Tuesday 30 June 2009, 11:30 | By CMU Editorial

Approved: Darker My Love (SNAP Of The Day)

CMU Approved

Darker My Love are a noisy shoegazing five piece from LA with a new album out called ‘2’. After listening to it, I immediately felt the urge to listen to A Place To Bury Strangers’ album from last year, only to later find out that these new guys are supporting the Mute signed trio on a couple of European dates. Perfect. And that tie up should give you an inkling of where they’re at musically here, though while APTS offer a more violent, propulsive, altogether blacker brand of noise (let’s call it the My Bloody Valentine side), Darker My Love are more psychedelic and dreamy (I’m pitching this as the Spacemen 3 side). There’s plenty of feedback, horns, violin, cello and moments that it would be rather routine to describe as ‘epic’, though I’m going to describe them that way anyway because it fits the band nicely. Take a listen at the MySpace link below, particularly to ‘Two Ways Out’, the current single, and pay a visit to one of the two London shows coming up.

www.myspace.com/darkermylove

Swedish software firm buys The Pirate Bay

Business News Deals Digital Top Stories

Not sure what’s going on here, but TechCrunch are reporting that a Swedish software firm have bought The Pirate Bay for $7.7 million, and the people behind the rogue BitTorrent tracker have seemingly confirmed the deal on their blog.

Global Gaming Factory X, which is also reportedly buying another software company that specialises in P2P technology, Perrialism, have reportedly said they want to reinvent the controversial multimedia content search service so that it no longer falls foul of copyright laws.

A spokesman said they will develop a new Pirate Bay business model that “satisfies the requirements and needs of all parties, content providers, broadband operators, end users, and the judiciary”, while the firm’s CEO Hans Pandeya told reporters: We would like to introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site”.

I’m not sure such a business model really exists, especially one that would satisfy Pirate Bay’s existing users, many of whom like their idea of sticking it to the man by downloading gigabytes worth of free content without the copyright owners permission. But still, it’s a bold idea.

Whether Global Gaming will take on liability for the damages payments TPB have been ordered to pay the record companies isn’t clear, a big part of the 60 million Swedish Crowns Global Gaming are paying might be to help pay off the fines, even though the three founders behind the service have previously said they wouldn’t pay them. Quite what the deal will mean for the Pirate Bay Four’s as yet not started prison sentences I’m not sure – technically speaking nothing, though it might aid the Four’s case at appeal for having the sentences quashed.

Confirming the sell out, but denying it was a ‘sell out’, The Pirate Bay team blogged this morning: “A lot of people are worried. We’re not and you shouldn’t be either! TPB is being sold for a great bit underneath its value if the money would be the interesting part. It’s not. The interesting thing is that the right people with the right attitude and possibilities keep running the site”.

They continued: “As all of you know, there’s not been much news on the site for the past two-three years. It’s the same site essentially. On the internet, stuff dies if it doesn’t evolve. We don’t want that to happen. We’ve been working on this project for many years. It’s time to invite more people into the project, in a way that is secure and safe for everybody. We need that, or the site will die. And letting TPB die is the last thing that is allowed to happen!”

On what assurances they have had that the Bay’s new owners will continue to service the site’s users in the way they want (which means lots and lots of free content), the blog said: “If the new owners will screw around with the site, nobody will keep using it. That’s the biggest insurance one can have that the site will be run in the way that we all want to”.

The Bay team added that any profits from the sale would be put into a foundation to lobby for more freedom of speech and information on the net. Their blog concludes: “I hope everybody will help out in that and realize that this is the best option for all. Don’t worry – be happy!”

Even more Jacko

Jacksons v AEG Timeline Top Stories

Michael Jackson’s father Joe seems to be leading the conspiracy theorists with regards his son’s sudden death last week.

He’s told LA media that he still suspects foul play, even though the initial autopsy by Californian authorities said there was nothing suspicious about Jacko’s death, and LAPD have said there is no reason to suspect that the singer’s personal physician, Dr Conrad Murray, acted inappropriately or negligently in the minutes before the singer’s demise.

Still, Jackson Senior says that to him Michael’s death doesn’t make sense, because minutes before suffering a fatal cardiac arrest he was happily chatting to fans at the gates of his rented mansion in LA. And, of course, no one has ever previously been happily chatting one minute and dead the next. Such things do not, whatever experts in the medical profession may say, happen every day of the week.

I shouldn’t be so harsh I suppose, the poor guy has just lost his son. Anyway, this is what Jackson Senior told ABC7 yesterday: “Michael was dead before he left the house [to go to hospital]. I’m suspecting foul play somewhere. He was waving to everybody and telling them he loves them and all, the fans at the gate. A few minutes after Michael was out there, he was dead”.

The family is expected to order its own autopsy as part of its investigation into what happened to Michael, while the LA coroner won’t fully report on the singer’s death until the results of toxicology tests are known, which could take up to two months.

Jackson’s mother gets custody of the children

Jackson autopsy rumours not true, coroner says

Jacksons v AEG Timeline Top Stories

Talking of sensational speculation, the LA County Coroner’s office has dismissed rumours doing the rounds regarding their autopsy findings. Although the coroner has already said there was no sign of foul play, his full finding on Jackson’s death won’t be released until the results of the aforementioned toxicology tests are known.

However, various revelations have appeared on the net which claim to come from the coroner’s prelim report. Among the claims are that the singer was “severely emaciated” at the time of his death, weighing just 8st 1oz, and that the contents of his stomach consisted of nothing more than partially-dissolved pills.

But a spokesman for the cornoner’s office told reporters yesterday: “The report that is being published did not come from our office. I don’t know where that information came from, or who that information came from. It is not accurate. Some of it is totally false”.

AEG announce refund process for Jacko ticketholders

Jacksons v AEG Timeline Top Stories

Promoters of the Jackson O2 residency, AEG Live, have told fans with tickets for one of the now cancelled fifty shows that they should go MichaelJacksonLive.com website tomorrow for details of how to claim a full refund, including any service charges they may have paid.

Announcing that the refund process would begin tomorrow, AEG Live boss Randy Phillips told reporters: “The world lost a kind soul who just happened to be the greatest entertainer the world has ever known. Since he loved his fans in life, it is incumbent upon us to treat them with the same reverence and respect after his death”. I think basic consumer rights laws are also involved here, though to be fair they probably don’t order anyone to treat consumers with actual reverence and respect.

Fans will also be given the option to still receive the actual hard copy ticket that would have got them entrance to the shows, which were due to kick off at the O2 dome next month. That is apparently a little work of art in itself, it being a lenticular ticket (you know, you wobble it and the picture changes) designed by Jacko himself. It’s not clear what charge will be made to those who choose to receive this little souvenir of the big Jacko shows that never were.

Pictures of the final rehearsals for the O2 residency shows appear in some tabloids this morning, some shot the day before Jackson’s death, and it has to be said they do look rather exciting. It’s possible we might get an even better picture of the shows that were never to be, because word has it AEG are sitting on a hundred hours of footage from the show’s rehearsals, footage very possibly intended for some sort of behind the scenes documentary to appear on a ‘This Is It’ live DVD at some point in the future. It’s not clear if that content would make a good DVD or album, or both, in itself. Given that Jackson never released a live album, the recordings could prove to be valuable, and could help both AEG recoup some of its losses and the Jackson estate pay off some more debts.

Jackson sales boom in the US too

Artist News Jacksons v AEG Timeline Top Stories

While Jackson sits atop the UK album chart this week, with seven appearances in the album chart, and twenty tracks in the singles Top 75 (if you count Jacksons tracks), the King Of Pop has been shifting serious units in the US too following his premature death last week.

Official figures won’t be out until tomorrow, but Billboard records that the Jacko compilations ‘Number Ones’ and ‘The Essential Michael Jackson’, and Jackson’s most famous album ‘Thriller’, all shifted more than 100K copies each in the week up to Sunday night, the vast majority in the three days after his death. By comparison, sales of the entire Jackson catalogue in the previous week were in the region of 10,000 units. Those three albums are expected to top the Billboard pop catalogue chart this week, with a very real possibility that Jackson will take up nine spots in the pop catalogue top ten.

Jackson has also been scoring record plays on most online streaming services. Omnifone, who power unlimited music services (mainly mobile based) in nine territories around the world, reported yesterday that there had been a 525% increase in the amount of Jackson music being played by their subscribers since the king of pop’s death. And interestingly, while Jackson’s death had a huge impact on the UK chart, it is in Asia where Omnifone have seen the biggest rise in consumption of Jacko’s music. While in the UK there was a 323% increase, in Omnifone’s Asia Pacfic market there was a massive 750% increase.

Novello statue unveiled in Wales

More drama for Rachel Stevens

Coolio pleads guilty to possession

Legal

Coolio has pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine at a court in LA, following his arrest in March at LA International Airport after authorities found the drug in his luggage. Charges of battery and possession of a smoking device were dropped. Under a plea deal the rapper will have to attend an 18 month drug rehabilitation programme in order to avoid a three year prison sentence.

Girls Aloud murder blogger acquitted

Legal

A former civil servant who wrote a blog post in which he imagined kidnapping and murdering Girls Aloud has been found not guilty of publishing an obscene article.

Darryn Walker was arrested in February last year after his story was published on a fantasy pornography website being monitored by the Internet Watch Foundation, who tipped off police.

Walker’s lawyer Tim Owen QC, said: “It was never [Walker’s] intention to frighten or intimidate the members of Girls Aloud. He had written what he had described as an adult celebrity parody and was only meant to be for an audience of like-minded people. As soon as he was aware of the upset and fuss that had been created, he took steps himself to take the article off the website. This type of writing is widely available on the internet in an unregulated and uncensored form. In terms of its alleged obscenity, it is frankly no better or worse than other articles”.

Legend gets Cherry Lane imprint

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Music publishers Cherry Lane have renewed their partnership with John Legend, and as part of the new deal are launching a new imprint to be headed up by the singer songwriter. Legend will sign other writers to HomeSchool Music, who will then work with Cherry Lane to develop and exploit their work.

Confirming the expansion of their relationship with Legend, Cherry Lane top man Peter Primont told reporters: “Through this new joint venture, we are looking forward to uncovering some of the best new talent together”.

Fukkk Offf returns

Releases

German producer Bastian Heerhorst, aka Fukkk Offf, whose single ‘Rave Is King’ was one of our favourites of last year, is back with another slice of heavy-bassed party music. ‘Love Me Hate Me Kiss Me Kill Me’ is released via Coco Machete/Module on 27 Jul.

Remixes of the single come from SCNDL, Disco Of Doom (aka Rogue Element and Tom Real) and Polymorphic.

Check out the single here: www.myspace.com/fukkkofff

Flaming Lips stuff

Releases

According to reports, the previously reported new double LP from The Flaming Lips, ‘Embryonic’, will feature appearances by MGMT and Karen O. The album is released in the UK in September, and the band will follow that with a short tour of the UK, dates as follows:

10 Nov: London, Troxy
13 Nov: Portsmouth, Guildhall
15 Nov: Glasgow, O2 Academy
16 Nov: Manchester, Academy
17 Nov: Birmingham, Academy

Actor Alan Cumming confirmed for U2 Spiderman

Artist News

Actor Alan Cumming is to star in the previously reported Spiderman stage musical which will feature music by Bono and The Edge. The actor has been confirmed in the role of the Green Goblin for the Broadway venture, which opens next spring, and which will also reportedly star Marilyn Manson’s former squeeze, Evan Rachel Wood, as Mary Jane. It’s not yet known who will play Peter Parker.

Blur’s Hyde Park shows to be recorded

Gigs & Festivals

Blur’s shows in London’s Hyde Park this week will be recorded for a future live album release. Both shows will be made available for sale separately and as a boxset. No release date has yet been set but pre-orders can be placed on the band’s official website, here.

Lady GaGa cancels Take That shows

Gigs & Festivals

Take That fans in Manchester had a lucky escape at the weekend after Lady GaGa was forced to cancel two shows with the boyband. GaGa had performed at Glastonbury on Friday night, although it’s not been confirmed if she’s one of the people to come down with suspected swine flu at the event. But that would be a good excuse for the Manchester no shows.

A spokesperson for the singer told the BBC on Sunday: “Lady GaGa was feeling unwell on Saturday and, after consulting her doctor, the decision was reluctantly taken that she was unable to perform with Take That at Old Trafford last night and tonight”.

Scott Mills wants actor to play him at Edinburgh Fringe

Business News Gigs & Festivals Industry People Media

Yeah, not really music festival news, but news related to the biggest bloody festival in the world – the good old Edinburgh Festival. And Scott Mills, who will be presenting a few shows from big Fringe this August, has confirmed he will also be debuting a new stage show there – ‘Scott Mills The Musical’.

Yes, what apparently started out as a running joke on Mills’ Radio 1 drive time show has become a reality, with stage space booked at the Edinburgh Fringe’s Pleasance venue on 11-13 Aug. Listeners are busy sending in plot ideas, though what is currently lacking is an actor to play the DJ in the show. Cue a ‘How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria’ style actor search, though without a prime team television slot or the irritation of Graham Norton and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Contenders can apply now via the Scott Mills page on the Radio 1 website – here – and have until the end of the week to do so.

Music Tank announce social line up

Business News Education & Events Marketing & PR

The line up has been announced for the next MusicTank Think Tank event which, I’m pretty sure we’ve already told you, is all about social media and how it can be used by artists who [a] want to be social and [b] want to make lots of money.

Giving the keynote will be Steve Bowbrick, the BBC’s resident tech blogger and an expert on all things internet apparently. He will be joined by Mark Selby from Nokia, who is involved in the phone maker’s multimedia ventures worldwide; James Dohney, an artist manager and communications specialist; Umair Haque, director of a thing called the Havas Media Lab; and blogger Steve Lawson.

As previously reported, the event will also include an update from artist James Yuill and his manager Amul Batra, who took part in a MusicTank event last year where Nettwerk Music’s Terry McBride gave a whole load of advice on how Yuill could build and monetise a fanbase utilising the net and social media. They’ll be updating MusicTankers on how they’ve used McBride’s advice.

For more information check www.musictank.co.uk/events

Ten years on from Napster, the BPI boss on P2P then and now

Business News Labels & Publishers Legal

The boss of UK record label trade body the BPI, Geoff Taylor, has said he regrets that the music industry wasn’t quicker to embrace the opportunities offered by the internet and the arrival of music distribution services like Napster more or less exactly ten years ago; but argues that those who say the record industry would definitely have been better off had they only collaborated with the first big P2P platform ignore the major hurdles that would have had to be crossed to enable such a collaboration.

Writing a piece for the BBC on the tenth anniversary of the original Napster, Taylor says: “Many critics have argued that the music industry could have avoided some of the problems it faces today if we had embraced Napster rather than fighting it. That’s probably true, and I, for one, regret that we weren’t faster in figuring out how to create a sustainable model for music on the internet. But this view also overlooks the formidable hurdles we faced in 1999”.

Hurdles Taylor references include the simple bureaucratic headache of licensing millions of copyrights, many of which were owned by different people, or subject to different contracts or laws, in different territories, not the mention the (still not really solved) challenge of how to track P2P distribution and share revenues between labels, publishers, artists and songwriters. DRM, he says, was still considered a priority for record labels at the time, and that too presented all sorts of challenges that made simply doing a deal with Napster tricky, even if there had been a will to do such a deal.

He continued: “In 1999 Napster developed a great digital service, but did so at the expense of music, while the music business protected music at the expense of progressing online digital services. [Napster founder] Shawn Fanning and his P2P followers didn’t worry about any of those things, and weren’t prepared to pay fair royalties or to partner in a business model that could sustain investment in new music. Ten years on, it’s interesting watching other creative sectors struggling with similar issues. In the meantime, the record industry has gone through a transformation”.

Taylor observes how ten years on the record industry is slowly catching up, offering all sorts of compelling, engaging and affordable digital music services, from a la carte download stores like iTunes and Amazon MP3, to subscription based services like Nokia Comes With Music, through to ad-funded free streaming platforms like Spotify and We7.

But, he adds, rogue P2P services like the original Napster are still out there, and they don’t have the excuse used by Fanning et al that digital music fans have to use unlicensed platforms because no legit services exist. Lots of legit services exist, he argues, and the rogue P2P and other BitTorrent supporting services are making it harder for those services to succeed by offering illegal free alternatives.

He continues: “It is true that some people use P2P for music discovery and spend more on music as a result, but in the aggregate they are heavily outweighed by the number of people whose downloading substitutes for purchases. If the reverse were true, our business would be booming and not contracting right now. There is simply no getting around the fact that billions of illegal free downloads of music every year in the UK mean that significantly less money is coming into the music ecosystem. Music companies invest more money into [research and development (ie new talent)] than any other similar business – over 20% of revenue. But illegal downloading means that artists are not getting paid for their work, and there is a direct knock-on effect on the number of new bands that music companies can sign and support”.

Taylor’s conclusion is, of course, obvious – this, he says, is why people, and especially politicians, should support the campaign by the record industry, and an increasing number of other content sectors, to crack down on file-sharing, which in the BPI’s eye basically means forcing the internet service providers to play a more proactive role in tackling those naughty file-sharers.

The opinion piece is, in my humble opinion, a little unfair on Napster, who never set out to destroy the basic concepts of copyright (as opposed, say, to The Pirate Bay), and who were actively partnering with BMG to find a legit model before BMG’s competitors sued the P2P firm out of business. Something which the idiots running EMI, Universal, Sony and Warner at the time genuinely believed was going to be the solution to the P2P problem; in awe, as they were, of their smart suited but ageing lawyers, and such was their contempt for the scruffy kids who were busy developing the next P2P innovation before the majors’ had even printed out their Napster cease and desist.

And had a slightly less scruffy (but still not lawyer-style suited) tech man called Steve Jobs not stepped in four years later, there’s every chance said idiots would have been relying on the advice of said lawyers to this day, as their industry disappeared down a plug hole. But hey, that’s all ancient history, and Taylor’s thoughts on the current P2P issue are definitely worth a read.

You can read his full article here.

Seven million tune in for BBC Glastonbury

Business News Live Business Media

We don’t do much Glasto news coverage once the event is up and running here at CMU because I remain unconvinced 150 news stories that follow the pattern “band booked to play Glastonbury play Glastonbury” are all that interesting to anyone. But, while the Beeb is guilty of providing some of that kind of coverage too, I do see the value of the BBC actually recording the bands playing.

As do 7 million other people it seems, because that’s how many people the Corporation reckon tuned into their TV coverage of the big music fest at some point over the weekend, with 1.9 million people thought to have watched their screening of Blur’s headline set on Sunday night.

No wonder demand for Glasto tickets is so much lower these days than a few years back – why tolerate the mud and all those silly flags blocking your view when you can watch it all from the comfort of your sofa. Perhaps that’s why footage of Tom Jones and Tony Christie dominated the red button interactive service this year – a clever bid to make real music fans buy tickets for the real thing next year.

Elsewhere in Glasto news, Michael Eavis has said he already has four acts lined up for next year, which will be the festival’s 40th anniversary. Two of the four apparently have never played the festival before.

90% of UK now receiving digital TV

Media

Almost 90% of British households now have digital TV, according to latest OfCom figures. That means that the main TV set in 18 million homes is accessing Freeview, Freesat, Sky, Virgin, BT Visions or similar. Those stats help justify the turn off of analogue TV signals around the UK, a process that has already begun in some areas. Though it continues to ignore how many houses with digital TV still have analogue sets elsewhere in the house, all of which will become useless once analogue signals are switched off for good. Sales of Freeview set top boxes have gone down recently as more people buy TVs with terrestrial digital receivers inbuilt, though I imagine there’ll be another uplift once analogue switch off comes to more urban areas, and as people have to turn those aforementioned old school portable TVs digital.

Total Rock World Album Chart – w/c 29 Jun 2009

Artist News

It’s this week’s Total Rock World Album Chart, as counted down on Total Rock last weekend – www.totalrock.com. New entries and re-entries marked with a *.

1. Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown (Warner Bros)
2. Nickelback – Dark Horse (Warner/Roadrunner)
3. Chickenfoot – Chickenfoot (Edel)
4. Marilyn Manson – The High End Of Low (Universal/Interscope)
5. Taking Back Sunday – New Again (Warner Bros)
6. Iron Maiden – Flight 666 (EMI)
7. Rancid – Let The Dominoes Fall (Epitaph)
8. Theory Of A Deadman – Scars & Souvenirs (Warner/Roadrunner)
9. AC/DC – Black Ice (Sony Music)
10. Shinedown – The Sound Of Madness (Warner/Atlantic)
11. Bruce Springsteen – Working On A Dream (Sony Music)
12. Kid Rock – Rock – N Roll Jesus (Warner/Atlantic)
13. Manic Street Preachers – Journal For Olague Lovers (Sony Music)
14. Bruce Springsteen – Greatest Hits (Sony Music)*
15. Metallica – Death Magnetic (Universal/Mercury)
16. Disturbed – Indestructible (Warner/Reprise)
17. Heaven & Hell – The Devil You Know (Warner/Roadrunner)
18. All American Rejects – When The World Comes Down (Universal/Interscope)*
19. Led Zeppelin – Mothership (Warner/Atlantic)*
20. CKY – Carver City (Warner/Roadrunner)*

Singer forced to change album name

And Finally

Up and coming singer Gemma Garmeson has been forced to change the title of her album ‘Stalking For Dummies’ , because the people who do all of those ‘… For Dummies’ books, Wiley Publishing, say she can’t, and presumably they’ve trademarked the phrase, or something. Spoilsports. Plus, I’m against people owning phrases. In case you wondered, it’s now called ‘Stalking Four Dummies’.

Britney’s Twitter hacked

And Finally

Britney Spears Twitpic account was hacked a couple of days ago, and whoever did it posted a message claiming that the singer was dead. “Britney has passed today” it read. “It is a sad day for everyone. More news to come”.

Presumably the hacker’s hope was to kick off the latest incorrect net-based dead celeb rumour, perhaps aided by the fact the last but one dead celeb rumour on the net turned out to be true (the subsequent Jeff Goldblum was, of course, fake). But I’m not sure the Britney one gathered much momentum, because it was quickly followed by a tweet from what was presumably a legitimate contributor who wrote: “Britney’s Twitter was just hacked. The last message is obviously not true. She is fine and dandy spending a quiet day at home relaxing”.

Elsewhere in fake Twitter messages, a couple of recent graduates who created a false account claiming to be that of Foreign Secretary David Miliband say it highlights the importance of verification on the internet. Many, including journalists from major newspapers, thought that the account was real, and reported the fake politician’s slightly odd tribute to the late Michael Jackson as fact. The duo who created the account, Rory Crew and Knud Noelle, said they wanted to bring political comedy to Twitter, but have now stopped because it wasn’t really their intention to mislead anyone. Crew said: “I’m not happy about duping the media, but they learned something”.

Reznor rejects Timbaland

And Finally

Trent Reznor pulled no punches in his criticism of Chris Cornell’s Timbaland-produced solo album earlier this year. But now the Nine Inch Nails frontman has revealed that Interscope, his former label and Cornell’s current home, attempted to give him the same treatment back in 2005.

Reznor told Sound Opinions: “In the case of Cornell, I don’t know Chris. I do know what label he’s on now, and I do know who’s whispering in his ear. And heavily on the [2005 Nine Inch Nails album] ‘With Teeth’ album, I turned that record in and I would get back, ‘Hey you know, you might wanna… maybe we need to put some beats on this record’. I’m not making this up. ‘What do you mean, beats?’. ‘Well, this urban thing is really taking off. You’ll get it in the club. You know, what if we had Dre or somebody…’ And the part of me that wants to be the open-minded artist says, ‘I’ll consider that'” I even went so far as Timbaland doing a – trying to do a remix – at Interscope’s dime of ‘Hand That Feeds’, which was laughably terrible. And when I turned in [2007 album, and Reznor’s final one for Interscope] ‘Year Zero’, which I thought had the coolest beats I’ve ever come up with, I hear ‘Yeah, we need some cool beats’. It’s like, ‘You know what? Suck me'”.

He concluded: “And I’m sure there was someone whispering in Cornell’s [ear] and he can put that off as some kind of socio-cultural experiment, but what it was was a money grab. And when you do that, you’re saying to other people that look up to you [that] it’s okay to do that. And it’s not okay to do that. It isn’t”.

Album Review: William Fitzsimmons – Goodnight (Naim)

Album Reviews

Whistling away on the same thread as the likes of Kevin Devine and Iron & Wine is young Mr William Fitzsimmons of Pittsburgh, the youngest son of blind parents, the divorce of whom is the subject of Fitzsimmons’ sophomore release, ‘Goodnight’. “It was definitely one of the most depressed and dark periods I’ve ever been through,” he says of creating the album. Well then. We can see why you called it ‘Goodnight’. Gentle, perhaps a little unassuming, and certainly raw, ‘Goodnight’ is an acoustic and oftentimes dark ode to William’s parents, and, while certainly sombre, is a pretty and delicate piece of work. As a multi-instrumentalist, Fitzsimmons incorporates banjos and the odd electric drumbeat to his primary base of acoustic guitar and soft, lilting vocals, which doesn’t steer too far from comparability to British singer-songwriters James Yuill and Jeremy Warmsley. His style of music is unmistakably American though, and could probably feed half of the soundtracks at Sundance. Album opener ‘It’s Not True’ is a beautiful highlight that builds up halfway through to something mercifully more than contemplative acoustic drivel (the trap that this entire album could fall into if it wasn’t so sincere), and ‘I Don’t Love You Any More’ more or less speaks for itself and the record’s concept. ‘Goodnight’ is not an uplifting record, and it makes no apologies for this. Save it for a rainy day, though. TW

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Album Review: Planetary Assault Systems – Temporary Suspension (Ostgut Ton)

Album Reviews

Planetary Assault Systems is the moniker for producer Luke Slater’s harder electronic work, a guise he usually only pulls out for the benefit of real techno purists. It’s hard to believe, but Slater has been on the scene for two decades now, and “wanted to bring the intensity back” with this LP, released on the label run by the Berghain Club, the Berlin venue where he has been a resident for some time. From the opening track ‘Open Up’ he flies us straight into his techno vision, and with hard bleeps and dark undercurrents, it’s promising. Further on, ‘Whoodoo’ exhibits shades of Steve Rachmad’s early work, whilst ‘Hold It’ is a tough track with a shard of the Bucketheadz ‘Bomb’ about it, with its hypnotic beat and funky bleeps. The pounding of ‘X Speaks To X’, meanwhile, is a good one for peak time techno dancefloors. Sadly, there are a number of low points on here, too. ‘Enter Action’ is merely passable, ‘Attack of the Mutant Camels’ is simply hard techno without a hint of soul. ‘Gateway to Minia’ slows down the tempo somewhat, and overdoses on acrid effects which sound somewhat like clashing light-sabres. The title track builds, but doesn’t ever fully erupt, though it has a likeable menacing feel, while ‘Sticker Men’ bashes along well with its warping chime/klaxon. This album is formulaic, dark, brooding and unrelenting at times, and ultimately Slater hasn’t failed in his mission to deliver a quality LP to the purists; but then, I wouldn’t have expected anything less from this man and his production skills. PV

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Album Review: Let’s Wrestle – In The Court Of The Wrestling Let’s (Stolen Recordings)

Album Reviews

I suppose that being a bit ham-fisted and, well, weird, has always been part of the charm and attraction of punk-inspired indie mentalists Let’s Wrestle. Coming at us full speed with their much anticipated debut LP, ‘In The Court Of The Wrestling Let’s’, the London-based trio have gone for a wider approach in sound than what was originally anticipated. Rather than creating another run-of-the-mill punk-influenced indie record, they have drawn in inspiration from the romance of Buddy Holly and the innovation of Pink Floyd, mixing these sounds in with their roots to create something that floats somewhere between the pleasant tenderness of Noah And The Whale and the offbeat madness of Dananananaykroyd. Nevertheless, the classic punk sound can still be found on title track, ‘We Are The Men You’ll Grow To Love Soon’ and ‘Insects’, where the band ultimately stay true to form and what they love, adopting and nurturing the classic Britishness of music created by their predecessors The Buzzcocks and The Jam. ‘In The Court Of The Wrestling Let’s’ was never going to be a straight-forward record – and Let’s Wrestle are certainly not a straight-forward band. It’s messy, changeable and a bit odd – but that’s what makes it so bloody good. TW

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Album Review: Here We Go Magic – Here We Go Magic (Western Vinyl)

Album Reviews

Contrasting sounds fitted together so loosely shouldn’t sound this good. Here We Go Magic’s eponymous album mixes together multi-layered electronica, worldly acoustics and contemporary Afrobeat-inspired rhythms over and under a wide, echoing space – an echoing space that should, technically, give ‘Here We Go Magic’ an empty sort of laziness, but it doesn’t. Luke Temple, the man behind the name and the sound, has the voice of a vintage-tinged Win Butler. Sufjan Stevens is a fan; “[He has] one of the most beautiful [voices] in pop music”, he says of Temple, who released two albums prior to taking on this newly adopted alias. ‘Here We Go Magic’ is short and sweet – a modest exploration of sound that may not please a vast audience because of its many peculiar influences and the way that it sometimes extends itself into extreme experimental sounds, with the likes of the eerie and brash ‘Ghost List’ and the repetitive, hypnotic ‘I Just Want To See You Underwater’. There are more pleasing and accessible turns on the LP though, such as the bluesy ‘Everything’s Big’ and the warmly acoustic ‘Tunnelvision’. ‘Here We Go Magic’ is a little dark for the summer, but beautiful nonetheless – and the project itself is a promising new turn from Temple. TW

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