A room with a Foo

What do we want from the Foo Fighters? Invention? Innovation? Inspiration? No, silly, we want ball-busting rock songs, impeccably groomed facial hair and Dave Grohl doing his patented Dave Grohl shouting.

So, after Grohl warned their upcoming eighth album, Sonic Highways, would be the band's "most ambitious yet", it's a relief to hear the Foos haven't gone all Marcel Duchamp on us. In fact, they sound exactly like the Foos.

Something From Nothing is the album's first single, and it's one long crescendo. Opening with a hushed, distant, Stairway to Heaven riff, it builds in such a leisurely fashion they temporarily fool you into thinking they've become, well... polite young men. But with Steve Albini at the helm that was never going to be the case and the last minute is an almighty, throaty roar.

The conceit of Sonic Highways is that every song was recorded in a different studio in a different city, with a special guest dropping in to lend some local flavour (an HBO documentary accompanies each track). In Something For Nothing's case, the studio was Chicago's Electric Audio, and the star power came from Cheap Trick's guitarist, Rick Nielsen.

Grohl also throws in a few lyrical references to Chi-town. As Rolling Stone observes, the line: "Here lies a city on fire... it started with a spark, and burned into the dark" seems to be inspired by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, an incident that was also the subject of the Beach Boys' track Mrs. O'Leary's Cow.

Anyway, that's enough context, let's get to the song. It's a solid 7/10 - with the potential to gain or lose a point after 20 plays.

Foo Fighters - Something From Nothing

Bonus content: In anticipation of the single being released, the Foo Fighters popped up on David Letterman's show last night, covering Cheap Trick's Stiff Competition, with Taylor Hawkins up front while Grohl drummed and Rick Nielsen supplied the riffs. You wouldn't get this on Graham Norton...

Foo Fighters and Rick Nielsen - Stiff Competition

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Dear Britney, just get on with it

Is your heart rate elevated? Do you have sweaty palms? Are you on pills for your nerves?

If so, I think the record industry might be to blame. Over the last two years, they've kept us in a constant state of heightened awareness, regularly releasing "teaser videos", "buzz builders" and "impact tracks" for people with the attention span of... Oooh, look, a sausage.

Take Britney Spears. She's putting out fourteen - fourteen - teaser clips to build anticipation for her Hold It Against Me video. Hold It Against Me, the single, is out now and in the charts. But the video won't be unveiled until 17th February, by which point we'll presumably be so overcome with excitement that our mindgrapes burst.

Here is one of the clips in question, which contains the unexpected revelation that Britney Spears' new video will have dancers in it.



Meanwhile, Lady Gaga is over on Twitter posting lyrics for her new single in a carefully orchestrated link-up with tastemaking websites like Perez Hilton and Popjustice. Fans are devouring, debating and deliberating over couplets like: "Don't be a drag, just be a queen". The artwork was leaked last night. The song will premiere on Friday. Lady Gaga will perform it at the Grammys on Sunday.


Even the Foo Fighters are getting in on the act, showing off a new, 30-second guitar riff before they'd even bothered to give their next album a title.



I might be wrong, but aren't we supposed to be excited by the music itself, rather than the anticipation of the release of the music on an undetermined future date?

There are two outcomes here:

1) By the time the actual release comes around, we'll all have lost interest and moved on to something new.

2) One pioneering artist will eventually dispense with the need for full-length singles and albums altogether, releasing a series of 30 second song fragments that never amount to anything more than a hyperactive iTunes playlist for people with ADD.

So, here's a plan. I'm "unfriending" Lady Gaga for the next 48 hours; I'm refusing to look at Britney Spears until 17th February; and if Dave Grohl so much as glances in my direction, I'm sticking my fingers in my ears and singing 10 Green Bottles.

Because if I don't extract myself from this state of constant excitement and arousal, there's a very real danger I'll turn into Zane Lowe.

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Best ever edition of Later... with Jools?

Last night's Jools Holland show starred Jay-Z, Foo Fighters, Norah Jones and Sting. Live music doesn't get much better, does it?

Because I am jammier than a Jammy Dodger, I got to go to the recording. As usual, the best bits were the ones you don't see on camera. Such as Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins pulling silly faces at each other and collapsing with laughter, or Sting warming up by stretching his right foot over his head. The man could bite his own toenails if he wanted to - and it'd be properly tasty, because we suspect he's growing a nutritious selection of vegetables down there.

At the end of the show, the strict and efficient BBC Audience team couldn't enforce their usual levels of order and decorum, and the audience staged a pitch invasion. Jay-Z was mobbed, but graciously posed for photos for about 15 minutes, even cracking a crooked smile for one lucky fan.

For me, the musical highlights were Foo Fighters' Times Like These (ear-splitting) , Norah Jones' Chasing Pirates (slinky) and Jay-Z's Death Of Autotune (best drumming of all time). Tune in on Friday night to see the show in all its glory. In the meantime, here are some highlights from the 30-minute live show.

Jay-Z - Empire State Of Mind


Norah Jones - Chasing Pirates

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