Saturday 27 February 2010, 11:00 | By

Playlist: Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip

CMU Playlists

Hip hop duo Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip first came to wider attention with the release of their debut single, ‘Thou Shalt Always Kill’ via Lex Records in April 2007, breaking into the top 30 in the official UK singles chart.

A year later, they signed to Sunday Best and released their critically acclaimed debut album ‘Angles’, which also gained a top 30 position on the album chart, while confirming them as one of, if not the most credible outfits in UK hip hop. Next week, the pair release ‘Get Better’, the first single from their second album ‘Logic Of Chance’ (which follows on 15 Mar).

In celebration of their triumphant return, we asked Dan and Scroob to put together a Powers Of Ten playlist for us. Taking their chosen project name at face value, we pit them against each other in a viscious fight to the death. Well, not quite. But they did take it in turns to choose each track and the result, I think you’ll find, is rather special.

DAN LE SAC VS SCROOBIUS PIP’S TEN
Click here to listen to Dan and Scroob’s playlist in Spotify, and then read on to find out more about his selections.

01 New Order – Ceremony
DLS: If you asked me for my favourite album of all time I wouldn’t have a clue, but if you asked for a song, without hesitation, you’d hear me say “New Order – ‘Ceremony'”. Every time I hear it, it lifts me out of myself.

02 Kid Carpet – I Don’t Want To Fall In Love With You
SP: We have done so many gigs with Kid Carpet over the years and it’s songs like this that get me every time. A genius (who is guesting on our new album).

03 Infesticons – Hero Theme
DLS: This track single-handedly got me into hip hop. The video bounced onto my TV screen one day and I fell hard.

04 Sway – Ex Boyfriend
SP: I feel this is Sway at his finest. Wit, story telling and about ten different flows!

05 Cannibal Ox – Iron Galaxy
DLS: Vast Aire’s verse on this record is my most quoted, it might be a bleak take on the human condition but it bangs, so it’s allowed

06 Bruce Springsteen – Atlantic City
SP: Don’t hate on the Boss! He is a genius and not enough people realise that he is one of the best storytellers ever.

07 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Into My Arms
DLS: Nick Cave’s a clever boy, isn’t he? ‘Into My Arms’ is just the most perfect ode to love you’ll find.

08 Lil Wayne – Phone Home
SP: Lil Wayne tends to get lost in the wash of bad huge hip hop acts flooding over from the USA, but he shouldn’t. He really is a unique creature.

09 Aphrodite’s Child – The Four Horsemen
DLS: Silly prog rock anyone? A truly bizarre song, but when it breaks it’s a wondrous thing.

10 Kate Bush – Feel It
SP: Gotta love Kate Bush! This is one of the songs that switched me from casual fan to the sitting-in-a-tent-outside-her-house sort.

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Saturday 27 February 2010, 10:55 | By

CMU Beef Of The Week #08: Courtney Love v Lily Allen

And Finally Beef Of The Week

What’s that, Courtney Love back in the Beef Of The Week slot? So soon? Well, we did say we expected to see her here on a semi-regular basis. She is quite beefy. Whatever the hell that means.

Things kicked off ahead of the BRIT Awards last week, after Courtney complained that Lily had made a deal with fashion house Chanel which stopped the Hole frontwoman from wearing the dress she wanted to. Love said via Twitter: “I wanted a Chanel couture dress but Lily Allen blocked them out. And that’s lame, because I remember J-Lo had a lock out on Valentino one year but she shared with me”.

The feud continued onto this week’s NME Awards, where both were performing (Love with her new solo version of Hole and Lily with The Big Pink). Though the pair were apparently initially chatting happily backstage during the ceremony, according to the NME, Love later turned, branding Lily a “little girl” and shouting: “Welcome to the music industry”. Lily then reportedly shouted back: “Why the fuck did you say that to me?” and stormed off in tears.

Taking things back to the safer shores of Twitter, Lily gave her side of the story yesterday, denying that the run in had been quite the slanging match that had been reported. She wrote: “Just clearing a couple of things up. Courtney Love and I did NOT have a bust up at the NMEs. There was an exchange of words, yes. She’s upset because she has got it into her head that I put a lock on some dresses for the BRIT Awards. She’s made no secret of this and, when I saw her at the NMEs she tried to talk to me and I told her to shut up stop spreading stupid rumours about me. And that’s pretty much it. I would never fight with her, as a rule I don’t pick on crazy old ladies”.

Love responded by tweeting: “Pretty darn rich coming from someone who starts nonsensical fights with people out of insecure jealousy on a weekly basis. At least when I’ve started fights with people it’s because they fuck [with] my kid or fuck [with] my money. No further comment, hatred is not my drink, I don’t like jealousy, vindictiveness, stalkers, selfishness and dishonesty, that’s just me!”

Speaking of Courtney and money, elsewhere at the NME Awards she tried to convince another celebrity to let her handle his tax affairs. Ms Love put herself forward as an expert on such matters last year. This time she was offering financial advice to her old mate Noel Fielding. Though, strangely, she decided to bring it all up while the pair were on stage presenting the award for Best Album to Kasabian.

Fielding more insightfully announced: “I just had a Pot Noodle with Slash”.

This Beef Of The Week comes from this edition of the CMU Weekly. Subscribe to the CMU Weekly here.

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Friday 26 February 2010, 12:46 | By

Album Review: Dolly Parton – Live From London (Sony)

Album Reviews

Dolly Parton

When I first received this CD, my traitor eyes gave me the impression that ‘9 To 5’ wasn’t included on the tracklist. “What’s this”, you say – “no ‘9 To 5’? You’ve got to be kidding me!” Oh, wait, there it is, tucked in at the back, and a surprise appearance near the end of the album. Oh well, at least the early arrival of ‘Jolene’ makes up for it – but only just. Yes, Dolly’s live album is a typical offering from the “Queen” of country music, lighthearted, sparkly and covered in rhinestones.

Recorded at London’s O2 during her tour in summer 2008, ‘Live From London’ is a surprisingly short but sweet set of songs that are practically swallowed whole by her adoring (and, apparently, obsessive) audience.

Included with the CD is a bonus DVD with footage from the tour and from the shows themselves, showing Dolly to be the very bizarre but sweet and endearing lady that she is. As I watch – and listen – sometimes all I can think about is an interview I read with Jake Shears where he candidly revealed that Parton can’t stand with her feet flat, because she’s never out of heels. Now that, to me, is the sign of a true trooper. TW

Buy from iTunes
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Friday 26 February 2010, 12:06 | By

The music business week in five – Friday 26 Feb 2010

Business News Week In Five

Now, obviously most of you read every word of every edition of the CMU Daily, from the ‘what’ at the top to the ‘expertise’ at the bottom. But I met someone the other day, let’s call him Maurice, who said sometimes he was just too busy to fully digest the 100+ news stories we publish every week.

Whereas a more cruel set up would have knitted Maurice a hat bearing the word “slacker” on it, instead we are launching a new weekly column here at the top of the Daily where we will do the digesting for you, and excrete, as it were, the five most important music business news stories of the week. So if, like Maurice, you’ve been too busy to keep abreast of all the key industry stories this week, or if, like Andy CMU, your brain took quite a rum-induced beating at the NME Awards on Wednesday night wiping a chunk of your memory, here are the five things music people should definitely have been aware of this week…

01: Sellaband went bankrupt. In a possible knock back for the fan-funding concept, one of the early fan investment platforms, Sellaband, went offline last week, declared itself insolvent last Friday, and then bankrupt on Monday. However, on Tuesday co-founder Johan Vosmeijer insisted all would be OK because he had found a buyer for the website. On Wednesday the buyer was named as German entrepreneur Michael Bogatzki. The service is now set to return. Although he will step down as the firm’s CEO, Vosmeijer says he is still confident the fan-funding model will play an important part in the music industry of the future. In an interview with Wired, one of his co-founders, Pim Betist, agreed, but identified some problems with the Sellaband business to date. CMU coverage | The Wired article.

02: The Times reported that 6music will close. Recent rumours that the BBC’s digital station 6music would be axed seemed to be based on the fact the service was subject to a BBC Trust review. But then that review, published earlier this month, only said 6music needed to better promote itself. This morning The Times claimed the credible music service’s axing will still go ahead, but on the orders of BBC bosses, not their Trust overseers. 6music’s closure is part of radical cost cutting plans due to be proposed by BBC management, says the broadsheet. If true one hopes the music industry will mount a campaign like has never been seen before to keep this truly enlightened music station on the air. CMU coverage | The Times article.

03: EMI said Abbey Road isn’t for sale, after much speculation as to what might happen to the iconic studio complex if it were to be sold off. Various parties, including Andrew Lloyd Webber and the National Trust, said they’d consider buying the studios to stop any developer from turning them into flats or offices. But cash-strapped EMI said that, while they were sounding out possible investors about funding an overhaul of the studios, an all out sale was not on the cards. Nevertheless, the government gave the building a Grade II listing to help ensure the future of the studios. Meanwhile EMI launched some pretty mediocre Abbey Road merchandise this week too. CMU coverage | Abbey Road t-shirts.

04: Digital Economy Bill debate continued. Once again mainly about the copyright section which, if passed, will introduce a three-strikes system into UK law, meaning persistent file-sharers could have their net connections suspended. Mark Thomas made a ten minute piece for the BBC criticising the proposals last week, which UK Music’s Feargal Sharkey said was biased and misleading. UK Music sent an official complaint to the Beeb. Meanwhile five big name figures from the creative industries signed a letter to parliamentarians urging them to support the Bill. Representing music was Simon Cowell. Presumably he told the politicians that in the file-sharing age “everybody hurts”. Well, “every copyright owner hurts”. Which, interestingly, I’m pretty sure was Michael Stipe’s original lyric. CMU coverage | Mark Thomas’ report.

05: Tesco did an exclusivity deal with Simply Red. Yes, a special Mick Huckhall love songs compilation will only be available from the supermarket chain. Which is interesting, because once controversial retailer exclusivity deals have become quite common in the US, but not over here. It also shows the continued importance of supermarkets when it comes to selling music to older mainstream music buyers, like the Simply Red fanbase. Tesco’s importance in music sales was also demonstrated this week when their Entertainment Director Rob Slater became chair of the Official Charts Company. CMU coverage.

And those, ladies and gentlemen, are the five biggest developments in the music business this week. Consider yourself informed. And don’t forget, for a handy digest of all this week’s artist news, subscribed to the CMU Weekly, which will be delivered to your email this afternoon, complete with a brand new Spotify playlist compiled by Dan Le Sac and Scroobius Pip.

And I’ll see you here at the top of the Daily next Friday.Or maybe at next week’s CMU seminar on music rights, we still have a couple of places available: www.completemusicupdate.com/events

Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU

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Friday 26 February 2010, 12:05 | By

Times report says 6music might close

Media Top Stories

So, 6music might close after all, if The Times is to be believed. Well, at least the guys who set up that ‘save 6music’ Facebook Group (which, actually, was the RATM Xmas number one duo, the Morters) weren’t wasting their time.

As previously reported, rumours circulated earlier this month that the popular (within the music community) digital music service was facing the axe. But it seemed those rumours were based on the simple fact the service was being reviewed by the BBC Trust, the body which oversees the running of the Corporation on behalf of the licence fee payer.

But, as we pointed out at the time, that was just a routine review, and 6music ticks lots of boxes that will please the Trust. And, indeed, when the Trustees reported back on its review they said they were happy for 6music to continue to operate in its current form, but urged the station to better market itself, after research showed the majority of licence fee payers didn’t even know it exists.

But, it’s possible the original rumours stemmed not from the Trust’s review, but from insider knowledge of radical proposals being developed by BBC management to dramatically cut costs.

The proposals, which The Times claims to have seen, are clearly designed in part to satisfy commercial media owners and Conservative MPs who say the Corporation has over-expanded in recent years, and is now far too willing to compete with commercial broadcasters and publishers, capitalising on the unfair advantage of an unrivalled content archive, media brand portfolio and financial security, all made possible because of the unique way in which the BBC is funded. The secret proposals also presumably prepare the Corporation for the fact a Tory government is likely to block any licence fee increase.

According to The Times, a BBC report will propose shutting down the Corporation’s youth strands Switch and Blast, letting the likes of ITV and Channel 4 target the potentially lucrative teenage market (lucrative as long as regulations regarding what can be advertised to the under 18s don’t get any tighter, of course). BBC’s online operations would be cut down to size, potentially reducing the size of the Corporation’s website by half, and budgets available for buying up foreign imports would be cut by £100 million.

And commercial division BBC Worldwide would be told to concentrate on selling BBC programmes and rights to international broadcasters – originally its core purpose – rather than dabbling in other areas of the media business, a move which would necessitate Worldwide to sell off its publishing assets, and maybe even its music rights business and CD/DVD distribution arm 2entertain.

But the real news for music people will be the report’s recommendations regarding BBC radio. Radio 2 would be told to increase the amount of comedy and documentaries it airs in prime time, reducing the amount of music and celebrity content (actually a recommendation of the aforementioned BBC Trust Review), while the Asian Network and 6music would be canned altogether.

The Times says the proposals have been drawn up by the BBC’s Director Of Policy & Strategy John Tate, who previously worked for the Conservatives and presumably has an insight into what kind of measures would placate BBC critics within the Tory top guard, who most assume will be in government by June.

Tate’s ideas would accommodate a licence fee freeze in 2013, and make available another £600 million to be pumped into “higher-quality content” – the mantra being “quality over quantity”, to overcome criticisms that the BBC has used its safe licence fee income and booming BBC Worldwide revenues to grossly over expand in the last two decades.

Of course, even if The Times’ report is accurate, it is not known how much credence these proposals will be given by BBC chief Mark Thompson and his closest allies at the top of the Corporation, especially given Tory culture spokesman Jeremy Hunt seemed to be softening his resolve to radically reform the BBC at a Q&A with key media people in London this week, going as far as to admit the Corporation in its current form “sort of worked”.

Tate’s proposals for 6music and the Asian Network are likely to be most controversial. The proposals to cut back the Beeb’s commercial operations, their website and their more mainstream youth output are all things that would directly satisfy the Corporation’s commercial critics, not least The Times owner Rupert Murdoch. And an overhaul of Radio 2 would placate, to an extent, the UK commercial radio sector, who see that BBC station as their biggest rival these days.

But 6music and the Asian Network are very much public service-based operations that no commercial player would really have any interest in competing with. The fact only 20% of the people the BBC Trust surveyed had even heard of 6music is sort of the point, it’s a niche service, and that’s why no one in the commercial sector would ever go there.

However, while niche, 6music plays an important role in British music, given that (‘Later’ aside) BBC TV has basically shunned music programming completely, and prime time on Radios 1 and 2 is all about the mainstream. And, relatively speaking, 6music performs this role on a relatively modest budget. Plus, on a higher level, the station ensures the BBC has connections into the wider music community, and helps the station build up early-career archive content of tomorrow’s big talent, something the Corporation is yet to capitalise on.

It’s possible that proposals to axe public service operations like 6music and the Asian Network, in order to fulfil the Tory’s cost cutting demands on the BBC, is really a bid to rally opposition against any government-forced downsizing. Though, I suspect that isn’t Tate’s aim. Rather, he feels there is a need to show the BBC is seriously considering cutting back its radio empire, and shutting the doors completely on two services is easier than downsizing the others.

Though, given the widely acknowledged excesses at both Radios 1 and 2 (who together employ more people to work on their breakfast shows than the entire workforce at a commercial station like Xfm), it would be very easy to free up the kind of money needed to run niche services like 6music and the Asian Network simply by bringing the two big BBC stations into the 21st century staffing-wise.

The BBC are yet to comment on the Times article, so it remains to been how serious these proposals are. I might go and sign up to the aforementioned save 6music Facebook page in the meantime. Just in case.

www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=278123313911&v=info

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:56 | By

Tenenbaum lawyer calls damages “absurd”

Legal

Following the recent decision of a US court to slash the damages famous file-sharer Jammie Thomas must pay the record industry after being found guilty of copyright infringement, from $1.92 million to $54,000, lawyers for that other famous American file-sharer, Joel Tenenbaum, were in court this week trying to get his $675,000 damages payment similarly slashed.

As previously reported, once found guilty of file-sharing, under US law you can be ordered to pay anything between $750 to $150,000 per copyright infringement in statutory damages. So whatever unit figure the judge or jury picks within those rather wide-reaching parameters is applied to every track that the record labels can prove the file-sharer downloaded. In Tenebaum’s case he was ordered to pay damages of $22,500 for each of the 30 tracks he admitted to illegally downloading.

But, while admitting the jury had correctly applied the law as it is written in the Tenenbaum case, the file-sharer’s lawyer Charles Nesson said in court this week that doing so had “produced absurd results” and a grossly excessive award that violated his client’s constitutional rights.

He also argued that the $675,000 figure wasn’t in the spirit of the law, arguing that he couldn’t believe that US Congress intended for individuals of limited means, like Tenenbaum, to be faced with damages payments of that size when they passed the relevant laws in 1999. He concluded by pointing out the 30 tracks Tenenbaum admitted to downloading were commercially available via iTunes for 99 cents each, from which the labels would get 70 pence. The real loss to the record industry therefore, Nesson argued, was $21.

But lawyers for the US record industry argue that when Congress wrote the relevant Digital Theft Deterrence And Copyright Act in 1999 they very much intended for individual infringers to be faced with staggering damages payments, so to provide a deterrent that might stop others from infringing. And this week they brought a letter from the US Department Of Justice to court to back up that claim.

Plus, of course, presumably there is the issue that by making tracks available to others to illegally download via a file-sharing network, Tenenbaum potentially deprived the record labels of a lot more seventy cents than just those related to his own original illegal downloads of the thirty tracks in question.

While previously defending the Tenenbaum ruling, the judge who oversaw the case, Nancy Gertner, has always been upfront about the fact that she is no fan of the way the Recording Industry Association Of America has attempted to protect its copyrights in the last decade. And at this week’s hearing she indicated that she very much sympathised with the Tenenbaum camp on the damages issue.  According to the Boston Globe, addressing the RIAA’s legal rep she said: “I’m not saying it was wrong to bring the case…or to hold people’s feet to the fire’. But is there another case in the galaxy that’s held up damages to this degree?”

Whether that means Gertner now plans to reduce Tenenbaum’s damages obligation remains to be seen. If she doesn’t – or if any cut is nominal – it is likely Nesson will proceed with a full appeal.

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:55 | By

AFACT to appeal authorising infringement ruling

Legal

The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft has said it will appeal that previously reported court ruling regarding the liabilities of internet service providers to police copyright infringement undertaken by their customers via their servers.

AFACT lost its original case against Aussie ISP iiNet. Had it won it would have forced Australian net firms to become more proactive in stopping illegal file-sharing on their networks, basically forcing some kind of three-strikes system on the ISPs under existing copyright laws, rather than by writing new laws, as has been done in France and New Zealand, and is being done in the UK. 

AFACT, which represents 34 Aussie film companies, announced its intent to appeal the ruling against it yesterday. AFACT executive director Neil Gane told reporters: “The court found large scale copyright infringements, that iiNet knew they were occurring, that iiNet had the contractual and technical capacity to stop them and iiNet did nothing about them. In line with [the] previous case law, this would have amounted to authorisation of copyright infringement”.

‘Authorisation’ is a concept unusual to English copyright law, and those copyright systems influenced by it, in particular in Australia and Canada. It is similar to the concept of ‘contributory infringement’, successfully employed in US cases against Napster and Grokster, though arguably isn’t as powerful in making those who provide technology that can be used by others to infringe liable for that infringement. Though that’s partly because the concept hasn’t been tested in court in many internet cases, or no internet cases in the UK. It could have been used in the Oink case, but prosecutors chose not to.

In Australia, the concept was successfully used in the Grokster-style litigation against Kazaa, which is possibly why AFACT think they have a case now. Though to use either the contributory or authorising concepts to make ISPs liable for the infringement of their customers is pretty unprecedented, and in the US copyright law specifically protects net firms from such claims.

Presumably with that in mind, iiNet CEO Micheal Malone said yesterday that he was confident his company would win any appeal, adding: “It is more than disappointing and frustrating that the studios have chosen this unproductive path. This legal case has not stopped one illegal download and further legal appeals will not stop piracy”.

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:54 | By

EMI appeal Down Under ruling

Legal

More from the Aussie appeal courts, and EMI have announced they will appeal the previously reported copyright ruling made against them regards the Men At Work track ‘Down Under’.

As previously reported, earlier this month an Aussie court ruled the track used a segment of the famous Aussie children’s folk tune ‘Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree’ without permission, and awarded a share of any revenues generated by the Men At Work song to indie music publisher Larrikin Music, who convinced the court they owned the rights in the folk tune (there had been some doubt over whether the copyright was owned by its late writer Marion Sinclair – whose rights had passed to Larrkin – or whether it was actually owned by the Girl Guide movement, to whom Sinclair had sent the song as part of a songwriting competition in which entrants technically speaking gave up their rights).

EMI, who own the publishing rights in the song (the main recording of which was released by CBS Records, now Sony Music), argue that the Kookaburra riff in ‘Down Under’ is at most a “tribute” to the folk song, rather than musical theft. They also bring up the ownership debate again. EMI Publishing’s Aussie office filed appeal papers with the Australian court yesterday.

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:53 | By

Monkeys want Homme again

Artist News

Arctic Monkey’s drummer Matt Helders has said that the band hope to work with Queens Of The Stone Age frontman Josh Homme again in the future. Homme, as you probably already know, produced the band’s third album, ‘Humbug’, which was released last year.

Speaking at the NME Awards, after picking up the Best Live Band trophy, Helders told BBC 6music: “I don’t know [if we’ll work with him again]. He might be a repeat offender. He promised he’d call, but he’s a busy man. We had a great time. We’d love to work with him again in some capacity. It depends. When we’re ready to record again, he might be as well, but you know what he’s like, he’s a very busy man and in demand”.

He also revealed that the band won’t be playing Glastonbury this year, saying: “We wouldn’t want to blow it. We’d rather come back after we’ve done a new album and do it properly”.

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:52 | By

Hugh Laurie plays on Meat Loaf album

Releases

Actor and comedian Hugh Laurie is one of a number of guests who appear on Meat Loaf’s new album, ‘Hang Cool, Teddy Bear’.

The concept album, based on a short story by Killian Kerwin with songs penned by ‘American Idol’ judge Kara Dioguardi and produced by Rob Cavallo, will feature piano parts performed by Laurie. This follows a guest appearance by Meat Loaf in Laurie-fronted US TV show ‘House’.

Here’s a video of Hugh rocking his badass ivory skills.

Also appearing on the album, which is due out in April, are Brian May, Jack Black, Justin Hawkins and Steve Vai.

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:51 | By

Ash announce singles compilation

Releases

Ash will release the first of two albums featuring their ‘A-Z’ singles series on 19 Apr via their own Atomic Heart label. As well as the first thirteen singles in the series, the compilation will be released as a limited edition CD/DVD set, which will also feature an A-Z Tour diary filmed last autumn.

Speaking of Ash playing live, they’ve just added an extra London date to their upcoming tour. They will play Koko on 5 May.

Here’s the full tracklist for ‘A-Z Vol 1’:

A. True Love, 1980
B. Joy Kicks Darkness
C. Arcadia
D. Tracers
E. The Dead Disciples
F. Pripyat
G. Ichiban
H. Space Shot
I. Neon
J. Command
K. Song Of Your Desire
L. Dionysian Urge
M. War With Me

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:50 | By

Grandaddy man sells rarities to help sister

Releases

Former Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle has made available a number of live recordings and rarities from across his career in return for donations to help his sister, Anna, who is currently receiving treatment for a brain tumour.

Included in the two download packages on offer are Grandaddy’s first demo tape, an unreleased Grandaddy album, two Christmas albums recorded for friends and family, and various live recordings, amongst many other rarities. Let’s just say, if you’re a Grandaddy fan, it’s worth taking a look.

For full details of what’s available and how to get it, check out: talkscape.jasonlytle.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=378

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:49 | By

Thom Yorke names band, announces US tour

Gigs & Festivals

Thom Yorke has announced that his other band, which he pulled together last year to play some of his solo work, is to be called Atoms For Peace. As previously reported, the band features drummer Joey Waronker (who has previously worked with Beck, REM, Smashing Pumpkins and Elliott Smith), Forro In The Dark percussionist Mauro Refosco, Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, and Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea.

Said Thom: “OK, so, in April the other band that I got together to do ‘The Eraser’ and other stuff … is going back out to do some shows in the US, ending with playing with Coachella. We had too much fun [last year] to just leave it there…It has been decided that we call ourselves Atoms For Peace. Hope you like the name, it seemed bleedin’ obvious”.

These are the dates:

5 Apr: New York, Roseland Ballroom
6 Apr: New York, Roseland Ballroom
8 Apr:Boston, Citi Wang Theatre
10 Apr: Chicago, Aragon Ballroom
11 Apr: Chicago, Aragon Ballroom
14 Apr:Oakland Fox Theatre
15 Apr:Oakland Fox Theatre
17 Apr: Santa Barbara Bowl

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:48 | By

Irish showcase to take place in London

Gigs & Festivals

The fifth in a series of showcase gigs that show off the best in new talent from Ireland is to take place at The Luminaire in Kilburn, north London next month, with promoters confident that the country’s next big thing will be amongst the line-up, which features A Plastic Rose, Readers Wives and Kyle John Suckling.

Jay Mistry, who is organising the event, says that many Irish acts find it difficult to get noticed by the wider music industry, but points to acts such as U2, Divine Comedy, Therapy?, Westlife, Van Morrison, Ash and Damien Rice as reasons for people to take a more close interest.

He is quoted in Music Week thus: “The quality is still there: Director, Delerantos, Hybrasil, Kudos, Class Of 84 to name just a few. It’s just that these musicians have to either go to Dublin or Belfast in the vain hope of getting noticed or they have to relocate to London. We put on shows in London and invite a myriad of music industry people, so that they can get a good idea of the quality of current Irish music. Because we target key individuals, there is a much better chance of our bands getting that elusive deal. The intention is to bring Mohammad to the mountain. We do everything except play on the night – which is a good thing”.

The gig takes place on 11 Mar, more info here.

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:47 | By

Festival line-up update – 26 Feb 2010

Artist News Festival Line-Up Update Gigs & Festivals

BESTIVAL, Robin Hill Country Park, Isle Of Wight, 9-12 Sep: Mumford & Sons, Tricky, Chic, The Temper Trap, Mylo, Erol Alkan, DJ Yoda and more added to the line-up of this year’s Bestival. This year’s fancy dress theme will be ‘fantasy’, apparently. www.bestival.net

ENDORSE IT IN DORSET, nr Shaftesbury, Dorset, 6-8 Aug: Eat Static has been confirmed for this year’s Endorse It, joining a previously announced line-up that includes The Damned, Subhumans, Pauline Black and SubGiant. www.endorseit.co.uk

LIVERPOOL SOUND CITY, various venues, Liverpool, 19-22 May: The Fall and Delphic have been announced to play on the opening day of Liverpool Sound City in May, with support coming from Everything Everything and Egyptian Hip Hop. www.liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk

BENICASSIM, Valencia, Spain, 15-20 Jul: Vampire Weekend and Leftfield are amongst the latest to be confirmed for this year’s Benicassim, along with The Courteeners, Calvin Harris, Cut Copy, Yuksek and Magentic Man. www.benicassimfestival.co.uk

OYA FESTIVAL, Middelalderparken, Oslo, 10-14 Aug: The xx and La Roux have been confirmed to play Oya in Oslo this summer. They join a line-up that includes Pavement, Iggy & The Stooges, Girls, The Gaslight Anthem and many more. www.oyafestivalen.com

VINTAGE AT GOODWOOD, The Goodwood Estate, West Sussex, 13-15 Aug: David Holmes, Heaven 17, The Beat, Imelda May, The Noisettes, The Damned and The Buzzcocks announced for this new festival from fashion designers Geraldine and Wayne Hemingway. It will also feature the launch of Lily Allen’s new fashion label Lucy In Disguise and the first performance by Sandie Shaw for over twenty years. www.vintageatgoodwood.com

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:45 | By

Vote today on the topic for the CMU panel at Liverpool Sound City

Business News Education & Events

Hey people, today is your very last chance to exercise your influence over this year’s Liverpool Sound City, the music business convention that takes over the Merseyside city in May.

As much previously reported, organisers of Sound City have this year set aside one session in their main conference programme for you guys, the CMU readership, to control. We have selected five possible topics to debate, as proposed by CMU readers last month, and are now asking for you guys to vote on which one of those five you think we should tackle in May.

Details of the final five and how to vote are online at www.theCMUwebsite.com/soundcity. You need to email in your vote by 5pm. Don’t forget, we will be reporting from the event, so it’s worth voting even if you don’t think you will make it to Sound City this year, because we’ll let you know what the final panel say here in the Daily. Plus, one voter will be win a pair of tickets to this year’s Sound City, so even if you’re not currently planning on coming, CMU could fix it for you to be there!

There’s more information about Liverpool Sound City in general at www.liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:42 | By

LiveMaster bosses cautious about sudden profit turnaround

Business News Live Business

Bosses at the newly merged Live Nation Entertainment have warned investment types that they shouldn’t expect a big profits boost in 2010. Some had hoped that the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster would result in some considerable quick efficiencies at the two companies, which would more than cover any merger costs and result in increased profits.

LiveMaster execs said yesterday that the Live Nation part of the business will see only moderate growth this year, while Ticketmaster profits will be static or slightly down. The benefits of the merger won’t show until 2011. 

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:40 | By

Terra Firma bring in business rescue expert to help with EMI

Business News Labels & Publishers

According to the Financial Times, EMI owners Terra Firma have brought in a business expert who apparently helped sports chain JJB Sports avoid going bankrupt last year to assist in bid to stop Citigroup from taking ownership of the music firm. Terra Firma and its tax-dodging chief Guy Hands have fallen out with Citigroup big time, of course, and are in the process of suing the US bank. The fall out occurred after Citi refused to restructure (ie write off a chunk of) EMI’s debts to the bank.

Former Selfridges chief Peter Williams reportedly helped JJB Sports negotiate new terms with its bankers that stopped the retailer going under last year. Therefore his appointment to Maltby Investments, the Terra Firma owned company through which the equity types own EMI, might be a last minute bid by Terra Firma to restore good relations with Citigroup.

As previously reported, as it currently stands Terra Firma could lose control of EMI if they can’t raise $189 million to help the music company meet its loan commitments to Citigroup in May. The FT think that as well as dealing with Citigroup on the equity firm’s behalf, Williams will also scrutinise EMI Music chief Elio Leoni-Sceti’s previously reported business plan for turning round the fortunes of the major’s still flagging recorded music division.

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:37 | By

AIMer to help UK Music investigate funding

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

The Association of Independent Music has announced one of its team, Remi Harris, will be joining UK Music on a three month secondment to help the cross-industry trade body investigate ways it can raise public body funding for business support and skills development initiatives within the music community.

UK Music top dog Feargal Sharkey told CMU: “In comparison to other creative industries, companies and individuals within the commercial music sector have always struggled when it comes to accessing support and funds from public bodies. Given her fantastic track record at AIM and as a valued member of the UK Music Enterprise Committee, Remi was the obvious choice to address this issue. Myself and the UK Music team look forward to working with her over the next three months”.

Remi added: “Organisations including AIM, the Music Publishers Association and others at all levels around the UK have established a strong track record in delivering development initiatives for the music industry in partnership with the public sector. The strategic and collective approach being taken by the UK Music Enterprise Committee should now allow us, as an industry, to present our priorities and development opportunities clearly to funders and investors. In turn, this will help us to work more effectively and efficiently with them. I am excited to be joining the UK Music team for this secondment to drive this agenda forward”.

AIM, of course, is one of the eight music organisations affiliated with UK Music.

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:35 | By

Spotify announce Hendrix video exclusive

Digital

Spotify has announced the first ever music video to appear on the music streaming service. Not only that, but it’s an exclusive, too. And it’s for a song by Jimi Hendrix. Oh, and it’s directed by Julien Temple. So that’s four good things already. Everyone at Spotify, you are hereby allowed to go and have a sit down in the comfiest chair available for the next 20 minutes.

The video for ‘Bleeding Heart’, a song which appears on new Hendrix rarities compilation ‘Valleys Of Neptune’, depicts Jimi performing at Glastonbury. Temple used some kind of black magic to create the video, as Hendrix never actually performed at that particular festival. How is it done? No one knows.

As well as the video, which is available now to all users, Spotify Premium subscribers will be able to listen to ‘Valleys Of Neptune’ from 4 Mar, ahead of its release on 8 Mar.

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:34 | By

MUZU launch new jukebox service

Digital

MUZU this week launched a new jukebox service which makes it easier to navigate, playlist and play music from the video service’s vast catalogue. In particular, the new service recommends videos based around your initial artist choice (in a Pandora stylee), and then allows users to search the MUZU catalogue and add tracks to their playlist while concurrently enjoying the recommended vids, and all within one browser window. I’ve only had a little play, but it looks kinda cool, and I intend to have a proper delve this weekend.

The service is a bit like a “video version of Spotify”, though it is worth noting that, although free to use, no ads will play in the mix on the jukebox service. The MUZU release launching the new service notes: “While MUZU.TV is an advertising-funded free music website, it has been careful to leverage more innovative ad formats such as ‘skinning’ the outside of the video player with premium entertainment-related advertisement, which don’t interrupt the viewing experience in any way”.

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:32 | By

Elvis’ hair fails to sell

And Finally

Can it really be true that no one wants to own Elvis’ hair? Is that the kind of world we live in now? Apparently it is. A strand of The King’s hair has failed to sell at auction in Gloucestershire.

The hair’s current owner reportedly bought it “on a whim” in a TV auction. It comes mounted on a gold disc, which bears the inscription “The King’s Authentic Hair” (to stop it being confused with a hair from a wig or pet owned by The King, presumably). It was expected to fetch up to £600, which would have been a pretty good haul, considering a whole clump of the stuff only raised around £10,000 at an auction in Chicago last October.

A spokesman for auction house Chorleys told Metro: “These more fun items are not doing as well in the current market as the more serious antiques. It’s just one of those things”.

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Friday 26 February 2010, 11:30 | By

Approved: Ludovico Einaudi Live

Club Tip CMU Approved

OK, so this isn’t something you’d normally expect to find here in the Club Tip slot. I mean, for starters it’s not a club night. But I’ve been trying to find a way of name checking this guy in the Daily since the release of his album ‘Nightbook’ last year, and he’s in the UK this week, so this seems like as good a time as any.

Italian Einaudi is a brilliant pianist who took a slightly different direction with his 2009 album, incorporating synthesized sounds into the mix for the first time. The results were big news in Italy. I’m not sure what he has planned for this week’s UK concerts, but his music is always both moving and infectious at the same time. So, if you fancy something a little bit different this week, make it Ludivico.

Friday 26 Feb, De Montfort Hall, Leicester, 7.30pm; Sunday 28 Feb, Brighton Dome, 7.30pm; Tuesday 2 Mar, Royal Albert Hall, London, 7.30pm; Wednesday 3 Mar, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, 8pm; more at www.ludovicoeinaudi.com

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Thursday 25 February 2010, 12:44 | By

Single Review: Fanfarlo – Harold T Wilkins, Or How To Wait For A Very Long Time (Warner/Atlantic)

Single Reviews

Fanfarlo

It’s no surprise to learn that Fanfarlo are currently touring with mandolin-led acoustic powerhouses Mumford & Sons. Like their partners in tweed, this Swedish folk fivesome deliver a fine pop drama complete with bleeding heart vocals and a whole delirious mess of unplugged strings and rampant percussion. The band’s Scandinavian roots do come through though, lending a coy sweetness to the affair that would never pass through the natural cynicism of a wholly British band. TM

Buy from iTunes
Buy from Amazon

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Thursday 25 February 2010, 12:39 | By

Sellaband bought by German entrepreneur

Digital Top Stories

Faltering fan-funding website Sellaband yesterday announced it had a buyer.

As previously reported, the fan investment service went offline last week, and was declared bankrupt on Monday by courts in the Netherlands. Amid speculation as to what would happen to the company, and the money that had been pledged by fans but which was yet to be paid to bands, the service’s co-founder and top man Johan Vosmeijer told reporters on Tuesday that it was almost certain the firm would be bought and normal services would resume shortly afterwards.

Yesterday it was confirmed a buyer had, indeed, been found, in the form of Munich-based entrepreneur Michael Bogatzki. In a posting on the Sellaband website, Vosmeijer confirmed the acquisition, announced he would now stand down as CEO of the company, and said he was confident the new owners would be good to both bands and investors signed up with the service. The Sellaband website is expected to go live again imminently.

Vosmeijer: “I have spoken at length with the people who have bought www.sellaband.com and am totally convinced that they are just as committed as we always were to build a solid future for Sellaband. What is extremely important to me is that the new company, called SellaBand GmbH and to be operated out of Munich in Germany, will respect our commitments towards ‘believers’ and also to those artists who are currently recording their Sellaband album, and/or are about to release their music”. He added that his co-founder Dagmar Heijmans would stay with the company.

In another posting, Bogatzki himself said: “We will continue to advance this fantastic platform while acting in the spirit of the Sellaband community and its founders. Starting from today we proceed with this unique concept and maximise the potential of Sellaband with the trust and faith of all artists and believers. I am proud to be part of this idea and I will take care about the community and spirit of sellaband.com with your help and confidence”.

In his piece, Vosmeijer also said he still thought the fan-funding model would play an important role in the future of the music industry, and that Sellaband, despite its current problems, would be a big part of that. Though the service’s third co-founder, Pim Betist, who left the company eighteen months ago, was less optimistic in an interview with Wired magazine. He says that while he also thinks fan-funding has a future, that Sellaband needs to change the way it works to become a viable business.

Among the problems with the current Sellaband system, identified by Wired in its interview with Betist, is the service’s focus on having its artists release a full album CD, something which makes any Sellaband venture expensive, and something which is no longer necessary to launch a new artist. Betist also reckons that fan-funding services should specialise in certain sorts of music and should be more willing to turn mediocre acts away, and he admits that Sellaband put too much emphasis on getting the best producers to produce their artists’ albums rather than working out how the albums might be marketed and sold once they were produced.

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Thursday 25 February 2010, 12:36 | By

Consumer Focus call for end to private copying ban, like, now

Business News Legal Top Stories

Consumer rights people Consumer Focus have again called on the government to do something about private copying rights (or the lack thereof) under British copyright law. As you all surely know, technically speaking it is illegal to make personal back up copies of CDs you legitimately buy, or to rip tracks from your CD onto your PC, or to move tracks from a CD onto an MP3 player (all of which is called ‘format shifting’ by tedious people).

While you all know that, according to a bit of Consumer Focus research, over 80% of people do not. In a survey of 2000 adults, they found just 17% realised that making back up CDs was not technically allowed, while only 15% knew that CD tracks shouldn’t really be copied over to an iPod or similar.

Of course, the lack of a private copying right under British law was discussed during the 2006 Gowers Review of intellectual property rules, and record label trade body the BPI admitted that it couldn’t see a circumstance in which any of its members would sue someone for making private copies of CDs, or moving CD tracks to a PC or iPod, even though in theory the law allowed them to.

So much so, Gowers recommended that the government “introduce a limited private copying exception by 2008 for format shifting for works published after the date that the law comes into effect”. According to the Intellectual Property Office’s website, consultation on that recommendation is expected to be launched in “late 2009”. So that’s something to look forward to. 

Even though everyone thinks the current ban on format shifting is insane, the record industry – always on hand should you want to witness some gun-based foot-self-harm – has complicated moves to get a private copying exception made law by saying such format shifting rights should be controlled by a licence applied to devices like PCs or iPods, so that it could only be legally done when music is transferred from a CD to a ‘licenced’ device. The makers of said devices would pay the record industry for the privilege of providing such a licence with their products.

To be fair to the music industry, this licence idea is on the table because in some other countries where format shifting has always been legal, a levy was applied to the sale of blank CDRs and cassettes which was paid to the music industry, as compensation for the private copying most of those disks and tapes would be used for.

As sales of CDRs and cassettes die, there has been talk of adding such a levy to MP3 players – what is often dubbed the ‘iPod tax’ – though such proposals have always been controversial, because MP3 player makers point out that such a levy would have to be paid by all customers, even those whose entire digital music collection had been downloaded from iTunes or another licenced digital music store.

The ‘licence’ proposal put forward by some in the British record industry was an effort to create a more fair levy system. But, as we pointed out at the time, it’s still a clumsy proposal, which misses the point. Here is a chance for the record industry to stand up and say to the world “we think this law is stupid, we all know you make private copies of music you buy on CD, we don’t have a problem with that, so we are having the law changed to protect you guys”.

Instead, if the IPO ever do get round to reviewing this issue again, media reports will read “those cunts in the record industry want to screw even more cash out of us”. The PR benefits of backing a non-conditional private copying exemption far outweigh any money that could be made on a licencing system, which would always be short-lived, given CD sales are in terminal decline.

Anyway, I digress. Consumer Focus want the private copying exemption back on the agenda now, and say that while the silly format shifting ban remains on the statute book it will be hard for the record industry’s other copyright concerns – such as the need for a three-strikes system to combat file-sharing – to be taken seriously.

Consumer Focus’ Jill Johnstone: “The credibility of UK copyright law has fallen through the floor. Millions of consumers are regularly copying CDs or DVDs and are unaware they are breaching copyright law. The world has moved on and reform of copyright law is inevitable, but it’s not going to update itself. If the government wants consumers to respect copyright law they have to stop sitting on their hands and bring the law in line with the real world”.

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Thursday 25 February 2010, 12:23 | By

Analog Africa heads out of Africa

Releases

Having built its reputation by releasing a series of stunning compilations of rare 70s rock and funk, all dug up by label founder Samy Ben Redjeb, Analog Africa is turning its attentions to another continent altogether for its next release.

‘Mambo Loco’ is a collection of tracks by Colombian accordionist Anibal Velasquez, known by his fans as “El Mago” (The Magician) and one of the most prolific musicians in the country’s Musica Tropica movement, having apparently recorded over 300 albums in his career.

Recalling his discovery of the accordion in the late 40s and early 50s, Velasquez says: “When I started to play the accordion, the instrument was not very popular, it had not become part of Costeno [Colombian Caribbean coast] culture as it was considered a second-class instrument, a bit foreign and awkward, used primarily by campesinos [peasants] in rural towns off the banks of the Rio Magdalena – but we’ve changed that”.

He continues: “One of the turning points was a chance encounter with Robertico Roman, a musician from Cartagena. We both had a deep love for Cuban music and he would often come to my place where we jammed. It was with Robertico Roman that I formed my first band called Los Vallenatos de Magdalena. I made my first recording with that band in 1952”.

The album will be released on 12 Apr, and you can keep up to date with all Analog Africa goings on at analogafrica.blogspot.com

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Thursday 25 February 2010, 12:21 | By

Red Sparowes announce new album

Releases

Instrumental post-rock band Red Sparowes, who count members of Isis amongst their line-up, have announced that they will release their third album, ‘The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies The Answer’, via Conspiracy Records on 5 Apr.

Produced by Toshi Kasai (Comets On Fire, The Fucking Champs, The Melvins), it is also the band’s first album with Nocturnes guitarist Emma Ruth Rundle.

You may also be pleased to know that the band have eschewed the ridiculously long titles that featured on previous albums ‘At The Soundless Dawn’ and particularly second album ‘Every Red Heart Shines Towards The Red Sun’, which featured the catchy-sounding, ‘And By Our Own Hand Did Every Last Bird Lie Silent In Their Puddles, The Air Barren Of Song As The Clouds Drifted Away. For Killing Their Greatest Enemy, The Locusts Noisily Thanked Us And Turned Their Jaws Toward Our Crops, Swallowing Our Greed Whole’.

Look, these titles are positively monosyllabic in comparison:

Truths Arise
In Illusions Of Order
A Hail Of Bombs
Giving Birth To Imagined Saviors
A Swarm
In Every Mind
A Mutiny
As Each End Looms And Subsides

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Thursday 25 February 2010, 12:19 | By

Doves best of confirmed

Releases

Doves will release a best of album on 5 Apr, which will feature the hits, b-sides, rarities and the customary new tracks. It will be called ‘The Places Between: The Best of Doves’.

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Thursday 25 February 2010, 12:18 | By

Whitney promoter hits out at Aussie critics

Gigs & Festivals

The promoter of a Whitney Houston gig in Brisbane has spoken out in support of the singer after fans and critics got together to diss the one time diva’s comeback concert. Although there have been some positive reviews of the show, others have focused on the fact Houston looked exhausted and disorientated, that she got some of her backing band’s names wrong when trying to introduce them, and that she needed to take frequent breaks to catch her breath. Some fans have even demanded a refund.

But promoter Andrew McManus hit out at the critics, who he said where the “vocal minority” among a plethora of happy customers. He told reporters: “I am personally amazed at the few who are trying to derail the project and say if they expected to hear Whitney of 20 years ago, go buy a CD, but if they wanted to see a true professional artist give 100% and have a red hot go at songs that make the greatest vocalists shrink, well come along and enjoy the ride of an amazing talent, on stage, letting her heart and soul out for us all to enjoy”.

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