Guilty Pleasures ahoy! The Pipettes have announced a string of UK Tour dates for October around our fair shores.

Tickets for all dates are on sale now at £10 a pop. Catch them at:

Thursday 11th September - Kingston New Slang
Thursday 23rd October - Leeds Cockpit
Friday 24th October - Derby The Royal
Saturday 25th October - Bristol The Cooler
Sunday 26th October - Oxford Academy
Tuesday 28th October - Winchester The Tower
Wednesday 29th October - Cambridge Soul Tree
Thursday 30th October - Leicester The Charlotte
Friday 31st October - Darlington Inside Out

This post originally appeared over at Londonist.

The New York university system seems to be doing well at the moment - first they turned out the amazing Vampire Weekend, and now Syracuse, New York, has turned out the brilliant Ra Ra Riot who played a headlining set at Monto Water Rats last night. Things got hot and sweaty as they ploughed through their 45 minute set in the tiny backroom, playing with so much energy you’d barely believe they’ve played a gig every night this week.

Earlier in the evening, The Daves warmed things up a bit with their radio-friendly anthems. They’re just like Dave TV too - a guilty pleasure, nice to dip in and out of, but also very predictable and unoriginal. Quickly followed by In Between Days, who sounded a bit like Lostprophets in a mixing pot with Biffy Clyro - good, but not really main-support material.

However there was no hiding who we were there for - Ra Ra Riot came on and gave us their rather unique mix of traditional bass, drums, guitar and keys augmented by violin and cello with enough energy to get everyone dancing, even the boring post-work crowd complete with unimpressed girlfriends. By the end of their set everyone was dancing like it was 1999, drenched in sweat with derranged smiles on their faces. As lead singer Wesley Miles commented: “This may not be our biggest gig this week, but you’re certainly the liveliest!”

Closing out their set with the double header of current single “Ghost Under Rocks” and previous single “Dying is Fine”, it was amazing that the six of them managed to stay on stage long with the amount they were bouncing into each other, falling over and generally having an amazing time. The poor soundguys were going to have fun - the cables of mics and guitars were amazingly well entangled from their antics.

Even if you haven’t heard of Ra Ra Riot go and check them out now - they may not make it to the big time, but they might just be one of your favourite secret bands.

Like your music weak and weedy? Then be happy as The Script have announced their biggest UK headlining tour to date.

Tickets reportedly go on sale this Friday, 29th August, at 9:30am.

Saturday 22nd November - Glasgow Barrowland
Sunday 23rd November - Leeds Academy
Monday 24th November - Newcastle Academy
Wednesday 26th November - Manchester University
Thursday 27th November - Norwich UEA
Friday 28th November - Bristol Academy
Sunday 30th November - Birmingham Academy
Monday 1st December - Oxford Academy
Tuesday 2nd December - London Shepherds Bush Empire

Current band the press are raving about: Cage the Elephant have announced their biggest headlining UK tour to date.

Some dates are on sale now (at £7 a ticket) and some go on sale tomorrow (Wednesday 28th August) at 10am.

Saturday 1st November - Coventry Kasbah
Sunday 2nd November - Oxford Academy
Monday 3rd November - Cambridge Junction
Tuesday 4th November - Brighton Concorde 2
Wednesday 5th November - Plymouth The Hub
Friday 7th November - Manchester Club Academy
Saturday 8th November - Leeds Cockpit
Sunday 9th November - Liverpool Academy 2
Monday 10th November - Bristol Thekla
Wednesday 12th November - Dundee Fat Sam’s
Thursday 13th November - Glasgow King Tut’s
Friday 14th November - Aberdeen Moshulu
Saturday 15th November - Inverness The Raigmore
Monday 17th November - Nottingham Rock City
Tuesday 18th November - London Scala
Wednesday 19th November - Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach
Friday 21st November - Stoke Sugarmill
Saturday 22nd November - Middlesbrough Empire
Sunday 23rd November - York The Duchess

Kanye West has announced a UK Arena tour for November. The stuck up rapper who seems to have his own head a bit too far up his own backside will play his five largest UK shows to date over the course of a week.

Tickets go on sale at 9am this Friday (29th November).

Wednesday 12th November - London O2 Arena
Thursday 13th November - Newcastle Arena
Saturday 15th November - Birmingham NEC
Sunday 16th November - Glasgow SECC
Monday 17th November - Manchester MEN

So, I’m trying a new thing this week: A “daily roundup” of everything that doesn’t merit a complete post of its own. It won’t be literally every day (I do go out sometimes you know), but will be a collection of new MP3s, Videos, music etc.

It’s scary how quickly this Reading and Leeds festivals have been and (almost) gone. I’ve not really caught much coverage on the BBC of the festivals, but have checked out some of the ace videos and pictures. Particuarly loving the fact that Red Light Company are getting so much coverage from Zane Lowe, following on from my live review and initial introduction. Bloc Party look to have been amazing too - check out their live set available here for 7 days.

MP3: Red Light Company - Fascination
MP3: Red Light Company - Scheme Eugene
MP3: Red Light Company - With Lights Out

This time next week I’ll be in Scotland at Hydro Connect Festival, getting mouth wettingly-excited for the closing nights combination of Sigur Ros and Franz Ferdinand. I’ve spent much of today sorting out some pretty mundane things about the festival, like driving and what sort of coverage we’ll be having. I’ve had a look at the brilliant Winston’s Zen, who was at last weekend’s V Festival and getting a few ideas about how to live-blog the festival, amount of coverage etc. It’s gonna be hard to judge just what’s best until we get there, so don’t be suprised if you get tonnes, or next to nothing coverage wise.

One thing we’ve been having to look at is how to camp - I originally requested camping tickets, but got non-camping tickets, so have been looking at other options for us, from Tangerine Fields‘ bespoke camping options, to the goregous wendy-house style Podpads via the eco-friendly myhab’s - I’d honestly never really considered anything other than a tent, or a hotel for the posho’s.

Traditionally, August is quite a quiet time for the music industry - bands are off playing the festivals, people are on holidays, and generally the live music biz is taking a well-earned break ahead of the onslught of year-end tours. However, this week we’ve had no end of new tour announcements, with The Fratellis, Kaiser Chiefs, The Whip, Laura Marling, Joan as a Policewoman, Slipknot and Martha Wainwright all announcing stints around the UK this winter. I’m not expecting this week to have quite as many new tour announcements, but fingers crossed - this winter’s shaping up to be a great live experience.

Martha Wainwright has announceda string of dates for this October and November around our fair shores in support of her new album, “I Know You’re Married, But I Have Feelings Too”

Tickets are on sale now for all dates, priced at £16 except for London which is £20 a ticket.

Saturday 18th October - Portsmouth Pyramid
Sunday 19th October - Sheffield Plug
Monday 20th October - Bristol Colston Hall
Wednesday 22nd October - Edinburgh Picture House
Thursday 23rd October - Middlesbrough Empire
Friday 24th October - Warwick Arts Centre
Saturday 25th October - Liverpool St. Georges Hall
Monday 27th October - Cambridge Corn Exchange
Tuesday 28th October - London Roundhouse
Thursday 30th October - Liverpool Symphony Hall
Friday 31st October - Belfast Grand Opera House
Monday 3rd November - Nottingham Rock City
Tuesday 4th November - Oxford Town Hall

Like your music heavy and theatrical? Then fear not as Slipknot have announced a string of UK Tour dates for December.

Tickets go on sale at 9am next Wednesday, 27th August.

Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd December - London Hammersmith Apollo
Friday 5th December - Cardiff International Arena
Sunday 7th December - Birmingham NIA
Monday 8th December - Glasgow SECC
Tuesday 9th December - Manchester MEN Arena
Thursday 11th December - Newcastle Metro Arena
Friday 12th December - Sheffield Arena

Joan as a Policewoman has announced a string of UK tour dates for December around the UK.

Tickets are on sale now, priced at £12.50 for all dates except for London, which is £16 a pop.

Thursday 4th December - Cambridge Junction
Friday 5th December - Leeds Brudenell Rooms
Sunday 7th December - Brighton Concorde 2
Monday 8th December - Bristol Thekla
Tuesday 9th December - London Shepherds Bush Empire
Wednesday 10th December - Nottingham Rescue Rooms
Friday 12th December - Gateshead The Sage
Saturday 13th December - Edinburgh Liquid Rooms
Sunday 14th December - Manchester Academy 2
Monday 15th December - Belfast Empire
Tuesday 16th December - Dublin The Button Factory

We only profiled her last week, but the amazing Laura Marling has announced her biggest headlining UK tour to date around our fair shores.

She’s dubbed it “The Night Terror Tour”, and will see her play a week of shows shortly after her return from wowing the USA.

Tickets are on sale now, priced at £12 for most dates, with the exception of London which, as ever, has more expensive tickets at £14 each.

Saturday 1st November - Glasgow Arts School
Sunday 2nd November - Leeds Brudenell
Tuesday 4th November - Nottingham Rescue Rooms
Wednesday 5th November - Portsmouth Wedgewood
Friday 7th November - Bristol Trinity Arts Centre
Saturday 8th November - Manchester Club Academy
Sunday 9th November - Birmingham Glee Club
Tuesday 11th November - London Scala