In her sixth week at the top, Pink polishes off an incredible run up to a Christmas number one.

She’s been dominating the chart for over a month up to Christmas, and Pink’s Greatest Hits... So Far holds on to the number one album on the ARIA Weighted Album Chart for the sixth week in a row.

Understandably, everything else looks much the same due to constant yuletide spending and the drought of new releases.

Susan Boyle, Bon Jovi, Altiyan Childs, Glee, Guy Sebastian, Ronan Keating, Katy Perry, Black Eyed Peas and James Blunt wrap up the top ten.

Josh Groban’s Illuminations shot up from 46 to 21 on the back of a promo tour, and Kate Ceberano’s Merry Christmas slipped down from 35 to 52 on last minute purchases.

Otherwise, there was hardly any movement and physical sales once again trumped digital sales (a download isn’t so much of an impressive present).

Charts are likely to remain static, as new albums start kicking in around February.

Source undercover

Blur are said to be hitting the studio sometime in January, with plans to release a full-length album by the end of 2011. Which makes frontman Damon Albarn one busy bee: in addition to releasing the Gorillaz disc Plastic Beach earlier this year and touring behind the record, he's got another CD (recorded on an iPad!) ready for public consumption on Christmas.

An honest-to-goodness new Blur record is, of course, big news - the original lineup of Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree haven't put out an album since 13 in 1999. (The last Blur record, Think Tank, came out in 2003, but Coxon's contributions to that effort were minimal.)

The group reunited in 2009 to much fanfare for a string of huge outdoor festivals, and they even recorded a single, Fool's Day, which was issued last April for Record Store Day. According to a source who spoke to The Sun, "When they went into the studio earlier this year everyone was really pleased to discover that the old magic was still there. They would have liked to have done more, but Damon could not take part due to his commitments with Gorillaz. Now that he's finished touring with the band, he has more time on his hands."

Earlier this year, Albarn said that last year's shows "healed a very deep wound for all four of us."

Source musicradar

Cliff Richard has told England's Daily Express that his next album will be a duets set with artists from the Motown roster.

Richard explained "The New Year has an exciting project. David Gest, of I'm A Celebrity. has come up with the idea of me doing a CD, Cliff Richard Sings Soul with various Motown soul artists. We are working now on the details."

Gest may be best known as the former husband of Liza Minnelli and was also close with Michael Jackson. He has been active over the last five years on British TV with appearances on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here and his own reality show.

Richard's last album, Bold As Brass, concentrated on a big band sound. He has charted 53 albums (plus eight soundtracks and cast albums) and 137 singles on the British charts, including 69 that reached the top ten and 14 that made it to number 1.

Source music-news

Don Henley took the Eagles 'Long Road Out Of Eden' tour into Christmas mode last night with the addition of the Eagles' cover of the Charles Brown Christmas classic 'Please Come Home For Christmas' into the setlist.

Henley acknowledged from the stage in Melbourne, Australia that the band was almost at the end of the 2010 tour, that they were far from home and how they were missing their families.

Eagles performed 'Please Come Home For Christmas' as an extra song before their closer 'Desperado'.

The 'Long Road Out Of Eden' tour is now three years in after commencing in London on March 20, 2008. In February 2011, the tour will recommence in Bangkok, Thailand with then more European dates pencilled in from May.

The final Eagles show for 2010 is tonight at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

The setlist from last night's show was:

Seven Bridges Road (from Eagles Live, 1980)
How Long (from Long Road Out Of Eden, 2007)
I Don't Want To Hear Anymore (from Long Road Out Of Eden, 2007)
Hotel California (from Hotel California, 1976)
Peaceful Easy Feeling (from Eagles, 1972)
I Can't Tell You Why (from The Long Run, 1979)
Witchy Woman (from Eagles, 1972)
Lyin' Eyes (from One Of These Nights, 1975)
The Boys Of Summer (from Don's Building The Perfect Beast, 1984)
In The City (from The Long Run, 1979)
The Long Run (from The Long Run, 1979)

No More Walks In The Wood (from Long Road Out Of Eden, 2007)
Waiting In The Weeds (from Long Road Out Of Eden, 2007)
No More Cloudy Days (from Farewell 1 DVD, 2005)
Love Will Keep Us Alive (from Hell Freezes Over, 1994)
Best Of My Love (from On The Border, 1974)
Take It To The Limit (from One Of These Nights, 1975)
Long Road Out Of Eden (from Long Road Out Of Eden, 2007)
Walk Away (from James Gang, Thirds, 1971)
One Of These Nights (from One Of These Nights, 1975)
Life's Been Good (from Joe's But Seriously Folks, 1978)
Dirty Laundry (from Don's I Can't Stand Still, 1982)
Funk #49 (from James Gang, James Gang Rides Again, 1970)
Heartache Tonight (from The Long Run, 1979)
Life In The Fast Lane (from Hotel California, 1976)

Take It Easy (from Eagles, 1972)
Rocky Mountain Way (from Joe's You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind, 1976)

Please Come Home For Christmas (single, 1980)
Desperado (from Desperado, 1973)

Source music-news

Kings Of Leon's show at London's O2 Arena tonight (February 21) has been postponed because of a tourbus fire at the venue.

Around 60 firefighters fought to control the blaze. A spokesperson for the London Fire Brigade told Uncut's sister-title NME that the firefighters were called to the scene at 8:18am (GMT) this morning and that the fire was out by 11:33am. No injuries were reported.

The band are planning to reschedule the gig for early 2011.

Their spokesperson said: "The complications and disruption caused by this morning's fire have meant there is now insufficient time to rig the arena for tonight's performance."

They added: "Every opportunity has been made to allow the concert to go ahead as planned and it is a great disappointment to have to postpone the event. We are thankful to report that all crew are safe and no one was seriously injured. Kings Of Leon send their sincerest apologies to all the fans who were planning and travelling to attend what was due to be a triumphant finale to their European tour tonight. The date will be rescheduled in 2011 at the first available opportunity."

The fire took place in a loading bay at the arena and did not affect the seating or viewing area.

Station Manager Sally Cartwright, who was at the scene, said: "One double decker tour bus within a loading bay was badly damaged by the fire. It was quite a large incident and we had around 60 firefighters there at the height of the blaze.

She added: "Firefighters arrived on the scene quickly and were met by extremely hot and smoky conditions. Our crews should be extremely proud of themselves – they did a fantastic job today and managed to prevent the fire from spreading. We are now working closely with staff from the O2 to ensure that a normal service is restored as quickly as possible."

Following the announcement bassist Jared Followill posted a message on his Twitter page, Twitter.com/youngfollowill, writing: "Thank God all the crew are safe. Gutted"

Source UNCUT

Elbow have unveiled the first track from their new album 'Build A Rocket Boys!'.

The band have posted an in-studio clip of 'Lippy Kids' at buildarocketboys.com - see below for the full video.

The song lyrically references the title of Guy Garvey and co's fifth album, which is due to be released on March 7.

Earlier this month, Elbow announced the tracklisting for 'Build A Rocket Boys!'
and admitted that the songs had been written with big venues in mind.

Elbow will kick off their tour of UK arenas eight days after the album is released.

Elbow, 'Lippy Kids' - track review

Source NME