Music fans have voted the latest album by Keane as the best release of the year, according to a new poll.
Their Perfect Symmetry album was the runaway winner in a competition run by Q Magazine and Q Radio.
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds were voted second while Goldfrapp was third.
Oasis came fourth followed by Kings of Leon then the latest albums by Coldplay, Elbow, Sparks, The Last Shadow Puppets and REM.
U2 have issued more details about the release in 2009 of their new album, "No Line On The Horizon".
The band's 12th studio record and the follow-up to 2004's "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" is due out in March.
The Irish rockers have now revealed that it will come in five different packages, including double vinyl, ranging in price and exclusive content.
Alongside the actual album, fans will be able to purchase add-ons which include deluxe packaging and an exclusive film from long-term collaborator Anton Corbijn.
Meanwhile, Billboard reports that song titles will include "Magnificent", "Stand Up", "Winter", "Breathe", "Every Breaking Wave" and "Crazy Tonight", featuring Black Eyed Pea will.i.am.
"No Line On The Horizon" is due out on March 2.
A cassette capturing John Lennon drunkenly singing a cover version has been bought for £20,000.
The tape dates from 1973 and finds the former Beatle working his way through Lloyd Price's"Just Because" in a recording studio.
It went under the hammer at Bonhams & Butterfields in Los Angeles, with the auction house describing the content as "debauched".
During the performance, Lennon can be heard indulging in "slurred warbling" and singing "just a little cocaine will set me right".
"The background band speeds up or slows down, trying to keep up with him until a male voice finally calls an end to the session after a little over six minutes", explained Bonhams & Butterfields.
The tape has never been heard in public before and the buyer has not been disclosed.
Britney Spears has reportedly swapped the two choreographers who helped launch her recent comeback appearances for the director of Madonna's recent world tour.
The Circus Starring Britney Spears will now be directed by Jamie King, who directed and choreographed her Oops! I Did It Again series of live dates in 2000 and the Material Girl's Sticky & Sweet Tour.
King replaces Wade Robson, who directed the star in her first major US tour in 1999, and Andre Fuentes, who choreographed for Spears beginning with her 1998 L'Oreal Hair Zone Mall Tour.
A source tells US tabloid Life & Style: "Wade and Andre were only hired to choreograph the promotional tour for Circus, which ended in Japan last week."
King's representatives at The McDonald Selznick Associates Agency have posted the following on their Web site: "Britney’s back and going on tour to promote her new album Circus! Congratulations to Jamie King who will be the tour’s director. Simon Ellis will be the Musical Director for the tour."
Jennifer Hudson has scheduled her first live performance since the tragic killing of her mother, brother and nephew - she will sing at a stage show leading up to the 2009 Grammy Awards.
Hudson has been named among the stars performing Neil Diamond's classic tracks at February's MusiCares Person of the Year gala on 6 February, according to reports by Variety.
Hudson headed back to work in Los Angeles last week to begin shooting a video for her next single, If It Isn't Love.
But the Grammy week event could mark the first public appearance bythe Oscar-winner makes since the murders.
Hudson's mother Darnell Donerson and brother Jason Hudson were found shot dead at their home in the city on 24 October.
The body of her nephew, seven-year-old Julian King, was discovered three days later.
The star's brother-in-law, William Balfour, was charged on 2 December with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of home invasion.
The glittering event, to be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center two days before the 51st annual awards show, will also include performances by country singer Tim McGraw, rockers Coldplay, Josh Groban and the Foo Fighters.
A US judge has granted Britney Spears' father Jamie an increase in his monthly payments as conservator of the singer's estate.
Jamie Spears was put in charge of his daughter's legal, financial and personal affairs in February following a public breakdown which saw the star hospitalised for a mental evaluation.
Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz ruled in October that Jamie Spears and attorney Andrew Wallet would stay on indefinitely as co-conservators.
And on Monday Goetz awarded Spears an additional £34,000 payout for helping his daughter get her personal and professional life back on track.
Guetz told the hearing: "He (Jamie Spears) has been working extra hours related to various activities related to her music and her tour and activities necessary to the conservatorship."
The elder Spears had previously been receiving £6,700 a month for his work, but Goetz increased the amount to approximately £10,700 per month and agreed to give him backpay.
Goetz also granted Spears an additional £809 monthly payment to maintain an office.
