insiders suggest that Monny consequently fell on hard times and in order to make ends meet found a day-job as a professional shoe polisher, whilst satisfying his need to perform by playing gigs in the evenings around the West Midlands area as a member of Charlatans tribute band ‘The Charlatan Charlatans’.

Messageboards have been buzzing with fans’ excitement at the opportunity to hear all their favourite Oasis tunes one more time; D’You Know What I Mean, All Around the World, and Magic Pie, to name just three. The only disappointment has been the news that Johnny Depp, who provided additional guitar on the classic number “Fade In-Out”, will not be appearing at the shows, as he is far too busy dressing up as a disabled pirate.

Some devotees of the ATP concerts and festivals have criticized the Oasis shows as evidence of the increasingly commercial and populist nature of the promotional company, once regarded as an important supporter of alternative and outsider music. These accusations have been denied by Barry Hogan, ATP’s head honcho, who claimed to have been a follower of the Mancunian indie rockers since “even before Wonderwall”, speaking to us from his secret lair built into the hills overlooking Butlin’s, Minehead, through a golden telephone, whilst receiving a massage from the identical twin sisters from School of Seven Bells.