Sunday 30 May 2010, 11:05 | By

Playlist: Bloc Party

CMU Playlists

Bloc Party may currently be on hiatus, but lead guitarist Russell Lissack has not been using the band’s downtime to rest. He has remixed artists like Tunng, Placebo and Kate Nash, released an album with his side-project Pin Me Down, and can currently be found playing guitar and keyboards with Ash on their latest round of touring.

Leaning towards the electronic sound, Pin Me Down, completed by New York-based vocalist Milena Mepris, builds upon Bloc Party’s dance tendencies. They made their live debut in 2008 and their first single ‘Cryptic’ featured on Kitsuné Maison’s ‘Compilation 5’.

After releasing single ‘Time Crisis’ as a free download at the beginning of the year, Pin Me Down released their eponymous debut album in March. Russell told us recently: “In the last year or so I’ve gotten back into electro music in a big way. The Pin Me Down album is a meeting point of that with my guitar style, and the anthemic melodies of 80s pop”.

Showing off some of those influnces, both old an new, Russell put together a Powers Of Ten playlist for us.

RUSSELL LISSACK’S TEN
Click here to listen to Russell’s playlist in Spotify, and then read on to find out more about his selections.

01 Goldfrapp – Rocket
I wasn’t into Goldfrapp before this track, but combined with a great selection of remixes, this is such a strong song with a great melody.

02 Miike Snow – Animal

I don’t really know anything about these guys, I heard them via a remix but I love what I’ve heard so far.

03 Weezer – Only In Dreams

The greatest instrumental build up in music to date, it still gives me goosebumps after fifteen years.

04 Kid Cudi – Pursuit Of Happiness (Steve Aoki Remix)

Just for that synth riff when it kicks in – ridiculous.

05 Wiley and Chew-Fu – Take That

I think this is just as big as ‘Bonkers’ by Dizzee Rascal, if not more so.

06 Pin Me Down – Cryptic (Phones Remix)

Some shameless self-promotion aside, this is an awesome remix from long time collaborator Paul Epworth.

07 Ash – A Life Less Ordinary

A classic from my youth, reinvigorated by the fact I’m getting to perform it live with them on tour now.

08 Kid Sister – Right Hand Hi

Awesome production, great vocals, a real dancefloor banger.

09 Alex Metric – It Starts

I played guitar on this track for Alex. He’s done a lot of great remixes, too.

10 Fenech-Soler – Stop And Stare

Everything I’ve heard by Fenech-Soler so far I’ve been really into, I love the euphoric feel to it.

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Sunday 30 May 2010, 11:00 | By

CMU Beef Of The Week #20: McFly v The Gays

And Finally Beef Of The Week

This is a strange one. McFly’s management company last week asked a popular gay message board to stop their users from posting (often half-naked) pictures of the band for other board-users to ogle at.

This is presumably not the same McFly who once stripped naked on stage at GAY to celebrate their single getting to number one.

Though, to be fair, it wasn’t the general distribution of half-naked photos by fans – gay or straight – that was specifically bothering the band’s people. They were seemingly pissed off that some private photos of the band had got online.

In fact the letter to FM Forums, asking for the ban to be put in place, apparently concluded: “We are continuing to investigate how these pictures leak out”.

Helping in that regard, said moderator observed: “I think you’ll find your band members are posting them on Twitter!”

This week, McFly’s management backtracked on their demand a little, possibly because of some moderate outrage from users on the FM Forums website, and possibly because someone pointed out that distributing half-naked photos of band members to their female and gay fanbase is at the heart of most of McFly marketing campaigns.

Instead of seeking an all out ban of photos of the band on the FM Forums, they asked that moderators filter out some specific photos – seemingly an official photo shoot that is not yet meant to be public, and some personal snaps posted by the McFly boys on their closed social networks. While stressing about the distribution of any photos online these days probably isn’t worth the hassle, the band would, at least, probably have a legitimate copyright claim over those photos.

If you’re new to sharing semi-naked pictures of McFly online, here’s one to get you started, taken from, er, McFly’s official website: www.mcflyofficial.com/gallery/popit.php?id=302

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

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Friday 28 May 2010, 13:00 | By

The music business week in five – Friday 28 May 2010

Business News Week In Five

So, it’s Eurovision Weekend, which either means you’re having a party to celebrate, or you’d best do everything you can to avoid BBC1 and (probably) Twitter tomorrow evening, depending on your viewpoint on the big Song Contest. It’s also the Bank Holiday Weekend, so no CMU Daily on Monday, but we’ll be back on Tuesday in a June-like fashion. Meanwhile, here’s the big five stories from the music biz in the last week.

01: BBC Trust consultation deadline passed. This was the public consultation on BBC management’s Strategy Review, which, amongst other things, includes the proposals to shut 6music and the Asian Network. Most of the music industry trade bodies lined up to diss those plans as the consultation deadline approached; some published the submissions they had made to the Trust. The Save 6 community, meanwhile, staged a second demo outside Broadcasting House last weekend. It remains to be seen if either radio station will now be saved. CMU report | Beehive City Save 6 rally report

02: Speculation grew about the future of Fabric. Last week’s announcement that sister club Matter will shut its doors for at least the summer months, was followed by reports this week that numerous redundancies had occurred at Fabric HQ. This led to speculation that the whole Fabric empire might go under, with the Fabric company saddled with Matter’s £3 million debts. Still no word on those rumours from Fabric management, though they have confirmed it will be business as usual at the club this weekend. CMU report | Resident Advisor report

03: Celebrities launched music companies. First Craig David announced he was launching a publishing company to handle his own songs catalogue and to sign up other songwriters, then ‘American Idol’ judge Ellen DeGeneres announced she was setting up a label, seemingly after falling in love with YouTube sensation Greyson Chance when he guested on her TV show and deciding she wanted to launch his pop career herself. Meanwhile, at the International Music Summit in Ibiza, Sony A&R man Mike Pickering announced that Calvin Harris – who launched his own label earlier this year – had been given an A&R role at the recently relaunched Deconstruction, the Sony dance imprint Pickering founded. CMU reports Craig David | Ellen DeGeneres | Calvin Harris

04: McFly banned a gay message board from hosting their pictures, then didn’t. Moderators at FM Forums announced McFly’s management had asked that they stop their users from uploading half-naked photos of the band for other users to, erm, enjoy – not on copyright grounds, and not because they mind the band’s gay fanbase perving at their pictures, but because they were stressing about how a set of new promo photos and some of the band’s personal private photos had leaked online. Later they said that there was no need for a ban providing FM Forum chiefs stopped the leaked photos from appearing on their site. CMU report | FM Forum statement

05: Apple grow bigger than Microsoft as iPad arrives in UK. Despite Microsoft once being a giant next to the tiny Apple Computers in terms of market cap (share price multiplied by number of shares), the decline of the former and unstoppable growth of the latter means Apple is now the bigger of the IT firms. Of course, being big has its downsides. There were reports this week US anti-trust regulators were investigating claims Apple misused its dominance in the digital music space to pressure labels to not participate in an Amazon MP3 promotion. CMU report | An interesting Marketwatch comment

And that’s it. Look out for your artist news digest in the form of a big fat CMU Weekly this afternoon, complete with a Spotify playlist lovingly created for your pleasure by Russell Lissack from Bloc Party – sign up to get it if you haven’t already: www.completemusicupdate.com/subscribe

Chris Cooke
Business Editor, CMU Daily

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Friday 28 May 2010, 12:01 | By

Live Review: Lissie at The Queens Head in London on 18 May

Live Reviews

Lissie

Having already seen Lissie play less than a week earlier at The Great Escape, my expectations were certainly high; there she’d covered a Kid Cudi song and pulled it off amazingly, and then been joined on stage by Ellie Goulding for ‘Everywhere I Go’. What was going to beat that?! Well, expectations may have been high, but my second jaunt seeing Lissie was, nonetheless, far from disappointing.

Performing to a packed out audience at the Queens Head in Islington, it was somewhat special seeing her in such a small venue, compared to Brighton’s large concert hall The Dome. Up close and definitely more personal, with plenty of interaction from the crowd, you could really see her band in action, which was great to watch, especially Lewis Keller who carried out the task of both bass and drums simultaneously.

She struggled slightly, nearly losing her voice here and there, presumably down to lots of recent gigging, but that kind of added to the raw country tones of her vocals; and the delicateness of her voice on the slower more soulful songs still shone through. GS

Buy from iTunes
Buy from Amazon

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:51 | By

Might BMG take a stake in EMI publishing?

Business News Labels & Publishers Top Stories

Hey, it’s been at least ten days since we last published some idle EMI speculation, which is no good at all. So, here’s some more.

The New York Post reckons that Terra Firma may be helped out of its continued EMI-related woes by a rival equity outfit, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, who own half of the BMG Rights Management company, and who were tipped as possible buyers for EMI Music Publishing had bankers Citigroup forced a sale of the London-based music major.

The Post reckons that Terra Firma and KKR are in talks about spinning off EMI Music Publishing as a stand alone company, 51% owned by the EMI Group, and 49% owned by KKR, who would most likely assign their stake to BMG.

The deal would bring in some much needed funds into EMI. Although Terra Firma did find £100 million or so to gift to the music company so it could meet the covenants of its Citigroup loan, the equity group had hoped to raise £360 million, to help fill a hole in the company’s pension fund and to ensure future loan commitments are met.

But Terra Firma’s backers weren’t that keen to prop up their music asset, meaning that while EMI avoided Citigroup foreclosing on their loan next week – as might have happened – the long term future of the music firm is currently far from assured.

The Post quote a source who says: “This move [the KKR talks] does not surprise me. EMI only got enough money to survive another six months before they need to raise money again”. The Post also reckons Terra Firma might be talking to others about taking a stake in a spun off EMI Publishing.

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:48 | By

Nearly half of file-sharers say they would pay to legally file-share

Digital Top Stories

Media law types Wiggin have published the 2010 edition of their annual Digital Entertainment Survey which, the blurb here tells me, is “the largest and most up to date research report examining consumer trends and preferences in digital entertainment”. And we like large and up to date research reports examining consumer trends and preferences in digital entertainment here at CMU, so it’s party time here this morning.

But what are the key findings?

Well, music people will be most interested in the piracy stats. The survey found that 44% of those who currently access content via illegal sources would be happy to pay a monthly subscription fee if that meant they could continue to access music via those sources legitimately (ie if file-sharing was licensed), though over half said that only £3 to £3.50 would be a reasonable subscription fee, while a quarter would be willing to go up to £14.50. 29% of the file-sharers surveyed, though, admitted that if their favourite illegal sources went legit and started charging a subscription fee, they’d move to a different free-to-use illegal site.

On the three-strikes system set up to combat online piracy by the recent Digital Economy Act, a third of those surveyed said they wouldn’t change their habits regarding accessing illegal content sources even if other file-sharers did start to have their net connections suspended. If the penalty was stepped up to full disconnection though (which will be the ultimate penalty under the French three-strikes system), some of those would start to think twice.

About 20% said that once three-strikes goes live they’ll take a more active role in monitoring people using their internet accounts, while 25% said they thought a fairer way to deal with piracy – rather than three-strikes – was to block access to piracy-enabling services (which is easier said than done; while some provisions in the DEA sort of simplify the legal process for blocking such sites, serial file-sharers would still be able to circumvent blocks).

What else is in the big survey, though? Well, not overly groovy news for The Times, who are about to put a paywall up around their website. 90% of the people Wiggin surveyed said they weren’t so keen about paying for access to news sites, with 70% saying there was too much free news available to justify paying any one news provider for their content. There remains many a commentator still convinced The Times’ decision to start charging for its online content – while everyone else continues to provide theirs for free – is going to backfire big time.

The Times would probably point out that they’re selling comment and analysis, and quality writing, not straight news; that the number of free news providers will fall in the coming years, and The Times can afford to wait; that many of the news-freetards will learn to pay for good online content eventually; and anyway, 10% of the market is enough to build a pretty sound content business. But then it’s not my job to speak for the bosses of The Times.

You can buy a copy of the 2010 Digital Entertainment Research Report for £199 from this here website: www.digitalentertainmentsurvey.com. No word on what the survey says about people’s willingness to pay for rather expensive research reports in the digital age.

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:46 | By

Fabric future still uncertain, but business as usual this weekend

Business News Live Business Top Stories

Following all those rumours regarding the future of Fabric, the official line from the London club yesterday was “it’s business as usual” – that is to say, this weekend’s line up of nights will go ahead as planned.

As previously reported, following the news last week that sister club Matter will shut it doors for at least the summer months, and reports of numerous redundancies within the Fabric HQ earlier this week, there was much speculation on Wednesday that problems at the Dome-based club could bring down its longer established sister venue too.

According to a report in the London Evening Standard last week, the Fabric company guaranteed a £3.2 million loan taken out by the Matter company, something that could force the main Fabric entity into administration if Matter goes out of business. The clubbing company has yet to respond to all the various rumours, but has told Resident Advisor that whatever happens, Fabric will be open for business tonight.

Some have pointed out that Fabric went into administration in 2003 after they inherited a legal dispute related to their building, but that that didn’t really affect the operations of the venue and the company came out of the ordeal stronger. Whether that will happen this time round, given the scale of Matter’s debts, remains to be seen.

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:45 | By

Albarn wishes Bono well

Artist News Gigs & Festivals Top Stories

Damon Albarn has wished Bono well after a back injury forced U2 to pull out of their headline slot at this year’s Glastonbury festival. The band have, of course, been replaced by Gorillaz, which is why Albarn was talking about Bono’s back, you see.

He told the NME: “It’s a terrible thing for U2. Glastonbury is magical. Gorillaz will come to life on that stage, but we wish Bono all the best”.

Gorillaz co-founder Jamie Hewlett added that they are confident they can send the audience away happy, after playing their first festival show at Coachella earlier this year. He explained: “I wasn’t sure how Gorillaz would work in a festival environment, but Coachella was amazing. I think Glastonbury will be an unbelievable experience for us”.

It will, of course, be Albarn’s second time in a row headlining the Pyramid Stage, after playing Glstonbury with the reformed Blur last year.

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:43 | By

Danish Supreme Court upholds Bay block order

Legal

In what is presumably the final chapter of a long running sub-section of The Pirate Bay story, the Supreme Court in Denmark has ordered Danish tel co Telenor to block access to the rogue BitTorrent file-sharing site. The Supreme Court backed two rulings made in lower Danish courts regarding the telephone firm’s obligations to stop copyright infringement by blocking access to the Bay.

Welcoming the latest ruling, a legal rep for the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry told reporters: “The decision is perfectly clear. It confirms that internet service providers are part of the solution to the problem [of illegal downloading]. It is an imperative for the continued growth and success of legal downloading services, that the spread of illegal services be curbed”.

The IFPI added that it expects the precedent set in the Telenor case to be enough to persuade other Danish ISPs to likewise try and block access to The Pirate Bay.

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:42 | By

Kiss assault case dropped

Legal

Prosecutors in an assault case against Kiss bassist Gene Simmons have dropped their proceedings due to lack of evidence.

Nathan Marlowe and his wife Cynthia Manzon claimed that Simmons had attacked them while they were on a shopping trip, after he spotted them filming him in an LA shopping centre in December. The couple also applied for a restraining order subsequent to the alleged attack, though that had already been refused by a judge (presumably because the possibility that they might come into contact with Simmons again via anything other than chance is slim at best).

Although the criminal case has now collapsed, Marlowe and Manzon are also suing Simmons in the civil courts for assault, battery and infliction of emotional distress.

This is entirely separate to another assault case currently being brought against Simmons, in which TV make-up artist Victoria Jackson claims he “humped” and “grinded” against her while appearing on ESPN show ‘SportsCenter’ earlier this year. He denies the allegations.

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:40 | By

Kings Of Leon record “fun” album

Artist News

Having ended their touring commitments promoting their 2008 album, ‘Only By The Night’, last year in a bit of a grump, it seems Kings Of Leon have subsequently perked up a bit. In fact, drummer Nathan Followill says their new record is more fun than previous efforts.

Speaking to Billboard, he said: “I’ll be damned if we didn’t go in there and make a fun record! It’s got songs that are beachy and songs that are a little more like our ‘Youth’ and ‘Young Manhood’ days.We’re super excited. Everything, we feel, fits perfectly for this project. It’ll be interesting to see how well received it is”.

Asked if they would be previewing any new material at upcoming live dates, he said: “Any time you’re coming into a tour after a new record, especially one that’s not even out yet, it’s pretty tough to not play the whole thing. We might force the label to release [the album] earlier than they want to”.

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:39 | By

Arcade Fire announce new album details

Releases

Arcade Fire will release their third album, entitled ‘The Suburbs’, on 2 Aug via Mercury. The band’s previously reported new twelve-inch double A-side single, ‘The Suburbs/Month Of May’, is also available in shops now.

Fans who pre-order any of the various album packages available via the band’s website – www.arcadefire.com – will receive free downloads of the two tracks on the single immediately.

The band will play the Reading and Leeds festivals in August, as well as Ireland’s Oxegen festival in July.

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:38 | By

Skream announces second album

Releases

Ollie Jones, aka Skream, has announced that he will release his second album, ‘Outside The Box’, via Tempa on 26 Jul.

The fourteen new tracks on the album span hip hop, dubstep, drum n bass and electronica. Plus, La Roux’s Elly Jackson makes an appearance to provide some guest vocals, following on from Jones’ anthemic remix of the electro-pop duo’s single, ‘In For The Kill’.

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:35 | By

Wildbirds & Peacedrums announce new EP

Releases

Swedish husband and wife duo Wildbirds & Peacedrums have announced that they will release a new EP, called ‘Iris’ on 24 Aug via The Leaf Label.

Explaining the concept behind the EP, vocalist Mariam Wallentin says: “It’s about the eye, the communication of what we see, and what we feel. I’ve been a bit hung up on the surface of the water versus the surface of the eye, the reflections and the special light that generates. It has a drier, purer, more intimate sound [than previous EP, ‘Retina’], with hardly any embellishment beyond the percussion. We always try to approach songs with a different energy, and here we felt a need to try to purify it”.

You can download a track from the new EP, ‘The Well’, for free by signing up to The Leaf Label’s mailing list: files.theleaflabel.com/signup/

 

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:27 | By

Tweak Bird give away free MP3 ahead of single release

Releases

Tweak Bird, aka brothers Caleb and Aston Bird, will release a new limited edition seven-inch single, ‘A Sun/Ahh Ahh’ on 7 Jun via Souterrain Transmissions. The track features some mighty Kyuss-style riffing and some ominous sax for good measure.

It’s good. I say, yes, you would like to purchase the vinyl come 7 Jun. The band also think this, which is why they’re giving the digital version of the track away for free. You can get it here: www.souterraintransmissions.com/media/mp3/2440/2440.mp3

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:26 | By

Roger Waters brings The Wall to the UK

Gigs & Festivals

Former Pink Floyd man Roger Waters has announced that he will bring the live show in which he performs his former band’s ‘The Wall’ album in full to the UK next year, 30 years after it was originally released.

Explaining the writing process of the album, Waters told CMU: “30 years ago when I wrote ‘The Wall’, I was a frightened young man. In the intervening years it has occurred to me that maybe the story of my fear and loss with its concomitant inevitable residue of ridicule, shame and punishment, provides an allegory for broader concerns: Nationalism, racism, sexism, religion, whatever! All these issues and isms are driven by the same fears that drove my young life”.

May 2011 UK tour dates:

11 May: London, O2 Arena
12 May: London, O2 Arena
17 May: London, O2 Arena
20 May: Manchester, MEN Arena
21 May: Manchester, MEN Arena

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:19 | By

Festival line-up update – 28 May 2010

Artist News Festival Line-Up Update Gigs & Festivals

BELLADRUM TARTAN HEART, Beauly, Inverness-shire, 6-7 Aug: Twin Atlantic and Goldheart Assembly head up the latest acts announced to play at the Scottish fest this summer. Other acts added to the line-up include Harper Simon, Kitty Daisy & Lewis, The Boy Who Trapped The Sun and Kassidy. www.tartanheartfestival.co.uk

BOARDMASTERS, Watergate Bay, Cornwall, 4-8 Aug: The Futureheads, Baddies, Tall Ships and Natty are amongst the latest acts announced to play at Boardmasters this summer, along with Peggy Sue, Goldhawks, Rolo Tomassi, Gallows and many more. www.relentlessboardmasters.com

ELECTRIC PICNIC, Stradbally Hall Estate, Co Laois, 3-5 Sep: Foals, UNKLE and the Archie Bronson Outift have all been confirmed to play at Electric Picnic, as well as And So I Watch You From Afar, Cathy Davey and Beardyman. www.electricpicnic.ie

THE GREEN MAN FESTIVAL, Glanusk Park, Usk Valley, Powys, Wales, 20-22 Aug: Hexstatic, Metronomy and DJ Yoda are the latest acts added to the Green Man line-up, along with Cheeba, Gold Panda and Greco Roman DJs. www.greenman.net

SOUTH WEST FOUR WEEKENDER, Clapham Common, London, 28-29 Aug: Salt N Pepa have been confirmed to play at South West Four this summer as the main support for headliner Fatboy Slim. www.southwestfour.com

T IN THE PARK, Balado, Kinross-shire, Scotland, 9-11 Jul: Billy Talent, Daisy Dares You and Lissie have all been confirmed for this year’s T In The Park, with the likes of Sparrow And The Workshop, White Belt Yellow Tag and Twisted Wheel also added to the bill. www.tinthepark.com

WOMAD, Charlton Park, Wiltshire, 23-25 Jul: Ty and Soil & “Pimp” Sessions have been added to the bill for this summer’s WOMAD, along with DJ Kentaro and Krystal Warren. www.womad.org

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:17 | By

Draft one of three-strikes code almost complete

Business News Labels & Publishers

According to Music Week, a draft code of practice for the three-strikes flim flam put in place by the Digital Economy Act is almost complete, which is pretty much on schedule. OfCom began work on the draft more or less as soon as the DEA became law. The code will include information on how alleged file-sharers will be notified that the piracy police are on their case, and how said file-sharers can appeal.

Consultation on the draft is expected to run into the Autumn.

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:16 | By

Remi Harris joins UK Music full time

Business News Industry People

The Association Of Independent Music yesterday announced that their General Manager Remi Harris will be leaving the trade body to become Director Of Operations of UK Music. Harris, who has been with AIM since its creation eleven years ago, has been on secondment to the Feargal Sharkey headed cross-sector trade body for the last three months. She will return to AIM for a month from next week to help with a restructuring of their top team, before taking on her new job of UK Music on 20 Sep.

Says AIM boss lady Alison Wenham: “I am sad to see Remi go, but proud of all she has achieved with AIM over more than a decade, and delighted she is moving on to this new opportunity, and that she will still be continuing to champion the needs of the music industry”.

Says UK Music boss bloke Sharkey: “The entire UK Music team is delighted that Remi will be joining us in September as Director Of Operations. This will be a lynchpin role at UK Music and Remi will be working in conjunction with myself to deliver the strategic goals of the organisation as set out in Liberating Creativity”.

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:14 | By

Japanese digital sales down in 2009

Digital

Digital music sales in Japan dropped 3% last year in terms of units sold, which is no fun, given digital is meant to still be booming.

The value of the market stayed pretty much the same at 90.6 billion yen. The vast majority of digital music sales in Japan are via mobile, where PC-based downloads have never really taken off. That said, while mobile downloads (about 90% of market) declined, fixed-line downloads (about 10%) grew, though not enough to stop the overall decline.

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:13 | By

Fuller may mount bid to buy CKX

Media

According to the Wall Street Journal, that Simon Fuller is in cahoots with a City type called Roger Jenkins to try to engineer a takeover of US entertainment firm CKX, the very company which bought Fuller’s 19 Entertainment enterprise and its ‘Idol’ franchise back in 2005.

After CKX bought the 19 empire Fuller had a role within the conglom, but earlier this year announced he would leave his full-time job there to set up a new stand-alone venture, but that he would continue to work on certain CKX projects (mainly the ones he’d created) on a consultancy basis.

In March, it was announced a consortium of equity types were considering taking over CKX, but that founder and CEO Robert FX Sillerman would keep his 21% stake and stay in the top job. I think Fuller’s takeover bid would compete with that one, and it’s not clear what would happen to Sillerman if the Fuller acquisition went ahead.

Billboard says that Fuller and his investment buddy Jenkins have put together a billion dollar pot of cash to buy CKX and other entertainment firms. 

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:11 | By

Drums man on being indie (or not)

And Finally

Frontman of The Drums Jonathan Pierce has declared that the most unattractive thing in the world is being “indie for indie’s sake”.

He told The NME: “We’re ambitious. The big difference between us and a lot of other indie pop bands is we’re not afraid of success. I’ve always felt The Field Mice should be the biggest band in the world. I don’t want to hide them away for myself. That’s the difference between us and them, that’s the different mentality… I can’t think of anything more unattractive than wanting to be indie for indie’s sake”.

Because, as we all know, a desire to sell records is all you need in order to be successful.

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:07 | By

Beatles man on being on drugs (or not)

And Finally

Paul McCartney has been discussing drugs and the use of them when making music in an interview with The Telegraph. It sounds like it was a slightly awkward moment.

Asked how important LSD and marijuana were to the creation of The Beatles’ music, McCartney said: “Um, er, probably quite important. It was a development thing.It’s difficult – I think the answer is quite… It certainly made us stretch further than we might otherwise, from ‘Rubber Soul’ onwards. But I have the problem now – now that things have got a bit out of control – of not wanting to be seen advocating it. Cos we did some pretty good work before that, as well. It’s not a requirement”.

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Friday 28 May 2010, 11:06 | By

Approved: Innervisions at CAMP Basement

Club Tip CMU Approved

Situated just off the Old Street roundabout, new temporary (it has a two year licence, apparently) bar and venue the City Arts & Music Project has played host to a wide variety of great acts since opening. Andy CMU has already been down twice this week to see two very different gigs in its dank basement, spanning electronica to punk, and tonight will see the venue’s eclectic programme take another turn.

The owners of excellent deep house label Innervisions, Âme (aka Kristian Raedle and Frank Wiedemann) and Dixon, will be jetting over from Berlin for what looks like a great night. You can expect their DJ sets to explore the furthest reaches of deep house (or the deepest reaches, I suppose). Dixon, in particular, is known for his extended sets which are built methodically and designed to take clubbers on a journey from beginning to end.

Friday 28 May, CAMP Basement, 70-74 City Rd, London, EC1Y 2BJ, 12-7am, £10adv, more info from www.thecamplondon.com, press info from Ali Tillett at Warm Music

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Thursday 27 May 2010, 12:32 | By

Album Review: The Magic Theatre – London Town (Rotodisc)

Album Reviews

The Magic Theatre

Dan Popplewell and Sophia Churney are best known for their work in late nineties pop sensations (in my house anyway) Ooberman. Championed by John Peel and others, their ‘Shorley Wall’ EP and subsequent album ‘The Magic Treehouse’ were wonderfully inventive with catchy nuggets which still provide the background for my summer days.

With Ooberman on a bit of an indefinite hiatus, Dan has been working on soundtrack projects, which is perhaps why this album has an ambitious story running through it, plus dramatic orchestration from the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, the Slovak Radio Orchestra and others.

It tells a tale of love gained and lost, but with a twist in that one of the characters falls through a time hole in 1968 and ends up in a Victorian Steam Fair to meet his true love in 1888. The website makes the actual story a bit clearer, to be honest, though stylistically the songs and sounds are representative of the times in which said story is set, with jaunty 60’s pop alongside more orchestral 1880s fairground sounds, and so on.

There’s also something of a musical progression through the seasons as the album and story proceeds. Screams “concept album” doesn’t it? And that’s exactly what this is. If you found Ooberman twee or overblown in any way, this really isn’t for you, but for anyone who was enchanted by ‘Shorley Wall’ this is surely worth a listen. IM

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Thursday 27 May 2010, 12:26 | By

Speculation grows about the future of Fabric amid Matter losses

Business News Live Business Top Stories

There was heightened speculation yesterday that problems at Dome-based nightclub Matter might bring its sister club Fabric down, too. As previously reported, bosses at Matter announced last week that the club would close for the summer months, pretty much with immediate effect, despite some nights already being booked in for June. And while the statement said details of an autumn relaunch would follow, there has been wide speculation that this was the club under the Dome shutting for good.

It was initially thought that Matter’s sister venue, the much longer established Fabric, would not be affected by problems over at the Dome, but speculation has risen in the last 24 hours that this might not be the case. The rumours seem to be based on a number of redundancies that took place at the Fabric company earlier this week, all immediate, and many reportedly, according to a number of sources speaking to CMU, affecting people who worked on the main Fabric venue and the spin-off record label, as well as those directly concerned with Matter.

It is thought that Fabric’s owners pumped millions into Matter, creating an incredibly impressive clubbing space and booking some major league DJ talent. But, despite a generally positive reaction by DJs and clubbers alike to the new venue, it has struggled to pull in sufficiently large crowds, mainly because of location issues.

While the main O2 Arena continues to do well, thanks mainly to the kinds of bands it books, other Dome-based ventures still suffer from a widely held – though actually incorrect – perception that the O2 complex is a long way out of central London. The location issue was an even bigger problem for Matter because, while the Dome is a lot easier to get to than many people think, that doesn’t apply so much once the Jubilee Line shuts down at midnight, making things even more challenging for a late night venue.

Whether the large losses at Matter will actually result in Fabric going down too remains to be seen, though it has certainly had a negative impact on the Fabric company in the short term. All of which is very sad, both for the people who worked for the Fabric enterprise, and for fans of quality dance music and club nights, Fabric being one of London’s very best quality clubbing venues.

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Thursday 27 May 2010, 12:24 | By

Suge Knight given restraining order, accused of murder plot

Business News Legal

Following his arrest for alleged assault with a deadly weapon last week, hip hop mogul Suge Knight has now been given a restraining order by the LA County Superior Court following claims that he was behind a murder plot the day after that attack.

In court documents filed on Monday and seen by TMZ, the unnamed claimant says that on Friday Knight “had eight guys come to my house and told them to get me or kill me”. It’s not clear if this is the same man who was involved in the earlier alleged attack on Thursday, though the documents also say the Knight, who spent Thursday night in jail before being released on bail, told him “he was out now and going to take my life”.

The restraining order bars Knight from coming within 100 yards of his alleged victim and he is due to appear in court to answer the claims on 8 Jun.

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Thursday 27 May 2010, 12:23 | By

The Faces sort of reunite for festival show

Artist News

The Faces will sort of reunite for a festival show later this year. I say sort of, because Rod Stewart won’t be along for the ride, so lead vocals will be handled by a certain Mick Hucknall. It’s not a totally novel concept, the Simply Red man performed with the rest of the Faces at a gig at the Royal Albert Hall last Autumn. Original Faces members Ronnie Wood, Kenney Jones and Ian McLagan will be involved, while former Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock will fill in for late Faces man Ronnie Lane.

Announcing that The Simply Faces will play the Vintage At Goodwood festival on 13 Aug, Wood told reporters: “It’s exciting to be on this path again and I hope that The Faces fans are excited as we are. I’m just really looking forward to seeing them this summer – bring it on!”

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Thursday 27 May 2010, 12:21 | By

Major Lazer and La Roux release mixtape

Releases

Diplo’s label Mad Decent have released a free mixtape put together by Major Lazer and La Roux, which they’ve called ‘Lazerproof’.

With La Roux beginning to make a mark on the US market – the single ‘Bulletproof’ is currently sitting in the iTunes top ten over there – the mix was put together during a recent trip to Jamaica and sees the two duos fuse ska, dubstep, hip hop and pop, with guest appearances from Gucci Mane, Drake, Gyptian, Rusko and Amanda Blank.
 
You can download ‘Lazerproof’ from www.maddecent.com/blog/lazerproof

Here’s the tracklist:

Bulletproof (Nacey Remix feat Matt Hemerlein)
Colourless Artibella
I’m Not Your Lemonade (Heroes N Villains Remix feat Gucci Mane)
Independent Kill (feat Candi Redd)
Keep It Fascinating
Magic (Falling Soldiers Dub)
In 4 The Kill Pon De Skream (feat Drake)
Houstatlantavegas Pains
Tigerlily (DYWHAP Blend feat Rusko)
Can’t Stop Now (Armor Love Remix)
Quicksand (Mad Decent 2010 Rerub feat Amanda Blank)
Cover My Eyes (Costra Nostra Edit)
I Said It (Major Lazer Dubplate feat Opal)
Hold Yuh (Double Dubplate feat Gyptian)

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Thursday 27 May 2010, 12:20 | By

Tom Robinson’s birthday party to keep save 6 message going

Gigs & Festivals

The BBC Trust’s public consultation on plans to close down 6music may have now closed, but the Save 6 campaign continues, and attention next week will focus on a 60th birthday party for long term 6 presenter Tom Robinson, which is being used as another rallying call for the digital radio station.

Taking place at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire next Tuesday (1 Jun), Chew Lips, Little Comments, Cosmo Jarvis and Eugene McGuinness will all take to the stage, while reps from indie labels Rough Trade, Bella Union, Domino, Beggars, Warp, Ninja Tune and Moshi Moshi, plus various 6music presenters, will be on hand for a big Save 6 moment at the end of the night.

New Culture Minister Ed Vaizey, who got labelled as “the politician who supports shutting 6” when he was slightly misquoted when the BBC cutback plans were first announced, and who subsequently said he thought 6music was a great service, has also been invited. He apparently met Tom at the recent Ivor Novello Awards. Though I suspect he’ll be “otherwise committed” next Tuesday. And no doubt he’ll be keen to point out it’s not for politicians to interfere on BBC management decisions.

Tickets for the party are £15 and can be bought from www.gladtobegrey.net

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