NEWS DIGEST: Wednesday, January 21

10:02 AM GMT 21/01/2009

Seasick Steve, bluesman extraordinaire and long-standing MOJO fave, has bagged a Brit award nomination for Best International Artist.

He joins the likes of Kanye West, Jay-Z, Beck, Neil Diamond, Coldplay and Duffy on the list of hopefuls all set to battle it out when the ceremony takes place in London on February 20.

For the full list of nominations head over HERE.

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Yusuf Islam, the former Cat Stevens, will follow up his 2006 album, An Other Cup, with a new record set for release later this year.

Speaking to Billboard, the acoustic troubadour said: "This one was really a result of me writing a lot of songs and being kind of inspired again. After I recorded ...Cup people just wanted to hear me do a lot of simple stuff, just with the guitar."

A single, Boots & Sand, will precede the album. The song features contributions rom Paul McCartney and Dolly Parton, while the video was shot by Jesse 'Son Of Bob' Dylan.

"Perhaps I went to town a little bit with the production on the last album," says Yusuf. "I was just having fun with the new technologies - we have endless tracks on Pro Tools. You can just flow them out and add and add, and I did."

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Madness will return later this year with their long-awaited ninth studio album, The Liberty Of Norton Folgate. And that's not the only good news for fans of the London perennials. Madstock V will take place on July 17 in the capital's Victoria Park. Tickets cost £25 and can be obtained HERE. A series of special guests are to be announced over the coming months.

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And finally...continuing to conquer all before them, Fleet Foxes recently appeared on America's legendary comedy show Saturday Night Live. Their performance was terrific. Check it out below.

Posted by Ross_Bennett at 10:02 AM GMT 21/01/2009

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