Monday 30 August 2010, 14:00 | By

Playlist: Full Time Hobby

CMU Playlists

Independent record label Full Time Hobby was founded in January 2004 by Nigel Adams and Wez (just Wez), both of whom had worked together at Mushroom Records but weren’t keen to enter the major label system when the company was bought by Warner Music. Instead, they branched out on their own, and in the last six years have become a highly respected force in UK independent music.

Amongst their signings have been artists such as School Of Seven Bells, Tunng, The Leisure Society, and former Arab Strap man Malcolm Middleton, while the company’s heavier offshoot Hassle is home to the likes of Rolo Tomassi, 65daysofstatic, Alkaline Trio and Trash Talk.

Earlier this month, Full Time Hobby released a new compilation, entitled ‘Hobbyism’, featuring some of the best tracks the company’s diverse catalogue, including School Of Seven Bells, Tunng, Erland & The Carnival, Fujiya & Miyagi, White Denim and Micah P Hinson.

Says Nigel Adams of the label: “We are still proudly independent, bent on supporting artists that are there for the long run and plough their own individualist furrows and we are constantly excited by the new music we’re hearing. We are having our best year yet with lots of new and interesting artists coming our way along with the blossoming of our long term acts”.

We asked Nigel to pick ten of his favourite non-FTH tracks for this week’s Powers Of Ten playlist. 

NIGEL ADAMS’ TEN
Click here to listen to Nigel’s playlist in Spotify, and then read on to find out more about his selections.

01 The Smiths – How Soon Is Now?
The Smiths were the first band I saw live (in 1985), and the reason I went to university in Manchester, so a fairly good reason for what I’m doing now.

02 My Bloody Valentine – Cupid Come
I can’t over exaggerate the impact MBV had on me. I find it a bit hard to listen to this nowadays, as I listened almost exclusively to this when it came out, but it opened a door in my mind that I’m thankful for.

03 Tim Hardin – How Can We Hang On To A Dream?
An incredibly beautiful song from such a troubled but talented man. This could have also been something by Nick Drake, Syd Barrett, Leonard Cohen or Tim Buckley but I finally went for this.

04 The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band – Carte Blanche
This band summed up a lot of what was good and bad about the 60s. For the guitar wig-out and falsetto vocal alone it’s worth a listen.

05 The Lemonheads – My Drug Buddy
The quintessential Lemonheads moment and one of the best indie pop songs ever written (despite being on a major).

06 The Sea Urchins – Pristine Christine
Shambolic and beautiful, I became instantly hypnotised by this song and developed an appalling record collector habit trying to track down the original seven-inch. James Roberts went on to create lots of other incredibly heartfelt/heartbreaking music but seemed constantly to have his finger on the self-destruct button.

07 TV On The Radio – Staring At The Sun
Truly stopped me in my tracks when I first heard this. One band I really wish I could have worked with.

08 Funkadelic – Hit It And Quit It
‘Maggot Brain’ was such a standout album and sat right in the middle of all the 60s garage and psychedelia that I came to obsess over in the late 80s.

09 Love – A House Is Not A Motel
I still have moments when this album overwhelms me with how good it is. I can’t see why it isn’t prescribed on the NHS; any government worth its salt would surely sort that out.

10 American Music Club – Big Night
Seeing Mark Eitzel play solo at the original Mean Fiddler is still one of my all time favourite gigs. AMC were a band it was easy to obsess about with the level of angst and finely penned lyrics involved.

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Monday 30 August 2010, 13:00 | By

CMU Beef Of The Week #33: X-Factor v Genuine singing talent

And Finally Beef Of The Week

Hey, so it turns out that something on TV has been fiddled with in an attempt to make it more entertaining. How could something like this happen? Okay, you might say this case is different. This is a singing competition. This is the ‘X-Factor’. This is a search for Great Britain’s next big vocal talent, and if the programme’s makers are applying Auto-tune to people’s voices, how are we to know who is genuinely the best singer?

Well, firstly, let’s not even pretend that ‘X-Factor’ is a singing competition. If it was, such a large proportion of the show wouldn’t be devoted to humiliating deluded people. People whose comically warped opinion of their own singing ability has already been spotted by the show’s production team in the early stages of the auditions (the ones before they actually get in front of Simon and co). This whole section of the series is about laughing at idiots, with the occasional break for a sob story or an introduction to a ‘possible future star’.

All of which makes it ludicrous that anyone would complain about Auto-tune software being used to make the good people sound better and the bad people sound worse. If everyone was portrayed as being as close to average as they probably are, it would make for some pretty dull television and everyone would complain that it was boring. And the last thing ‘X-Factor’ wants to be is boring.

Last Saturday a record 11.1 million people tuned in to watch the first episode of the new series. Some of them then accused the show of using Auto-tune. And the show’s makers readily admitted it, issuing a statement saying: “The judges make their decisions at the auditions stage based on what they hear on the day, live in the arena. The footage and sound is then edited and dubbed into a finished programme, to deliver the most entertaining experience possible for viewers. When it gets to the live shows, it will be all live”.

The people who spotted the vocal manipulation had not done so because they were specialists in audio production, but because it was plainly obvious. If you actually listen to the vocals that were edited on last weekend’s programme, the tweaks were applied so heavy-handedly (distorting, rather than tuning), and seemingly at random, that you can’t help thinking someone involved in the show wanted people to notice. Either that, or they’ve got someone new in to do their sound editing, and s/he’s incredibly rubbish.

As a result of this, the show has been in the news all week, which is good news for the programme, its producers, its sponsors and its broadcaster ITV. ‘X-Factor’ traditionally keeps itself in the news by feeding stories to the tabloids about how the judges all hate each other and Louis Walsh could leave at any moment. But people are wise to that now. And anyway, simply turning up the Auto-tune a little has resulted in far more coverage than Louis’ fake tantrums ever could.

The only really interesting part of this story reveals itself if you turn your attention to ‘Britain’s Got Talent’, which is, of course, made by the same production team. The most successful thing that has ever happened on that show, or to any of its contestants (or to any contestant on a Cowell-owned franchise) is Susan Boyle’s first audition in front of the celebrity panel in 2009. She went on to be one of 2009’s most successful artists – worldwide – all because of that short audition peice, which became an internet phenomenon, thanks to YouTube and some high profile tweets. And this was an audition video that – rumour now has it – was very probably Auto-tuned.

But, hey, you’ll have to go a long way to find a mainstream artist whose voice isn’t Auto-tuned, even if just a little, these days. By manipulating contestants’ voices, ‘X-Factor’ is just preparing us for the reality of what’s to come. Really, instead of banning the software, which they claim to have now done, the show’s makers should have come out this week and said: “We’re going to Auto-tune the shit out of every single voice on the show from now on, because of your ridiculously high expectations. Now shut up and take it”. And then found a sound engineer who could use the technology without making it quite so bleedin obvious.

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

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Friday 27 August 2010, 13:21 | By

Regulator may step in over EMI pension fund

Business News Labels & Publishers Legal Top Stories

The Pensions Regulator has been asked to step in and rule on a disagreement between EMI and the trustees of the music major’s pension fund. As previously reported, there is a hole in that fund of anywhere between £115 million and £271 million, and pressure has been mounting on EMI bosses and the firm’s owners Terra Firma to find some cash to plug the hole. Cash, of course, is not something EMI has in abundance.

The dispute is seemingly over just how much cash EMI should put into its pensions fund, presumably with the trustees saying “lots” and EMI/Terra Firma chiefs opting for “less”. The Pensions Regulator has the power to rule on the matter if the two sides can’t reach an agreement and could decide how much EMI has to pay, though at the first stage it is more likely the regulator would try to play an arbitrator role rather than making a ruling.

According to the BBC, EMI bigwigs have indicated that if the regulator was to be too harsh in any ruling it could send the music firm into insolvency, and the Beeb quote an independent pension consultant called John Ralfe who says that, given EMI’s current debt woes, if they were forced to pay a particularly large sum of money into their pension fund it could be “the straw that breaks the camel’s back”.

But still, given Terra Firma have been so keen to tell us of late just how much support they have from their investors for continuing to bail out EMI, presumably those investors could have a whip round to cover any shortfall.

The EMI pension fund only actually provides for 269 people, having been closed to new joiners in 2005.

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Friday 27 August 2010, 13:20 | By

HIV scandal singer receives suspended sentence

Legal Top Stories

Nadja Benaissa, a member of German pop group No Angels, has been found guilty of grievous bodily harm after admitting to knowingly exposing three sexual partners to the HIV, one of whom subsequently contracted the virus. She was given a two year suspended sentence, 300 hours of community service and been order to attend regular counselling sessions.

As previously reported, Nadja Benaissa was charged with one count of causing grievous bodily harm and two of attempting to cause bodily harm in February this year, after originally being arrested in April last year. She allegedly had sex with all the men in question between 2000 and 2004, and was diagnosed with HIV in 1999.

At the start of her trial earlier this month, Benaissa told the court: “I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart. The last thing I wanted was for my partner to get infected. [I feared that revealing my diagnosis] would probably have meant the end for No Angels”.

She also claimed that doctors had told her that the chances of her passing on the infection were “practically zero”.

Judge Dennis Wacker told the court in the city of Darmstadt yesterday that Benaissa had been found guilty of grievous bodily harm because she had acted carelessly, but was given a lenient sentence because she had confessed, shown remorse and “learned to be responsible and deal with her illness”.

Benaissa did not speak to reporters upon leaving the court, but her lawyer Oliver Wallasch said outside: “I can’t say whether she’s going back on stage because I’m not her manager but I’m sure she’ll crack open a champagne bottle tonight. We had a very fair and speedy trial. The aim of the defence and my client was to have a verdict which led to probation and this was the result. Today will be a turning point in her life, as she now knows that she will not be imprisoned. Her reaction was emotional because it was the end”.

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Friday 27 August 2010, 13:19 | By

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool to release album as planned

Releases Top Stories

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool have announced that they will hold to the planned release schedule for their debut album, ‘The Golden Year’, following the suicide of frontman Charles Haddon last week.

As previously reported, Haddon committed suicide at the Pukkelpop festival in Belgium last Friday. He was 22.

A statement issued yesterday read: “Despite the tragic loss of lead singer Charles Haddon last week, Ou Est Le Swimming Pool confirm that their debut album ‘The Golden Year’ will still be released worldwide on 3 Oct 2010. After speaking with the late Charles Haddon’s family, remaining band members Joe Hutchinson and Caan Capan have decided to proceed with the original schedule for the release of the record as they had planned prior to Haddon’s death. In further accordance with Charles and the band’s wishes, the album will be followed by the single ‘The Key’ on 10 Oct”.

It added: “Joe and Caan would like to thank everyone for their incredible support and best wishes during this extremely difficult time and ask that their privacy now be respected whilst they take some time away”.

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Friday 27 August 2010, 13:18 | By

Jean responds to presidential rejection in song

Artist News

Wyclef Jean has responded to the decision not to allow him to stand as a candidate in the Haitian presidential election in song, after it was announced that he would not be able to appeal the decision to block him from standing, along with fourteen other hopeful candidates.

As previously reported, Jean’s plans to stand needed court approval because the former Fugee does not pass requirements in the country’s constitution regarding presidential candidates, mainly regarding citizenship and being resident in Haiti for five years before running.

According to the BBC, the lyrics of the song, performed in Creole, the official language of Haiti, include the line: “It’s not Wyclef that you have expelled, it is the youth you have denied”.

He also seems to claim that outgoing president Rene Preval personally blocked Jean’s application to stand in the election, saying: “I know all the cards are in your hands. I voted for you to be president in 2006, why today did you reject my candidacy?”

You can download the song here: wyclefjean.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/wyclef-jean-prizon-pou-k-e-p-a.mp3

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Friday 27 August 2010, 13:17 | By

Björk to release Moomin song

Releases

Björk will release a single, ‘The Comet Song’, the theme tune to the upcoming movie ‘Moomins And The Comet Chase’, on 6 Sep. All proceeds from the single will be donated to UNICEF to support flood relief work in Pakistan.

The video for the song can be viewed at www.bjork.com/bjork_moomins.html

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Friday 27 August 2010, 13:16 | By

Sufjan Stevens announces new album

Releases

It’s all go with Sufjan Stevens at the moment. Not one week after the surprise release of new EP, ‘All Delighted People’, he’s now announced that he’ll release a new album, entitled ‘The Age Of Adz’, via Asthmatic Kitty on 12 Oct (with the vinyl version following on 9 Nov).

The album’s title apparently refers to the apocalyptic art of Royal Robertson, a black, Louisiana-based sign-maker (and self-proclaimed prophet) with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, who died in 1997. A selection of Robertson’s work will make up the album’s artwork.

These are the names of the songs on the album:

Futile Devices
Too Much
Age Of Adz
I Walked
Now That I’m Older
Get Real Get Right
Bad Communication
Vesuvius
All For Myself
I Want To Be Well
Impossible Soul

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Friday 27 August 2010, 13:13 | By

Modeselektor announce compilation series

Releases

German techno duo Modeselektor have announced a new compilation series, which they are cunningly calling ‘Modeselektion’, pulling together exclusive tracks from a range of electronic artists. ‘Modeselektion Vol 1’ will be released by Monkeytown on 5 Nov.

Speaking about the album, the duo said in unison: “In no way was it supposed to be yet another various artists type compilation. That’s why we insisted completely on exclusive and unreleased tracks from all parties included. There’s equal representation between young artists and old farts. It’s a CD filled with little jewels, call it an über-social time capsule”.

I wish you could have heard them deliver this statement, they harmonised so beautifully as they did it. Anyway, they continued: “We are proud to have done it. To combine tracks with artists from the most diverse musical camps and thus realize the idea of Monkeytown: making a platform where creative people (sometimes chimps) come together without having to end up in some genre-bin. Of course during the compilation of the CD we managed to get another 1000 ideas but, as we all know, there are only about 75 minutes worth of time. So Modeselektion was destined to be a series and that’s why it starts with ‘Vol 1’… to be continued”.

Modeselektor will also be playing three UK live dates in London, Bristol and Manchester in September, October and November.

Here’s the tracklist:

Siriusmo – Das Geheimnis
SBTRKT – The Unspoken
Feadz – The Assistant Manager
Tadd Mulinix & Daniel Meteo – The Good Star
Robag Wruhme – Bierholer
2562 – The Wind Up
eLan – Pussy Posse
Cosmin TRG – Space Station Love Affair
Shed – With Bag And Baggage
Apparat – King Of Clubs
Marcel Dettmann – Lyrate
Ikonika & Optimum – Hum
Modeselektor – VW Jetta
Ramadanman – Pitter
Digital Mystikz-Mala – Explorer
Bok Bok – Say Stupid Things
Housemeister – Kristall
Cylob – Pepper Spray (Capsicum Edit)

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Friday 27 August 2010, 13:13 | By

Stereophonics to perform first two albums live

Gigs & Festivals

Stereophonics will perform their first two albums, ‘Word Gets Around’ and ‘Performance And Cocktails’, live in full, as well as b-sides from the album’s singles, over two nights at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on 17 and 18 Oct.

The shows will coincide with deluxe re-issues of both albums.

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Friday 27 August 2010, 13:11 | By

Fran Healy announces debut UK solo shows

Gigs & Festivals

Travis frontman Fran Healy will perform his first UK shows as a solo artist next month, it has been announced. The shows will precede the release of Healy’s debut solo album, ‘Wreckorder’, on 4 Oct.

Speaking about his decision to go it alone, Healy said: “If you’re the singer in a band, people always ask, ‘Are you gonna go solo?’ My answer was always, ‘Why would I do that? I’m in the best band in the world.’ But last year, out of the blue, I suddenly thought, okay, it’s time. My biggest concern was that it would sound too much like Travis. What would be the point in going solo only to make a record that sounded like Travis. I’m relieved it doesn’t”.

Tour dates:
 
15 Sep: Glasgow, Oran Mor
16 Sep: London, Bush Hall

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Friday 27 August 2010, 13:09 | By

Peter Broderick announces new album and UK shows

Gigs & Festivals

Efterklang violin player, former member of Horse Feathers, and all round amazing solo artist Peter Broderick has announced that he will release his latest solo album, ‘How They Are’, on 6 Sep via Bella Union. And if you’ve never seen Broderick play live, that is something you need to correct very soon.

Luckily, he has some live dates coming up:

16 Oct :London, St Giles In The Field
18 Oct: Brighton, St Mary’s Church
19 Oct: Manchester, Academy
22 Oct: Bristol, Cube
23 Oct: Reading, South Street Arts Centre
24 Oct: Supersonic Festival

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Friday 27 August 2010, 13:07 | By

BASCA to stage songwriting fest

Business News Education & Events

The British Academy Of Songwriters, Composers and Authors will host a conference for songwriters in London in October, which will see music business types and award winning songwriters like Iain Archer, Rob Davies and Sacha Skabek sharing their knowledge with fellow songwriting types.

BASCA’s Lucy Weston told Music Week: “We hope this event will encourage up-and-coming songwriters to develop their skills and pursue their passion for music and add to the UK’s illustrious history of making amazing music”.

Called SongFest, the event will take place from 25 – 27 Oct at The Brickhouse on Brick Lane, with tickets a tenner. More info from www.songfest.org.uk.

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Friday 27 August 2010, 13:06 | By

Weezer album not named after clothing brand

Brands & Merch

Yesterday we reported on an interview with Weezer guitarist Brian Bell, in which he said the band had named their new album ‘Hurley’ after clothing brand Hurley International, because the company had funded some of the recording of the album. Then, he said, they put a picture of ‘Lost’ character Hurley Reyes on the cover to be post-modern. But it seems he was mistaken and that was all a load of rubbish.

Writing on the forum on the band’s website, Bell said: “Just wanted to clear something up. Recently I did an interview in Denver where I was asked why we called the album ‘Hurley’. I mistakenly said that Hurley funded the album. I later found out that it wasn’t true at all. Weezer paid for every penny of this recording. The reason the record is called ‘Hurley’ is because Hurley (Jorge Garcia) is on the cover. We thought about leaving the record untitled for the fourth time, but that causes a lot of problems and he knew people would end up calling the record ‘Hurley’ anyway. We got no money for calling the record ‘Hurley'”.

So, that’s definitely all cleared up then. Although, Bell also said in the interview that the band had appeared in an advertising campaign for the clothing brand. Maybe that didn’t happen either. Or maybe it did and the band were careful not to spend any money they got from that on the album.

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Friday 27 August 2010, 13:05 | By

Pledge to launch in Australia

Business News Digital

Fan funding website Pledge Music will launch in Australia on 8 Sep, at the same time founder Benji Rogers speaks at Brisbane music convention BIGSOUND. Mark Muggeridge of Aussie-based music consultancy Evil Genius Media has been hired to work with artists down under who opt to raise investment via the Pledge platform, and to help them “understand how to get the most from their PledgeMusic campaigns”.

Rogers told CMU: “Whilst in Australia recently I was so impressed with how artists down under are taking their music carriers into their own hands and at how forward thinking the music business there seems to be. We really feel that PledgeMusic can be a great option for both signed and unsigned acts in Australia and are ready to lend our support wherever we can”.

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Friday 27 August 2010, 13:04 | By

Google looking for chief for music service

Digital

According to the All Things Digital website, Google is busy trying to find someone to run its new much talked about in development digital music service.

There has been speculation that Google will enter the digital music market for years now, but for the last few months it’s seemed more and more likely that something is actually in development. As previously reported, the web giant recently hired the services of legal lady Elizabeth Moody, who has lots of experience in negotiating licensing deals for digital music flim flams.

All Things Digital cite various sources who say Google have been sounding out various digital medi executives in the US about them heading up a gTunes type service, but are yet to actually offer anyone the job. One hopes they don’t go the MySpace route and launch a really shit service before bringing in a chief.

It is still unclear whether Google are going for an iTunes style download service, a Spotify like streaming platform, or a ‘store your MP3s with us’ digital locker type whatnot. Or maybe some sort of hybrid of all three.

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Friday 27 August 2010, 12:59 | By

Later reaches 250th show

Media

‘Later… With Jools Holland’ is set to reach it’s 250th show when it returns for it 37th series on 14 Sep. It will be preceded by a special compilation show, entitled ‘249 Not Out – Later… With Jools’s Golden Moments’, on 11 Sep, which will feature some of the show’s best moment selected by artists and fans.

His mind slightly addled from being on the same show for so long, Jools Holland told CMU: “I am tremendously honoured and proud that we can celebrate our show being on air for 250 years! It is my hope that we can continue to serve the public with the same wonderful mixture of artists – young, old, legends and newies, all serving the one great master that is music – for the next 250 years!”

Executive producer Mark Cooper added: “We’re hugely excited about the new series, the brilliant artists coming up and the 250th milestone we’re passing along the way. What with soundchecks, camera rehearsals, etc, we’ve probably already spent over a year of our lives in the ‘Later’ studio – what a great way to live! So many brilliant artists have come through the programme – some have become huge stars since first appearing on the show, some have passed, most are thriving and that’s what we’re trying to do!”
  
A spin-off from The Late Show, ‘Later’ began broadcasting in October 1992 and was devised by presenter and associate producer Jools Holland, director Janet Fraser-Crook, sound supervisor Mike Felton and now executive producer Mark Cooper – all of whom continue to work on the show.

The new series will continue to follow the show’s more recent format, with a live show broadcast on Tuesday 14 Sep on BBC Two at 10pm and on Fridays with the extended programme on BBC Two at 11.45pm.

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Friday 27 August 2010, 12:56 | By

GMG Radio and Bolton FM to air student shows

Media

The results of a student programme run by the North West division of GMG Radio will air on a community station based in the area, Bolton FM.

Twelve students selected from 200 applications took part in GMG’s Futures Factory programme, working with employees from GMG’s Smooth, Real and Rock Radio franchises. Those participants will now record a series of “as-live” two hour radio shows which will air on Bolton FM each evening at 6pm on w/c 6 Sep.

GMG Radio’s Scott Myers told Radio Today: “This is a really exciting opportunity for students to showcase what they have learnt on a genuine FM radio station. Bolton FM has been kind enough to give us an almost a blank canvas and I’m sure the future presenters, producers and journalists will deliver. Futures Factory is about finding new talent and giving them an opportunity to shine – I think we’ve achieved that and these guys have an exciting future ahead.”

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Friday 27 August 2010, 12:55 | By

Iron Maiden: Stop being so polite and make us a sandwich

And Finally

Okay, I’m not certain they’ve been asked, but Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson says that the band wouldn’t play Glastonbury even if they were.

Speaking to The Sun, Dickinson said: “Glastonbury is a bit too cream cakes and afternoon tea for us. It’s all yurts and people being far too polite”.

He added that, as well as politeness, the band dislike being pampered: “I loathe all the celebrity crap – all the minders, the backstage glamour and the glitzy bollocks. We hate it all. We are all about the music. If we could beam ourselves back home after a show, we’d go back to the shops as if nothing had happened. The rest is just fluff. It’s nice but it’s bollocks in the grand scheme of things”.

Asked what the band do have backstage, Dickinson replied: “We got rid of most of our rider. We just have three loaves of white bread, some butter, a tin of tuna fish and some beers. People come backstage looking for the spread and we say: ‘Go make yourself a sandwich'”.

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Friday 27 August 2010, 12:51 | By

Approved: Notting Hill Carnival, Sancho Panza and after party

Club Tip CMU Approved

NHC 2010. From its inception in 1966 the NHC is now utterly massive. If the weather is bad the carnival is good but with sun shining its ace. Forget all the negative press about it – and check it out before passing judgement. There truly is something for everyone. The food and drink from the Caribbean is top rate (but often overpriced these days), but the floats playing soca, pan and calypso and reggae are amazing, and sound systems are briliant. Sunday is traditionally kids day and Monday is more of an adults theme but it is a school night! Sound systems are my fave, and to name a few good ones-  here we go: Abashanti-I, CMC/ Matrix, Fun Bunch, Good Times, King Tubby, Rampage, Rapattack, and focus on one of London’s leading underground dance pioneers: Sancho Panza  return to their favourite gig of the year. In their 17th year the boys will be showing off with their classic underground tunes old and new on their biggest weapon of two mountains of Funktion One bizness.

Expect unexpected top bouncy tunes a la carnival, an array of special guests, lots of smiley people all partying in the middle of the street. This crew won’t be stopping there as the street party which will be turned off by the council at around 9pm,  will be followed by an exclusive shindig with Sancho Panza and Leftside Wobble presenting Carnival Top Up  special guests: Crazy P (2020 Recordings), Matt Brown (Sancho Panza), Jimmy K Tel (Sancho Panza), Jonathan Moore (Leftside Wobble),  at The Regent just a few minutes walk away…. whistles a must have, it’s carnival time.

Sunday 29 Aug, The Regent, 5 Regent Street. Kensal Rise, NW10 5LG, 7pm – 3am, £8 adv, £10 door, more info from www.sanchopanza.org

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Friday 27 August 2010, 11:00 | By

Q&A: Revere

Artist Interviews

Revere

Starting out in Newcastle as a duo with Stephen Ellis and Andrew Hawke, Revere have steadily expanded into an eight-piece band. Touching on a range of musical reference points, the band combine elements of gypsy marches, post-rock, film scores and gospel, and incorporate violin, cello, keys, trumpet and harp into their guitar-led sound. Collaborating with boutique festival Standon Calling, Revere are set to release album, ‘Hey! Slim’, on 6 Sep. We spoke to Revere’s Stephen Ellis to find out more.

Q1 How did you start out making music?
I started out wanting to learn the piano and decided that the only piece worth playing was ‘Great Balls Of Fire’. I used to sit with the sustain pedal firmly down and slamming the keys as hard as I could. My parents moved the piano into the garage where my ‘vamping’ would be least heard, and I continued until one of the keys gave out. This inspired me to start taking the insides of the piano out and work out how it all fit together. A few years later I heard Nirvana, along with several million other teenagers, and decided a guitar might work a little better.

Q2 What inspired your latest album?
Lyrically, I draw from my experiences from the last ten years. I’m not that into writing about love or relationships unless I have something unique to say about it, and I don’t want to write about being in a band! I’ve spent the last eight years working with children with emotional and behavioural disorders which has impacted massively on what I write and the language I use. The songs all seem to be loosely connected around a theme of ‘human absence’, the aftermath of something, as though the listener has come across a location where an event has happened but no one is there anymore or there’s a sense of something lacking. The various artists and photographers we continue to work with over the years are also very inspiring in how we approach this.

Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
Well there’s eight people with three main songwriters, so there’s not really a standard way of doing it and it can often be a long process, but generally one or a couple of us will present a new idea and will try to encourage people to approach it in a certain way. We’ll get it formed into some sort of structure and then decide it’s all wrong, exchange some strong words and possibly a few blows, not speak to each other for a few weeks and then come back to it and decide it was fine the first way or start again…

Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Musically we’re coming from any number of reference points, whether it’s film music like Ennio Morricone and Nino Rota, or klezmer/avant garde stuff like John Zorn and Mike Patton, or the layered up post rock of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Sigur Ros, mixed with a healthy pop sensibility. I mean, I love the Beach Boys!

Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
There’s a lot going on so give it a few listens as there’s a lot to come out of each song. Also, if you can, come and experience it live first, because music is all about the performance.

Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
It’s our first album, so I’m hoping it lifts us out of the crowd and plants us firmly into people’s heads for a while. Our fans have been waiting patiently for it for quite some time so just to get it out to them will be such a good feeling. For the future? Well, I’d really like to write a film score with the band and get cracking on a second album.

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Thursday 26 August 2010, 16:11 | By

Eddy Says: A fond hello and a very sad goodbye

Eddy Says

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool

If you tuned into last Friday’s Remix (or have listened back at xfm.co.uk), you’ll know what an unusual show it was. An hour in, Eddy learned that Ou Est Le Swimming Pool frontman Charlie Haddon had committed suicide at the Pukkelpop festival earlier that day.
The news rapidly changed the show, as it became an impromptu tribute to the musician. Sad though it was, there was also a feeling of positivity through a collective love of the music on the show.
Speaking of which, coming up next week is the first of Eddy’s new nights at Proud in Camden, Club Remix. It takes place on 2 Sep with live performances from teenagersintokyo, Scoundrels, Captain Dangerous, Bryn 457 and a DJ set from the mighty Jakwob.
Here’s Eddy with more…

I’m so happy to be able to support new artists at a club night again. Matter put on too much pressure to get big names. While I’ve got the likes of Krafty Kuts for our Christmas special, and old friends The Holloways and Dumb Blonde in the first month, it’s great to see some emerging artists like Jakwob and Mr Fogg get stuck in.

Come show support and say hi, it’ll be a much more friendly, intimate experience than the Remix All-nighter at Matter. I’ll miss that sound system, but I do like the idea of a smaller night with more emerging talent mixed in with the big guns and old friends who’ll be showing up. Hervé is dropping by soon, and The Freestylers, Infadels and more.

One band I was so looking forward to having play was Ou Est Le Swimming Pool. I’m currently on holiday, camping in Dorset, and am still shell shocked over what unfolded on the show on Friday night. That was the hardest show I’ve done in a decade, by a mile.

I’ve had so many calls and texts from distraught friends and colleagues, this one has really hit hard. Even people who hardly knew Charlie have been struck dumb with grief. He really did touch a lot of people in a short space of time. I don’t know yet exactly why it happened – it feels too early to ask these questions – so I’m leaving the boys alone and giving them space to grieve.

Meanwhile, almost every minute of every day I’m just cultivating a thousand yard stare and thinking why someone with that bright a near future would be unhappy enough to do that. I guess either poor Charlie was really hurting, or it was a silly accident after some high jinx – no pun intended. His light really burned bright. He’s left a hell of a legacy with their record though, what a wonderful way to live forever.

Eddy xx

PS – Next week Eddy Says will be taking a short break. Nothing major, just one week, we’ll be back again on (or at least near) 6 Sep.

Click here to see this edition of the Eddy Says e-bulletin in full

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Thursday 26 August 2010, 13:39 | By

Album Review: OMD – History Of Modern (100% Records)

Album Reviews

OMD

Given the last few years’ electronic pop resurgence, it’s feels right that one of that genre’s pioneers should resurface for their first album in 14 years.

In fact, it’s also their first featuring the original line up of Paul Humphreys and Andy McCluskey since 1986’s ‘The Pacific Age’, although sonically ‘HOM’ has much in common with the fizzy synth pop of McCluskey’s early 90s OMD output, whilst under-rated single ‘If You Want It’ bears more than a passing resemblance to 1996’s ‘Walking On The Milky Way’, though it’s arguably an even better song.

Some of these tracks have been dug out of the OMD vaults, whilst newer creations tap into the group’s history of wistful melancholia and toytown futurism. And so, the brutally insistent Simon Cowell-baiting opener ‘New Babies: New Toys’ has nods to ‘The New Stone Age’ (and it could teach The Killers a thing or two about compelling, pulsating synth rock). Ludicrously catchy ‘Sister Marie Says’ is a close relative of ‘Enola Gay’ (hardly surprising since both tracks were written 30 years ago), whilst the lush waltz ‘Bondage Of Fate’ recalls the dreamy desolation of ‘International’. Meanwhile, the two title tracks (that’s ‘Parts 1’ and ‘2’ if you’re confused) are genuinely up there (no, really) with the duo’s early 80s classics – the affecting vocals, interesting lyrics and devastatingly simple but wonderfully pretty synth riffs harking back to ‘Souvenir’, ‘Electricity’, ‘Tesla Girls’ et al.

It’s not a faultless collection (the Kraftwerk tribute ‘RFWK’ is well-intentioned but just sounds clunky and laboured, whilst listening to ‘Pulse’ is like phoning a sex line to be greeted with Andy McCluskey with bad cold), and purists will moan at the lack of a Humphreys vocal or the absence of the experimental side of the group that gave us the inexplicably brilliant ‘Dazzle Ships’, but OMD don’t really need to prove anything. Simply put, this is a collection of memorable electro-pop (with a few heavenly moments) that ranks as one of their best albums. MS

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Thursday 26 August 2010, 13:38 | By

Bez jailed after refusing to do community service

Legal Top Stories

Former Happy Monday Bez had a not so happy Wednesday yesterday when he was thrown in jail for a month. The jail sentence related to that previously reported assault conviction dished out earlier this month after an altercation between him and the mother of his two year old son back in May.

He would have got away with community service and a fine, but he chose to represent himself in court, which is never a good idea, especially if you’re a space cadet with a vocabulary of just under 60 words.

According to the Press Association, when magistrate Marie Cash passed her initial sentence Bez, real name Mark Berry, said he wouldn’t do it, telling her: “I’m not doing it. Bothered? I’m going to appeal and take this to a real court”. Cash responded by jailing him. Oh, to be a magistrate.

A handcuffed Bez later reportedly shouted “victory is in my grasp” as he was escorted to the cells, possibly because he was having a flashback to the last night of his stint on ‘Celebrity Big Brother’.

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Thursday 26 August 2010, 13:38 | By

Faxon on EMI’s “recovery”

Business News Labels & Publishers Top Stories

EMI chief Roger Faxon donned a very fine hat for an interview with Billboard earlier this week to discuss that recent financial report that showed that, while the UK major is still loss-making, it is doing a lot better now than it has for a number of years, despite that horrible multi-billion debt it has with the increasingly unhelpful Citigroup.

Asked for his take on his company’s recent performance, Faxon told the US trade magazine: “There is always the press speculation about the debt load and all of those things. But basically everyone should feel comfortable that EMI is operating on four of its six cylinders, so we have two more cylinders to ignite to get the thing to roll where it ought to be and maybe we will get it up to eight cylinders. But it’s a good solid story. And in any other industry, it would be sort of ‘oh yeah, they are doing okay’ but in our industry, it’s a pretty remarkable turnaround story”.

Asked about why he thought EMI had done a lot better revenues-wise in the last financial year, Faxon focused on projects within the company’s recorded music division, the flagging part of the firm that has only recently fallen under his remit. He mused: “We had a lot of really good records in the marketplace. Obviously, we had the Beatles remastered programme, which was very successful. But we had a lot of other really great success. Lady Antebellum burned up the charts, and while Robbie Williams is largely a European phenomenon, he did really well. You had David Guetta and Lily Allen and a great run with Depeche Mode this past year. So, there were a lot of reasons why EMI Music did well”.

For legal reasons, we must stress that Roger Faxon was not wearing a hat during this interview. The hat mentioned above was figurative.

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Thursday 26 August 2010, 13:37 | By

Timbaland not dead, lost or dangerous

Legal

A manhunt seemingly occurred in LA yesterday for that Timbaland fella after a family member expressed concern for his safety to the authorities. Said family member thought the producer might harm himself, ie commit suicide, because he was so distraught after a $2 million piece of jewellery, widely reported to be a watch, was stolen.

But Mr Land soon turned up, explaining he’d just gone out for a drive to clear his head after discovering the jewellery theft. According to People magazine, he told Ryan Seacrest on his radio show yesterday: “I don’t even know what happened, to be honest I don’t know what people are talking about. Why would I commit suicide?”

He added: “Something [was stolen] but it wasn’t a watch, it was something else. [So I took] a drive to figure out how I’m going to handle it”.

Personally I’m quite distraught any one piece of jewellery could be deemed to be worth $2 million. But don’t worry, I won’t commit suicide. Though I might lock myself in that cupboard for ten minutes and cry.

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Thursday 26 August 2010, 13:34 | By

NASA launches space song contest

Awards

NASA have launched two competitions to select songs that will be played to astronauts on the final two missions of the space shuttle programme. The first a poll to choose one of 40 songs played on previous missions, the second the opportunity to have one of your own songs played during the final mission next February.

Amongst the songs in the first vote are ‘Beautiful Day’ by U2, ‘What A Wonderful World’ by Louis Armstrong and ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ by Frank Sinatra. But probably more exciting is the second part of the competition, calling on musicians to upload their own songs for use during the STE-134 trip to the International Space Station, aka the final shuttle flight. Your song might even be heard by aliens. I hear the music industry in other parts of the galaxy is far more stable than our own.

To vote and/or upload music, head to this quite shoddy looking website: songcontest.nasa.gov

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Thursday 26 August 2010, 13:33 | By

New bassist joins Dimmu Borgir, then quits

Artist News

Good news Dimmu Borgir fans, the Norwegian black metallers have finally announced a replacement for bassist ICS Vortex (not his real name), who left the band last year. The bad news is, the new guy’s already quit. Or so it seems.

Therion’s Snowy Shaw (not his real name), formerly of Swedish metallers Therion, confirmed on Tuesday that he had stepped in as Dimmu Borgir’s new bassist.

However, the next day, Therion frontman Christofer Johnsson issued a statement to Blabbermouth, saying: “We are very happy to announce that Snowy has rejoined Therion. We welcomed him back with open arms, and we will now be making a mix between the new show we had planned, and the last one which involved Snowy. We think the merger between the two concepts will be incredible, and we look forward to taking the band’s live performance to the next level”.

Dimmu Borgir are due to play The Forum in London on 21 Sep.

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Thursday 26 August 2010, 13:31 | By

Girls Aloud’s Nicola working on solo album

Artist News

Good news for Girls Aloud fans who like being bombarded with music, Nicola Roberts has joined Cheryl Cole, Nadine Coyle and Sarah Harding in recording a solo album, all of which are due to be released later this year.

Roberts told Metro: “When I’ve not been doing [work for my make-up brand] Dainty Doll this year, I’ve been in the studio non-stop doing all of my own song writing. I would never give up on music. Music has always been the thing that’s been closest to me”.

Cheryl Cole has, of course, already released one solo album, last year’s ‘Three Words’, with the follow-up scheduled for release in October. It was recently announced that Nadine Coyle’s debut solo album would be released exclusively through Tesco stores, while Sarah Harding has gone a little quiet of late, but probably because she’s working so ruddy bloody hard.

Kimberley Walsh is the only member of the group not to record any solo material. But not because she’s rubbish, she just doesn’t fancy it (or is “fundamentally opposed” to it, as sources might say)

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Thursday 26 August 2010, 13:30 | By

Cribs in “identity crisis”

Artist News

Cribs bassist Gary Jarman has said that the band are suffering an “identity crisis” over their next album, the follow-up to last year’s ‘Ignore The Ignorant’.

Jarman told Gigwise: “It’s like an identity crisis – I think we’ve got a few facets to us. With the Cribs, when we first started out it was just about doing what you want, and one part of me really just wants The Cribs to record a record in the basement – that’s what we used to do. And then the other side of me wants to go to America and spend a couple of months in the studio making a big record. It’s weird, I’m torn at the minute”.

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