| CMU Daily - on the inside Thursday 9th February |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- U2 dominate at Grammys
- SonyBMG stresses may be resolved by job switch
- CISAC hit back at EC monopoly claims
- Pete Doherty gets community order
- Stones did not agree to censorship, actually
- French court legitimises P2P
- Napster - profits up, subscriptions also, losses too
- Album review: Cacoy - Human Is Music
- Chrysalis sell Air Studios
- Investment firm announces boosted Woolies share
- Bob Marley's house to be a monument
- Cream get together again
- Metallica to play Download
- Massive Attack added to Coachella line up
- Coldplay gig at Abbey Road
- Funeral For A Friend tour cancelled
- Pink Floyd is over no brainer
- Daniel Radcliffe talks shit, says Bourne
- KT says she's a hit with lesbians
- Preston's break up nothing to do with Chantelle, okay?
- Janet Jackson put on weight on purpose, okay?
- Mystery Jets hate Hard-Fi
- Flaming Lips album attacks popstrels
- Britney Spears in no-seat-belt-trouble
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TOP BIT: FREELANCE HELLRAISER INTERVIEW>>
Those who pay attention will know we like a good mash-up here at CMU. For those who pay no attention, that's the (normally unofficial) mixing of two or more songs to create a new track. The burgeoning mash-up genre is exciting on so many levels. It can reinvent and rediscover classic tracks. It can give alternative music a mainstream feel, or mainstream music a more edgy sound. But perhaps most importantly it provides so-called 'bedroom producers' with the opportunity to hone their skills and reach a wider audience, introducing the music industry and music fans to a whole new generation of talented fader pushers who may otherwise have failed to get admission into the somewhat closed shop of music production. As the internet aided modern era of the unofficial remix comes of age some of the earlier mash-up makers are reaching the mainstream: Go Home Productions' Doors/Blondie mash-up appeared on EMI's Blondie greatest hits package last year; a Mylo/Miami Sound Machine mix conceived by Phil N Dog inspired the Mylo mash-up released by SonyBMG last summer; Beck was so impressed with Team 9's Jacko sampling remix of 'E-Pro' that he linked to it from his official website. One of the earliest stars of the modern mash-up era was Mr Roy Kerr, better known to the bootleg community as the Freelance Hellraiser. His 'Stroke Of Genius' (in name and nature) mash-up, which combined The Strokes and Christina Aguilera to great effect, was hugely influential on the then fledgling scene - and was possibly responsible for turning more people on to that scene than any bootleg mix before or after. Having won friends in high places for his remixing and mash-up work (including one Paul McCartney, who's in quite a high place), Roy is now in the process of completing his first original music album. It's always a challenge when you're better known for messing with other people's songs to have to start creating your own - but on 'Waiting For Clearance' the Freelance Hellraiser has proven that his musical talents go a lot further than the remixing domain. So much so, we had to speak to him to find out more.
Check the interview: http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/interviews
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HOT OFF THE PRESS>>
ROCK SOUND MARCH ISSUE ON SALE NOW!
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE adorn this month's cover as we chart the Welsh Wonders' rise to the top! Also, featuring exclusive interviews with Lacuna Coil, Cave In, In Flames, Mogwai, Will Haven, Hawthorne Heights, Pelican, Alkaline Trio and much, much more. Plus, a FREE Music With Attitude CD featuring 15 killer tracks from this month's issue, plus an EXCLUSIVE Lacunca Coil video! Visit http://www.rock-sound.net. Available now priced £3.50 from WH Smith, HMV, Virgin, Tesco, and all good newsagents.
For details of how to advertise your latest editions here in the CMU Daily, email [email protected]
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U2 DOMINATE AT GRAMMYS
In the end Grammys night 2006 belonged to U2, who took home five awards from the US music industry's big night out, winning in every category in which they were nominated. The Irish band took Best Rock Album and Album Of The Year for 'How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb', Song Of The Year and Best Vocal Rock Performance for 'Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own' and Best Rock Song for 'City Of Blinding Lights'. Meanwhile producer Steve Lillywhite was named Producer Of The Year, primarily for his work on the U2 album.
The pre-ceremony favourites, Mariah Carey and Kanye West, each took home three awards. Carey, coming to the Grammys after a real return to form in the last eighteen months, took the awards for Best Contemporary R&B Album for 'The Emancipation of Mimi', and Best R&B Song and Best R&B Vocal Performance for single 'We Belong Together'. West took Best Rap Song for 'Diamonds From Sierra Leone', Best Solo Rap Performance for 'Gold Digger' and Best Rap Album for 'Late Registration'. West, of course, is used to doing well at awards events. Putting on a tone of mock surprise, he told the Grammy audience "I had no idea, I had no idea," before pulling out a sheet of paper with the words 'Thank You List' written in large letters.
Other winners in key categories included John Legend, who was named Best New Artist, and who won Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for 'Ordinary People', Green Day took the Record Of The Year prize for 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams', The White Stripes won Best Alternative Album for 'Get Behind Me Satan', while The Chemical Brothers took the awards for Best Dance Recording and Best Electronic/Dance Album.
As expected, the Grammy proceedings kicked off with a Madonna / Gorillaz duet. Well, I say duet, it was more 'Madonna-walks-on-stage-in-the-last-ten-seconds-of-a-repeat-run -of-Gorillaz'-MTV-Awards-set-and-sings-Hung-Up', but it was fun ten seconds. You can watch it for yourself at http://grammy.yahoo.com
Also as expected, funk legend Sly Stone made a very rare performance at the awards show, performing a few verses of 'I Want to Take You Higher' with The Family Stone in a tribute section to his music.
The winners (and there's feckin hundreds of them) are here:
http://www.grammy.com/Grammy_Awards/ Annual_Show/48_nominees.aspx
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SONYBMG STRESSES MAY BE RESOLVED BY JOB SWITCH
OK, so the long long running story about executive tensions at SonyBMG might be nearing its end, courtesy of a job switch.
As you'll all surely remember, rumour had it that the former BMG execs who make up half of the SonyBMG board were not happy with the way the merger was going, and were demanding that top man Andy Lack, the former Sony Music chief, be pushed out of his job.
Well, the Wall Street Journal, LA Times, New York Times and Billboard all now seem to be convinced that a solution to those executive tensions is likely to be announced any day now - basically, Lack will swap jobs with former BMG boss Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, who is currently the Non-executive Chairman of the merged major. That will mean Lack will take a more back seat role in running the company, while Schmidt-Holtz will take day to day charge.
Assuming that switch does happen it will be interesting to see what changes, if any, will take place at the still developing merged record company - the BMG boss is known to have quite a different management approach to Lack. It will also be interesting to see if Lack gets himself another role elsewhere in the Sony Corp as well as his back seat role at SonyBMG. Despite all the strife at the record company, the Sony top guard seem to still hold their record company man in high regard.
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CISAC HIT BACK AT EC MONOPOLY CLAIMS
The International Confederation Of Societies Of Authors And Composers, or CISAC to their friends, has responded to that Statement Of Objections issued by the European Commission regarding the way royalty collection societies operate in Europe.
As previously reported, the EC published its statement earlier this week ahead of a planned investigation into allegations that agreements between the royalty collection societies in Europe essentially contravene EU competition legislation. The investigation will focus on the licensing of music for internet or cable/satellite based media, and follows complaints from key pan-European media companies regarding what they see as the monopoly held by a 'cartel' of European collection societies.
Responding yesterday, CISAC dismissed claims that their members operated a "de facto monopoly". Meanwhile David Uwemedimo, a legal counsel for the association, said he was "stunned" at suggestions that his organisation or its members could be fined if the Commission rules that the royalty system currently operating in Europe is unfair or restrictive.
Meanwhile pan-European music channel Music Choice voiced their support for the EC's investigation. Music Choice were one of the two media companies who called for the Commission to look into the way collection societies operate across Europe.
Music Choice Chief Executive Margot Daly told CMU yesterday: "We are thrilled at the Commission's [decision to launch this investigation, which] while in support of Music Choice and our co-complainant, is really a decision in support of open, transparent, and efficient copyright licensing across Europe. The 20+ year old system is out of sync with the modern world and this decision indicates that the market must find better and easier ways to benefit every area of the music supply chain. With 12 years of music licensing experience, Music Choice decided to collaborate with our co-complainant on this case in order to achieve greater transparency and fairness for broadcasters and rights-owners alike. We believe that competitive, pan-European licensing will significantly grow the market for the distribution of music on all platforms, which can only be a good thing for authors, broadcasters, and consumers."
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PETE DOHERTY GETS COMMUNITY ORDER
You can all relax, because Pete Doherty is not going to prison, as you, and indeed he, might have feared.
Appearing at Ealing Magistrates' Court yesterday, the Babyshambles frontman was sentenced to a twelve month community order, and ordered to take part in a rehabilitation programme, after entering a plea of guilty to a total of seven charges of drug possession in relation to three separate arrests.
Magistrate Ann McLaughlin said: "You must submit to treatment with a view to ending your dependency on drugs." The year long rehab programme will require the singer to attend a drug centre and submit to monthly checks. He has been warned that failure to comply with that programme could lead to a custodial sentence.
Following the hearing, Babyshambles member Adam Ficek said of his band mate, who had been on remand since his arrest in Whitechapel on 26 Jan: "We are thrilled for him and for the band and we can go forward now." Bassist Drew McConnell added: "We did not speculate [on the sentence]. We were very nervous about what the sentence would be but it's a result. We can't wait to see Pete and make plans for the rest of the year."
McConnell continued: "I think some people just have a natural knack for summing up how a whole generation feels with a few words and a few notes. He still finds it hard to believe that he has that talent sometimes."
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STONES DID NOT AGREE TO CENSORSHIP, ACTUALLY
The Rolling Stones have said that the censorship of their songs during their half time performance at the US Super Bowl last weekend was "absolutely ridiculous", contradicting the National Football League's claim that the Stones agreed to the cuts, saying the band were "aware of it and were fine" about it. But The Stones said yesterday that the decision to censor them was "completely unnecessary".
As previously reported, lyrics deemed too sexually explicit for the event's 90 million strong TV audience were cut from two songs during the course of the rock group's twelve minute set. The event was broadcast on a five second delay by the ABC network, who say that the decision to strategically censor the performance lay with the NFL.
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FRENCH COURT LEGITIMISES P2P
You know, the world would be a much duller place without the French. While politicians in France debate whether to legitimatise P2P usage by charging a royalty levy on ISP subscriptions, the country's courts have gone one step further, and said file sharing is OK without the levy, providing P2P users don't profit from their file sharing.
That ruling has come in a case being pursued by French music industry body Société Civile des Producteurs Phonographiques against one Anthony G. He was accused of illegally uploaded and downloading over a thousand copyrighted tracks via P2P. But the court found the defendant not guilty of copyright violation, not because there was any question as to whether he had shared the music, but because he was sharing music for private use.
The decision, made at the end of last year but only recently made public, contradicts decisions being made by countless courts elsewhere in the world, who have generally rejected the 'private use' defence when it comes to P2P. The decision was made in the District Court Of Paris and the SCPP will now appeal - so it may only prove to be a temporary ruling - but for the time being the P2P situation remains both ambiguous and interesting over there in La France.
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NAPSTER - PROFITS UP, SUBSCRIPTIONS ALSO, LOSSES TOO
Napster confirmed its intention to launch a 'music destination' website yesterday, while saying there might soon be a potential 'strategic alignment' between it and another online player.
In the latest financial report from the download company, which comes just a few weeks after a number of redundancies at the firm, Napster boss Chris Gorog confirmed losses were up in the last quarter, from $13.6 million to $17 million, but he stressed that revenues were also up, by 94% on the same quarter a year ago, and 66,000 new subscribers were signed up. Gorog again dismissed the importance of those job losses, insisting iTunes' main rival in the download space remains in good form.
Exact details about Napster's 'destination site' are still unconfirmed, though it seems Napster will be looking to use the site to build an advertising revenue stream. As for the possible 'strategic alignment', very little is known as to what that might be - though talk of some kind of Napster/Google tie up continues.
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ALBUM REVIEW: Cacoy - Human is Music (Rumraket)
Cacoy consists of three key figures in Japanese experimental electronica: Ryo Kato (AKA DJ Klock) and the duo known as 'Tenniscoats'. Saya of 'Tenniscoats' does the singing while Ueno and Klock play around on organ, guitar, horns and electronic squeaks and squelches. It makes for an intriguing sound, an ambient cacophony reminiscent of Boards Of Canada, but with fewer moody bits. It's pleasingly trippy, with lots of nice and nimble psychedelic foolery complemented by Saya's sweet vocals. Her voice has the disarming charm of a little girl's, and this tone infects the whole album with a childlike innocence that's almost sad. 'Mural Of Music' has such a simple melody, but Saya's voice and a tune-a-day style sax and trumpet part combine to remarkably touching effect. The trip is certainly a good one. Folk leanings make themselves known in tracks like 'Cool Spring Minister', a piece that reminds you a couple of acoustic guitars plucked right can really hit the spot. The Japanese roots run through the album, with its Zen-style minimalism and geisha-like fragility, a defiance of anything heavy or bassy. It's all light and lambent, and with such blissful chiming melodies, anything weighty would just spoil its exquisite nymph beauty. WE
Release Date: 6 Mar
Press Contact: Rumraket IH [all]
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CHRYSALIS SELL AIR STUDIOS
The Chrysalis group has sold its 50% stake in Air Studios, the North London studio complex built by the legendary Beatles producer George Martin. Chrysalis and its joint venture partner in the studio enterprise, Pioneer, have both sold out to a new company called Air Holdings, which is owned by independent studio company Strongroom. The sale is part of Chrysalis' previously stated aim to concentrate its efforts on its radio and music publishing/recordings businesses.
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INVESTMENT FIRM ANNOUNCES BOOSTED WOOLIES SHARE
City news anyone? A retail investment firm from Iceland, Baugur, is expected to announce it now has a seven percent stake worth £36 million in retailer and music seller Woolworths. That will make it the biggest shareholder in the company. Quite what that means I don't know - and as long as they don't take away the pick 'n' mix, I'm not sure I care.
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BOB MARLEY'S HOUSE TO BE A MONUMENT
Bob Marley's home in Kingston is to be declared a national monument. The house, which has since become the Tuff Gong International music studio, is a major tourist attraction in the Jamaican capital. The tribute, officials say, recognises the reggae star's work in promoting his home country overseas.
Marley was given the Order Of Merit, Jamaica's third highest honour, a month before his death in 1981. He has not, however, been given the status of national hero, a title to have only ever been bestowed on seven Jamaicans, despite repeated calls to government officials to give Marley the honour.
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CREAM GET TOGETHER AGAIN
Cream are planning more gigs following the success of their 2005 reunion shows in London and New York, according to bassist and singer Jack Bruce. Last year's concerts, the band's first full length performances since their acrimonious split back in 1968, were a huge success, but despite this their publicist Kristen Foster said at that time that the band had "no plans for the future".
Now it seems Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce may in fact reunite for yet more shows. Bruce, in LA to collect a Grammy Lifetime Achievement gong on behalf of the band, said: "We will play more, but where and when I'm not at liberty to say. What we feel is that it's so special, and also so emotionally draining that it's not something we could do every day."
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METALLICA TO PLAY DOWNLOAD
Metallica are planning to take a break from writing and recording a new album in order to play some European festivals, one of which is the Download Festival, which, as previously reported, has already confirmed The Prodigy as one of its other headline acts. A post on Metallica's official website said that the group planned to spend 2006 on the aforementioned long-player, but have been lured away by the idea of a "summer vacation hanging out with the coolest live music festivals on the planet".
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MASSIVE ATTACK ADDED TO COACHELLA LINE UP
Massive Attack have been added to the line-up for this year's Coachella Festival on 30 Apr. It's their first US gig in eight years, and will, of course, follow the release of their new single on 13 Mar and their hits album 'Collected' on 27 Mar.
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COLDPLAY GIG AT ABBEY ROAD
Oh Joy. Coldplay are to play a wee gig at London's Abbey Road Studios on 13 Feb. The performance will be recorded for BBC Radio 2, to air in April, and tickets are up for grabs via a competition on the band's official website. See http://www.coldplay.com if you're interested.
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FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND TOUR CANCELLED
Funeral For A Friend have been forced to cancel their current UK tour because singer Matt Davies has laryngitis and has been ordered to rest. A spokesperson for the band has indicated that rescheduled dates will be announced soon. Meanwhile, a post on the band's official website reads as follows: "We want to send out apologies to everyone who was coming to see us. Due to the laryngitis that is still in my system I can't perform to anywhere near the best of my ability, which is something that I want to have happen when we play a show. We will make it up to everyone who bought tickets, and I want to personally send a big thank you to all of those people who have sent me their good wishes. We will be back."
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PINK FLOYD IS OVER NO BRAINER
How many times must Pink Floyd confirm that the band will not get back together? People apparently like to keep on speculating that a reunion might take place despite the group's strenuous denials.
Well, now David Gilmour, releasing a solo album, 'On An Island' on 6 Mar, has told the Italian newspaper La Republica what everyone ought to have known already: "The band? It's over. Reunited because of the good cause, to get over the bad relationship, and not to have regrets. I think I've had enough. I am 60. I don't want to work much anymore. It's an important part of my life, I have had enormous satisfactions, but now it's enough. It's much more comfortable to work on my own."
He went on to stress that his unwillingness to reform has nothing to do with old enmities with former bandmate Roger Waters: "The issue about Roger is irrelevant, because even without him I don't want to go on as Pink Floyd. I'm happy with my life. Playing as Pink Floyd is a business too big for me now. When you move as a band, all is gigantic, the expectations are enormous, the pressures very high. We have been asked to play one hundred gigs! I am fine as I live now. It was fantastic but now I don't feel like it any more."
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DANIEL RADCLIFFE TALKS SHIT, SAYS BOURNE
Son Of Dork frontman James Bourne has had a go at Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe over comments he apparently made at the end of last year indicating that he thought McFly and Son Of Dork were rubbish, implying that they couldn't actually play their instruments or write their own songs. He's wrong, of course. McFly aren't rubbish, can all play their instruments perfectly well, and they write their own songs.
But anyway, now former Busted boy Bourne has told the Mirror: "Us and McFly are going to kick his arse. Daniel Radcliffe talks a lot of shit. He keeps talking about everyone else's talent but he should look at his own - he is atrocious." Bandmate David Williams added: "He's a shit actor and the shittest character in the whole movie."
When Radcliffe first made those comments back in December, or whenever it was, the McFly boys responded in a slightly more lucid and intelligent manner than the Son Of Dork boys. Bassist Dougie told The Mirror. "He's slagged us off in interviews - we've never met him, so I don't know where it's coming from. He's going to be embarrassed when he does meet us."
Whilst guitarist Tom added, "It's happened to us when we've slagged off people we haven't met and when we do meet them we just feel stupid - that's how we want him to feel. He said about us: "I know bands who can actually play their instruments and who write their songs." Well, we know actors who play more than one character. He's got his facts wrong."
Yes. Yes he has.
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KT SAYS SHE'S A HIT WITH LESBIANS
KT Tunstall has apparently told The Mirror that she is a big hit with lesbians. "I have a massive lesbian following," she says, "there's always a gay crowd up the front at my gigs. It's a huge compliment. No one thinks Katie Melua is gay. I think it's because I'm a singer-songwriter with a personality - balls and some sassiness."
She also thinks, however, it might be a result of the fact that she accidentally sent out a certain message about her sexuality when she wore a pair of rainbow-patterned braces, a gay symbol, apparently, on an image for her record cover, only understanding the implications of the garment when a US friend texted her to say "The girls in San Francisco are loving your braces."
KT also threw in the following lesbian-related-misunderstanding anecdote: "I was on stage in Dublin when I heard a girl in the crowd shout: "KT, you're a lesbian!" What the hell do you say to that? I didn't want to upset the lesbians but I didn't want to make out I was one. I said: "You can't say that!" Then I realised that none of the other 1,500 people there had heard her. So I said: "That girl just called me a lesbian." At the end of the gig, a roadie handed me a note from the woman. It said: 'KT, I was saying 'legend'."
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PRESTON'S BREAK UP NOTHING TO DO WITH CHANTELLE, OKAY?
Ordinary Boy Preston has apparently revealed that he has split up with his girlfriend Camille Aznar, but that it's nothing whatsoever to do with all the flirting he did with non-celebrity Celebrity Big Brother winner Chantelle.
According to The Sun he said: "She doesn't want to be in the papers any more. It's basically made it impossible for me to go out with her. It's just utterly horrible."
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JANET JACKSON PUT ON WEIGHT ON PURPOSE, OKAY?
Well, you probably aren't aware of it, but the gossip blogs have been buzzing for a while with pictures of a rather rotund Janet Jackson, out with a personal trainer and evidently trying to shed some chub. Now the singer's boyfriend, influential R&B and hip-hop producer Jermaine Dupri has said that there was a valid reason for the weight gain - Jackson, he claims, put on pounds (around 42, in fact) for a movie role which subsequently fell through. He also says he's confident that she'll make a strong comeback when her new album is released in the Spring.
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MYSTERY JETS HATE HARD-FI
Which is a shame, because we here at CMU love Mystery Jets and Hard-Fi, so I'm afraid we'll have to sit on the fence on this one. Anyway, according to Gigwise, Will Mystery Jets said of Hard-Fi: "They're superficial. He actually sings about things that Arctic Monkeys do but they do it in a way that's very meaningful, whereas Hard-Fi do it in a way that's really bland."
Singer Blaine Harrison allegedly added: "Alex Turner does it in a way that's beautiful, but Richard Archer does it in a really laddish, obvious way. Watching the way he performs, he makes me feel uncomfortable and it makes me think 'right, so that's what a man is? That's what a man should be like?' - the way he's leaning into girls' faces shouting 'awwight poppet!' I don't wanna go there... they come from about a mile down the road from us and their fans are probably harder than our fans, but I don't care. We're the anti-Hard-Fi, basically!"
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FLAMING LIPS ALBUM ATTACKS POPSTRELS
Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne says that his band's new album 'At War With The Mystics' has a bit of a go at popstrels such as Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani. Speaking about the new long player to MTV, Coyne said: "Of course there's a lot of stuff about battling wizards and warlocks and people like that, because we're a rock band and that's what rock bands do in some small way. But when I was writing these songs, I found myself thinking about a lot of people like Destiny's Child and the Black Eyed Peas, people like Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani, which is sort of strange for me."
He continued: "There's a line in [one] song that goes, 'So go tell Britney and go tell Gwen,' and I guess part of what I'm railing against on that song is this preternaturally happy music sung by kids and written by 40-year-old Swedish men. And in between them there's this void. I guess the worst offender is like the Black Eyed Peas or Destiny's Child, where they're going, 'I'm a survivor, I'm gonna make it,' and I'm like, 'Well, you're 20, what are you going to survive? Getting a bikini wax this weekend?'"
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BRITNEY SPEARS IN NO-SEAT-BELT-TROUBLE
Britney Spears is on the receiving end of a lot of media criticism in the US after pictures were published which appeared to show her driving a car with her five month old son on her lap without a seatbelt. Strictly, of course, the child shouldn't have been on her lap, seatbelt or no seatbelt, it should have been strapped into a car seat. But there you are.
Anyway, the pop princess has defended herself by saying it's all the paparazzi's fault for forcing her into that situation. In a statement she says: "I had a horrifying, frightful encounter with the paparazzi while I was with my baby. Because of a recent incident when I was trapped in my car without my baby by a throng of paparazzi, I was terrified that this time the physically aggressive paparazzi would put both me and my baby in danger. I instinctively took measures to get my baby and me out of harm's way, but the paparazzi continued to stalk us, and took photos of us which were sold to the media. I love my child and would do anything to protect him."
The photographic agency that supplied the pictures, X17, insist that they were not taken in a dangerous situation: "These pictures were taken in a very peaceful context, in which photographers exhibited no aggressive behaviour. We believe that the pictures speak for themselves".
Meanwhile, Los Angeles police say that they have no plans to pursue the incident. A spokesman said: "We didn't attend the incident and the baby wasn't hurt. I don't think the DA is going to open an investigation."