Pete Townshend has blogged about his next musical project, which he says is called 'Floss'.

He also confirmed that The Who are working on a new album for release in 2010.

Townshend took to Thewho.com to blog about what he's been up to, and explained that 'Floss', which he intends to be a musical, is similar in style to his classic rock operas 'Tommy' and 'Quadrophenia'.

he added: "In this case the songs are interspersed with surround-sound 'soundscapes' featuring complex sound-effects and musical montages. 'Floss' will be a son-et-lumiére musical piece, intended for outdoor performance, or arenas."

Blogging about the new Who record, he wrote: "Several of the more conventional songs from 'Floss' will be featured on a forthcoming Who recording for release in 2010."

The album will be the follow-up to 2006's 'Endless Wire'.

The musical is about the difficult relationship between a pub-rock musician who suddenly finds wealth and his wife. It will be heard in concert for the first time in 2011, according to Townshend, who added that he is "already having talks with producers in New York".

Townshend also spoke of Who frontman Roger Daltrey, who is set to tour the US solo this October.

He said: "While Roger Daltrey exercises his ageing vocal chords by embarking on a two-month Use It Or Lose It solo tour, my focus is on 'Floss', which touches on the current issues faced by the Baby Boomer generation.

Townshend added that the musical has personal connotations with his own life.

"As a 19-20 year old, with 'My Generation', I wrote the most explicitly ageist song in rock. At 64, I now want to take on ageing and mortality, using the powerfully angry context of rock 'n' roll."

Source NME

Elvis Costello will release the first in a series of live albums in September.

‘Live at the El Mocambo’ will be the first in ‘The Costello Show’ project which sees the singer release a number of live records over a year.

The footage for the first release comes from Elvis Costello & The Attraction’s gig in Toronto in March 1978 and features includes songs ‘My Aim Is True’ and ‘This Year’s Model’.

‘Live at the El Mocambo’ is released on September 29.

Source UNCUT

Sir Paul McCartney has defended John Lennon, arguing that the public often misunderstood him.

He claims that many misconceptions were caused by the media and that the two had a good relationship.

McCartney told the Radio Times: "He was a very soft-centred guy and we had a lot in common.

"Whatever bad things John said about me, he would also slip his glasses to the end of his nose and say, 'I love you'."

McCartney added: "The image of John is seriously flawed because he was not the hard, mad man that people think he was."

.Source UNCUT

Kylie Minogue will make her only UK live appearance this year at an ABBA tribute concert in London's Hyde Park this September.

The Australian singer is set to take part at the 'Thank You For The Music: A Celebration of the Music of ABBA' event on September 13.

Minogue will be joined by ABBA's Benny Andersson to perform a version of 'When All Is Said And Done'. She hailed the chance to perform with an ABBA member as a "dream come true", reports BBC News.

"Their music has played such a great part in my life from a very early age and I'm thrilled I'll be able to share that with them personally," she said.

Other acts appearing at the show include Jamie Cullum, Lulu, Chaka Khan, The Feeling, and Elaine Paige.

ABBA's Bjorn Ulvaeus will also perform, as well as the cast of the West End ABBA musical 'Mamma Mia!'.

The event is being broadcast live on BBC Radio 2.

To check the availability of Thank You For The Music tickets and get all the latest listings, go to NME.COM/TICKETS now, or call 0871 230 1094.

If you're on O2 you can get Priority Tickets to The O2 and O2 Academy venues up to 48 hours before they go on general release. Register at o2.co.uk/priority. Terms apply.

Source NME

Keyboardist Larry Knechtel has passed away aged 69.

The musician recorded and performed with the likes of Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys, Ray Charles and The Doors over his lengthy music career.

His death from an apparent heart attack on August 20 has been confirmed by the Valley Hills Funeral Home in Yakima, Washington, reports BBC News.

Knechtel won a Grammy in 1970 for his arrangement of Simon And Garfunkel's 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', and was instrumental in helping create Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound".

Knechtel also played on the Dixie Chicks' 2006 album 'Taking The Long Way'.

Source NME

Songwriter Ellie Greenwich, who helped shape pop music in the 1960s with such memorable tunes as "Chapel of Love" and "Da Doo Ron Ron," died of a heart attack at a New York hospital on Wednesday, her manager said. She was 68.

The Brooklyn-born writer joined forces with producer Phil Spector and her then-husband Jeff Barry to compose elaborately crafted "Wall of Sound" tunes for the likes of the Crystals and the Ronettes, just as the Beatles were about to lead a shift away from outside songwriters.

Working out of New York's famed Brill Building, a haven for singer/songwriters, she also shepherded a young performer named Neil Diamond, producing his early hits "Cherry, Cherry" and "Kentucky Woman."

All told, Greenwich's songs sold tens of millions of copies, and yielded 25 gold and platinum records, according to the Songwriters Hall of Fame, into which she was inducted in 1991.

During 1963 alone, a year after she graduated university with an English degree, the trio hit the top-10 list with such tunes as the Crystals' "Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me," and the Ronettes' "Be My Baby." The following year, they hit No. 1 with the Dixie Cups' "Chapel of Love."

Their 1966 collaboration for Ike and Tina Turner, "River Deep, Mountain High" was a relative sales disappointment in the United States, but reached No. 3 on the U.K. charts. Barry and Greenwich also ended their four-year marriage that year.

Greenwich helped create the play "Leader of the Pack," a show about her own life in the music industry that had a run on Broadway in 1985.

In addition to Barry, she is survived by her sister, Laura Weiner and brother-in-law Bob Weiner, who was also her manager.

Source Billboard