Britpop's Second Coming

2012 looks set to be a massive year for British music, particularly those musicians who were part of the Britpop scene in the 1990's. So could we be seeing the signs of a Britpop revival?

Last week, NME announced that Noel Gallagher would receive the award for 'Godlike Genius' at this year's NME awards. Now, the chief has a chance to show the world just how much he "pushes boundaries" due to the imminent release of the first track from his forthcoming collaborative album with Amorphous Androgynous.
The song, entitled 'Shoot A Hole In The Sun', will be released as the B-Side to his imminent single 'Dream On'.
So what can we expect from this collaboration? Not a lot of specifics have been given regarding it, other than Noel stating that some of it is "fucking far out". We can speculate regarding this track though.
Noel previously worked with Amorphous Androgynous on a remix of his Oasis track 'Falling Down', which was featured as a B-Side to that single. Given that the title is 'Shoot A Hole In The Sun' (a lyric from Noel's second third solo single, 'If I Had A Gun...'), we can assume that the track is simply a remix of that song.
If this is the case, Noel may have already given us a sneak peak at the song in the video clip for his single 'If I Had A Gun...'. Towards the end of the video (4:05 onwards), you can hear a different version of 'If I Had A Gun...' playing in the background. Could this be the new song?

Official music video for 'If I Had A Gun...' by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

In addition to this, Liam Gallagher's band Beady Eye have hinted at releasing an album at some stage in 2012. The facts surrounding this are vague, however.

Meanwhile, fellow Britpop giants Blur are awakening from their slumber. Having made their last appearance together in 2009, the band have now revealed that they will be performing at the Brit Awards 2012 as they receive the 'Outstanding Contribution To Music' award.

Bassist Alex James, who revealed that the band would play the event, also hinted that the band would record new music together at some stage. However, he did dismiss the possibility of another Blur album.

And Blur front man Damon Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon were recently announced as being the special guests at this year's pre-Brit Awards fundraiser gig for War Child.

In addition to all the Blur goings on, Graham Coxon is currently preparing to embark on a tour in April to support his eighth solo studio album. The album, entitled 'A+E', is set to be released on April 2 and will see Coxon embarking on his most interactive tour to date. For the UK tour, Coxon has asked local bands to submit their tracks to him via his website and those tracks will be made available to visitors of his site. Fans will then vote in a poll and Coxon will make the winner his support act.

But is all of this enough to cause a Britpop revival? How likely is it to actually happen?

Well let's also not forget that 2012 is also the year that legendary band The Stone Roses make their long awaited return. Although not truly part of the Britpop scene, their second album caused them to get lumped in as part of the scene. And their return, along with the return of The Happy Mondays, will certainly be one reason for interest to return to the British music scene. And with such attention on British music, it seems perfectly possible that 2012 will see the second coming of Britpop.

Greater Manchester Music In 2012

Greater Manchester has always been associated with great music and 2012 seems set to continue the tradition of bands from the county dominating the charts and the UK music scene.

For a start, 2012 will mark the return of indie pop duo The Ting Tings. Despite having their début album 'We Started Nothing' chart at number one in the UK music charts after its release in 2008, the band evaded the public eye and their record label by disappearing across Europe following the culmination of their tour in 2009.

Now that the band have returned, they have announced that February 2012 will be the official release date of their long-awaited second album, 'Sounds From Nowheresville'. Only time will tell if the second album will propel the band skyward in the same way that their début album did. But judging by the reception to the release of single 'Hang It Up' in late 2011, 2012 could be the year that The Ting Tings return to the top of the charts.

Having spent 2011 at each other's throats in a very public way, the Gallagher brothers are most likely going to spend 2012 once again attempting to out-do one another.

In summer 2011 Noel Gallagher announced the formation of his new band, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, and the release of their eponymous début album later that same year. But he also mentioned that 2012 would be the year that a collaborative album between himself and electronic-psychedelic duo Amorphous Androgynous would see the light of day. After the massive mainstream success of the High Flying Birds' début album, there will be high expectations for the 2012 collaborative album.

The oft-outspoken, younger Gallagher brother has also hinted at plans for a 2012 album release with his post-Oasis band Beady Eye. In the summer of 2011, Liam Gallagher revealed that the band were working on new material that he believed would be ready for a mid-2012 release.

Is it mere coincidence that both Gallagher brothers are speaking of releasing albums around the same time? Probably not, but it will undoubtedly prove interesting for music fans.

The final reason why Greater Manchester will dominate the UK music scene in 2012 is due to the long-awaited, eagerly anticipated return of legendary Madchester group The Stone Roses in a series of colossal comeback shows at Manchester's Heaton Park.

After months of cryptic clues and rampant rumours, The Stone Roses announced in late 2011 that they would make their return to the stage in summer 2012.

The return of this legendary band has been something many music lovers have wanted to see since the band originally split in 1996 and their return cannot come at a better time. 2011 was the year that slower-tempo songs led to mainstream success with the rising of artists such as Adele and Ed Sheeran. With the return of The Stone Roses, 2012 could well be the year that energy and euphoria returns to the musical world.

In addition to this return, it was reported in December 2011 that the band had signed to UK and US record labels and were "recording songs during their rehearsals". The possibility of a third Stone Roses album is something that is guaranteed to interest music lovers and 2012 could be the year that Britain once again belongs to The Stone Roses.

One thing is for sure: Manchester looks set to be the heart of music in 2012.