Guardian Music — With a compelling backstory that might even be true, Willis Earl Beal is hollering the blues so well XL has snapped him upHometown: Chicago.The lineup: Willis Earl Beal (voice, instruments).The background: Willis Earl Beal is the male answer to Cold ... more info

NME - Radar — Check the new NME and you'll see it's full of Radar bands. Yup, tis our first full issue of the year, and we're all about new music. I spent most of December overseeing things, and of all 100 new acts we're featuring in the issue, today's tip Willis ... more info

Guardian Music — Caspar Llewellyn Smith on pop's new international pedigreeIt used to be that when we thought of pop, we thought of Pete Townshend in his union flag jacket, or Geri Halliwell dressed in little more than her undies and styled similarly at the Brit awar... more info

Guardian Music — Bassist Alex James confirms the band will play after receiving outstanding contribution to music awardBlur have confirmed they will perform at the 2012 Brit awards. The group will celebrate their outstanding contribution to music trophy by playing th... more info

Guardian Music — Music shows provide a much-needed tonic to the onslaught of bad newsChris Evans (R2) | iPlayerVinyl Revival (6 Music) | iPlayerClassic UK Clubs (1Xtra) | iPlayerWoman's Hour (R4) | iPlayerVictoria Derbyshire (5 Live) |iPlayerLauren Laverne (6 Music) ... more info

Guardian Music — The producer and musician, also known as Jeymes Samuel, who has a star-studded Plan B style "concept album" on the wayWho he? He's producer/musician Jeymes Samuel, aka the Bullitts. Having already worked with Damon Albarn, Mr Hudson and Estelle, he n... more info

ContactMusic — Alex James has given Blur fans a reason to celebrate this Christmas 11 by revealing the Parklife hitmakers are meeting up over the holidays and will probably record new material The news comes weeks after frontman Damon Albarn revealed he and his ban... more info

Guardian Music — The band will join the likes of Paul McCartney and Oasis as winners of the prestigious Brit awardBlur will receive an Outstanding Contribution to Music award at the 2012 Brit awards.The band, whose debut album Leisure was released over 20 years ago,... more info

Guardian Music — Congolese-born Belgian rapper Baloji creates a spellbinding mix of old and new sounds with bitingly modern lyrics. They call him 'the sorcerer'…Cowering under a statue called Belgium Bringing Civilisation to The Congo, one of four golden effigies i... more info

ContactMusic — Damon Albarn was left red-faced at a 10th anniversary celebration of his band Gorillaz after forgetting the words to their biggest hit The British star marked a decade with the group on Thursday 01Dec11 with former Gorillaz collaborators De La Soul B... more info