D&B Hackney quartet Rudimental have today (22nd January) announced their first UK headline tour in support of their upcoming debut, due in the spring.

Since topping the charts in May 2012 with ‘Feel The Love’ (a track that Radio 1’s Zane Lowe mentioned as The Hottest Track In The World), the collective’s fusion of soulful vocals with deep beats has made them ones to watch.

Their tour will start on April 23rd in Glasgow, with Birmingham, Oxford, Leeds and London also on the jaunt.

Full dates are below, with presale for tickets available from this Wednesday (23rd Jan) at www.rudimental.co.uk

Apr 23rd – Glasgow Oran Mor
Apr 24th – Liverpool O2 Academy2
Apr 25th – Nottingham Rescue Rooms
Apr 26th – Manchester Gorilla
Apr 27th – Birmingham HMV Institute Library
Apr 30th – Oxford O2 Academy2
May 1st – Norwich Waterfront
May 2nd – London Electric Brixton
May 4th – Leeds O2 Academy

The name Artful Dodger will always bring smiles aplenty to those who were garage-heads back in the day.

Well, as you may or may not know, Pete and Mark split from being the production powerhouses that they were – Pete went under the guise of ‘DEVolution’, whilst Mark branched out by himself under the name Artful. [Oh, and the Artful Dodger name is still owned by the labels hence neither party can use them].

Anyhows, after a great release around 18 months ago of Could Just Be The Bassline (featuring the fabulous vocals of Kal Lavelle though originally recorded with Ed Sheeran), Mark is set to release his new EP tomorrow. From the teaser that Artful released last month, ‘Unfinished Business’ is shaping up to be a great start to your 2013 soundtrack.

Check out the Soundcloud teaser below, as well as a live vid of one of my favourite Artful Dodger tracks ‘Think About Me’, recorded in London just under a year back.

Artful Dodger ft Michelle Escoffery – Think About Me

Breaking news within the HMV saga continues, with Hilco (the restructuring specialist who also owns HMV Canada) announced as taking immediate control of HMV and their £200m debt (acquired from HMV’s lenders RBS & Lloyds).

Although Hilco don’t actually OWN HMV just yet, the deal gives them effective control ofthe retailer’s DVD and music catalogue.

Both Hilco and Deloitte have yet to make a public announcement on this, but we’ll be there to update once we hear anything more newsworthy!

Many people are still feeling the pain of HMV’s bankruptcy; for those who remember life pre-downloads, walking in to a record store was always a highlight for music and non-music fans alike.

Well, after last week’s demise, there could be some good news on the horizon. BiS have heard that both labels and film studios alike are eyeing up on ways in which they could help the retailer still exist in today’s download-centric world.

The behemoths within the entertainment industry (Warner, Sony & Universal) are potentially looking to consider incredibly generous credit terms to the struggling retailer, as well as slashing the price of DVDs & CDs at wholesale. Combined this should help HMV co-exist at the same RRPs (if not less) than the likes of Amazon and the big supermarkets out there.

We hope there could be some light on the end of the tunnel. Not only will the closing of HMV’s 223 stores help erase memories of in-store buying, but also the thought of over 4,000 jobs being lost will have a further devastating impact on the already-fragile UK economy.

Fingers crossed the top dog will return!