Noel Gallagher has said that he thinks the current economic collapse will be great news for our musical culture.

"I hope the financial crisis gets a bit worse - at least we'll get a few good albums out of it," Noel said in Shanghai.

He added, "When we started in the early 90s it was a pretty grim time when the Conservative [party] was still in power. Times of crisis usually bring out the best in music and fashion and politics and things like that."

Meanwhile, the band, hardly known for their radical politics, have been banned from playing in China after the government deemed them "unsuitable". This apparently stems from an appearance by Noel Gallagher at a concert in support of a free Tibet in 1997.

The band issued a statement saying that they were "bewildered" by the last minute decision, and added, "Oasis are extremely disappointed that they are now being prevented from undertaking their planned tour of mainland China and hope that the powers that be within China will reconsider their decision and allow the band to perform to their Chinese fans at some stage in the future."