We certainly have it, now the weekend has landed. Have you?

Thanks for joining us all week. Check out Five Things We've Learned This Week below plus a host of new music from the likes of TayZay, Missy Elliot, Ty Segall, Rag 'N' Bone Man and Zara Larsson...the very definition of an eclectic playlist.

Have a great weekend and see you same time, same place Monday.

Oh, and don't forget, it's Desert Island Disk's 75th birthday this weekend with a very special footballing guest - Sir David of Beckham. Tune in on Sunday from 11.15 GMT.

If you're off to watch the new Trainspotting movie (and even if you're not) here's an Iggy Pop classic that features famously on the first film to get you in the mood.

And if this doesn't fill you with an urge to go out and have some fun, then, frankly we can't help you.

Enjoy

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1) Independent venues are still vital to the UK music industry

This week marked Independent Venues Week, seven days devoted to celebrating the huge contribution that small indie bars, clubs and the like make to the industry.

6 Music's Steve Lamacq and his team travelled to cities across England including Leeds, Oxford and Chelmsford to speak to many of those working at music's grassroots.

There is some cause to celebrate though as a new report suggested London was bucking the national trend and seeing a stable number of alternatives to huge chain venues.

While our own music reporter Mark Savage spoke to some of the small venues that are thriving.

Image source, PA

2) Geri Halliwell has had a baby and has named it George

The former Spice Girl gave birth to her third child this week, a son, and revealed she had given him the name Montague George Hector Horner.

She was. of course, very good friends with George Michael who died on Christmas Day and at the time she described him as "the kindest, most generous & talented person".

And it looks like this could be her living tribute to him.

Read more.

Image source, Getty Images

3) Celine Dion is coming to the UK for the first time in nearly a decade...

...and lots and lots of you are very excited to say the least. The Canadian announced a 16-date UK and European tour that will take in gigs in London, Manchester and Birmingham.

"These wonderful cities hold such special memories for me and I’m really excited to be coming back and seeing all my fans again," she said.

Speaking of which, we hope Becky, Zak and Sweeting and the rest of you managed to get tickets.

Read more.

Image source, SSPCA

4) Dogs apparently prefer their music in the regions of 'reggae and soft rock'

So if you're wondering why Rover howls every time you stick on some Bieber, or why Mittens runs off whenever you bust out some 'Tallica, now you know.

According to researchers with too much time on their hands at the University of Glasgow, dogs prefer reggae and soft rock.

So think 10CC or Foreigner, maybe some Toots and the Maytals if you're feeling adventurous.

The scientists played a variety of music to dogs at a rehoming centre and assessed physiological and behavioural changes.

Remember... Elton John - good, One Direction - baaaaaaaaaaaad

Read more.

Image source, Getty Images

5) James Blunt is STILL the best Twitterer

Remember on Monday when soldier-turned-singer James Blunt promised he had something huge to show us whilst luxuriating in a bat?h

Luckily, all he was referring to his new record The Afterlove. Out on 24 March.

Why what did you think it would be?

Read entry.

And today Jimmy B released single Love Me Better, external, a clear message to all the haters. We still love you James.

Warning though, while it's not as graphic as his earlier tweet implied there are a few swearies from the get-go.

You won't like him when he's angry.

His previous smash hit single Human hasn't left the top three of the UK charts yet after nine weeks (at time of writing) but that hasn't stopped Rag 'N' Bone Man from unleashing another booming track on the unsuspecting public.

The big beared soul singer, who was named second on the BBC Sound of 2017 list, is back with a similarly ear-wormy effort Skin.

You're bound to be singing this one for the next nine weeks too.

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More new music for you now, from Bury's finest. Don't worry music lovers...Gary and Phil Neville have not just dropped a trip hop track...we're of course on about Guy Garvey and his band of merry men Elbow.

Gentle Storm is taken off new album Little Fictions which is out next Friday 3 February.

Blink and you might miss a cameo from Sherlock himself Benedict Cumberbatch.

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It appears to be an HD homage to this classic below from the 80s. In fact,dare we say we see Kevin Godley in Elbow's effort?...

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Right, culture time you lot.. how much music do you listen to? Could you listen to your favourite artist's complete collection back to back? What if that collection spanned 240 hours of music?

That is the challenge which music journalist Alex Marshall set himself for BBC Culture.

His chosen composer is Mozart and, as a complete Mozart novice, he soon realised it was a pretty tough gig.

Watch below, and steel yourself for one of Mozart's fruitier song titles.

As someone once said: "It's a marathon, not a sprint".

Image source, Getty Images

In line with Independent Venue Week, we've been casting our minds back to our first ever gigs.

The office here has thrown up a James gig at the Capitol Theatre in Aberdeen, Shed Seven at the Liverpool Academy and All Saints at the Glasgow SECC. To name but three.

We asked you for yours and here's what you told us.

Mark below popped his gig cherry watching The Thrills alongside The Dead 60s and The Kooks at the Manc Apollo.

Hannah remembers her first time at the Brudenell Social Club, where Steve Lamacq's tour this week began. But Hannah, you didn't tell us who you saw?

While Scarlett Churchill's was at the Symphony Hall in Brum, but she can't remember who it was either.

Cherished memories. Cheers guys.

We're not sure Wembley Arena counts as an independent venue but it certainly still counts as an answer...Radio Jammor obviously only plays out for the big gigs.

Seriously though, thanks for all your suggestions...

If you have ever seen the work, external of Japanese starlet Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, then you might know what to expect from her new collaboration with British artist Charli XCX.

Crazy Crazy is by Japanese producer Yasutaka Nakata and the bizarre video features the singer's faces superimposed on to different bodies.

There are some pretty gratuitous bikini shots but other than that, it's good clean (kooky) fun.

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BBC Radio 1

Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino popped into Radio 1 this morning to give brekkie show host Nick Grimshaw some tips on how to audition to star in a Star Wars film.

The rapper/actor has been cast as Lando Calrissian in the upcoming Hans Solo standalone film which, like latest movie Rogue One, will be set in the years prior to Episode IV: A New Hope.

Did you get all that?

Glover admits that: "This might be the biggest movie I'm ever in ever."

We sense the force is strong with you Donald, you'll be fine.

Earlier in the week, Grimmy also caught up with reality show star James Arthur, who says he recently hung out in a New York pub with fellow pop singer Ed Sheeran.

James says he was too shy though to make the first move and ask Ed for a collaboration.

Sometimes holiday bromances are best left at the airport.

BBC Radio 4

Image source, Getty Images

We hope that Amber Riley has an understanding boss after she admitted she had never even heard of his band prior to the new TV show Let It Shine.

The Glee star, who's currently setting London's West End alight in the new production of Dreamgirls, is a judge on Gary Barlow's BBC One prime-time talent search for a new boyband.

The actress and singer told Radio 4's Woman's Hour why she thought Gary, Robbie, Mark, Howard and Jason struggled to crack the US.

Amber...Mr Barlow will see you in the office now please...

BBC 6 Music

In case you missed it, Lauren Laverne welcomed American country-rocker Ryan Adams into the Live Room this week for a chat and special stripped back session.

Thankfully Ryan has now ditched the Taylor Swift covers (no offence Tay Tay, your versions are the best) and gone back to his folky roots.

Here he is singing To Be Without You from forthcoming album Prisoner, which is due out on 17 February, his first new material in nearly three years.

Ryan also this week announced his plans to release an End of the World Edition boxset, external of the new record, containing every song on the album as its own 7 inch, an unreleased B-side, action figures and a play set.

We can't help but thinking that Ryan missed a trick by not having this in the record shops in time for Christmas.

Image source, Getty Images

Hollaaaaaaa...

Wanna know how to flip a dollar? Well Missy and rapper Lamb will tell how in the new video for her new single I'm Better., external

Warning, before you open the above link to her first video since 2015's WTF (Where They From) ft. Pharrell Williams, there is a swear word well hidden inside.

There's also some excellent use of the exercise balls that you find in your local gym, by some of Missy's backing dancers.

Don't try it at home(gym) kids.

BBC Radio 1

Image source, Radio 1

Apart from Kylie and Danni and Tame Impala and Sia and AC/DC. Oh and the Avalanches...

OK, you get the idea.

Radio 1 marked Australia Day yesterday by pulling together eight of the most important pop acts to hail from down under, from the famous singing sisters to genre-defying DJs and psychedelic rockers.

Thanks for the music me old cobbahs. We'll raise a schooner to you all this weekend.

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Now here's some sick new moves for you to try on dance floors across the country this weekend.

Most famous for her video for Justin Bieber, Parris Goebel has gone from suburban New Zealand girl to global dance and style icon.

It all began with polyswag - her unique take on hip hop inspired by her Polynesian heritage.

The BBC profiles her as part of a series on Asian women likely to make the news in 2017.

BBC 6 Music

It's Independent Venue Week, external this week and to mark this fact, Steve Lamacq and the 6 Music team will roll into Brighton later for the final leg of their week long nationwide tour.

After appearing in Leeds, Birmingham and Oxford, yesterday saw them travel to Steve's old patch in Essex for a "personal" return to some of the first places the DJ ever saw the music that would change his life.

"I worry where the 18-year-old equivalent of me will go if we continue losing venues" laments Lamo.

So with that in mind today, we're asking Where was your first ever gig?

Who did you see? Is the venue still there today? And what (if anything) do you remember? We want names, sounds and smells please. But unlike some of those moshpits, keep it clean please.

Get in touch now via the BBC Music Twitter , externaland Facebook, external pages.

Image source, Getty Images

We know that because the Swedish pop star tells us herself in her new single featuring rapper Ty Dollar sign.

So good in fact she boasts that she's "the only one who gets you higher". So those of you with a fear of heights might want to be careful.

Our second Ty of the day (scroll down for Segall) seems to agree with her.

Zara's last single I Would Like, external got to number two in the charts and she'll hoping this one will go one better this evening.

Check it out for yourself below.

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Billboard magazine

An increasingly bitter dispute between Blurred Lines singer Robin Thicke and his ex-wife, actress Paula Patton, over custody of their son looks set to get worse.

It's following a court judgement on Thursday, ordering him to stay away from Patton. He was also told visits with his six-year-old son should be monitored. 

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Colin Leis issued a temporary restraining order after Patton accused Thicke of emotionally abusing them and also claimed he physically abused her during their marriage.

She said the singer traumatised her and her son by refusing to leave her mother's home a week ago.

However, Thicke's legal team have called the claims retaliatory, after Patton was denied sole custody of the child.

Read more, external

Pitchfork

That's self-titled to you and me.

Relentless Californian garage punk rocker Ty Segall has today released his latest compilation of tunes.

For his second self-titled album, Ty's ditched the mask and the heavy rock of the Muggers, external from his last concept album and - in Orange Colour Queen - has produced a dreamy psych-acoustic love song that should get you in the mood for departing Planet Work for the weekend.

Watch him perform the track with his band live on American radio station KCRW.

We'd recommend it to fans of late Beatles era John Lennon, T Rex, Syd Barratt, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Serge's Kasabian ditties.

The rest of you fear not, we'll have some very different new music for you shortly...

Read more., external

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Image source, Reuters

Madonna made headlines at the weekend when she delivered a speech at the Women's March in Washington DC when she suggested she had thought "about blowing up the White House" since Donald Trumps election.

She has since clarified that her quotes were taken out of context insisting: "I am not a violent person, I do not promote violence and it’s important people hear and understand my speech in it’s entirety."

That may be so but it hasn't stopped President Trump going on the offensive when quizzed on the speech by Fox News' Sean Hannity.

"Honestly, she's disgusting. I think she hurt herself very badly," he said.

"I think she hurt that whole cause.''

In the words of The Simpsons' Mr Burns, external: "You've made a powerful enemy today, my friend".

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

It seems like a match made in heaven doesn't it? A fearsome figure in the fashion world... and the story of the ex-Vogue editor too.

Only joking Sir Elt!

The singer enjoyed the novel-come-movie (starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway) so much that he's agreed to pen the tunes for the Broadway stage adaptation.

Lauren Weisberger's novel was inspired by her experiences working as an aide to Vogue editor Anna Wintour.

The Rocket Man said: "I'm a huge fan of both the book and the feature film, and a huge aficionado of the fashion world.

Sir Elton's stage CV so far includes the stage version of Billy Elliot and a musical based on Verdi's opera Aida, as well as a less successful vampire effort called Lestat, that closed on Broadway in 2006 after just 39 performances.

We wonder who he will wear for the opening night?

After weeks of teasing, Taylor Swift and Zayn Malik have shared their angsty new video for their song from the new 50 Shades Darker movie.

We thought, given the subject matter, that it might be off the steamy scale but its actually pretty tame.

In fact, one might say they actually look a bit bored throughout most of the video before they suddenly both get really angry.

And we thought the days of trashing hotel rooms ended with Led Zeppelin sometime in the late 70s? 

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