| CMU Daily - on the inside Thursday 9th March |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- P2P debates continue across the channel
- Spitzer sues radio group Entercom over payola
- Ne-Yo, Jay-Z, Nas
- Doherty makes progress shocker
- Boy George gets lucky
- Axl Rose / Slash law suit argy bargy
- CBGB owner considering move to Las Vegas
- Album review: Various - World's Best Mum
- O2 launch unsigned bands thingy
- Student Music Awards in London tonight
- Pearl Jam preview track on MySpace
- New ENO music director appointed
- New festival for Hyde Park
- Feeder, Funeral For A Friend headline Ponty festival
- The Knife announce UK gig
- Field Music announce tour
- Alex James to perform a solo gig
- New breaks / trance combo night
- Chew The Fat! this weekend
- Grand National US release next week
- Metric play SXSW
- Live review: Delays at Shepherds Bush Empire
- Raconteurs reveal tracklisting
- Ozzy eager to get back to the studio
- ITV - main channel down, overall profits up, more play
- Morrissey video link
- Kylie Minogue to publish children's book
- Church backs No Smoking Day
- Beyonce not proud of bootylicious
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TOP BIT>>
P2P is the hot topic again in French political circles, as the government (being heavily lobbied by the record labels and artist groups) try to fight off attempts by opposition MPs (being heavily lobbied by consumer rights groups) to legalise P2P usage in return for a copyright levy, charged by internet service providers and passed on to content owners. Such legalisation of P2P usage is, in reality, very unlikely to happen - the consensus is that it only ever got any support from the French parliament because it came up for debate just before Christmas when the vast majority of MPs, who would support the government and record labels on this one, had already buggered off on holiday. But what is interesting in this whole thing is some of the proposals being put forward by the French government in order to placate the consumer rights bodies who feel copyright law favours rich content owning conglomerates over music fans. Many of those proposals are related to putting in place controls over the use of digital rights management technology - something much discussed elsewhere, including here in the UK, but something governments are yet to get involved in. The French aren't proposing to ban DRM, but to limit its use (record labels might argue that consumer pressure would force such limitations anyway, without legislation, but the fact politicians are taking a proactive interest in the issue is interesting). Perhaps most interesting are proposals that the makers of DRM software must ensure that their technology works on all major digital music devices. That proposal, of course, wouldn't really hit the record companies, in fact they'd possibly support it. The main victim of that measure would be Apple, who seem determined to ensure that music bought from iTunes, which comes with the Apple DRM, can only play on Apple digital music devices. Apple's policy in this area has already been criticised by some in the consumer rights, content owner and IT communities (though the latter would probably recognise that technically speaking there are advantages to having a codec and music player that has been developed in the same company) - but most of those groups have been unsure how to take Apple on given how powerful the computer firm has become in the digital music sector. It remains to be seen if the French stick by that proposal, how Apple respond to it, and what implications such a law would have on the rest of Europe. But there's a chance that French legislation that threatened to make P2P legal might, in the end, help the record companies take on Apple and their unpopular insistence on incompatibility.
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PRESS ROOM>>
CARLING LIVE 24... give 24 hours of your life to live music! ... Carling Live 24 is back with another incredible line-up, which we can reveal includes Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight, Ordinary Boys, Ian Brown, Dirty Pretty Things and Goldie Lookin Chain, plus many more artists still to be announced... Carling Live 24 marks the start of the summer for music lovers, bringing the festival vibe to the heart of the city, with great music and cold beer. Carling Live 24 will kick off at 7pm on Friday 28th April and fans with enough stamina can rock continuously through to 7pm the following day. Tickets will go on sale at 10am on Tuesday 14th March exclusively at http://www.carling.com.
Press info: http://www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/pressroom/carling24
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HOT OFF THE PRESS>>
NEW LOOK ROCK SOUND APRIL ISSUE ON SALE NOW!
Panic! At The Disco grace this month's cover which has a new logo, expanded review and exposure sections meaning even more music for your money! Also, FREE giant Fall Out Boy and Aiden posters. Plus, a FREE Sound Check CD featuring 15 killer tracks from this Month's issue! 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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P2P DEBATES CONTINUE ACROSS THE CHANNEL
P2P debate continues in French political circles as the country's government this week put forward new proposals to parliament in a bid to put to an end to talk of a blanket licence for file sharing online.
As previously reported, file sharing has been a politically contentious issue in France ever since opposition MPs amended the government's previous anti-P2P proposals so that they actually legalised the sharing of music online with a system that would compensate content owners by charging a copyright levy on internet service provider subscriptions. Those proposals were opposed by both government ministers and senior executives across the entertainment industries, the latter of whom got together a group of high profile artists to speak out in support of anti-P2P measures.
The new proposals from the French government include compromises aimed at placating opposition MPs and the consumer rights groups who have been lobbying them regarding legalising P2P. Suggested fines and prison sentences for people who share large quantities of music online have been toned down considerably, while other proposals would put in place controls regarding the use of digital rights management technology by content owners. While the proposed laws would recognise the rights of content owners to use DRM, they would also force the right for consumers to be able to make a limited number of private copies of tracks. There are also proposals to force software companies to ensure all DRM technologies work on all digital music devices - a move that could have radical implications for Apple whose proprietary DRM famously only works with Apple manufactured devices.
Moves to end talk of legitimatising P2P have been welcomed by music industry, although caution has been expressed regarding some of the other new proposals. Frances Moore, Regional Director For Europe for the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry said rejecting any system that legimitised P2P would be "the right decision", but added: "We remain concerned at a number of other amendments still on the table relating to private copying and the use of technical measures and urge the French Assembly to adhere to the language and spirit of the EU Copyright Directive".
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SPITZER SUES RADIO GROUP ENTERCOM OVER PAYOLA
US media company Entercom's website tells you that they have passion for their brands, their people, their communities and for music. No mention of any passion for bribes and freebies - but perhaps they'll get that one added later today.
Anyway, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has started taking on the US radio companies in his ongoing anti-payola campaign, and the first target is media major Entercom. Spitzer began legal proceedings against them yesterday over allegations they broke US payola laws.
As previously reported at length, Spitzer has been investigating the use of bribes to get records airplay on American radio stations for some time - last year both SonyBMG and Warner admitted that some of their promotional staff and agencies had used methods that violated payola rules, and agreed to pay fines for their actions.
But of course if record companies are guilty of bribing people, then someone in the radio sector must be guilty of accepting bribes - hence the new moves by Spitzer against major radio companies. Entercom is accused of trading airtime for gifts, promotional items, personal trips and 'other payments', and for relying on payola tactics to boost revenues streams coming for record companies. Spitzer has published 67 pages of emails from within the radio company that he says proves his case against them and, unlike when similar evidence was published against SonyBMG and Warner, this time the names of correspondents have been left in.
Confirming his lawsuit against Entercom, Spitzer told reporters yesterday: "By accepting secret payments in exchange for air time, Entercom compromised its radio programming and violated state and federal laws. What makes this case especially egregious is the extent to which senior management viewed control of the airways as an opportunity to garner illegal payments from record labels."
Entercom responded by issuing the following statement: "Entercom is a company that believes in playing by the rules and does so. We have firm policies prohibiting payola and requiring compliance with the federal sponsor identification rules and we enforce them. We have cooperated fully with the Attorney General's office in this investigation. Now that the Attorney General has filed this civil action we are confident that the issues will be fully and fairly resolved by the court."
Spitzer also hit out at US media regulator the FCC who, despite saying that they too will be looking into the issue of payola, have, according to the New York Attorney General, been busy mainly doing nothing. Spitzer: "Almost a year after payola was exposed in significant detail, the FCC has yet to respond in any meaningful way. The agency's inaction is especially disappointing given the pervasive nature of this problem and its corrosive impact on the entertainment industry."
The FCC has said that it takes payola very seriously and that it does continue to investigate the revelations revealed by Spitzer, although has so far made no specific comment as to what measures it plans to take against those radio companies found guilty of breaking payola rules.
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NE-YO, JAY-Z, NAS
We really ought to mention Ne-Yo here in the CMU Daily because he's this week's big news in the US. His debut album 'In My Own Words' has shifted 301,000 copies in its first week, sending it to the top of the album charts. Meanwhile, by resisting the normal procedure of releasing a single via iTunes ahead of an album release, Ne-Yo's track 'So Sick' is simultaneously at the top of Apple's download chart, helping to maximise the hype.
Ne-Yo's success is good news for Jay-Z - not only because he's signed to his label, Def Jam, but because he was the album's producer. Bigging up Ne-Yo this week, Jay told Associated Press: "He's naturally talented. Anytime when that happens, and talent wins, it's an honest blow for the music business. It's a beautiful thing." On the songwriting ability of Ne-Yo, who also wrote Mario's 2005 number one 'Let Me Love You', Jay continued: "his ability separates him from everyone else. He can sing, he can dance, he has the whole package, but on top of that, he's an excellent songwriter." On his own role in producing the album the Def Jam top man concluded: "My thing was to keep the album short and sweet. When an artist has his first album, they tend to want to put 21 songs on there. He doesn't take it personally. He'll just go in and do it. We took songs off the album and he had no problem with it."
So there you go. Jay has also been talking about his involvement in Nas' next album. As previously reported, Nas has signed to Def Jam after overcoming his long running feud with Jay. To prove the two hip hop giants really are now friends, Jay will take production duties on Nas' new album too.
The new album will be co-released by Def Jam and Nas' former label, SonyBMG's Columbia. On Nas' decision to form an alliance with Def Jam at this time, Jay says: "I don't want to sound disrespectful to Columbia, but I don't think there was no one in there who had true respect to work with him on his albums. I think he was just doing everything on his own, and it's hard to hear everything on your own."
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DOHERTY MAKES PROGRESS SHOCKER
Pete Doherty appeared in court yesterday and astonishingly met with the judge's approbation. The singer, who is, of course, subject to a twelve month community order, was judged to be making progress, despite a positive drugs test. Back at Thames Magistrates for a review of that order, Doherty's solicitor Sean Curran explained that doctors treating the Babyshambles man are hoping to put him on an opiate replacement shortly and believe that a negative drugs test is a "genuinely achievable objective".
Judge Jane McIvor said: "It is very good progress and clearly a positive start. It seems that his determination is increasing. It is not expected to get a negative test in the first review period but I hope that opiate replacement will happen in the next period."
Which is surely good news for the troubled singer, who is of course due back in court later today on further drugs charges relating to seven counts of drugs possession relating to those incidents back in December and January.
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BOY GEORGE GETS LUCKY
Or perhaps it's karma? Boy George was in court in Manhattan yesterday and had those previously reported drugs charges against him dropped. The court appearance relates to that incident back in October when the singer, real name George O'Dowd, called police to report a burglary. When officers attended his home, they discovered an eighth of cocaine next to a computer in his apartment, and subsequently charged him with possession of a controlled substance as well as falsely reporting an incident. The drugs charge carried a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
However, the former pop star was given a conditional discharge as a result of a plea bargain which saw George agreeing to undergo drug rehabilitation as well as admitting to the misdemeanour of filing a false report of burglary to New York Police. O'Dowd will attend rehab at the UK's Clouds House in Salisbury, and will perform five days community service in Manhattan. He was also fined $1000 and ordered to pay $160 in court costs.
In a statement distributed by his lawyer, Boy George said: "I am relieved and happy that this case has been disposed of. I love New York and am looking forward to coming back and working in the States later this year."
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AXL ROSE / SLASH LAW SUIT ARGY BARGY
Axl Rose has filed a counterclaim in response to a recent lawsuit brought by former Guns n Roses bandmates Slash, real name Saul Hudson, and Michael 'Duff' McKagan, over alleged unpaid royalties. The countersuit maintains that the original action contains "numerous false allegations" and will ask the US Federal Court to confirm Rose's ownership of GnR creative works.
Rose says that Slash in particular has used the media to imply that he is fully supportive of the new Guns n Roses, when in fact the opposite is true. In a statement the GnR man's people say: "for over 10 years Slash, a consummate press, photo and media opportunist and manipulator, has attacked Axl Rose on a number of levels. Slash's actions whether in or out of Guns N' Roses have been a complete betrayal across the board of his alleged friendship and business relationship with Axl and the so called brotherhood and band loyalties that are supposed to have existed. Instead Slash has publicly attempted, by soliciting public and media support, to take credit for something that was not his or anyone else's to take, notwithstanding that Slash played a major part in the success of the band as Axl has continually acknowledged".
Mr Rose's attorney Howard Weitzman comments: "Axl regrets having to spend time and energy on these distractions but he has a responsibility to protect the Guns N' Roses legacy and expose the truth. Axl believes he has been left with no alternative but to respond to these lawsuits. It would have been Axl's preference to resolve disputes with Slash and Duff in private. The courthouse is not his choice of forum. However, Axl could no longer sit quietly and allow the continuing dissemination of falsehoods and half-truths by his former band-mates."
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CBGB OWNER CONSIDERING MOVE TO LAS VEGAS
The owner of legendary New York club CBGB has admitted he is considering relocating to Las Vegas in a bid to find a new home.
As previously reported, Hilly Kristal last year lost a long running fight with the landlords of the venue he has run since the early seventies. The building's owners, a homeless charity, wanted to push up his rent considerably, making the site unviable for operating the club. Despite a campaign supported by numerous New York artists to make the landlords rethink, no agreement could be reached and CBGB will now have to vacate the premises at the end of October.
Kristal has been looking for new viable properties in which to base the club - a key venue in the history of New York punk and hardcore. A number of alternative New York locations are being considered, though one offered by the city required a $5 million advance which, Kristal says, "was a bit of a shock to me". While about eight other New York properties are still possibilities, Kristal has admitted that the mayor of Las Vegas "has been very helpful" in exploring the possibilities of moving the club to his city.
There is no word as yet as to when Kristal plans to make a decision regarding the future of the club.
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ALBUM REVIEW: Various - World's Best Mum (SonyBMG)
So next Monday SonyBMG will release a new compilation called 'World's Best Mum', obviously timed to coincide with Mothers' Day which, by the way, is on 26 Mar this year. By an extraordinary coincidence, my mum is the world's best mum, so given that this 42 track two CD set was presumably compiled specifically for her enjoyment, I sent the jiffy bag Cheshire-wards and got her to review it. Of course mums are a diverse bunch and you could argue that it's a bit patronising of SonyBMG to assume that the average mum will want to listen to a predictable mix of middle-of-the-road pop. Jo Whiley, Suzy Quatro and Kristin Hersh are, after all, mothers, and I can't help thinking they wouldn't be too thrilled with a CD dominated by Westlife, Backstreet Boys, Robson & Jerome and G4. In fact if the Mothers Union would only start representing the political interests of mothers rather than organising cake stalls, I'd suggest that they take on major conglomerates who make such sweeping judgements about the collective music tastes of motherdom. Except that, when it comes to the world's best mum (that's my mum, in case you'd forgotten), actually the major's foolish musical preconceptions are pretty spot on. Of course mums are a pretty big demographic age wise, so not every track will please 100%. So while my mum could have done without contributions from Anastacia, Natasha Bedingfield and Delta Goodrem, I suspect that those mothers who are - how can I put this? - at the younger end of the spectrum may have picked 'Left Outside Alone', 'These Words' and 'Lost Without You' as stand out tracks. But that's not to say that it is only the Elvises, Barry Manilows and Andy Williams of the collection that appealed to this thirtysomething's mother - more contemporary Radio 2 favourites like Will Young, Katie Melua and even Kelly Clarkson scored highly, as did those pop opera monkeys Il Divo and G4. Criticisms, in fact, were few and far between (though a mini-debate as to why it is that Macca et al are so insistent that the Beatles catalogue never reaches such compilations did ensue), and even the 'cup of tea' cover artwork was well received (though certain mums, it was thought, might prefer a glass of wine). So, SonyBMG - with your shoddy attempt to generalise the music tastes of the nation's mothers - well done, mission accomplished. CC + MC
Release date: 13 Mar
Press contact: Noble PR [all]
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O2 LAUNCH UNSIGNED BANDS THINGY
You know, at times I do worry that the world might have fulfilled its required quota of unsigned band competitions, but this one is interesting, so we'll let it in.
O2 last night unveiled its very own unsigned band search - O2 Undiscovered. Aspiring bands are being encouraged to upload tracks to the O2 website or, for the less net savvy, to take a CD into an O2 shop. Tracks will then be reviewed by a team of music types - namely former Mean Fiddler owner Vince Power, Times music critic Lisa Verrico, Music Week man Ajax Scott, Xfm presenter Lucio, Polydor Head Of A&R Simon Gavin, and former Elastica guitarist Paul Jonze.
The best bands picked out by that bunch will then receive a range of support and opportunities - including studio and producer time, a digital release of a track, the chance to play at an industry showcase, and a slot at the O2 sponsored Wireless festival.
Confirming the venture, O2 Marketing Director Russ Shaw got on the phone (his O2 phone, presumably) and told CMU: "O2 has demonstrated a commitment to music at all levels in the past three years, from major sponsorships such as the O2 Wireless Festival to bespoke and innovative services such as a tie-up with up and coming band The Upper Room. O2 Undiscovered aims to identify, support, nurture and develop musical talent and ensure that grassroots music has the opportunity to be heard by the public, by simply inviting people to drop their demo tape into an O2 store or upload their music onto the O2 website."
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STUDENT MUSIC AWARDS IN LONDON TONIGHT
Talking of unsigned band competitions we like, as mentioned in yesterday's CMU Daily, the 3 Student Music Awards tour reaches London tonight with two events. The first, at the LSE, will see SMA finalists Dan Priddy, Wise Service and Mr Mouth all supporting CMU favourite Max Sedgley. Meanwhile at Thames Valley University in Ealing finalists Lola Edun, The Know and Stoyic will all play, with Island signed Dogs headlining. Another showcase event will take place at Kings College London next Wednesday (15 Mar), while the tour will finale in Brighton the next day (16 Mar).
There are more details about the tour at http://www.studentmusicawards.co.uk, guest list info from [email protected] You can preview music from all 30 finalists, and vote for your favourites, at the same website. And don't forget CMU has been interviewing all the finalist bands, and you'll be able to read their answers each day on the CMU Beats website, kicking off with Cath Lewis, Joe Seagar and The Haze tomorrow. Hurrah.
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PEARL JAM PREVIEW TRACK ON MYSPACE
With the new Pearl Jam album coming your way later this year (May, I think), the band are making the lead track from it, 'World Wide Suicide', available to stream or download via their website and their MySpace page - the latter is at http://myspace.com/tenclub. Though be quick, apparently it'll only be on there for a few days.
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NEW ENO MUSIC DIRECTOR APPOINTED
The English National opera has appointed British conductor Edward Gardner as its new Music Director. He's only 31 and the youngest person ever to be given the job, which has been vacant since December last year. Gardner, who is currently musical director of Glyndebourne On Tour, says "alongside all the members of the company, I am committed to dedicating myself to the future artistic growth of ENO and to investing the time and presence required to shape its new future."
Artistic Director John Berry says: "Edward's qualities as a musician and his natural rapport with both singers and creative teams make his appointment a major coup for ENO."
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NEW FESTIVAL FOR HYDE PARK
Gosh, Hyde Park is going to be busy this summer, what with Wireless and Foo Fighters and now a brand new festival happening there this year, I hope the grass is up to it. Anyway, 'Hyde Park Calling' is to take place on 1 and 2 Jul, headlined by The Who and former Pink Floyd man Roger Waters, who'll be performing 'Dark Side Of The Moon' stuff as part of his set. Razorlight and Texas are also set to appear; tickets go on sale this Friday at 9am.
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FEEDER, FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND HEADLINE PONTY FESTIVAL
Feeder and Funeral For A Friend are to headline Welsh festival The Full Ponty, which is to take place at Ynysangharad Park in Pontypridd from 27 - 28 May. They're joined on the bill by acts such as The Automatic, Goldie Lookin Chain, Biffy Clyro and Fightstar. The event also features fairground attractions (actual fairground attractions, not the band, obviously), and the Full Ponty Fringe Festival consisting of comedy and street theatre. See http://www.thefullponty.com for info and tickets.
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THE KNIFE ANNOUNCE UK GIG
CMU Favourites The Knife have announced that they will play at London's Scala on 10 Apr. The concert, part of a European tour to promote their new album, is their first ever proper UK gig. The new long player, 'Silent Shout' is out on 20 Mar followed by single 'Marble House' on 1 May.
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FIELD MUSIC ANNOUNCE TOUR
Field Music are to embark on their first headlining UK tour next month. In addition to playing Orange Evolution and Hi:Fi North this summer, they will also appear on the following dates:
23 Apr: Brighton, Audio
24 Apr: Manchester, Roadhouse
25 Apr: London, Borderline
26 Apr: Leeds, Cockpit
27 Apr: Glasgow, King Tuts
28 Apr: Liverpool, Academy
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ALEX JAMES TO PERFORM A SOLO GIG
Blur man Alex James is play a solo gig at the Whitechapel Gallery on 31 Mar as part of the venue's fundraiser 'Art Plus Music'. As well as performing on his own he'll be joined by Betty Boo for a rendition of the pair's new single collaboration 'Wigwam'. See http://www.whitechapel.org.
Elsewhere in Alex James news, he's been saying that his bandmate Damon Albarn is both a cunt and a genius. Which may seem contradictory, but I can testify to the fact that people with genius are no less likely to be a cunt than those without. Anyway, here's what the man said, according to contactmusic: "I fucking like Gorillaz. I mean, obviously Damon's a cunt, but they're great. If Gorillaz were an undeserved success, that would be one thing. But it's great. He's worked so fucking hard on it. I mean, he's a genius."
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NEW BREAKS / TRANCE COMBO NIGHT
Well, we love anything that brings different genres together here at CMU, so we'll most probably love Stir, a new night being staged by leading players in the trance and breaks genres - Nano Records and the Breaksday crowd, both of whom represent their respective genres at the wonderful Glade Festival.
The new club will kick off on 13 May at the Rennaisance Rooms in Vauxhall. Breaks wise you'll get Rennie Pilgrem & Chickaboo, Hybrid, Dreadzone Soundsystem, Aquasky and Pendulum, while on the psy-trance floor you'll find Tristan, The Commercial Hippies, Allaby, Zen Mechanics, Ans and Edoardo.
Commenting on the new project, Breaksday main man Rennie Pilgrem told CMU: "There aren't many genres that can successful co-exist these days but after the awesome vibe of the Glade we realized that these were two tribes that definitely weren't going to war".
Stir will kick off at 10pm and run through the night to 7am. Tickets are £12 in advance. More info from http://www.stir.uk.com, press info from [email protected]
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CHEW THE FAT! THIS WEEKEND
Given that we've brought up the breaks, it would be surely negligent for us not to mention that the next edition of Chew The Fat takes over The End in London this Friday (10 Mar). The almost encyclopaedic line up includes Aquasky, The Ragga Twins, Friendly, Drumattic Twins, Kraak & Smaak, Def Inc and chief Fat man Paul Arnold, while in the Schtum hosted room 2 you'll find Mr Thing, DJ Deviant, Elemental, Shak-t, the wonderful (and Breakspoll best album award winning) Atomic Hooligan and VJ jamming from Data Is Nature, Krypton Factory and Quadroptica. Storming. Kicks off at 10pm, runs through till 6am - tickets are £11, or £7 for students. More info at http://www.thefatclub.com/
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GRAND NATIONAL US RELEASE NEXT WEEK
OK, more relevant for our growing number of American readers (go on, everyone invite an American colleague to subscribe), but we're such big Grand National fans round here, we thought we ought to mention it. Grand National's superbly superb, and vastly under-raved about album 'Kicking The National Habit' will get is US release via Recall next Tuesday, 14 Mar. If you're in America - make sure you tell everyone you know, won't you? The band will play an instore at the Union Square, NYC branch of Virgin Megastore on 10 Mar, and have a sell out show at the Bowery Ballroom on 11 Mar. They will also play two dates at next week's South By Southwest - at Red Bull House on 15 Mar at midnight, and at the European Music Office Showcase on 16 Mar at 10pm.
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METRIC PLAY SXSW
Talking of SXSW, which kicks off in Austin, Texas tomorrow, loads of PRs coming in regarding events taking place there - far too many for us to publish them all. But we should tell you that Canadian buzz band Metric, the latest signings to London based In Sound Recordings, will be playing at the Filter Party at Revenge on 16 Mar, and alongside Snow Patrol, Magic Numbers and The Subways at Stubbs on 17 Mar. The band's debut single and album - 'Poster Of A Girl' and 'Live It Out' - will both get UK releases via DiS later this year (June time, most probably). More info at http://www.myspace.com/metricband and watch videos at http://www.ilovemetric.com.
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LIVE REVIEW: Delays at Shepherds Bush Empire on 7 Mar
I arrived an hour early for this gig. Partly because I'd promised someone I'd try to catch the support act (they were quite good actually, more on them another day), but more because I was paranoid I'd somehow misread the 24 hour clock itinerary I'd been emailed and that I might miss even one minute of the set. Delays, as I may have mentioned once before, are one of my very favourite bands of the moment - possibly my over all favourite, and I had been looking forward to this gig for ages, so I wasn't going to run the risk of missing any of it - especially as the only other time I'd seen Delays play live it was in a club environment, and I really wanted to see them do a headline gig. This was also the first time I'd see the band play live tracks from new album 'You See Colours' which, by the way, is released this week. This is a brilliant second album - truly complementing 2004's 'Faded Seaside Glamour'. Unlike the debut, the new long player doesn't present quite so many catchy tunes that immediately capture your attention, and heart, which does tend to mean you need to commit a little more time to the project as the consumer. But it's worth it. 'You See Colours' again cleverly combines strong indie guitars with Aaron Gilbert's box of synthesised tricks and brother Greg's distinctive and at times haunting vocals - though the tracks, while perhaps not quite so catchy, are somehow stronger. Single release 'Valentine' is the immediate stand out - it being the exception to the aforementioned observation, and possessing the immediate catchiness that occurred so frequently on 'Faded Seaside Glamour'. But other tracks begin to stand out with repeat listens, 'You And Me', 'Sink Like A Stone' and 'Lillian' in particular. Despite the differences between the first and second albums, tracks from both fitted well together in the band's live set, with songs well distributed so that the newer less familiar numbers were invariably followed up with a crowd-pleasing 'FSG' favourite - all complemented by some fabulous lighting (the sound engineering was not so perfect, but we'll let that one go). All of which helped ensure my anticipation which, as I said, was pretty damn high to start with, was maintained throughout the set (and even though my personal favourite, 'Long Time Coming' - a track which is my favourite song ever on at least 50 days of the year - came surprisingly early on in the set). With their second album on frequent play on my iTunes, and with this week's gig one of my musical highlights so far this year, Delays are unlikely to fall out of my 'favourite bands' category any time soon - which means you can expect me to be very punctual for anything they're involved in for some time yet. CC
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RACONTEURS REVEAL TRACKLISTING
Massively exciting news now. Jack White and Brendan Benson's side project The Raconteurs have revealed the tracklisting for debut output 'Broken Boy Soldier', out on 15 May.
Steady, As She Goes
Hands
Broken Boy Soldier
Intimate Secretary
Together
Level
Store Bought Bones
Yellow Sun
Call It A Day
The band, as we may have previously reported, tour the UK next month, dates as follows:
20 Mar: Liverpool, Academy 2
21 Mar: Glasgow, ABC
22 Mar: Newcastle, Stage 2
23 Mar: London, Astoria
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OZZY EAGER TO GET BACK TO THE STUDIO
Ozzy Osbourne says that he's eager to get to work on a new album, and is planning to collaborate with Zakk Wylde on the project. Osbourne told Billboard: "I'm gonna get with Zakk soon and start hopefully writing a new studio album. I've gotta get a studio album this year, I'm well overdue."
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ITV - MAIN CHANNEL DOWN, OVERALL PROFITS UP, MORE PLAY
ITV have announced they are going to launch what they call a 24/7 participation channel called ITV Play which will feature loads of those shows that you get on late night ITV - you know, the dreadful-yet-worryingly-addictive phone in quiz shows. The new channel will launch next month on Freeview and then expand out to Sky and cable.
Talking of ITV, much media coverage yesterday for the somewhat predictable news that the commercial broadcaster's main channel, ITV1, has been losing lots of viewers. ITV1's ad revenues fell by £50 million in 2005 as the channel's ratings started to slide. But that ratings and ad revenue slide was compensated for by the growth of the network's other channels, in particular ITV2 and ITV3. So much so, overall profits were up 36% to £452 million.
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MORRISSEY VIDEO LINK
If you're looking for a way to waste time today, well, you could go and watch Morrissey's new pop promo, for new single 'You Have Killed Me', which is out on 27 Mar. The vid is here:
http://www.sanctuaryrecords.co.uk/video/?show=you-have-killed-me
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KYLIE MINOGUE TO PUBLISH CHILDREN'S BOOK
Kylie Minogue is to follow in Madonna's footsteps by publishing a new children's book. The singer, who is continuing to receive treatment for breast cancer, has written 'The Showgirl Princess', a story about a young girl's rise to fame which draws on Kylie's own life experiences. The book's editor, Jane Richardson, says it will "appeal to little princesses everywhere who love to dress up and have fun. It brims with positive messages such as believing in yourself and the importance of friendship and teamwork."
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CHURCH BACKS NO SMOKING DAY
Charlotte Church has been encouraging people to quit smoking by backing yesterday's No Smoking Day (you all stopped for the day, right?). A fairly notorious smoker and drinker in recent years, Church quit her twenty a day habit at New Year and has pretty much stuck to that resolution, apart from one lapse, on her birthday.
On her decision to quit the singer says: "I could hear a change in my voice and thought, what am I doing here? It's my profession. I just did it through sheer willpower. I didn't have any patches. I was really irritable for the first three weeks. I did have a relapse on my birthday, had a few glasses of wine, smoked two cigarettes. I was really ill the next day - I won't be doing that again. The one time I think about it is when I go out and have a drink. I hold a cigarette in my hand but I don't light it. It's just something to do with my hands."
Church began smoking at 16, but urged teenagers not to follow her example, saying "The longer you smoke, the harder it is to give up. It's so not worth starting."
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BEYONCE NOT PROUD OF BOOTYLICIOUS
Beyonce has told TV Hits magazine that she's not proud of the fact that the word 'Bootylicious' has been added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. She is quoted as saying: "I'm not very proud of that. It's in the dictionary - it's crazy. I wrote the song, but I wish there was another word I could have come up with if I was going to have a word in the dictionary."
Well, she shouldn't feel she has to take all the blame, in fairness. It was Snoop Dogg who coined it, after all, when he guested on Dre's 'Fuck Wit Dre Day' back in 1992.