by Paul Cashmere – February 13 2010

Bono is saying the next U2 album will be called `Songs of Ascent’. He should know.

In an interview with Sean O’Hagan, Bono called ‘Songs of Ascent’ the sister album to ‘No Line Of The Horizon’, similar to how ‘Zooropa’ and ‘Achtung Baby’ were bookends.

Atu2.com says the album is expected to be produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois once again, with additional work by Steve Lillywhite.

Some of the songs are expected to be the leftover tracks from ‘No Line On The Horizon’, but some are older.

Songs expected to be used include ‘North Star’, an unused track from ‘How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb’.

‘Winter’, the song that didn’t make ‘No Line On The Horizon’ but was used in the movie ‘Brothers’ is expected to make the new album and ‘Kingdom Of Your Love’, heard in part of the intro music of the U2 360 Tour is also expected on the album.

Other tracks we might find there are “Every Breaking Wave’, ‘If I Could Live My Life Again’, ‘Love Is All We Have Left’, ‘Mercy’, ‘Lead Me In The Way I Should Go’ and ‘You Can’t Give Away Your Heart’.

Bono told the Irish Independent that the album may be out in June.

- Undercover.com.au

U2’s Larry Mullen Jr. has landed a voiceover role in his favourite show after asking producers to consider him for a part.

The drummer will lend his voice to a pair of characters in the upcoming season of The Cleveland Show – a mobster and an Elvis Presley impersonator.

Show star Mike Henry, who voices the lead character, Cleveland, tells the BBC, “We just recorded him doing a couple of different parts and he was very funny.”

- Canoe – JAM

U2’s latest tour has been voted the year’s best stage show by crews who work on major gigs around the world.

The 360 Degree tour, which used a groundbreaking “claw” stage, was named live production of the year at the Total Production International Awards.

The ceremony, hosted by TPI magazine, rewards roadies, riggers, truckers and other behind-the-scenes workers.

The Edge’s roadie Dallas Schoo won an award, while U2 production guru Willie Williams picked up two prizes.

TPI magazine editor-in-chief Mark Cunningham said the Irish band’s tour had “made the biggest noise” of the last 12 months in more ways than one.

“It is a massive engineering feat – from scenery to video to audio, with the biggest PA system that has ever been seen on a tour,” he said.

“It’s a fantastic achievement and the four members of U2 are effectively the icing on the cake.”

The TPI Awards were first held in 2002 and the winners are voted for by readers of the magazine.

This year’s ceremony was hosted by BBC Radio 2 broadcaster Chris Evans and attracted artists including the Pet Shop Boys, Kaiser Chiefs singer Ricky Wilson and former Public Image Limited bassist Jah Wobble.

Speaking about the nominees at the black tie event, Wobble said: “It’s very interesting seeing all these people with mohican haircuts and beards done up looking very uncomfortable wearing black suits and bow ties and all that.

“You just know they’d rather be wearing jeans and bomber jackets.”

- BBC News

The BBC has admitted coverage of the launch of U2 album No Line On The Horizon last February, went too far – giving “undue prominence” to the band.

Critics said the BBC had given U2 “the sort of publicity money can’t buy”.

The corporation’s editorial complaints unit (ECU) acknowledged that radio coverage of the event, including a rooftop concert, breached guidelines.

The Edge & Bono

It added the use of the slogan U2 = BBC “gave an inappropriate impression of endorsement”.

RadioCentre, the trade body for commercial radio companies, made a formal complaint over the coverage.

Complaints over the free publicity given to the band on BBC TV, radio and online included those of Conservative MP Nigel Evans, who said it was “the sort of publicity money can’t buy”.

“Why should licence fee-payers shoulder the cost of U2’s publicity?”

The ECU admitted that a reference to the BBC being “part of launching this new album”, in an interview between Radio 1 presenter Zane Lowe and U2 singer Bono, was inappropriate.

The body also upheld a complaint that it was inappropriate for the Radio 1 website to contain links to the websites of ticket agents for the band’s concerts.

‘Potentially sensitive’

“The Radio 1 leadership team have reminded executive producers and presenters about the issues to be considered in relation to judgments about undue prominence, and the distinction between the reporting of new artistic work and commercial promotion,” it said, earlier this week.

“The management of BBC Marketing, Communication and Audiences (the Division responsible for the U2 = BBC graphic) has reminded all staff of the need to consult the editorial policy team in a timely manner for advice when potentially sensitive issues such as commercial interests are involved.”

However, complaints about an edition of Jo Whiley’s Radio 1 show, and a BBC News online report of the U2 concert on the roof of Broadcasting House, were not upheld.

A crowd of around 5,000 watched the rooftop show, which capped off a day of promotion for the Irish band’s 12th studio album, with U2 appearing as special guests on Radio 1.

The band performed four tracks during the 20-minute gig, which was broadcast live on DJ Chris Evans’s BBC Radio 2 show.

- BBC

Elevation Partners, the Silicon Valley private equity firm that counts U2’s Bono among its investors, announced Wednesday that it has committed up to $100 million in funding for reviews site Yelp.

It’s initially investing $25 million in the Series E round, and plans to increase the investment to up to $100 million through the purchase of stock from employees whose stock has vested, as well as other eligible shareholders. Elevation co-founder Marc Bodnick will join Yelp’s board of directors.

The funding round comes just a month after Yelp was reportedly close to a $500 million acquisition by Google, and then is believed to have turned down the deal at the 11th hour. At the time, it was widely believed that Yelp may have made the about-face because a better deal came along.

“We have been able to grow and scale our business quickly, even in the tough economic environment of the last year–a clear indicator that we’ve only begun to realize the potential of local search,” Yelp CEO and co-founder Jeremy Stoppelman said in a release. “This investment in Yelp provides us with even more capital to focus on scaling our already proven business model and we are thrilled to have Elevation as a new partner.”

Translation: They think they can get much bigger than $500 million.

- CNET

The American Ireland Fund’s annual New York spring gala should easily be a sell-out this year, as Bono will be the special guest of honor.

The 35th annual dinner, set for Thursday, May 6, will take place at The Tent at Lincoln Center. Always one of the best nights on the Irish American social calendar, this year’s gala should be extra-special given the presence of Bono, one of the world’s most famous humanitarians . . . and, of course, rock stars.

The desire to provide music education to Irish schoolchildren brought U2 and the AIF together last year. Irish kids don’t learn music as a core subject in school, unlike students in most other parts of the world. In 2009, the worldwide Ireland Funds and U2 committed $10 million to bring music education to Irish schools, and U2 so far have provided $7 million in funding.

The New York dinner will undoubtedly help to provide a healthy chunk of financing for the worthy goal, so mark your calendar! For more information on the dinner, visit www.irlfunds.org.

- IrishCentral.com