NEWS DIGEST: Thursday, June 26

9:47 AM GMT 26/06/2008

Oasis’s seventh studio album, Dig Out Your Soul, will be released on October 9. The record will be preceded by a single, The Shock Of The Lightning, on September 29.

Dig Out Your Soul sees Dave Sardy return to the producer’s chair following his work on their 2005 album, Don’t Believe The Truth. Recorded at Abbey Road and mixed in Los Angeles, all four members once again contribute tracks, but the recording marks a new approach for the band as described by the band’s principle songwriter, Noel Gallagher:

“I wanted to write music that had a groove; not songs that followed that traditional pattern of verse, chorus and middle eight. I wanted a sound that was more hypnotic; more driving. Songs that would draw you in, in a different way. Songs that you would maybe have to connect to - to feel.”

If you can’t wait till autumn for Britpop-vintage rock action, The Verve release their first new material for over a decade on 18th August. It’s been a while since 1997’s Urban Hymns. Head over to their MySpace page to listen to their upcoming single, Love Is Noise, off album Forth.

While some would argue that it’s the ridiculous wait for Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy album that’s criminal, it was California resident Kevin Skwerl who found two FBI agents waiting for him at work this week. They wanted to question him about the nine GN’R tracks off the long-awaited album he’d posted on his blog. The ex-employee of Universal Music claims he got them from ‘an anonymous online source’ and has since removed them from his blog, Antiquiet.

Meanwhile, catch up with what Axl’s really been up to on this funny (and yet somehow melancholy-riddled) blog.

Beck, on the other hand, is more than happy to share his latest endeavours. Three out of ten tracks from his upcoming album Modern Guilt are already available to be streamed from his iLike page. Fans of his psychedelic offerings can preview Chemtrails, Orphans and Gamma Ray before the Dangermouse-produced album’s official release on 7th July. MOJO can happily that it’s his best since Sea Change, a supremely deft merging of technology and melancholy pop strains.

R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe is returning to his fine art roots this month by displaying a collection of bronze works in New York. Among others, a cassette tape, clock radio and Polaroid cameras will represent moments of change. Stipe explains: “The radio alarm clock changed forever the fragile state between sleeping and waking, allowing you to wake to your favourite radio station.” Put your credit cards away, though: these terribly cerebral pieces are not for sale.

In 2002, polybandmember Damon Albarn co-founded the Honest Jon’s label with the landmark London record shop of the same name. Today he is preparing to showcase the label’s diverse talent by taking An Honest Jon’s Chop Up! on the road. Think a Stax revue-type thing visiting The Barbican on July 5, Lyon on July 10 and New York’s Lincoln Centre Festival on July 12. Acts include the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Simone White and Malians Kokanko Sata, Afel Bocoum and Lobi Traore.

STOP PRESS! Kora legend Toumani Diabate has just joined the Barbican bill.

Posted by Ross_Bennett at 9:47 AM GMT 26/06/2008