Niki N. Phaser

              It is official, pop-rock legends Blondie are going to make 2010 and even more special year, by releasing a new album. It will be their first since 2003′s The Curse of Blondie. The band is working with producer Jeff Saltzman and so far, they have around thirty tracks in the works. It’s still unclear if this is going to be a regular release or a digital one, but Chris Stein, talking about the new material, said: “does it sound like a Blondie recording? Yes I am sure it will be familiar”. The Curse of Blondie, though somewhat ignored, was a great collection of songs, so good things may be coming our way. Untill then, we can get into the holiday spirit with the band’s rocky rendition of the traditional We Three Kings, offered as a free download here.                      VIDEO

           For all of you interested in the iconic all-girl punk-glam pioneers, The Runways, you should clear your schedule for next spring. March 2010 will see the premiere of Floria Sigismondi’s biopic about the rise and fall of the short-lived phenomenon which was The Runaways. If you know what I’m talking about, you also probably know that Kristen Stewart will be playing Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning, Cherrie Currie, with Michael Shannon as the controversial manager of the band, Kim Fowley. The film is directed and written by Italian multi-dimensional artist, Floria Sigismondi. She knows her way around the music world, being the author of music videos for acts like The Cure (remember The End of the World), Sigur Ros, Marylin Manson, and plenty of others. She’s also responsible for the cool video for Bowie’s Little Wonder. Here’s a taste of how her unique vision fits a biopic:

RUNAWAY here

              Well, we can all sigh with relief, Manic Street Preachers are brave enough to do a follow-up to their Richey Edwards written album, Journal for Plague Lovers. In a letter to fans posted on their official website, the three Manics are talking about working on new material: “We have been writing/demoing in Cardiff, songs, ideas and coffee have been flowing”. They also mentioning the movies and the music they are currently into, but that’s less important.

             Some reports say that the working title is It’s Not War – Just the End of Love, which sounds pretty Wire-esque (I mean, it’s long enough). It will be the band’s tenth album and it will have the difficult task of following this year’s acclaimed Journal for Plague Lovers, which has the Manics feature in about every Best Albums of 2009 Top there is. And they deserve it, no doubt about it. If you still wonder why…

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