And so, in the words of the immortal Freddie Mercury, another one bites the dust: Matt Cardle’s been booted out of the loving embrace of Columbia Records just 18 months after winning The X Factor, joining the likes of Joe McElderry, Leon Jackson and Steve Brookstein as TV talent show flops who, despite having once been championed by the voting masses, now sit forgotten and forlorn. [...] Read more!

Spring has sprung! The ClashMusic team came parading into the office this morning, wearing t-shirts and everything. Pastier than a bowl of porridge watered down with milk from a translucent cow, these are limbs which - on reflection - are perhaps designed to be hidden under layers. So we decided to put those limbs to work. Searching through our ever bulging pile of promo CDs, the team commenced sifting out the wheat from the chaff, the good from the bad, the listen-able from the Joe McElderry. Here's what we discovered. - - - Single Of The Week Alt-J- ‘Matilda’ / ‘Fitzpleasure’ Where to tag Alt-J ...

Ticketmaster has twelve months to dream up new charges to replace unfair card processing fees. HMV might not have even that long to survive; could Universal save them? . It might distract them from censoring YouTube . Joe McElderry offered X Factor winners Little Mix on how to avoid turning into the new Joe McElderry. Madonna's fabulous 360 deal clearly hasn't worked . At least she has a deal, unlike Limp Bizkit . Indonesia started to crack down on punk as a worrying form of self-expression . The Wanted expressed themselves by putting their little penis on This Morning's Twitterstream . Radio One ...

With Boris Johnson off having a jolly time in the rockies, nobody was looking after London and the populace turned to rioting. Noel Gallagher, inevitably, had something to say as his brother's trouser shop was robbed . More seriously, large swathes of indie records were destroyed as criminals used the riots as cover for a raid on Sony's distribution centre. Not everyone was supportive about the attempts to help out stricken labels , though. Thank God, though, that Joe McElderry was safe . For some reason, the National Trust released a punk album. Predictably, John Lydon had a moan . Equally unhappy ...

Little Mix, who apparently won The X Factor last week, and Marcus Collins, who didn't, have been sent a warning letter from Joe McElderry : "You'll find it isn't really about coming first or second. I don't believe, Marcus, that you will have more creative control than Little Mix because you came second," he wrote. "It's up to you all to take it to the next level. There's no rule book for popstars. Everyone does it differently. X Factor is an amazing platform. "You are in control of your own destiny. I know people think ...

Okay, so these two things really don't go together, but I wanted to post them both anyway: First, X-factor. No, not the horrendous wasted-opportunity-times-1,000 US version (seriously, is Nicole Scherzinger the worst judge in talent show history?). I'm talking about the UK version, which ends this weekend. I'll be away all Saturday so Sunday's going to be quite the marathon of finale goodness. Although this year's crop of contestants haven't been my favorite (excluding Kitty), I do genuinely like two of the three acts in the final. If either Little Mix or Amelia ...

The everlasting problem of song choice.. In recent years, we’ve seen Alexandra Burke cover the Leonard Cohen ( and later, Jeff Buckley) classic Hallelujah, now forgotten Joe McElderry take on The Climb by Miley Cyrus and Matt Cardle have a go at Many Of Horror by Biffy Clyro, to the many horrors of Biffy Clyro fans everywhere. News today states that the final four of the oft-criticized reality show have each covered Cannonball by Damien Rice, a decent indicator that the song may be the winner’s single.  The recent choices, apart from the Hanna Montana track, show that Simon ...

A few days ago we found out via the fast moving feed that is Twitter that Breaking More Waves had been longlisted in the Best Blog category in the 2011 Record of the Day awards. Blogs are still very much an underground part of the music industry in the UK, so it is nice to see one organisation recognising their value and celebrating it. The word longlist is no exaggeration; there are over 70 blogs on the list. Record of the Day’s website states “Please take time to look online at this fantastic selection of blogs we have been ...

Nirvana has re-entered the Top Ten, with the expanded edition of 'Nevermind' hitting number five. Has it really been 20 years? Nirvana released 'Nevermind' back in 1991, blasting into the charts and changing how rock music operates forever. A genuine underground success story, the Seattle trio were turned into icons with 'Nevermind' acting as a game changer for an entire generation. Approaching its 20th anniversary, 'Nevermind' was recently given the box set treatment. The remaining members of Nirvana assisted throughout, with the original recordings being spruced up in the process. Early demos were unearthed, with non-album rarities used to give ...

Laura Marling has cracked the Top Ten with her new album 'A Creature I Don't Know'. Laura Marling's back catalogue contains just two albums. Of course, it helps when those two albums have received almost universal praise, notching up two nominations for the Mercury Music Prize in the process. Working on her all important third album, Laura Marling released 'A Creature I Don't Know' last week. Lead single 'Sophia' contained some country inflections, yet again impressing with its four part songwriting. Parent LP 'A Creature I Don't Know' was released last week, and has hit number ...

PJ Harvey has enjoyed a massive sales boost after scooping the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize last week. Released earlier this year, PJ Harvey's new album 'Let England Shake' is a work of considerable weight. Painstakingly researched, the record pierced the intersection between warfare and the national character. Wonderfully rich in detail, 'Let England Shake' became a front-runner for the Barclaycard Mercury Music Prize. At last week's ceremony PJ Harvey won the award, becoming the first artist to claim the prize twice in their career. The immediate aftermath of the win saw PJ Harvey enjoy a surge of interest ...

Red Hot Chili Peppers have smashed into the charts at number one with their new album 'I'm With You'. Red Hot Chili Peppers are a phenomenon. Beginning as a group of four wastrels in California, the band's mixture of rock and funk has taken them to stadium levels of fame. Going on hiatus four years ago, the band came roaring back earlier this year. Replacing guitarist John Frusciante with Josh Klinghoffer, Red Hot Chili Peppers completed work on a new studio album. A lengthy build up led to the release of 'I'm With You' last week. Fans ...

Former reality show winners rule the new U.K. sales charts, in a double victory for Sony Music Entertainment. 2002 “Pop Idol” victor Will Young’s “Echoes” album  entered at No. 1 and his “Jealousy” single at No. 5,  while 2009 “X Factor” runner-up Olly Murs leads that singles chart with “Heart Skips A Beat”  featuring pop/hip-hop duo Rizzle Kicks. Joe McElderry. who beat Murs to win that 2009 series, opened at No. 2 with his “Classic” album.

Based on today's brand new UK chart data, Will Young , it appears, is back. The original Pop Idol winner's borderline excellent Richard X -produced fifth LP Echoes has become his first album to top the chart since 2003's Friday's Child . Meanwhile, "Jealousy," the first single off the record, debuts at #5 . Meanwhile, it's another reality singing competition vet who tops the UK singles chart this week — Olly Murs (with a bit of assistance from Rizzle Kicks ), with "Heart Skips A Beat." And he didn't even have to flash his naked ass to do it ...

Most-read stories this week: 1. Morrissey reacts to the riots 2. Tatu wonder why everyone thinks they're gay 3. MIA offers chocolates to the rioters 4. The Sony/PIAS arson: update 5. The PIAS fire: how you can help 6. RIP: Conrad Schnitzler 7. Sony/PIAS fire: was it the only warehouse hit? 8. Should we be helping PIAS labels at all? 9. The Chelsea Hotel closes down 10. Joe McElderry: One of the youths with no future seen near the riots This week's interesting releases were: Capercaillie - Roses And Tears Download Roses And Tears Drugstore - Anatomy Download ...