Watch the video for 'Worn Out' HERE

The de-saturated, grainy, live and tour footage of the video is a perfect match for Hot Damn’s impassioned and bleak brand of pop punk that trades optimistic bounce for realism and passion, portraying not the sunny So-Cal of their American forebears but the grey, concrete struggle of the youth of recession-era Britain. This band have something to say, and they say it with heart.

The band are also pleased to announce that they’ve been in the studio working on a two-track follow up to the critically acclaimed basement punk of Sleep Alone to be released in the near future and will soon be announcing extra summer/autumn tour dates. Hot Damn play shows with Landmarks, Man Overboard and Transit in May.

Just a few years and 3 EP’s into their career Hot Damn have already found themselves thrust onto tours with Swedish punks Tag Your Target, Alabama heavyweights Carridale and shared stages with scene legends like With The Punches, Basement and The Wonder Years, and following the excellent reception for latest release Sleep Alone, the rest of 2013 looks set to get a lot busier for this hotly tipped quintet.

Upcoming UK Tour Dates (more dates TBC):
21st May – Retro Bar – Manchester w/Landmarks 
22nd May – Soundcircus – Bournemouth w/ Man Overboard + Transit
23rd May – The Shipping Forecast – Liverpool w/ Man Overboard + Transit

http://www.facebook.com/hotdamnuk
http://hotdamnuk.bandcamp.com 
http://www.twitter.com/hotdamnuk

Launched 40 years ago with the largely instrumental Tubular Bells (a 48-minute suite conceived by 19-year-old guitar prodigy Mike Oldfield that went on to sell 15 million copies), Virgin Records has staked its reputation on doing the unexpected. Since its early days the label has emphasised and supported the maverick, creative drive of its artists; whilst along the way, it has achieved global success in breaking some of the biggest and most influential acts of the past four decades.

Virgin and its artists have been at the forefront of almost every key musical movement of the past forty years. It was the underdog label that signed the Sex Pistols when they had been rejected by the rest of the music establishment and forged ahead to enjoy great critical acclaim in the post-punk era with the likes of Simple Minds, PiL, Magazine, Devo and XTC.

By the Eighties it was spearheading a colourful new wave of British pop acts, helping to steer Boy George's Culture Club and The Human League to the top of the charts. Then through London's Soul II Soul and Bristol's Massive Attack it helped to push DJ and sound system culture into the mainstream.

In the Nineties the label set a vibrant new benchmark for pop music with the rise of the Spice Girls, oversaw the birth of new, electronic dance genres with Daft Punk and The Chemical Brothers before changing the post-Britpop landscape with The Verve's, Urban Hymns.

The pace has barely slackened in recent years with Virgin signing the superstar DJs Swedish House Mafia, nurturing the huge talent of critically acclaimed female singer-songwriters Laura Marling and Emeli Sandé as well as launching the career of indie pop newcomers Bastille.

It’s this desire to think creatively, challenge conceptions and take risks that has established Virgin Records as one of the most innovative record companies of the past four decades.  Founder Richard Branson said,

“Virgin Records is where it all started for Virgin and 40 years later it's great to see we are still being innovative. This exciting series of events is the perfect way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Virgin Records and the artists, from Mike Oldfield to Emeli Sandé, who continue to disrupt the status quo."

Taking place in the autumn and including artists past and present, the events to celebrate Virgin Records ‘40 years of disruptions’ will be supporting the charity, War Child. War Child protects children from the brutal effects of war and received the Special Recognition Award at this year’s BRIT Awards.

Events are as follows

1) Exhibition
The creative direction for the exhibition will be overseen by Adrian Shaughnessy, George Lee and the team at This Is Real Art. It will include photos (seen and unseen), seminal videos (including props) and memorabilia that capture the symbiotic collaborations between the cultural icons of the day. The location will be an exclusive venue in Mornington Crescent.
 
2) Book
A beautiful art book will be edited by leading music journalist Adrian Thrills. Adrian began his career editing the punk fanzine 48 Thrills before becoming one of the main feature writers for NME in the Eighties. He contributed fifty cover stories for the paper championing the 2-Tone movement and many of the post-punk, reggae and dance acts of the era; as well as writing the first ever cover story for iconic style magazine The Face featuring The Specials. The book will be designed by Adrian Shaughnessy.

3) Documentary  
A film produced by Leopard Films, one of the UK’s leading production companies, and directed by Paul Tilzey, the director of many award winning documentaries for BBC and Channel 4 including ‘The 70s’. Executive producer Todd Austin and Fiona Morris' projects include ‘Do it Yourself; The Story of Rough Trade’ (BBC Four) and ‘Imagine: Damon and Jamie’s Excellent Adventure’ (BBC One) respectively.
 
4) Events    
A series of live events. Virgin Records will be taking over legendary Camden venue KOKO in October. The shows will celebrate four decades of disruptions involving icons and luminaries from Virgin’s roster past and present.    
 
5) Compilations     

A compilation CD with 2 x Cd set; one disc with current Virgin artists covering Virgin classics, another disc with original Virgin classics. There will also be a series of Virgin 40 compilation CDs spanning the four decades.

Virgin Records four decades of artists include: Mike Oldfield, Sex Pistols, Neneh Cherry, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, N.E.R.D, The Human League, Public Image Ltd., Spice Girls, George Michael, The Rolling Stones, Culture Club, Massive Attack, Swedish House Mafia, Kelis, The Kooks, KT Tunstall, Bastille, Heaven 17, The Verve, Genesis, Iggy Pop, Tangerine Dream, Lenny Kravitz, MeatLoaf, Simple Minds, Laura Marling, Phil Collins, Professor Green, The Smashing Pumpkins, Janet Jackson, XTC, UB40, Malcolm McLaren, Emeli Sandé, Soul II Soul, Air, Peter Gabriel, Inner City, David Guetta, Daft Punk, Everything But The Girl, The Chemical Brothers.

http://www.virgin40.com/

The song was written about the important fight for marriage equality and acceptance of the gay community in general, but he revealed that it was penned with his gay uncles and gay godfather in mind:

"I was really nervous to play it for them. It's obviously a very personal song, and I didn't want to cross any boundaries in terms of their privacy. But we actually ended up taking a picture of them and using it as the cover art for the single. I wanted the art to reflect how personal the song was, and they are a big reason why I'm so passionate about the issue."

He explained that writing a song about a genuine issue, and especially one that's so close to his heart, is very important to him and he wanted to 'push the margins' with the track's content: "I'm always trying to push the margins. I wanna be an artist that writes songs that are different; I don't wanna write the same song that everyone else is writing."

"I wanna challenge myself, I wanna challenge society, and I wanna be the best version of myself, and the way I can do that is by expressing and talking about concepts that no-one else will, that people are afraid to address. I wanna be able to talk about those openly and honestly and figure myself out and help those who listen to the records figure them out."

Watch the music video for 'Same Love' below:

Writing on her official Twitter page late last night (May 14), she explained that because 'false information' has been printed in the press she wanted to announce the exciting news herself with the correct details:

"Big news day for me! Wasn't ready to announce, but since false info is spreading I will gladly do so:) Supppppperr EXCITED!"

"Super stoked to announce I've started my own label, SAINT RECORDS, where I'll be releasing my music & other projects distributed through SONY!"

Knowles added: "Through Saint Records I will have 100% creative/artistic control & continue to passionately pursue my footing in this new musical movement."

Watch her performance of 'Don't Let Me Down' on the David Letterman show here:

Third Man Records posted a message via its official website confirming the exciting news:

"Third Man is very excited to present the 17-track deluxe edition of the album on vinyl, housed in glorious gatefold artwork. Additionally, Third Man will also be releasing 7” single components to the soundtrack, including Jack White’s 'Love is Blindness'."

Baz Luhrmann’s version of the classic story is due to be released in theatres on May 10 in the USA and the accompanying soundtrack, which features songs from the likes of Lana Del Rey and Sia, will drop three days before on May 7.

Beyoncé also recorded a special cover of the late Amy Winehouse's 'Back To Black' for the soundtrack, which was worked on extensively by rapper Jay-Z. Speaking about working on the soundtrack, Jay-Z recently said: "The imagination Baz brought to Moulin Rouge made it a masterpiece, and Romeo + Juliet's score wasn't just in the background; the music became a character. This film's vision and direction has all the makings of an epic experience."

The musician was named the ambassador for Record Store Day this year (April 20) and explained that he wants to encourage our generation to "re-educate ourselves about human interaction and the difference between downloading a track on a computer and talking to other people in person."

His blog post was shared on Record Store Day's official website and details the importance of purchasing physical copies of albums and singles: "Getting out of your chair at home to experience something in the real world has started to become a rare occurrence, and to a lot of people, an unnecessary one. Well here's what they'll someday learn if they have a soul; there's no romance in a mouse click."

White continued by adding that there's nothing like shopping for music and enjoying the interaction between likeminded people: "Out there, people are still talking to each other face-to-face, exchanging ideas and turning each other on."

"Art houses are showing films, people are drinking coffee and telling tall tales, women and men are confusing each other and record stores are selling discs full of soul that you haven’t felt yet. So why do we choose to hide in our caves and settle for replication? We know better. We should at least."

The 'Seven Nation Army' star concluded by urging fans to continue buying actual records as opposed to indulging the trend of downloading MP3s and stressed: "The size, shape, smell, texture and sound of a vinyl record; how do you explain to that teenager who doesn't know that it's a more beautiful musical experience than a mouse click? You get up off your ass, you grab them by the arm and you take them there."

Watch an interview with White from the 2013 GRAMMY Awards here:

The Oxfordshire quintet, who were performing at the 2012 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, dedicated the song, ‘Supercollider,’ to the former White Stripes frontman before teasing the crowd about a possible teaming-up.  

Yorke said: "This song is for Jack White. We saw him yesterday. A big thank-you to him, but we can't tell you why. You'll find out."

The festival is little more than an hour away from White’s Third Man Records label, prompting speculation that the two artists may have found time in their schedule this week to record new material together.

Yorke also gave a shout-out to the Red Hot Chili Peppers during their two hour set which focused heavily on their last two albums, 'In Rainbows' and 'The King Of Limbs.'

The former White Stripes star has worked with I.P.C. on a track crudely named 'Leck Mich Im Arsch', which features a melody line that was composed by classical musician Mozart back in 1782, and an official statement on White's Third Man Records website explains:

"Back in '82, ahem, 1782, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote a piece that's been left out of the spotlight ever since. The title of the piece is 'Leck Mich Im Arsch' or literally translated to English as 'Lick Me In The Arse'. Understandably this piece has figuratively been swept under the rug. So who better to give this piece it's due respect than the wildly successful, much misunderstood, and divisive Southwest Detroit rappers Insane Clown Posse?"

A promotional video for the song, which features exclusive audio, has also been uploaded to the internet and you can watch it in full below:

He took his bright yellow mobile record store, an exciting concept which sprung from his Third Man label, down to the South By South West Festival in Texas yesterday, March 16, and treated onlookers to a special mini set. 

The former White Stripes star played 'Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground' and a cover of the Buddy Holly track 'Not Fade Away'. Watch his exclusive performance, here:

The method in question is a big yellow 'Third Man' van that houses decks, a state-of-the-art sound system with turntables and a microphone, and records that will be for sale. This innovative idea of what is, effectively, a mobile store will also have the capabilities to host live shows. 

The former White Stripes star unveiled a promotional video for his new project, which he calls his 'Third Man Rolling Record Store', and he plans to bring it to the public at next week's SXSW Festival in Texas. Watch the clip here:

A statement appeared on Third Man Records earlier this afternoon that read:

"The White Stripes would like to announce that today, February 2nd, 2011, their band has officially ended and will make no further new recordings or perform live."

"The reason is not due to artistic difficulties or lack of wanting to continue, nor any health issues as both Meg and Jack are feeling fine and in good health."

The band themselves added a message to long-standing fans that simply said:

"The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore. The White Stripes belong to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is that it can last forever if people want it to. Thank you for sharing this experience. Your involvement will never be lost on us and we are truly grateful."

Watch the video for the duo's iconic hit, 'Seven Nation Army', here: