Some distance from the stuffy image the series once had, the BBC's Reith Lectures will this year be given by the artist who won the Turner Prize a decade ago: Grayson Perry, possibly as famous for his cross-dressed alter-ego "Claire" as his ceramics and other work.
Perry's lectures, which will be given in London, Liverpool and Derry-Londonderry and broadcast on Radio 4 in October and November, will focus on the state of art and the position of the artist in the globalised, digital 21st century. Quite how son of the manse and first director-general of the BBC John Reith of Stonehaven would have regarded Perry, at least in terms of his own public image, is a matter that may stimulate some debate.
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In the latest phase of what is beginning to look like a surprising commitment to sustained hard work, Bobby Gillespie's Primal Scream has announced yet more public appearances.
Following gigs large and small in his native Glasgow last month and an acclaimed appearance at Glastonbury, the band has now announced three December dates, including Glasgow's SECC on Saturday 14. Tickets go on sale on Friday at 9am. The band releases a new single, Invisible City, on August 5, another track from the album More Light.
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The track that gives the forthcoming fourth collection of recordings by Glasgow foursome Franz Ferdinand its title will be released as a single a week ahead of the release for the album.
Right Action, which begins with the line: "Come home, practically all is nearly forgiven", will be out on August 19, with Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action on August 26. The set is produced by Joe Goddard and Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip and the single is accompanied by a video which combines graphics with footage of the band, directed by James Odell, who also made the visuals for the group's breakthrough hit, Take Me Out.
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Early music chorale The Tallis Scholars, who were singing the music of Thomas Tallis and John Taverner in Cambo Barn at the East Neuk Festival on Friday, are currently on a global tour to mark the 40th anniversary of the choir – and singing in Cologne this evening. The group, directed by Peter Philips, returns to the UK for a Late Night Prom concert in the Royal Albert Hall on August 14.
Phillips's programme for the Prom intersperses the music of Gesualdo through the elaborate Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas by Taverner, a new recording of which the choir releases on Gimell Records in November, marking the exact anniversary of the first Tallis Scholars concert.
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