Oxford quintet Foals‘ much anticipated second album Total Life Forever will be released on May 10th, preceded on May 3rd by debut single ‘This Orient’, and to celebrate they’re gonna be hitting the road for a sizeable tour in late April and early May.

Tickets for all dates go on sale on Friday (12th March 2010) at 9am.

Thursday 29th April 2010 – Liverpool Kazimier
Friday 30th April 2010 – Newcastle University
Sunday 2nd May 2010 – Glasgow ABC
Monday 3rd May 2010 – Leeds Met University
Tuesday 4th May 2010 – Manchester Ritz
Thursday 6th May 2010 – Cambridge Junction
Friday 7th May 2010 – Nottingham Trent University
Saturday 8th May 2010 – Bristol Anson Rooms
Monday 10th May 2010 – London Electric Ballroom
Wednesday 12th May 2010 – Oxford O2 Academy
Friday 14th May 2010 – Dublin Abassador

There has been a lot of buzz around the new Foals track which was first played on Zane Lowe’s radio program March 1st as his ‘Hottest Record in the World.’ At almost 7 minutes long, it is far lengthier and more laid-back than the Foals that we are used to (think ‘Mathletics’ and ‘Red Socks Pugie’), but it’s still pretty damn good. While some people are saying it sounds nothing like Foals, I disagree. It starts off very slow and ambient, highlighting Yannis Philippakis’ surprisingly vulnerable vocals. Subtly and effortlessly, they add layer upon layer throughout the song until it sounds exactly like Foals, albeit an updated version. And in my opinion, that’s what bands should do: they should explore what they’re capable of while retaining at least a little bit of what makes them unique.

‘Spanish Sahara’ is the promotional single for Foals’ new album, ‘Total Life Forever,’ set for release on 10 May 2010.  They enlisted director Dave Ma to create a breathtaking video for the song (watch below). In it, Philippakis sings ”Forget the horror here / forget the horror here / leave it all down here / it’s future rust and it’s future dust,” and the video is so visually stunning with it’s rich colours and its crisp, slow-motion shots that you almost forget the horror that you’re being shown (namely what appears to be some sort of dead animal in a bag). Kudos to Foals for a song and video that are as brilliant as they are unexpected.

So it’s that time of year again, the NME awards are fast approaching, the tours almost over, this year Glasvegas and White Lies headlined to bring back post punk, supported by Friendly Fires and Florence. The tour seems to have gone down well, but now all eyes are on the awards, a short week away… I bring you part two of who I think should win…

Best Track -This award goes straight to MGMT (pictured top). The Ting Tings (pictured right) and Kings of Leon provided us with musical sex with their efforts and Shadow Puppets songwriting was far superior to the other contenders, but on a whole the synth-pop ‘Time to Pretend’ was an instant classic and there’s no question who deserves this the most.

Best Video – Come on! Who doesn’t like seeing a load of wanabee Noel and Liams from around the world?? Of the selection Oasis walk away with the prize. It’s one of the less respected awards but hey, a prize is a prize right.. (NOTE: expect shocking results, last year Justice’s brilliant video for D.A.N.C.E. lost out to the Monkeys studio vid – Teddy Picker, a true WTF moment..)

Best Live Event -Reading - based on line up alone..

Best TV Show – The Mighty Boosh would seem favourites though they haven’t actually put anything out this year.. Skins would’ve been alright if it was last years series, this year our screens were graced with the same old thing marketed as a ‘new breed.’ It’s getting better though, and Effy being sex-on-legs keeps up watching.. Before I go to far on a tangent, this one is up to whoever…

Best Film -The Dark Knight. Easily beats the rest, there’s no need to even look at the other contenders..

Best DVD -This one’s easy too.. the Rolling Stones continue in their pathetic attempt to hold on to their former glory.. washed up and washed out they need to stop trying.. Arctic Monkeys scoop this one, their film actually made it into Vue so it must have done something right, plus it came with an uber trendy free poster..

Best Website -Seeing as we didn’t quite gather enough votes to be in the running, I’ll have to go Last.fm..

Best Band Blog – No Lily Allen?? WTF! If we have to chose from the rest then Foals (pictured left)with the tour shenanigans and free downloads walk away with this one..

Best Album Artwork- The Killers

Best Dancefloor Filler – Dizzee & Calvin

Best Venue – Astoria

Hero of the  Year – Let’s say Obama, purely because I think he’s a sincere guy, though if he screws up don’t point to this as us jumping on the badwagon..

Villain of the Year – John McCain, not because he ran against our hero, but because he’s a stupid bible bashing  idiot.. the man is a grade A fool and was better off out of the race in my much insignificant opinion.. he’s an absolute twat, and the most deserving wanker for this award.. (Where is Boris Johnson?? the man’s a tool, and now I can’t drink on the tube – not that I (or anyone else) ever did…)

Best Dressed – Noel Feilding.. Sorry Alexa .x.

Worst Dressed – Johhny Borell - purely because he needs to be given an award with ‘worst’ at the front..

Worst Album -Jonas Brothers, I don’t even have to listen to it, these guys are a disgrace to music and need to take their disney-emo-wankshit and flush it down the corporate toilet, we can’t wait to see these guys crash’n'burn..

Worst Band -We’re spoilt for choice, do we chose the ‘gender-confused-but-not-enough-balls-to-become-a-tranny’ Tokio Hotel, emo-pin ups Fall Out Boy or the revolting Jonas Bros. it’s up to which one makes you churn the most..

Sexiest Man - In my heterosexual opinion – Miles Kane..

Sexiest Woman – Tbh I’m not a fan of any of them.. some of them (no names) look too much like men to do anything for me..

The NME awards are around the corner, if you want to have your say head on over to the nominations page and cast your votes now! Voting closes at 4pm today (19th February)

Like your music in small and sweaty venues? Then head on down to London’s Macbeth next week for Levi’s Ones To Watch 5 night revue at the venue. Five nights of music

Foals have also been announced as playing a secret show at a yet-to-be-revealed venue on Tuesday night. Tickets for the show are free and will be available on a first come first serve basis at the Levi’s flagship store at 174-176 Regent Street, London, W1B 5TL, from 5.01pm this Saturday. Only one ticket per person is allowed and there are only 60 tickets to give away so make sure you get down there early to avoid disappointment!

Tickets for the below five dates are £6 a pop and are available from Ticketweb.

Monday 22nd September – Bombay Bicycle Club + Sky Larkin
Tuesday 23rd September – Iglu & Hartley + Micachu
Wednesday 24th September – Broken Records + Story One
Thursday 25th September – Esser + Stricken City
Friday 26th September – Metronomy + Tubelord

MTV’s Gonzo has announced it’s annual round of birthday shows for October as they stop off at a series of Barfly venues over two weekends.

Tickets for the below dates go on sale on Friday (12th September) at 9am.

Friday 10th October – The Automatic and Iglu And Hartly at Liverpool Barfly
Saturday 11th October – Mystery Jets, Noah And The Whale at Birmingham Barfly
Sunday 12th October – Kaiser Chiefs and Late Of The Pier at London ULU
Friday 17th October – Foals, Esser at York Fibbers
Saturday 18th October – Glasvegas, Friendly Fires at Aberdeen Moshulu
Sunday 19th October – Bloc Party, Magistrates at Glasgow Barfly

It seems Foals are going into the big boy’s league, with a massive new tour throughout September and October.

I’m not sure when tickets go on sale – probably Monday morning at 9am.

Saturday 27th September – Aylesbury Civic Centre
Sunday 28th September – Cardiff University
Monday 29th September – Norwich UEA
Tuesday 30th September – Nottingham Rock City
Thursday 2nd October – Hull University
Friday 3rd October – Liverpool Academy
Saturday 4th October – Aberdeen Music Hall
Sunday 5th October – Glasgow Barrowland
Tuesday 7th October – Newcastle Academy
Wednesday 8th October – Manchester University
Thursday 9th October – Leeds Academy
Friday 10th October – Lincoln Engine Shed
Sunday 12th October – Southampton Guildhall
Monday 13th October – Bristol Academy
Tuesday 14th October – Birmingham Academy
Thursday 16th October – London Brixton Academy

Love Skins? Then you’ll be incredibly pleased to hear that Foals have just announced a short UK tour next March. (EDIT: and they’ve just announced even more dates)

They’ll play eleven dates along the length and breadth of the country next March, which will culminate in their biggest show to date at London’s Astoria on Monday 17th March, and a homecoming show in Oxford on Saturday 15th.

Tickets are on sale now, priced between £7 and £14.

Thursday 6th March – Dublin Whelans
Friday 7th March – Belfast Spring and Airbrake
Saturday 8th March – Carlisle – The Brickyard
Sunday 9th March – Newcastle Carling Academy 2
Monday 10th March – Glasgow King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut
Tuesday 11th March – Manchester Club Academy
Wednesday 12th March – Birmingham Carling Academy
Friday 14th March – Norwich Waterfront
Saturday 15th March – Carling Academy Oxford
Sunday 16th March – Brighton Concorde 2
Monday 17th March – London Astoria

Believe it or not, Gonzo on MTV2 is 5 years old this year. To celebrate, they’re doing a tour of Barfly venues around the UK, with some of the best bands of the moment. Catch Bloc Party, We Are Scientists (who are doing yet another UK show) and The Cribs amongst other bands at each of the dates.

The ever present Operator Please are openers for each date.

Tickets go on sale at 9am on

Friday 12th October – Birmingham Barfly – Funeral For a Friend with The Dykeenies
Saturday 13th October – Cardiff Barfly – The Rumble Strips with Blood Red Shoes
Sunday 14th October – Camden Barfly – Bloc Party with Does it Offend You, Yeah?
Friday 19th October – Liverpool Barfly – The Cribs with Lightspeed Champion
Saturday 20th October – York Fibbers – Jack Penate with Dan le Sac Vs Scoobius Pip
Sunday 21st October – Glasgow Barfly – We Are Scientists with Foals

Photo is taken from Shane Bee’s flickr stream under the creative commons license