CMU
Daily - on the inside Tuesday
8th February
In
today's CMU Daily:
- Avril tops Juno nominations
- New Order keeping session tracks for future album
- Differing explanations for Houston self-harm incident
- Single Review: M83 - Don’t Save Us From The Flames
- Doherty to be released today, probably
- Kelly Osbourne on the importance of rehab
- More delays in Jacko case
- Album Review: Doves - Some Cities
- Embrace and Snow Patrol on IOW bill
- Scissor Sisters headline V Fest
- Oasis announce US dates
- Olympus grab most attention in Superbowl digital music ads
- Telegraph journalists to vote on strike action over job cuts
- Album Review: Fu Manchu - Start The Machine
- Instores update
- Sharon Osbourne: “they just didn’t get it”
- Cowell: “Usher’s better than Justin”
- Bunton’s US ambitions dashed
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SAME
SIX QUESTIONS: Arthur Baker
How
did you start out making music for a living?
I moved to NYC from Boston in 1980 after having cut a few tracks
in 78-79, which definitely didn’t make me a living! I’d
worked in record stores, DJed a bit and helped other DJs stay
motivated at night. When I got to New York I had none of that,
so I started working for a record distributor.The other guys
in the warehouse couldn’t believe that I had records being
sold there, yet there I was working in the warehouse. I quit
a few months before 'Planet Rock’ and 'Rockers Revenge’
came out.
What
inspired your recent tracks? And what process do you go through
in creating tracks?
I usually get motivated by a good night out hearing other people
play music, or in other cases, getting my heart broken. Depression
or a drunken party always works. I sit at my computer with all
my synths around me and I try to make tracks that I’d love
to hear out. I try to play the stuff out, test it to a crowd.
Been doing that since I brought tapes to Jellybean Benitez at
the Funhouse back in the day.
Which
artists influence your work?
Hearing a great current dance track - be it Mylo, Alter Ego,
etc - or hearing a great DJ - like Erol Alkan or 2 Many DJs
- influence my dance music. Or hearing a great old disco thing.
Old rap, too.ăIn the past, producers like Norman Whitfield-Temps,
'Papa Was A Rolling Stone’ etc, Gamble and Huff, The Stones
64-74, Sly, Al Green Ö late 70s, early 70s, my childhood
stuff.
What
would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first
time?
Don’t judge me on 'Spaceman’ or 'Down The Pub’
- even though I stand behind all my stuff - even the shit...
I’d love to put out a compilation that really shows the
entirety of my music. God that sounds pretentious.
What
are your ambitions for your latest record, and for the future?
I'd love 'This Feeling’ to be a big club hit to start -
my DJ booking agent claims he could get me more gigs with a
hit (like to see him do it). And having it on the radio or on
an ad might be nice. Still trying to finish an album I started
seven years ago. I'm almost done. Getting the track I did with
Tim Wheeler from Ash finished would be a start. And just getting
my restaurant Harlem up and running in Brixton - then get the
world’s first DJ/music biz members club dex above it happening...
Arthur
Baker’s new single with Dave Clarke - 'This Feelin’
- is out on 21 Feb on Southern Fried - press info from Emms
Publicity.
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AVRIL
TOPS JUNO NOMINATIONS
With the Brits getting very close now, the Canadian music industry
yesterday announced the nominations for their annual back-slapping
bash, the Junos.
Avril
Lavinge led the proceedings with five nominations, for Artist
Of The Year, Best Songwriter, Album Of The Year, Pop Album Of
The Year and in the Fan’s Choice category.
Next
up in the nomination stakes came Jazz star Diana Krall who appears
on four shortlists, while Shania Twain, Billy Talent, Simple
Plan, k-os, Feist, The Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and, of
course, Celine Dion, each get three nominations. Good for them.
Usher, U2, Eminem, Green Day and Norah Jones are all up for
the title of Best International Album - though this award is
based on record sales, so that perhaps comes as no surprise.
The
Junos will be presented on 3 Apr.
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NEW
ORDER KEEPING SESSION TRACKS FOR FUTURE ALBUM
New Order’s Bernard Sumner has revealed that the band are
so pleased with seven of the new tracks that haven’t made
it on to upcoming new album 'Waiting For The Sirens’ that
they plan to lock them away for use on a future album. Sumner
told reporters: "We usually do just enough for an album,
ten songs and it's done. The seven tracks left off 'Sirens''
are so strong that they are likely to form the basis of a future
LP".
The
new album, due out in Apr, features the production talents of
three producers as well as the band themselves - Stephen Street
(Blur, The Smiths), John Leckie (Pink Floyd, Stone Roses) and
Stuart Price (Madonna). The band reckon that the title track,
described as “wistful and sublime”, is one of the
best tracks they’ve ever done.
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DIFFERING
EXPLANATIONS FOR HOUSTON SELF-HARM INCIDENT
A number of different explanations doing the rounds as to why
American R&B singer Houston gouged his own eye out while
staying in a London hotel last week.
MTV
reported this weekend that the singer’s bodyguard said
the self-harming incident was an attempt by the “devout
Christian” singer to cleanse himself from the “sins
and devils” of the music business. The bodyguard reportedly
added that Houston “showed no pain and had no remorse”.
Reno
Rankin and Andrew Rowe of On Point Productions, who used to
manage the singer, say he is a diagnosed schizophrenic and that
they suspect the incident was a result of him not receiving
sufficient treatment for the condition.
Meanwhile
Houston’s sister, Billie Summers, insists the incident
was an accident, adding “he knows that if he attempted
anything like that he'd be doomed”. She says that Rankin
and Rowe are “slandering” her brother with the schizophrenia
claims.
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SINGLE
REVIEW: M83 - Don’t Save Us From The Flames (Gooom)
'Don’t Save Us From The Flames’ is a glorious slice
of cosmic synth rock from the French Riviera’s M83, and
is the first single to be taken from the superb album 'Before
The Dawn Heals Us’, released last month. M83, which is
essentially Anthony Gonzalez, are sonic pioneers whose spacey
sound utilises a variety of futuristic instruments including
a theremin, which on this track sounds particularly ecstatic.
Mystical lyrics and heavenly vocals add to the magic. This ambitious
music could equally be categorised as electro, prog rock or
psychedelia, but whatever you call it, it is very good indeed.
JW
Release date: 7 Feb
Press contact: Gooom IH [CP, RP, NP] Anglo [CR, RR, NR]
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DOHERTY
TO BE RELEASED TODAY, PROBABLY
Well, we managed to get down to story four with out mentioning
him. Here’s your Daily Doherty Digest. The former Libertine
spent another night in jail last night after his £150,000
bail money again did not materialize. Word is he will be released
today - though with all those bail conditions reported on yesterday
(10pm - 7am curfew, no passport, daily reporting to police station).
He will return to court on 21 Feb to face those burglary and
blackmail charges which he continues to deny. Consider yourself
updated.
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KELLY
OSBOURNE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF REHAB
Talking of unhinged pop stars, which we do sometimes, Kelly
Osbourne has said she would probably be dead by now if she hadn’t
checked into rehab. Kelly: "I did so many different types
of pills that the stuff in them was rotting my liver and stomach.
I'd be throwing up blood in between smoking, drinking and taking
whatever I could get my hands on."
Speaking
to Heat magazine, Ms Osbourne also says that while her mother
had that very public run in with Simon Cowell, she personally
dislikes Louis Walsh more: "Louis said he hated me and
he thought I sucked. Two years later I was in the same room
as him and he didn't even have the balls to introduce himself
to me. If you're going to be on a show where you slate people,
at least have the guts to say "hello" to someone you
slagged off."
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MORE
DELAYS IN JACKO CASE
And talking of pop stars in court, which we do an awful lot,
the Jacko trial is still on hold and is now likely to be delayed
into next week following the news that the sister of Jackson’s
key lawyer, Thomas Mesereau, has died. The jury selection process
that kicked off the trial is now expected to resume on 14 Feb.
Although
the case is essentially on hold, Judge Rodney Melville did yesterday
consider the request by the Associated Press that copies of
the questionnaires filled out by the jury as part of their selection
process should be made public. The media organisation said the
information should be released so that the selection process
is seen to be accountable to the wider public. Despite protests
from Jacko’s defense to that request, Melville said that
he would read through the questionnaires of jury members, black
out any confidential information, and then release them to the
media.
The
media, meanwhile, is busy concerning itself with the rumours
on which celebs might be called as witnesses in the trial. Judge
Rodney Melville doesn’t seem to convinced by claims made
by former ITV journalist Martin Bashir that he should not have
to give a testimony on the grounds that his contact with Jackson
was in his professional capacity as a journalist (an excuse
that is backed up to a certain extend by Californian law). But
Bashir is unlikely to be the most famous witness to take the
stand - rumours has it former child stars (and friends of Jackson)
Macaulay Culkin and Emmanuel Lewis, and Jacko’s ex-wife
Lisa Marie Presley, may all be called as witnesses.
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ALBUM
REVIEW: Doves - Some Cities (EMI/Heavenly)
How do you follow up one of the greatest albums of all time?
For Doves, without difficulty, based on this evidence. Making
a mockery of 'difficult’, er, third album syndrome, 'Some
Cities’ doesn’t try to outdo 'The Last Broadcast’
by being even more epic and breathtaking in scope; instead it’s
a slightly more pared-down affair, with no songs much over five
minutes and a grimier feel to the sound. The opening drums and
barbed guitar lines of the title track could’ve come straight
off the Velvet Underground’s first album, as could the
pummelling drums and lovely glock of 'Snowden’, although
this song is one rare instance of the album quite literally
escaping to the country; its expansive windswept guitar riffs
reflecting the mountain whose shadow the song was recorded in.
The relentless Northern Soul joyride of 'Black And White Town’
works even better in the context of the album; exemplifying
that this music is explicitly very much urban (purely geographically),
informed by both the frantic pulse of the city and its endless
and abrasive concrete and metal. Doves, remember, are from Manchester:
birthplace of the industrial revolution. Elsewhere there are
plenty of undisguised traces of TLB’s DNA. The jaunty 'Walk
In Fire’ echoes 'There Goes The Fear’ whilst the filmic
strings of 'The Storm’ evoke how 'Friday’s Dust’
might’ve sounded if it was recorded outside, whilst braving
inclement weather. And whilst 'Almost Forgot Myself’, with
its metronomic beat, initially seems like a slower version of
'Pounding’, this feeling is soon dispelled by the surprising
Shadows-like surf guitars of the chorus: it’s as if Manchester
had a beach and they built tower blocks on it in the 50s. 'Some
Cities’ reaffirms Doves’ status as Britain’s
best current guitar act. Existing fans will love it; if you’re
not one, don’t be left out any longer. MS
Release date: 21 Feb
Press contact: EMI IH [all]
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EMBRACE
AND SNOW PATROL ON IOW BILL
Festival news, and Snow Patrol and Embrace have joined the line
up for this year’s Isle Of Wight music festival which takes
place on, erm, the Isle of Wight from 10 - 12 Jun. As previously
reported, REM will headline.
Confirming
their involvement Embrace frontman Danny McNamara told reporters:
"We're on the Sunday night - REM are headlining and then
Snow Patrol and then us. I love both of those bands so it should
be a good night."
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SCISSOR
SISTERS HEADLINE V FEST
This year’s V Festival will be headlined by the wonderful
Scissor Sisters - they will play the Staffordshire leg of the
festival on 20 Aug and at the Chelmsofrd bit on 21 Aug. Lovely.
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OASIS
ANNOUNCE US DATES
More live news, and Oasis have added two extra dates to their
UK tour and announced details of five North American dates.
The extra UK gigs both take place at the Newcastle Metro Radio
Arena - on 12 and 13 Jul. US dates, supported by Jet, as follows:
17
Jun: Toronto-Molson Amphitheatre
18 Jun: Detroit Meadow Brook Amphitheatre
20 Jun: Chicago-UIC Pavilion
22 Jun: NYC Madison Square Garden
25 Jun: Philadelphia- Festival Pier @ Penn’s Landing
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OLYMPUS
GRAB MOST ATTENTION IN SUPERBOWL DIGITAL MUSIC ADS
In a survey of “which ads people were talking about the
day after the Superbowl” (there really is a company in
America that surveys just that), it seems the launch by camera
company Olympus of their new MP3-player-come-digital-camera
grabbed most attention among the digital music players who invested
heavily in mid-Superbowl ad campaigns. The ads advertising the
'M:Robe hybrid MP3 player’ got a 7.27 rating - which means
nothing to me, but apparently it’s quite good.
Apple
got a 6.01 rating for its Superbowl co-promotion with Pepsi
while Napster, who made much of their new Napster-to-go service
through a “do the math” campaign (something about
how much it would cost to get the entire Napster catalogue on
your MP3 player with the iTunes pay-per-track model) scored
only 4.37.
That
said, Napster say their Superbowl weekend campaign led to a
rush of early subscriptions for the new portable service, with
the free MP3 players they had for the first 1000 new subscribers
being snapped up more or less straight away. Napster critics
point out the download company hasn’t, however, been forthcoming
with any exact number of new subscribers, though others note
Apple likewise haven’t revealed details of any Superbowl-boosted
subscriber increases.
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TELEGRAPH
JOURNALISTS TO VOTE ON STRIKE ACTION OVER JOB CUTS
Journalists over at the Daily and Sunday Telegraph are due to
vote on whether to proceed with industrial action against plans
by the papers’ new owners to axe 90 editorial jobs. The
National Union of Journalists confirmed they would proceed with
the vote yesterday after the deadline the union set for management
to reconsider their plans passed. The vote is likely to take
a week to organise, and any actual action, which might include
a full strike, would most likely take place in a month’s
time.
Meanwhile
union / management talks continue.
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ALBUM
REVIEW: Fu Manchu - Start The Machine (DRT Entertainment)
It’s a wonder how after ten albums and fourteen years,
Fu Manchu can still manifest this much inspiration and aggression.
It’s only a wonder because few others are as good after
so much time. How many of today’s acts will still be providing
the goods in ten years time? The Foo Fighters (to pick another
Fu) may have been good for a while, but it remains to be seen
whether they can last the distance or not. This is how rock
records should be - an 80/20 ratio of hard rocking riff-led
tracks to floating, dulcet acoustic numbers. The latter aren’t
filler here, they are just as loaded with heart and soul and
musicality. And suddenly it doesn’t seem such a surprise
that these guys have been around for so long. JG
Release date: 1 Feb
Press contact: Pure Press [all]
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INSTORES
UPDATE
Some free in store gigs for those of you in the North. Warp’s
Maximo Park will be playing HMV Newcastle on 21 Feb at 5pm,
while the Kaiser Chiefs will play free shows in both the Sheffield
and Leeds branches of HMV on 21 Feb - press info from Coalition.
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SHARON
OSBOURNE: THEY JUST DIDN’T GET IT
Back to the Osbournes, and Sharon has told reporters she reckons
her US chat show was axed because the American audience didn’t
get her British sense of humour. Despite previously saying she
had finished the show to spend more time with her family and
a then recuperating Ozzy, she has now given a different reason
for the end of the show.
"They
said I was a loose cannon. The last straw was when there was
this actor from New Zealand coming on the show... New Zealand
is a huge, huge country, with about four people that live there
and about 10 billion sheep. So there's this thing in England
that we say about people from New Zealand are sheep-shaggers.
So (I had to speak to) this young gentleman, who I didn't really
know much about and the interview that they gave me was boring...
"So I cut right to the chase and I said, 'Tell me. Are
you a sheep-shagger?' And he said, 'Excuse me?' And I said,
'You know, do you have sex with sheep?' "His mouth dropped
and he didn't know what to say. After that, they basically told
me to pack up and go home."
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COWELL:
USHER’S BETTER THAN JUSTIN
Sharon’s good mate Simon Cowell has given his take on the
old Usher / Justin debate (old, in that people kinda stopped
comparing Usher and Justin about a year ago). Cowell told reporters:
"If I had to have one of the two, I would take Usher any
day. The interesting thing about Justin is, he is a white boy
who has tried hard to make himself black over the years. So
you get the impression sometimes that he wants to be something
he's not."
However,
before Usher gets all complacent, Cowell continued by dissing
those who say Usher is the “new Michael Jackson”.
Cowell: "I don't think he's as good as Michael Jackson
at his peak, because you're not going to be listening to the
Usher records in 10 years in the same way we listen to Thriller
and Billie Jean, because they still sound amazing. But he's
at the top of his game at the moment."
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BUNTON’S
US AMBITIONS DASHED
From the top of the game, to the bottom. Emma Bunton’s
hopes to break America as a solo artist have been dashed a little
after her album 'Free Me’ failed to reach even the lower
bit of the Billboard Top 200. Word is the album, originally
released here in 2003, only sold 5380 copies in the whole of
America.
However,
a source told the Mirror: "It often takes a long time to
gain recognition in the States and Emma's determined to see
it through. But there's no denying she faces an uphill battle."
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QUICK
CORRECTION
Oh yes, well done to the more observant readers who noticed
that Hondo Maclean were referred to as Mondo Maclean in the
title line on the review of their new album in a recent CMU
Daily. In our defence, the 'M’ key is very close to the
'H’ key on the key board. In my defence, it was Gill’s
fault.