It’s not easy being Keane. That’s according to Tim Rice-Oxley, keyboardist-composer for the British pop combo, whose new fourth recording “Strangeland” was trashed, without a full-length feature, in NME, the overseas journal of record. Read More

A huge Oasis fan, British singer Josh Franceschi of You Me At Six was dumbfounded last year when he learned that ex-Oasis leader Noel Gallagher was tracking a secret solo album at L.A.’s Sound Factory, where his band was recording its new CD, “Sinners Never Sleep” with producer Garth Richardson. But he made a mistake. He tweeted about it, ruffling the feathers of the otherwise unflappable superstar. “I didn’t really think about it, I didn’t think that people didn’t know he was recording there,” says Franceschi, glad to have escaped unscathed. YM@6’s bratty brand of U.K. Read More

Folk-rocker Emily Saliers has a few things to clarify.First, she’s truly happy to be touring again with Amy Ray, her singing-songwriting partner in the Indigo Girls. They play The City this week with a full band, backing their rootsy new 14th CD, “Beauty Queen Sister.” Read More

As a kid growing up in Indonesia, Dougy Mandagi heard the adage that necessity is the mother of invention, but didn’t discover its truth until traveling in his late teens, visiting relatives living in countries around the world. Settling in Melbourne, Australia, he planned on working and enrolling in college. “But it all went horribly wrong, because I couldn’t get a job anywhere,” says the singer-guitarist, who went on to form the anthemic The Temper Trap, now based in London. “So I decided to make my own kind of work.” Read More

Polar Music, Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody’s label, was particularly pleased to sign Luke Temple’s quirky outfit Here We Go Magic, which the New Yorker gradually built around himself after a two-album solo career. “In the words of Tracy Jordan from ‘30 Rock,’ that band is ‘blowing up like a balloon with a grenade in it,’” Lighbody said, adding, “Everybody seems to be talking about them, so we’re very proud to be involved in our small way.” The group’s new recording “A Different Ship” — with acoustic-based tunes including “Made to Be Old” and “Alone But Moving” — is a bold step forward. Read More

Looking back, Duke Spirit frontwoman Liela Moss is still amazed at the remarkable chain of events set in motion by the fashion world’s word-of-mouth. When stylist Sherry Lamden was wowed by the band’s set at Glastonbury a few years ago, she conveyed her enthusiasm to her boss, Alexander McQueen, the late visionary designer.  Read More

To construct her new reality-TV series, alterna-pop queen and gay-rights activist Cyndi Lauper has been committing her hectic schedule to celluloid. It isn’t easy: One day, she’ll be in Washington, D.C., lobbying on behalf of her LGBT-oriented True Colors Fund; the next, she’ll be at the Kentucky Derby in a flying-saucer-size bonnet (“I actually wanted that hat to be bigger!” she says). Saturday, the former “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant appears at San Francisco Symphony’s Black & White Ball in a lineup also featuring Paul Simon. Read More