“What’s the most exotic animal I’ve kissed? A starfish!” “My wildest party? When Pete Doherty turned up with this top hat full of kittens..!” Ladies and gentlemen, set your dials for weird, trippy and out-right surreal as Mighty Boosh legend and master of all things peculiar Noel Fielding answers your mental questions (plus a few chucked in from his famous mates). “If I could have any pet, I’d have a Muppet,” he tells us. Okay, Noel… you head back to Loopy-Land like a good boy…

Also in this issue, Jack White is back! After a year of running his label and bashing out off-kilter collaboration with the likes of Tom Jones and Insane Clown Posse, the king of dirty blues riffage returns as a fully fledged solo star ready to re-take the world. ReadNME’s verdict on the first track, the exclusive details on his upcoming live plans, plus, free classic Jack White posters, including a brand new solo shot!

As well as that, the nominations for the NME Awards 2012 are revealed, with Arctic Monkeys leading the charge with an epic seven! Can they hold off the challenge of Kasabian, Foo Fighter, Florence, Odd Future and The Strokes to bag the big prizes? As ever, only you can decide. Full voting details, brand new interviews and – drumroll – we reveal who’ll be hosting the event.

Plus, we catch up with 2012’s biggest rock phenomenon as The Black Keys prepare to invade the UK, infiltrate the world’s most rebellious new record label, and hang out with The Maccabees and Enter Shikari on tour.

Meanwhile, Tribes teach us a thing or two about sucking the devil’s cock (don’t ask), the Lana Del Rey Album is reviewed and rated, and MIA makes her big comeback – but is it any good?

And don’t forget, we’ve got a pair of tickets for every date on the NME Awards Tour up for grabs. Two Door Cinema Club headline, with support from Metronomy, Tribes and Azealia Banks. Full details of how to enter inside the issue.

Subscribe to NME here, or get this week’s digital issue for your iPad, laptop or home computer.

NME.COM blogs contain the opinions of the individual writer and not necessarily those of NME magazine or NME.COM.

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