Saturday 30 January 2010, 12:00 | By Andy Malt

CMU Beef Of The Week #04: 3am v Peter Andre

Beef Of The Week

It’s a wonder this hasn’t happened before, really. But this week The Daily Mirror’s gossip site 3am.co.uk cracked under the strain of demands from Peter Andre’s ‘people’. It seems they weren’t that interested in what he had to say as the face of Costa Coffee’s latest hot, caffeinated drink.

Announced the gossipers: “Do you know where we’re supposed to be right now? At a central London coffee shop, waiting for five glorious minutes with Peter Andre. However, instead we’re going to tell you exactly why we won’t be obediently trotting along to meet him”.

Is it because coffee is a lovely drink but a tedious topic of conversation? Yes. And because Andre’s management, Can Associates, insisted on a contract being signed beforehand ensuring that there would be no talk of anything else. And while they were at it, they demanded that no pictures of Katie Price come anywhere near the finished article, all photo captions would be positive, and that Can and Andre would be allowed to approve the whole thing before it went online.

The site continues: “We’ve all seen contracts like this before, particularly those of us who’ve worked on celebrity magazines, but nobody is more controlling than Can, who might want to look into changing their name to Can’t”.

So, 3am returned an email informing Can that “we’re simply not prepared to agree to such ridiculously strict terms … we wouldn’t agree to these insanely restrictive terms for Britney or Brad, so we’re hardly going to for Peter”.

The result? Can are now refusing to allow 3am access to any of their clients ever again. 3am, meanwhile, are informing all their readers to go to Starbucks.

Playlist: Ash

CMU Playlists

Formed in 1992, Ash have sold more than eight million albums worldwide. However, in 2007 the band revealed that ‘Twilight Of The Innocents’ would be their last LP, as they embraced the growing digital music market and vowed to only release singles in the future. Staying true to their word, last year they launched the ‘A-Z series’, which sees them release 26 new singles, one every two weeks for a year. Currently they’re at H with ‘Space Shot’.

The band are also set to head out on a UK tour, starting on 19 Apr in Southampton and ending on 4 May at the Electric Ballroom in London. Full dates can be found at www.ash-official.com. Tickets for these things sell fast, so you should get online and book yours now.

Ahead of all that, we asked bassist Mark Hamilton to put together a Powers Of Ten playlist for us. Says Mark: “Artist and celebrity iPod playlists seem to be all the rage these days… do people really want to know who’s listening to what? I’m not so sure… but since I’ve been asked kindly, here’s my ten cents, sorry ten songs, that I’ve been listening to recently on my portable entertainment media device. Check back next week for ten species of flower I’ve recently planted”.

MARK HAMILTON’S TEN
Click here to listen to Mark’s playlist in Spotify, and then read on to find out more about his selections.

01 Depeche Mode – It’s No Good
DM produce amazing sex music… enough said.

02 Marmaduke Duke – Je Suis Un Funky Homme
This song by Simon from Biffy Clyro’s solo project is an awesome dancefloor pick-me-up with a tinge of comedy that could easily fit into an episode of ‘Flight Of The Conchords’.

03 Rihanna – Russian Roulette
Rihanna is a superstar and this song is awesome, but how long before someone actually pulls a trigger and she finds herself in court with charges of inciting suicide/death? It’s quite a brave and bold move for a major label to release this song, as they’re usually so paranoid with such a taboo subject. Our 2001 hit ‘Burn Baby Burn’ was renamed because Mushroom wouldn’t release it with its original title, ‘Slow Suicide’. During that recording session Rick (our drummer) and I actually did play ‘Russian Roulette’ and I literally ended up shooting myself in foot. Luckily it was only a CO² Beretta.

04 The Cardigans – You’re The Storm
Nina is my favourite female vocalist and this song was criminally overlooked on the excellent ‘Lone Gone Before Daylight’. It’s one of the few songs I’ve actually listened to on repeat. We once pissed her off at a party in Bristol when we were young drunken upstarts. At least we made an impression…

05 Brand New – Sowing Season
You won’t catch Brand New in the UK charts, so you may well be surprised to hear that they’ll soon be headlining Wembley Arena. If you know Brand New then you’ll probably love them passionately. If you don’t then that’s your problem.

06 Ride – Leave Them All Behind
Tim and I were big Ride fans way back when ‘Going Blank Again’ was released and shoegazing was in vogue… We were also guilty of participating in the curtains haircuts, baggy t-shirts, and mopey teenage attitude. This came on my iPod last week and I hadn’t heard it for years. I love it but they really did need to turn the bass up.

07 Weezer – The Good Life
Not so sure of some of their more recent offerings but ‘Pinkerton’ is one of the best rock albums ever. We had the honour of supporting them across the US on the Pinkerton tour and I even ran their lights for them.

08 MGMT – Kids
Overplayed to death but you can’t deny this monster of a song. I remember sitting in a bar in New York when I first heard it and having to go ask the barman what it was. Genius. Could be a contender for song of the decade?

09 Cobra Starship – The Kids Are All Fucked Up
A perfect blend of melodic synth pop with punk rock attitude. Pet Shop Boys for a new generation?

10 Sia – Breathe Me
As the soundtrack to the closing sequence on the last episode of ‘Six Feet Under’, this was a perfect piece of synching. I’d be happy for it to be played at my final send off, hopefully no time soon though…

Album Review: The Postmarks – Memoirs At The End Of The World (Unfiltered Records)

Album Reviews

February marks the return of The Postmarks with their third album in three years, ‘Memoirs At The End Of The World’. Hailing from the Sunshine State that is Florida, from the outset there’s a sense that the trio might have written these tracks while driving down a sun-soaked freeway (in a convertible of some sort), sunglasses on, with the cool American wind blowing cinematic inspiration through their musical minds.

I’m guessing the end of the world will be quite a dramatic event, which possibly explains the heightened horns, strong, abrupt, orchestral strings and triumphant timpani on this album. Like something from a James Bond sondtrack, tracks such as ‘Thorn In My Side’ and I’m In Deep’ possess the sort of ‘suspense motif’ which Bond composer David Arnold likes to play with.

In contrast, however, lead vocalist Tim Yehezkely eases her (she’s a lady) way through the album. Her voice isn’t powerful and if you’re waiting for her to hit that high note, you’ll be waiting a while. She simply glides through with comfort, like an effortless choral dream, giving the album its balance – the whole think would have been rather overpowering if Tim had decided to pop some Leona Lewis style vocals over the top.

It’s understandable why these guys’ current single ‘No One Said This Would Be Easy’ is on NME Radio’s a-list. With electo/synthpop being so dominant of late, for those looking for something that’s just a good piece of solid indie pop, then ‘Memoirs At The End Of The World’ is a welcome breath of fresh air. SD

Buy from iTunes
Buy from Amazon

Dunstone will go to court to fight three-strikes

Business News Legal Top Stories

Carphone Warehouse top man Charlie Dunstone has again said he might fight three-strikes in court if his lobbying efforts to stop the anti-piracy system becoming law fails.

As much previously reported, Dunstone, in his role as boss of internet service provider TalkTalk, is among the most vocal of opponents to proposals in the UK government’s Digital Economy Bill that will force net firms to send warning letters to suspected file-sharers using their services, threatening to suspend those users’ internet connections if they don’t stop infringing copyright. Dunstone argues that content owners should have to sue suspected file-sharers directly, rather than involving him and his company, an involvement which will cost Charlie money and put him in the tricky position of having to discipline paying customers.

After his previously reported tea and cakes session in Westminster this week, in which he put various three-strike opponents in front of MPs and Lords, Dunstone told the Telegraph that if the DEB does become law his company will refuse to send out warning letters, and will consider “all options” for challenging three-strikes through the courts.

He continued: “I think there is a problem if an industry thinks its business model will be saved by legislation. While the music industry focuses on getting these laws through, it won’t be concentrating on reinventing its business – which it obviously needs to do as its model is out of date. Its customers have gone on strike and turned to piracy because the old model doesn’t work. There is no need to pursue this letter-sending and disconnection policy, when [record companies] can just individually prosecute people who have violated copyright rules”.

Of course, Dunstone deliberately ignores the fact that efforts to make three-strikes law are just one part of the record industry’s approach to the internet and that, after ten years of undeniably bad strategy, since 2008 the major record companies have actively started to embrace and support a number of engaging licensed music services that appeal to different parts of the market. While it’s true the deals behind some of those services need reworking if said services are going to be viable long term (and the case for collective licensing gets stronger as the months go by), that’s not why Dunstone et al ignore the plethora of DRM-free MP3 stores and exciting on-demand streaming services when assessing the music industry’s current approach to the internet.

For them, the record industry “reinventing its model” means licensing their music to ISPs for next to nothing, so that net firms who sacrificed their profit margins by engaging in a silly price war five years ago can create new revenues by becoming content providers, but without incurring any real new costs to generate that content. And despite the fact most ISP-run content services are rubbish.

Of course, Dunstone is right that three-strikes will only have a limited (and possibly nominal) impact on file-sharing, with more prolific file-sharers easily able to hide their illicit content dealing, and others taking their illegal sharing of music offline. However, even one of the groups wheeled into Westminster by the TalkTalk chief this week – consumer rights people Which? – admitted the three-strikes system was better than the anti-piracy programme Dunstone supports: record companies taking more music fans to court.

In related news, Music Week reports that Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw has said that he is confident that the Digital Economy Bill will make it through parliament before the General Election. Many doubt that it will, given it is yet to reach the House Of Commons, and there is opposition from various quarters to various parts of the legislation (and not just its copyright provisions). Though at MIDEM last weekend BPI chief Geoff Taylor said he remained optimistic the proposals could become law before parliament shuts down for the big vote, and Bradshaw said the same at a Musicians’ Union organised bash for political types held earlier this week.

Interesting insight into Universal’s Grooveshark lawsuit

Grooveshark Timeline Legal

Digital Music News has provided an interesting theory as to why Universal Music’s previously reported lawsuit against US-based streaming music service Grooveshark relates only to its pre-1972 recordings. As previously reported, Universal announced it was suing Grooveshark through the New York courts earlier this month.

DMN cites legal experts who say the lawsuit focuses on the major’s pre-1972 catalogue because of a technicality in US copyright law. Apparently, sound recording copyrights from before 1972 are not protected by federal copyright law in the US, meaning the litigation would be considered in the context of state law.

That will make it harder for Florida-based Grooveshark to lobby for the case to be moved to a court in their locality, and will require them to hire New York-based attorneys, adding to the costs of fighting the legal action, especially given that in its earlier legal fight with EMI the streaming service successfully used local lawyers with little previous IP law experience.

Grooveshark, whose catalogue was originally created by users uploading their own music collections, says it pays royalty fees and acts on content take-down notices when they are served, but has proved to be controversial partly because of the fan-sharing element that was central to the service when it first launched. EMI sued the company last year, but they settled and entered into a licensing agreement with the service, which is probably the most interesting streaming platform currently operational in the US.

Ruling fast-tracked in interesting Aussie ISP liability case

Business News Legal

Australia’s Federal Court is expected to fast-track a decision in an interesting and previously reported legal case involving a consortium of film and TV companies and Aussie ISP iiNet.

The case centres on an ISPs liability for any illegal file-sharing committed by its customers. It’s interesting because, while the content industries in a number of countries, including the UK, are lobbying for new laws that clarify a net firm’s liabilities in this domain (ie by forcing them to operate a three-strikes system), it’s less common for said content industries to sue an internet provider over the issue (though there are parallels here to a 2008 action taken by the record companies against Eircom in Ireland, though that case was settled out of court).

In the Aussie case, claimants AFACT (that’s the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft) and iiNet both presented their arguments in court last October. A ruling on the matter, however, was not expected until later this year, however it was announced yesterday a judgment will now be made next Thursday. AFACT are suing for damages, and want iiNet to be forced to disconnect any customers it knows are illegally sharing music online.

Following the court hearings last Autumn, iiNet’s CEO Michael Malone told reporters he was confident his company would win the case, saying: “We do not, and never have supported, encouraged or authorised illegal sharing or downloading of files in breach of the copyright laws”.

If AFACT win the case, it would essentially make three-strikes law in Australia through legal precedent rather than new legislation. Though if that were to happen it seems likely the country’s government would instigate a review of copyright rules, and if necessary formalise the three-strikes system (possibly reducing the penalty for file-sharers from disconnection to suspension, akin to the three-strike proposals here in the UK). Even if iiNet win, it is likely the government will give some time to reviewing copyright rules, which might result in a three-strikes system being introduced.

Black Eyed Peas in new plagiarism claim

Legal

Black Eyed Peas have been accused of plagiarism again. This time rapper Phoenix Phenom, along with songwriter Manfred Mohr, have launched a lawsuit claiming that the group’s track ‘Boom Boom Pow’ is “virtually identical” to their song ‘Boom Dynamite’.

A lawyer representing the pair said: “My clients submitted their copyrighted song ‘Boom Dynamite’ to [the Peas’ record label] Interscope Records after Interscope had shown interest in some of their music, and the Black Eyed Peas later copied the song when they wrote ‘Boom Boom Pow’. A simple listening of the two songs will tell you that the songs are substantially similar, and that the hooks of the two songs are virtually identical in rhythm and lyrics”.

You can test that theory here:

Boom Dynamite
Boom Boom Pow

Last year, Black Eyed Peas settled out of court with Adam Freeland after they used his instrumental track ‘Mancry’ as the basis for their song ‘Party All The Time’ without permission. Like this.

Eagles man sues namesake over uncleared song use

Legal

Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh has threatened legal action against an American politician who is using one of his songs – ‘Walk Away’ – seemingly without the appropriate permissions having been obtained. A Republican congressional candidate in Illinois is using the song, which originally appeared on an album by Walsh’s original band James Gang, with altered lyrics as part of his political campaigning. It is likely the political man chose the song because his name is, you guessed it, Joe Walsh.

Walsh the songwriter alleges that Walsh the politician has not acquired permission to use his song, nor to change the words in it. And, according to Billboard, his lawyer has sent a slightly tongue-in-cheek cease-and-desist letter in which he gives the aspiring congressman a few pointers on US copyright law.

The legal letter says that the US Copyright Act “says a lot of things, but one of the things it says is that you can’t use someone else’s song for your political campaign promotion unless you get permission from the owner of the copyright in the song. As far as we can tell, you didn’t do that. Maybe you got so busy with the campaign that you just forgot. But that’s not OK”.

The letter continues: “Under that same United States Copyright Act, you’re not allowed to take someone’s song and change the lyrics. This is not to say you’re not allowed to write silly lyrics, you just have to write them to your own music. Now, I know why you used Joe’s music – it’s undoubtedly because it’s a lot better than any music you or your staff could have written. But that’s the point. Since Joe writes better songs than you do, the Copyright Act rewards him by letting him decide who gets to use the songs he writes”.

The letter adds that the potential for confusion regards the name ‘Joe Walsh’ might also be an issue. It concludes: “Given that your name is Joe Walsh, I’d think you’d want to be extra careful about using Joe’s music in case the public might think that Joe is endorsing your campaign, or, God forbid, is you”.

Walsh the politician’s campaign manager has defended their use of the song, arguing that the rework of the lyrics covers them, though I’m not sure that’s at all correct. If this does go to court, presumably Walsh can get some advice off Eagles bandmate Don Henley, who is himself in dispute with congressional candidate Charles DeVore over the use of one of his songs in that political man’s campaigning.

Voting opens for Breakspoll 2010

Awards

The ninth annual Breakspoll, a celebration of breakbeat artists and DJs from around the world, is just grinding into action ahead of the 2010 ceremony, which will this year again be split across two events at Fabric and Matter in London. Voting across eighteen categories, including Best DJ, Best Producer and Best Track Of 2009, is open for the next four weeks at www.breakspoll.com. The awards will be dished out at Fabric on 25 Feb.

As well as the award-giving at the Fabric event, which will be done by Janette Slack and Ken Mac, there will be performances and DJ sets from some of the biggest ladies and gents in breaks, such as Afghan Headspin vs Pixel Fist, Cut La Roc vs Peo De Pitte, Freestylers vs Ctrl-Z, Future Funk Squad, High Rankin vs Gella, Krafty Kuts vs A-Skillz, and NAPT vs Beat Assassins.

Then, the next night, the party continues at Matter with the Stanton Warriors-hosted Breakspoll Aftershow, which will deliver a line-up spanning breaks, dubstep, hip-hop, and house, with artists including Freeland, Doorly, Freestylers, Slyde and more.

Sigur Rós scrap album and go on hiatus

Releases

Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi Birgisson has revealed that the band have scrapped recordings made for their next album, the follow-up to 2008’s ‘Með Suð I Eyrum Við Spilum’. Last year Icelandic newspaper Morgunblaðið reported that drummer Orri Dýrason had told them the album was “nearing completion”.

Birgisson told Spinner: “We haven’t got another album ready; it was just a rumour. We started to record something, but then we chucked it all away. So I think we are going to have to start it all again. [But] we are on a break at the moment. Everybody in the band is having babies”.

In the meantime, Birgisson has been working on his debut solo album, ‘Go’, which features string arrangements by composer Nico Muhly. The album will be released on 22 Mar via XL.

Memory Tapes UK tour

Gigs & Festivals

Memory Tapes, aka Dayve Hawke, will head out on some more UK tour dates in March. If you haven’t yet listened to his debut album, ‘Seek Magic’, I strongly recommend that you do so forthwith.

Tour dates:

9 Mar: Brighton, Freebutt
10 Mar: Sheffield, The Harley
11 Mar: Manchester, The Deaf Institute
12 Mar: Glasgow, Captains Rest
13 Mar: London, Cargo

Backstreet Boys to headline Indian metal festival

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

Metal fans in India have expressed anger after organisers of the Rock In India festival booked The Backstreet Boys and Richard Marx to headline this year’s event, which takes place at two sites in Dehli and Bangalore on 20 Feb and 22 Feb. Launched in 2008, past festivals have had a heavier rock music policy, with previous headliners including Iron Maiden, Megadeth and Machine Head.

Despite the complaints that metal has been entirely cut out of this year’s line-up (more mainstream Indian acts complete much of the rest of the bill) and calls for different headliners to be chosen, organisers seem to be in no mood to add some last minute metal, arguing that they are responding to fan demand in making their event more mainstream, and that the name ‘Rock In India’ was never meant to imply their event was about, erm, rock, in India.

They said in a statement: “There has been a long-standing request from many music fans to our website that they would like to see mainstream music and also classic rock. Rock In India is a ‘music’ festival.Rock In India does not mean the genre rock only. Being a fan, you have right to an opinion. [But] being a promoter, no artist is big or small to us. All artists are respected equally and not looked down upon just because they are a pop artist! We respect their music!”

!K7 to distribute Vice record label in Europe

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Vice magazine’s record label has announced a partnership with !K7 which will see the German indie distribute its roster in Europe, including releases from the likes of Acrassicauda, Growing, Almighty Defenders, Lullabye Arkestra and Pierced Arrows.

Confirming the deal, !K7’s CEO Horst Weidenmueller told CMU: “I’ve been always amazed at how Vice have set up a multimedia company that maximises their opportunities to cross market their individual activities and I’m very proud that we can now take care of their music releases in Europe”.

Vice Music’s GM Jamie Farkas added: “Since becoming a fully independent company over two years ago we have been looking for a one stop shop for our European distribution and we could not be more thrilled to have found that at !K7. The services they provide their family of international label partners is unparalleled and we look forward to great success joining forces with them”.

BMG Rights move into Swedish market

Business News Labels & Publishers

The ever-expanding BMG Rights Management, the much previously reported music rights company set up by German media firm Bertelsmann after it offloaded its existing BMG music publishing and record companies, is moving into the Swedish market by acquiring Stockholm-based publisher Scandinavian Songs.

The deal also includes that publisher’s record label Hawk Records, the new BMG company being especially interesting in that it is working with both recording and song rights (albeit with more interests in the latter).

Former Scandinavian Songs manager Niclass Björlund will become GM for BMG Rights Management Scandinavia, and told reporters: “This is of course a great opportunity to be involved in the birth of a new great company with great people, and to have the opportunity to continue working with all the contacts we have built during the years – as well as those who will remain with Scandinavian Songs”.

BMG boss Hartwig Masuch added: “The acquisition of Scandinavian Songs and the opening of our Stockholm office marks yet another significant step in our internationalisation strategy. I am more than happy to have Hans and his team on board to work closely with artists and writers on local ground – all have invaluable experience in the publishing industry and a very high reputation in the Scandinavian music landscape”.

Primary Wave and Agency Group form strategic alliance

Brands & Merch Business News Labels & Publishers Live Business

US-based music publishers Primary Wave and New York talent agency The Agency Group have announced they are entering into a strategic alliance, which is always fun.

It is actually Primary Wave’s marketing and sponsorship division that is at the heart of the deal, they will support the Agency Group in securing its roster of artists marketing partnerships, while the agents will help bring talent to Primary Wave’s proprietary tours.

However, the two companies will also form a JV offering combining publishing and management services to artists.

ITV appoint new boss

Media

Good news for postmen, ITV has recruited the not especially popular boss of the Royal Mail, Adam Crozier, to be its new CEO. Whether that’s such good news for ITV I don’t know. ITV have been looking for a new chief exec since Michael Grade announced his intent to step down from the day-to-day running of the broadcaster last April. The Grade-ster, who had been both Chairman and CEO of the struggling telly firm, subsequently announced he was quitting as the company’s Chair as well.

For that reason it was new ITV Chairman Archie Norman who announced Crozier’s appointment yesterday. Saying that the Royal Mail boss, who previously ran the FA, was a “great leader” with the “steely resolve we need at ITV”, Norman wrote in a memo to ITV staff: “Even in the short time I have been here I have seen enough to know that we have great broadcast, production and television talent. The challenge for the chief executive is to help us bring our company together, build a changed organisation, encourage pace of delivery, attract new talent and bring out the best in our own people. This brings to an end a long period of uncertainty for ITV and means we can now focus wholeheartedly on the challenge ahead”.

Management team revamp at Absolute

Media

Absolute Radio has announced the appointment of a new management team under Chief Operating Office Clive Dickens. I use the word ‘new’ in its loosest sense, in that the team will consist of existing senior Absolute execs but with new job titles and, presumably, new job descriptions. Tony Moorey will be Content Director, Cat MacDonald Communications Director, Clare Baker Marketing Director and Paul Brown Technical Director.

The radio company says that the revamped management team will helped “transform the business into a digital, musical and entertainment brand with audio at its core”. Sounds like fun.

New host for Guardian music podcast

Digital Media

The Guardian has announced some changes to its weekly music podcast, in particular that the paper’s chief rock and pop critic Alexis Petridis, who had previously filled in as a presenter on the audio show, will become its permanent host, taking over from Paul MacInnes. The appointment of a new host will coincide with the introduction of some new features, including a new label profile thing.

Alexis told CMU: “The music weekly podcast is a great platform for engaging with music fans and I want to build on all the excellent work that has been done. As host I want to develop the show, creating something different to what’s already out there”.

Paige “not proud” of Boyle

And Finally

Susan Boyle’s idol, Elaine Paige has hit out at the ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ star in a new interview. Well, she was more hitting out at the trend for reality TV taking untrained performers and making them overnight global superstars, I don’t think she really bears Boyle any ill will. The pair did, after all, duet on ITV’s ‘I Dreamed A Dream: The Susan Boyle Story’ last month.

Speaking to The Daily Mail, Paige said: “I don’t particularly feel any pride for her – I’m sure she is proud of what she has done. It’s all about turning someone into an immediate celebrity at the expense of longevity and working hard and experience. Susan Boyle is doing terribly well considering she literally came to the attention of the world with the advent of YouTube. She was like a virus really that spread across the world in a nanosecond. She is a girl with no experience of anything to do with theatrics, the music business, or art in any way”.

She added that even with experience, coping with fame can be difficult, and commended Boyle for how she has handled it, saying: “Longevity is gained through knowledge, experience and effort so it will remain to be seen [if she will last]. When I started, YouTube didn’t exist but even then with fifteen years of experience prior to my success [starring in] ‘Evita’ it was difficult, so I admire the way she has handled her sudden success. ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ and ‘The X-Factor’ just take a bunch of people from real life who think they can sing and try and turn them into overnight stars with a couple of songs. It’s not entertainment”.

Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins play Twister

And Finally

We saw this and we were all, like, LOL WTF?! ROFL!!!!1!!11! But there’s no place for that now, children. This, my dears, is what life was like before the internet:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lqH2Ag6fxU

Approved: MUAK at Egg

Club Tip CMU Approved

MUAK is the invention of DJ Zaki Lais and therefore benefits from his fifteen years plus of experience of the underground dance scene in London. Held monthly in various venues around London since 2003, the night always showcases fresh talent and big star names on the international deep house scene.

This week at Egg they have two cracking US names. The basement is hosted by Yoruba Records’ head honcho, the mighty Osunlade, with Chicago’s Ron Trent also booked to play his blend of techno and house. Meanwhile on the terrace there’ll be deep, tech house from the rather good Charles Webster, with support from residents Manish and the aforementioned Zaki.

On top of that the loft hosts future house with Shameless, Toni C and Plastic Pippo and in the garden will be the smoothest Latin-influenced house from XS and Dove, and Unknown FM’s cracking DJ Lewi. Sounds like a cracker to chase away the January blues.

Saturday 30 Jan, Egg, 200 York Way, Kings Cross, London, 10pm-6am, £12 adv/£15 door, more info at http://www.muakparty.com, press info from Jo/Nix at Phuture Trax.

Q&A: MV & EE

Artist Interviews

MV & EE, aka Matt Valentine and his partner Erika Elder, spend their time in the Vermont countryside making psychedelic blues music. Which sounds like a nice way to pass the time. They regularly collaborate with other local musicians, including Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis, and have released more records than I can reasonably list here. Their most recent album, ‘Barn Nova’, was released last year by Ecstatic Peace. Next week they’re heading in the direction of the UK for a tour, which includes a headline show at The Borderline in London on 7 Feb. Ahead of that, we caught up with Matt to find out more.

Q1 How did you start out making music?
I was born, my parents taught me how to flip over their Pentangle singles, then they taught me how to use a tube reel-to-reel tape deck. My ma got a Europe 72 t-shirt, I saw Neil Young with The Bluenotes at The World in NYC, I met Mark E Smith, then I bought a Rickenbacker bass. I couldn’t strum it and get the right sound, so I got a musicman bass, refinished it green and tried the same approach. It still didn’t work, so I sold it to Colin from Radiohead and then I started playing acoustic guitar more seriously. Then I discovered psychedelics and my life changed for the better.

Q2 What inspired your latest album?
Rural jams, the mountain hideway I live in with Erika and our dog, guitar music for the synapses / melodies, burning one for the past, sweeping the fire aside and looking forward to the “white light” Rudy Rucker-style.

Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
We like to record the basics at our home studio, which we’ve called Maximum Arousal Farm, so we get the right feel and mood without the pressure of being on the clock. Then we’ll take em down to our friend Justin’s studio, which, amazingly, is remarkably close to our house by rural standards. He is set up in an old New England bank, which has a mellow vibe and a cool sound with a lot of different old rustic rooms. We also go a bit further down into the Pioneer Valley and work at J Mascis’ home studio, Bisquiteen. He has my favourite plate reverb; it takes up a massive part of his basement.

Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Alan Wilson, Skip James, Michael Hurley, Jerry Garcia, Neil Young, Ali Akbar Khan. Oh yeah, Help Yourself.

Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Come on out.

Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
We’re not really that ambitious, we just have a strong work ethic and are constantly playing music. Erika and I have already begun working on a follow up to ‘Barn Nova’ and have some deep releases coming out on our own cottage label, Child Of Microtones, and its subsidiary that EE runs, Heroine Celestial Agriculture. We started COM in 1999 and it’s still going strong – we produce art editions manufactured by hand of the highest quality form. The new material that we’ve been writing emphasises a more modal sound and it is preserving the duo exchange a bit more clearly. Expect a number to possibly bless the heads at some of the UK shows this Aquarius.

MORE>> www.myspace.com/mveebummerroad

Album Review: White Rabbits – It’s Frightening (EMI/Mute)

Album Reviews

For a band so reliant on Jamie Levinson’s skilled, thoughtful drumming (and Matthew Clark’s, too, on occasion, when one kit just isn’t enough), it’s odd to find this rhythm section somewhat of an afterthought when it comes to the production on White Rabbit’s second full-length effort. Instead of the velveteen lush of fellow New Yorkers The National or Interpol, who have built their own dark sounds around similar tight beats, on ‘It’s Frightening’ what should have been the domineering force to drive this album is reduced to a weak, tinny almost amateur sound. Which lets an otherwise promising long player down.

In fact opening track ‘Percussion Gun’ almost feels like a parody of their genre, despite the clear imagination involved, with an otherwise faultless array of melodies and musicianship not enough to turn this sound around. Said talent delivers better on ‘Rudie Fails’ and ‘Right Where They Left’, which take exciting twists through the world of American indie, blending the Okkervil River ecstasy with the cornfield sunshine of The Shins, all augmented with a more natural regimentation akin to the aforementioned Interpol. And the rest of what is here is enough to make the album just about work as a whole, despite the obvious, outlaid grievances and paradoxes.

But with a bit of polish, this could have given White Rabbits their teeth. Instead, right now it seems that carrot’s just a bit too tough to get through. TM

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iPad launches – main innovations in book and newspaper domain

Digital Top Stories

So, a mixed response overnight to Apple’s latest new product, the iPad, or what had previously been dubbed the iTablet, it being Apple’s big play in the so called ‘tablet’ PC market, ie an entertainment-focused, touch screen laptop sans fold out keyboard bit.

There’s no doubt that the iPad – basically a stretched out iPod Touch – is as sleek and cool looking as any previous Apple device, but with online hype leading up to the launch on a level that suggested the device might teleport its user to the moon, whatever the final product could do was going to be a bit of anti-climax by comparison. There had been speculation as to whether the iPad would include some exciting new music-based functionality, though other than being able to display the multi-media components of the previously launched iTunes LP bigger, it seemed unlikely this device would be of major significance to the music business, certainly when compared to the original iPod or even the iPhone.

Previously reported rumours of an Apple streaming-music service built on the back of the infrastructure of the recently acquired Lala.com, or some sort of ‘in-the-cloud locker’ service where users could store their iTunes music libraries remotely, were not discussed at yesterday’s press conference, though neither services would be specifically linked to the tablet device, even if they are on Apple’s agenda.

The iPad is clearly of more interest to the movie, book and newspaper industries. Though, actually, even film business types were a bit disappointed by yesterday’s Steve Jobs-led presentation. While the iPad will obviously play movies bought from the iTunes store, there was no new movie-based content partnership or interactive content service for film fans. The real innovations on the iPad were in the delivery of the written word, with a New York Times app bringing the US newspaper to life in digital form, and a new Apple owned e-books service having Hachette, Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Penguin and HarperCollins on board. So, basically, the iPad isn’t likely to escalate the demise of the CD or DVD, but could contribute to the decline of the printing press.

The iPad will arrive in US shops in 60 days time, with a 16GB Wi-fi connected version for $499, and a 64GB 3G connected version for $829, locked to an AT&T mobile internet plan. It remains to be seen if Apple have really cracked the battery life issue, something that has dogged the success of some of its competitor’s tablet devices, and also how good internet connectivity is, some have criticised the AT&T network’s 3G performance with regards the iPhone in the US.

Thomas knocks back RIAA damages olive branch

Business News Labels & Publishers Legal

The Jammie Thomas dispute could go to a third trial, despite the RIAA reportedly offering to settle for under half the revised damages figure, which was already 35 times smaller than the record industry was originally awarded by the jury at the second court hearing.

As previously reported, Thomas was one of the highest profile of the individuals targeted by the Recording Industry Association Of America’s file-sharing lawsuit campaign during the last decade. She chose to fight the lawsuit rather than settle out of court, and has subsequently been found guilty of copyright infringement for sharing unlicensed music via P2P networks on two occasions. The first time she was ordered to pay $222,000 in damages and then, on appeal, $1.92 million. But then last week a US judge reviewed the level of damages awarded in the case and dramatically reduced what Thomas must pay to a more realistic $54,000.

Both Thomas and the RIAA have since been considering whether to appeal that judge’s ruling, knowing that doing so would necessitate a full third trial. Bosses at the RIAA – who are known to be tiring of their outstanding P2P litigation, having put their campaign of sue-the-fans behind them – are reportedly keen to settle. So much so, that not only were they willing to accept the $54,000 damages ruling, but, according to Digital Music News, they proposed to Thomas’ lawyers that they would even be happy to settle for a mere $25,000.

But, DMN reports, Thomas has rejected that offer, meaning a third court hearing is now looking likely. It is unclear what Thomas’ motives are, given the last time she appealed a court’s ruling on this matter the damages she was due to pay went up eightfold, and it seems unlikely any court is going to completely clear her of any liability for copyright infringement. Though it is possible that Thomas’ team reckon the RIAA are so desperate to be rid of this legal dispute they might be persuaded to settle for next to nothing, or maybe the lowest damages payment the court could demand under US copyright rules, which is eighteen grand.

Doherty takes drugs to court, gets fine

Legal

Pete Doherty got away with a fine after he appeared in court yesterday to face charges of bringing nine (or thirteen, depending on who you believe) wraps of heroin into a previous hearing.

Doherty was at Gloucester Crown Court on 21 Dec in relation to those previously reported drink driving charges, for which he was arrested last June. At the hearing he was given a fine of £2050. On his way out of the court, he dropped a bag containing four grams of heroin on the floor. This meant another arrest and another trip to Gloucester for the musician.

Yesterday, Doherty’s lawyer Bruce Clark informed District Judge Joti Boparai that it had all been a big accident, and that the drugs had only been in Pete’s pocket because he owns a lot of coats and has bought enough heroin in his time to be able to forget that he had a big bag of it in one of his pockets.

Clark said: “My client was in a rush to get to court. He was handed a coat in the morning and he didn’t check the pockets. He has a great many items of clothing – suits and clothes going into the hundreds. There were residual drugs which he had left in one coat pocket. He had been in and out of court twice before the package fell out of his pocket. He feels very stupid, but he accepts responsibility.He is currently receiving treatment to get him off the drugs and he wasn’t aware he would find drugs in his suit pocket. [The treatment is] working for him. This was an accident. This was the ghost of past offending, not the resurrection. This was no mickey take, it was a mistake”.

Boparai seemed to agree, though said that if Doherty wasn’t “doing it [the in-court drug dropping] for the publicity”, he was certainly stupid. Sentencing him to a £750 fine, Boparai said: “I am sure by your reputation this was simply stupidity on your part and it wasn’t any more than that. It was simply an error”.

Former TalkSporter can take OfCom ruling to judicial review

Legal Media

One from the radio courts rather than the pop courts now. Former TalkSport presenter Jon Gaunt has been told he has an “arguable case” to fight an OfCom ruling against him on human rights grounds.

As previously reported, media regulator OfCom ruled Gaunt had breached broadcasting codes when, during a heated interview on the national talk station, he called the Head Of Children’s Services at Redbridge Council, one Michael Stark, a “nazi”, a “health nazi” and an “ignorant pig” over plans to ban smokers from fostering children. TalkSport had already fired Gaunt over the incident ten days after the interview, they having received numerous listener complaints in addition to the 53 formal complaints made to OfCom.

Gaunt, now working on The Sun’s online radio service, claims that calling a council official a “nazi” or “ignorant pig” is not in itself offensive enough to be deemed contravening broadcasting decency codes. His legal rep Gavin Millar QC says: “In the 21st century, in a heated debate with a politician, to call them an ignorant pig is not the stuff of an intervention by a regulator. It’s not offensive material of the sort”.

OfCom argued that the Human Rights Act was not relevant in this case, in which the government agency was just exercising its duty to enforce broadcasting rules. But a judge yesterday ruled there was an argument that OfCom had breached Gaunt’s right to freedom of expression, and that OfCom’s ruling could therefore be given a full judicial review.

Gaunt is presumably pursuing this action in a bid to cut the regulator down to size. TalkSport had fired him before the regulator had even ruled on the incident, and the presenter is now seemingly happy with his new job at SunTalk which, as an internet service, is not regulated by OfCom. Commenting on this case, Gaunt told reporters: “We don’t need OfCom, we have got an off switch. We have a draconian, unelected, expensive-to-run quango of do-gooders who can stand there and say ‘this is good taste and decency’. We don’t need them”.

Music Week Awards deadline nearly here

Awards

The deadline for entering this year’s Music Week Awards is tomorrow, so if you think you might be eligible and want to put yourselves forward for the big music business awards bash, then you better get on over to www.musicweekawards.com pretty pronto.

As previously reported, several new categories have been added this year, including Live Production Team, Mail-Order Online Retailer, Studio, Consumer-facing Digital Service and Music Mobile App.

Music Week Editor Paul Williams told, well, Music Week: “The event is all about celebrating the successes of the music industry over the past year and we can only do that by companies and individuals submitting entries, so we can rightly highlight what they have achieved. We have widened the scope and the number of categories for the 2010 event to make them more relevant to more of the industry, so there is more reason than ever to consider entering”.

The awards themselves take place on 15 Apr in good old-fashioned London town.

IMPALA sales awards dished out

Artist News Business News Labels & Publishers

IMPALA has dished out its latest set of album awards. These are the pan-European indie label trade body’s version of the BPI and IFPI’s gold disk type awards, specifically celebrating big selling albums released by European indie labels (and with lower unit targets than the more mainstream record industry sales-based gongs).

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Vampire Weekend’s ‘Contra’ is already high up on this list, despite only just being released. As previously reported, the lastest long player from the XL Recordings signed New Yorkers was the first album released by a UK indie to top the US charts in nearly two decades. However, it is two older albums that top the IMPALA list, sales of Katie Melua’s ‘Pictures’ and The Prodigy’s ‘Invaders Must Die’ having been sufficient to move them up a level in the overall sales charts.

The albums to go gold, diamond or multiple platinum this time are as follows:

Multiple Platinum (1.5 million+)
Katie Melua – Pictures (Dramatico)

Double Platinum (1 million+)
The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die (Cooking Vinyl)

Diamond (250k+)
Arctic Monkeys – Humbug (Domino)
Dead Kennedys – Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables (Cherry Red Records)
Franz Ferdinand – Tonight (Domino)
Various Artists – Pillows Prayers (Cherry Red Records)
Vampire Weekend – Contra (Beggars/XL)

Gold (100k+)
Benjamin Biolay – La Superbe (Naïve)
Chuckie LMFAO – Let The Bass Kick In Miami Girl (Cr2 Records Ltd)
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest (Warp)
Gurrumul – Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu (Dramatico/Skinnyfish)
Jay Sean – My Own Way (Jayded/2Point9)
Pink Martini – Splendour In The Grass (Naïve)
Scooter – Under The Radar, Over The Top (Kontor Records)
The Gaslight Anthem – The 59 Sound (Side One Dummy/Cargo)
Tom Waits – Glitter & Doom (Live) (Anti)
Tracey Thorn – A Distant Shore (Cherry Red Records)
The xx – xx (Young Turks)

Q&A: Throats

Artist Interviews

Essentially starting out as a hardcore band along the lines of Converge, Breather, Resist and Trap Them, these days Throats have evolved to encompass the sounds of bands like Napalm Death and Rotten Sound as well. In the past year, the band have toured with the likes of Gallows, Every Time I Die and Rolo Tomassi, as well as playing packed shows at the Great Escape and Offset festivals. The band release their eponymous debut album on 1 Feb via Holy Roar and are set to play a free show on 30 Jan at London’s Old Blue Last to celebrate. We spoke to the band’s Thom Sadler to ask the Same Six.

Q1 How did you start out making music?
The band started around spring 2007 simply as something to do. We formed in a small town and played to no one. Now we’re largely based in London and still play to no one.

Q2 What inspired your latest album?
Self-loathing, hatred, decay, a never-ending influx of shit bands, weed, avoiding real life and the need to be the loudest/heaviest band on the planet.

Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
Nearly every song is different in terms of writing. Bill [Trevey], Mark [Ringrose] and myself all write separately, most of the time these are just riffs or bass lines, rather than fully formed ideas. Then when it comes to putting a record together we all have ideas ‘banked’ in our heads which we can then pull out and flesh out into a fully formed song.

Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Off the top of my head the band would all agree on Napalm Death, Fleetwood Mac, Hella, Rotten Sound, Tragedy, The Jesus Lizard, Khanate, Modest Mouse, Black Sabbath, Shellac and High On Fire. We’re influenced by anyone who pushes boundaries, innovates and plays from their heart.

Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Turn it up.

Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
I’d like it if people actually bought it. Personally, it doesn’t really affect me much if it’s downloaded for free; people are hearing our music and that’s awesome. However, it really does affect Holy Roar who put considerable time and effort into this release. For the future, we’re going to be touring UK and Europe a the start of 2010 then hooking up a US tour towards the end of the year.

MORE>> www.myspace.com/throatsofgold

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