Another jam-packed month is in store for music lovers on Blyk. Not only do we have more urban charts and free ringtones from top grime producer Skitz Beatz, we’ll also see the return of the mighty DJ Ironik with some serious freeness for you all.

Electro-pop pioneers Thunderheist will be touching down with some free ringtones and wallpapers in April. The group are destined for big things and you can check their awesome new music video for “Nothing 2 Step 2” here.

Hotly-tipped indie rockers Twisted Wheel also make their Blyk Music debuts in April. You’ll get access to a free MP3 download from them, plus we’ve been given a WORLD EXCLUSIVE live performance of “Lucy the Castle” which you can check out here and nowhere else.

To round things off we’re expecting Lily Allen to come back with your text questions answered this month. And finally, all we can say is keep your phones switched on for a very, very special competition involving Ciara, a custom pair of Nike trainers and the inevitable envy of the lucky winner’s friends. Don’t say we didn’t warn you…

Last week we saw thousands of you texting in questions to ask Lily Allen. We’ve shortlisted a shed load for her to answer so watch this space to check out the winning 10 questions and answers! And it was great that even more of you downloaded the exclusive Qemist feat Whiley ringtone - keep your phones on for more Qemist giveaways very soon.

This month is looking good for Blyk’s music fans too. One lucky Blyk member will win a personal video performance from new Radio 1 faves You Me At Six! March also sees Mr Scruff back, this time with the chance to win some personalised drawings and wallpapers from the acclaimed DJ, producer (and cartoonist).

We also look forward to hearing from Metric. This Canadian band are about to be massive and will kindly donate an exclusive acoustic version of their new single for Blyk members to download from their login at www.blyk.co.uk. This version of the track won’t be available anywhere else so big thanks to them.

One of the most unique music stories this month is that 30 Blyk members will help film and star in a music video for new grime star Ice Kid. The whole video will be shot on Blyk members’ camera phones with some special ‘bullet time’ effects! Think Matrix, but in grime. MTV Base are running some footage around the making of the video and will be supporting it on-air so keep your eyes and ears peeled. If this sounds like your bag you can still get involved by emailing your name and number to competitions@blyk.com.

As if that’s not enough there’s still more coming this month - we’ll also be introducing you to some great new acts you may not have heard about yet including School of Seven Bells, Xrabit feat DMG$ and the Dolly Rockers. Hotness.

Just a quick note to the ten thousand or so Blyk members who entered the competition to get their names in Ironik’s album sleevenotes. We whittled it down to a measly one thousand and the list of winners can be found in the attached text file. Well done to those who made the cut!

Don’t forget Ironik’s album is out Monday 29th September. Am sure there will be at least a thousand of you who’ll be wanting a copy!

www.myspace.com/djironik

Here’s the straight dope on the latest news from our resident Blyk Music guru, Ben Dellow:

If you’re profiled as a fan of urban music you should have started to get a weekly top 5 and audio clip from Kiss FM’s grime DJ Logan Sama. Each Monday he brings Blyk members his hottest track of the week plus his top 5 club bangers. Sort your music profile out at blyk.co.uk/yourblyk/interests to start getting this now.

London rapper Sway called upon Blyk members to star in his music video for new single “Saturday Night Hustle”. Look out for pics and reports from the winners on our blog. This week we are also offering members the chance to be in DJ Ironik’s new video - the follow up to the massive “Stay With Me”. The new single is “I Wanna Be Your Man” and no doubt it will be all over MTV Base and Channel U in no time.

This month we’re giving away free ringtones and wallpapers from XX Teens, Little Jackie, Roots Manuva, Bogus Kernals and Late of the Pier. Plus there will be a chance for one lucky member to have The Streets perform just to them - as he records a special live performance for The South Bank Show in front of a camera crew and no-one else.

A few weeks ago we ran a competition, exclusively for Blyk members, to text in questions for the Mighty Boosh stars - Noel Fielding and Julian Barrett..

We received thousands of questions and the Boosh boys have answered their favourite 5!

All 5 winning questions win a pair of tickets to the Mighty Boosh Festival, Hop Farm, Kent on the 5th July.

The Boosh’s favourite overall question will enusre free tickets to the festival and the lucky winner can also touch Noel Fielding’s hair (but don’t grab it)!

Check out the 5 winning questions and the Boosh’s answers below:

The overall winning question below was sent in by Amy Drew (congratulations!)

Q - “Who do you think would emerge triumphant from a thumb war between Captain Cabinet, Captain Beefheart and Captain Birdseye?”
A - “Definitely Captain Beefheart would win as he is super magical and can make himself disappear. He is a like a superhero, plus his magic band could come and back him up if things got messy!”

*Other winning questions and answers*

Q -”What item of crockery would you use in battle and why?”
A - “A good ceramic Tea pot – because you could knock someone out with it and then refresh yourself straight after with a brew, providing there was tea making facilities readily available on a war-field”

Q - “Has Howard Moon ever pulled?”
A - “Howard Moon has never pulled but Julian Barratt has. Howard sometimes lacks inner-self confidence which the ladies seem to pick up on”

Q - “Who would win in a fight, jazz or electro?”
A - “The battle still goes on between jazz and electro – jazz is a bigger monster, like the death star, and electro is the tiny ship attacking it. It’s impossible to determine a clear winner, maybe on a long-enough timescale one would emerge triumphant”

Q - “Do noel and Julian each get 50% of the profit from the boosh or is the money split into thirds between noel, Julian and noel’s hair?”
A - “75/25 in favour of hair. Although each follicle has it’s own agent and they all take a cut, the hair is actually left with surprisingly little”

Congratulations to:

Amy Drew
Charlotte Watterson
Josh Pye
Nicholas Grimmett
Sarah Chapman
Rosie Venning

As there were so many entries, the Boosh have also kindly agreed to answer some additional questions as well. Check ‘em below:

Q - “Where did the name the Mighty Boosh come from?”
A - “The name Boosh came from a childhood memory where Noel overheard his brother’s 6 year old Portugese friend refer to his brother’s big barnet as a “mighty boosh”

Q - “What was the initial inspiration behind the Mighty Boosh?”
A - “Inspiration was us doing something together. Making a world that is as big as the world itself, encompassing music, poetry, visual arts etc etc”

Q - “What is your favorite type of moustache?”
A- “Julian’s favourite type of moutache is a 70s teacher’s handlebar tach”

Q - “If you had the chance to do a special performance for anybody in the world, who would it be and why?”
A - “Would like to perform at London Zoo to the animals at night time, no humans”

Q - “Why does naboo not have a willy?
A - “Naboo is a himaphrodite. He has male and female genitals. He’s smooth like a gremlin, it makes things easier for him”

A big thank you to everyone who texted in the questions and we hope you enjoyed the answers!

Full line up and ticket info for the Mighty Boosh Festival is here

Keep an eye on your Blyk phone for new exciting Boosh exclusives coming your way..

It’s been a bumper month so far for music lovers on the Blyk network and looks like continuing long into the winter months. Firstly we’ve welcomed Danish pop fivesome Alphabeat to the fold, and will have an exclusive live track for you to download for free in the next few weeks.

DJ Ironik is an artist making serious waves on the urban scene right now and he’s giving Blyk members and exclusive weekly video diary plus wallpapers and the chance to win a dinner date with the man himself!

NME have just crowned Glasvegas “The best band in Britain” and who are we to argue? Expect release messages and giveaways making their way to your handsets right about now.

We’ve also added The Strokes’ legend Albert Hammond Jr. to our ever-expanding roster, plus you can expect loads more goodies from other new recruits like CSS, Funeral For A Friend and Does It Offend You Yeah? Now don’t say we never give you anything.

Oh yeah, and let us know if over the next few weeks you start to feel Dizzee…….

The Kooks and Brixton academy only spells one word - brilliant!!!!!

With their new album out this was a night not to miss. The build up got the crowd going as they wanted to see there hero’s from Brighton! The opening song there newly released first song from their second album ‘always where I need to be’ got the crowd going crazy. The songs continued from their new album with ‘Mr Maker’ which made the atmosphere even louder with beer flying everywhere and the crowd singing along the atmosphere was electric!

The fans when quiet as the band started to play ‘One last time’ and then there was a massive roar. The song was performed to perfection; one of the best songs I have ever seen live it was breath taking. The guitar sounded as the start of ‘Ooh La’ was played the atmosphere was building as the crowd got louder and louder! This was followed straight into ‘Naïve and this sent fans crazy as many started crowd surfing!!!! As the crowd thought it couldn’t get any better the guitar sounded once again for the start of ‘See the World’ and once again beer went flying!! Luke the lead singer then jumped into the crowd sending the crowd mental as a jacket was thrown on stage.

The Kooks then disappeared off stage leaving the crowd chanting their name as they wanted more! As more time passed the louder the crowd became, the ‘Sofa Song’ began and the crowd were at their loudest as everyone went crazy! The atmosphere was out of this world!! As the song came to the end the crowd were shouting there name as they walked off stage.

Props to Blyk for getting me into this sold-out show. The Kooks and Brixton academy mixed together well - words can’t describe it!

The Kooks MySpace

A big welcome to The Futureheads, Moshi Moshi Records and newcomer Toddla T joining forces with Blyk Music this month.

The Futureheads are the best thing to come out of Sunderland since, erm, well, shall we just leave it at that? We’ve already given you a natty wallpaper from these guys, plus we’ll be giving away tickets to all their UK gigs and previewing their new single and album direct to your phones. You can even ask them a question if you like…..

Moshi Moshi Records have brought us some of the UK’s finest artists - think Late of the Pier, Kate Nash, Friendly Fires and you get the idea. We’re giving away 10 copies of their new compilation “Singles” and will be showcasing tracks from Moshi signing Hot Club de Paris who have new album due in June.

Toddla T is someone we’re really excited about having join the Blyk Music family. The Sheffield-born filthy bass maestro has got some monster beats coming our way. Look out for some video clips on your phone and hopefully we will have some exciting giveaways too.

Speaking of giveaways, just to re-cap from last month we gave away tickets to see The Kooks, The Metros, Operator Please, Parka and Be @ Proud Galleries. You can check Blyk member Mark Simmons’ review of The Kooks gig on the blog right about now.

Don’t want to say too much just yet but we have some dope freebies from some huge artists coming your way very, very soon. Just make sure your signed up to music in your profile and keep your phone switched on because you ain’t gonna want to miss these trust!

We’ve welcomed some exciting artists into the Blyk stable over the last few weeks, especially on the indie/rock tip. First up we have some wicked new talent from Peckham, South London in the form of The Metros. These guys are destroying right now with their infectious sound, and you can expect nothing but big things from them in 2008. Check out their Myspace page.

Moving on to one of the biggest bands to come out of the UK in the last few years, Blyk have linked with Brighton’s finest, The Kooks to bring audio and video around the release of their new album ‘Konk’ this month. We’ll also be giving Blyk members the chance to win tickets to their sold-out shows plus signed artwork from the boys themselves. Again, take a look at their Myspace page.

Sticking with comps, Blyk members will be getting some massive prizes coming their way. We’ve teamed up with Nizlopi (of ‘JCB Song’ fame) to offer one lucky Blyk member the chance to get the band playing in their front room. That’s one hell of a personal show. Also Stateside newcomers The Envy Corps will be offering two Blyk members the chance to fly to the U.S. and watch them play in their hometown from the comfort of backstage. Can’t be bad eh?

Also look out for some special artist takeovers coming very soon to Blyk music. We’ll be teaming up with some favourite Blyk residents to bring you guest list, exclusive tracks, artist voicemail and a shed-load more. Rumour has it there will be a Blyk artists gig especially for Blyk members happening pretty soon, but you’ll have to keep your phone on to hear more about that. Keep it locked…

It’s been a busy few weeks for Blyk Music, with some exciting new artists joining our ever growing roster.

One of my personal favourites is a guy called Jimmy Screech who blends hip hop, soul and dancehall. He has a deep delivery highlighting social issues of today, yet is non-offensive and articulate…

His big opportunity came in ‘99 with Grinnin Records, an independent label. Jimmy released two singles in 2000; the first was a track called “City Where I’m From” and the second, a self entitled song called “Jimmy” a hard hitting street anthem that pulled no punches. Both tracks received specialist radio play from KISS 100 and Choice FM.

Jimmy’s big break came through a mutual friend when he was introduced to Mercury prize nominee and UK hip hop’s main man - Roots Manuva. This led to some single releases on Roots Manuvas independent label Banana Klan records. Blyk members can look forward to exclusive news and music from the Jimmy Screech and the other artists from the Banana Klan collective.

Our next new recruits are a band called Operator Please. They’re three girls and two boys; aged between 16- 18 and I guess their music is indie/alternative/rock. Their catchy guitar riffs with melodic vocal lines, bring a much needed freshness into today’s indie music and are well worth checkin’ out.

They all attended Elanora State High School in Australia, where they formed the band (early 2005) in an attemp to win the school annual battle of the bands. They went on to win playing in front of 15 people and receiving a box of donuts for their hard work (now that’s show business!)

Operator Please has since been labelled the “coolest band ever” by TV Hits, as well as “our favorite new band” and “the next big thing” by celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. Their single ‘Just About Ping Pong’ won record of the week on BBC 6 music, and was championed by Zane Lowe.

We’re looking forward to seeing Blyk members thoughts on this up-and-coming band as I reckon that they will take 2008 by storm! Blyk members can of course enjoy exclusive news and content from Operator Please and all our other artists.

Beat Stevie – RIP
It hasn’t all been good news this month in Blyk Towers, one of our original hook ups’ Beat Stevie is no longer. Mike Skinner and crew commemorated this end of an era in their own inimitable style. Blyk members were again the first people to see this moving and emotional goodbye…

Speaking of exclusive Blyk moves – Lightyear members were recently offered free tickets to see The Lightyears live! This went down a storm and we have loads more artists, offers, gig tickets and music coming your way… keep checking back for the latest updates.

Peas out
Matt Bullamore, Blyk