| CMU Daily - on the inside Tuesday 18th April |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- Jackson strikes financial deal with Sony
- Man charged in relation to Proof incident
- North American concert grosses up in quarter 1
- Myspace unveils new live section
- Singles review: Bib – I Wanna Be A Better / Piranha Deathray – The Rising
- Saga gets north east licence
- One is one
- Unreleased tracks planned for Beatles album
- Metro Weekender line-up announced
- Lovebox Weekender announced
- Peace Burial At Sea single, tour
- Spank Rock announce UK tour
- Kylie releases new photos
- Arthur Lee update
- George Michael smashes three cars
- Album review: Daft Punk - Musique Vol. 1 1993-2005
- Goths more likely to try suicide
- Chart update
- CMU radio show playlist
- K-Fed sued by Thomas Dolby
- Gates dropped by label
- John Lydon says no to Brits
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TOP BIT>>
Excellent, yet another edition of the CMU Radio Show goes live today, as it tends to at the start of the week. As usual, it features a host of great tunes - you'll find the playlist further down, of course - and some music related chat, not least about Jarvis Cocker, Gene Pitney, Arab Strap, Joseph Arthur, Desert Island Discs, World Cup Songs, Bobby Gillespie definitely not being a Nazi, and, er, bird flu. We felt especially perky recording it this week courtesy of Christianity and the lovely four day break it afforded us, so I feel pretty confident that you will find our energy infectious despite the very real probability that you've just returned reluctantly to work. Anyway, as always, once it's live you can listen to the show at any time via http://www.thebeatsbar.co.uk/cmuradio courtesy of your Windows Media Player and our friends at totallyradio.com will handle the rest. Enjoy.
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RIGHT NOW IN THE CMU BEATS BAR>>
MySpace Of The Day: Milk Kan
Well, if you are returning reluctantly to work, I've got something here to really cheer you up. I guarantee a smile from the default track on their MySpace site, 'Bling Bling Baby', which was released as a single in December, to not quite enough acclaim in my opinion. It's a bit tough to categorise; they describe themselves as Hip Hop / Bluegrass / Punk on the MySpace page, but when I first played the single at the end of last year, the thing that initially came to mind was Chas n Dave. In a good way, obviously: I'm a very big fan of Chas n Dave. In fairness, it's not that much like Chas n Dave, it's probably just the very-London inflection that does it. Anyway, that track makes this site worth a visit on its own, but there's a couple of other tracks, a few tour dates, and a fair amount of blog entries to keep you busy for a few minutes.
http://www.myspace.com/milkthekan
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ON AIR>>
TODAY ON TOTALROCK
Feebz talks to Fear Factory and Breed 77. The latter will be exclusively playing tracks from their new album. Don't miss the fun on the 'Helldrive' (3-6pm).
Listen live at http://www.totalrock.com.
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JACKSON STRIKES FINANCIAL DEAL WITH SONY
Troubled pop star Michael Jackson has come to an agreement with Sony in an attempt to resolve his recent financial difficulties. Jackson was due to pay back $200m in loans in December last year, secured on his stake in the Sony/ATV catalogue which contains 200 Beatles tracks as well as songs by artists such as Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks and Joni Mitchell, and is thought to be worth $1billion. The loan was furnished by Fortress Investment Group, who stood to gain Jackson's 50 percent of the catalogue if he defaulted on payments.
Adviser Grahame Nelson explained in a statement that Jackson has "restructured his finances with the assistance of Sony", adding, "following negotiations with several leading financial institutions, Mr Jackson has concluded refinancing with affiliates of Fortress Investment Group, the lender that currently holds secured debts that were previously held by Bank of America."
No more further details of the agreement were made available, but the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have speculated that the deal will ultimately force Jackson to sell half of his share in Sony/ATV, leaving him with ownership of just 25 percent of the company. The pop star originally owned the whole ATV company, purchasing the concern back in 1985, before merging the collection with Sony's publishing arm and reducing his stake to fifty percent.
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MAN CHARGED IN RELATION TO PROOF INCIDENT
A man has been charged with weapons offences following the previously reported death of D12 rapper Proof. Mario Etheridge, aged 28, does not stand accused of harming Proof, aka Deshaun Holton, but has been charged with carrying a concealed weapon and discharging a firearm in a building. Etheridge's lawyer, Randall Upshaw has told reporters that any shots fired were done so in self defence, saying "if anyone discharged the weapon, it was in defence of others or themselves. If it takes discharging a weapon to save a life, then I find it disturbing that you would be charged with discharging a weapon."
More than one witness has apparently now come forward to say that the first shot was discharged by Holton himself, opening fire on Keith Bender, who, as previously reported, is still critically ill in hospital. Prosecutor Kym Worthy warned reporters not to assume too much from the charges laid on Etheridge, saying "Our investigation in this case is far from over." Assistant prosecutor Maria Miller added: "Our investigation into the death of Proof continues. There can't be any conclusions about anything until that investigation is completed."
Proof's funeral is to be held on Wednesday, according to the star's record label Iron Fist. Meanwhile, Eminem has paid tribute to his friend, who, as previously reported, was best man at his recent re-marriage to Kim Mathers. In a statement he said: "He pushed me to become who I am. Not a day will go by without his spirit and influence around us all. He will be missed as a friend, father and both the heart and ambassador of Detroit hip-hop. He inspired everyone around him. He can never, ever be replaced. He was, and always will be, my best friend."
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NORTH AMERICAN CONCERT GROSSES UP IN QUARTER 1
According to Billboard Boxscore, the North American concert business looks to be emerging from a recent two year slump, with gross takings of nearly $375 million in this year's first quarter representing a gain of twenty eight percent on last year. Attendance was up 19%, with numbers of 7.3 million.
The upsurge has not occurred as a result of more concerts being staged, but by the higher levels of attendance. The number of gigs which took place in the first quarter of this year is similar to the amount that took place in the same quarter last year, with 2595 concerts taking place in North America between January and March 2006 compared to 2525 in the same period in 2006.
The figures would appear to have been driven up by large scale tours undertaken by artists such as Coldplay, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, and Aerosmith. Randy Phillips, CEO of international promoter AEG Live commented: "Touring will always be cyclical. The numbers are completely dependent upon who is on the road."
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MYSPACE UNVEILS NEW LIVE SECTION
MySpace have unveiled their latest music feature, a new live performance webpage, myspace.com/thelist, part of the social networking website's wider strategy to strengthen links between artists and music fans. The List page is set to stream exclusive content, plus recordings of exclusive live gigs, performed in front of an invited audience of MySpace members and described by MySpace as "for the fans, with the fans."
The first band to feature are New Yorkers Taking Back Sunday. Fans of the band, who are promoting their third album 'Louder Now', set for release on 25 April, can access a performance recorded at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles earlier this month with an audience comprising MySpace members who had signed up as 'friends' on Taking Back Sunday's artist page. The fans were required to respond to questions posted on the page in order to be in with a chance of attending the event.
Further artists set to take in the new venture have not yet been announced, although The List's 'friends' group includes acts such as Franz Ferdinand, Ice Cube, Lil Jon, Hard-Fi and James Blunt, which may indicate their planned involvement in the future.
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SINGLES REVIEW: Bib – I Wanna Be A Better / Piranha Deathray – The Rising (Dogbox Records)
My new favourite record label is Dogbox; like a mini Rough Trade they seem adept at unearthing new talent. The stand out track here is Bib's 'I Wanna Be A Better' which is a poppy mix of bubbling Depeche Mode-esque synths and jangly Altered Images style guitars. The duo composed of Duncan Diamond and Jack Trade apparently met and bonded in their local pub over their appreciation of George Best. This¸ their second single, is about the allure of going down the bookies. It's backed with the gently swaggering, bleakly romantic 'Flowers'. Label mates Piranha Deathray offer a more traditional indie sound with hints of Brit-pop and Morrissey. Of their two tracks I prefer the backing track, the musically spare but moody and atmospheric 'Your Chilling Presence' which boasts some convincingly impassioned vocals. Both bands play Nambucca, Holloway Road, London on 17 Apr. The tracks are available for download for free from http://dogboxrecords.co.uk. JW
Release date: 17 Apr
Press contact: [email protected] [all]
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SAGA GETS NORTH EAST LICENCE
Ofcom have awarded the new commercial FM licence for the north east of England to Saga, who have beaten off competition from twelve other companies including Chrysalis, GCap, Guardian Media Group and Australia's Macquarie bank. Saga 97.5 FM will broadcast to around 22million listeners in the Tyne & Wear and Teesside areas and plans to programme "easy, melodic, popular music from the past six decades and today, with news, information and lifestyle-oriented speech, primarily targeting listeners in the north-east region aged 50 and over".
The Saga Group operates a range of services for the over fifties, such as insurance and credit cards, and already operates three radio stations in the east and West Midlands and Glasgow. The new licence could prove particularly lucrative for the group, covering as it does a wide geographical area with a population of interest to advertisers.
Elsewhere, OfCom has handed the new FM commercial licence for Southend On Sea the brand new Southend Radio, which promises "a locally relevant radio station for Southend with news, information, engaging chat and great music from the 60s to today". The station is 80% owned by Stockvale, the backer of St Albans & Watford Broadcasting Company who operate Herfordshire's Mercury 96.6 FM.
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ONE IS ONE
U2's 'One' has come top in VH1's Nation's Favourite Lyric Poll. The line "One life, with each other, sisters, brothers" was voted number one in the music channel's poll of 13,000 people. The Smiths were second with a line from 'How Soon is Now?' - "So you go, and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own, and you go home, and you cry, and you want to die," followed by "I feel stupid and contagious, here we are now, entertain us," from Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' in third.
Coldplay, Bob Marley, Robbie Williams and Marvin Gaye were also represented near the top, but surprisingly, lyrics to John Lennon's 'Imagine' did not feature in the top 20, despite topping a similar poll a few years ago.
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UNRELEASED TRACKS PLANNED FOR BEATLES ALBUM
More on the album set to accompany that previously reported forthcoming Beatles show scheduled to premiere in Las Vegas. The production is, of course, a collaboration between George Martin and Cirque Du Soleil, with help from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as well as the families of both John Lennon and George Harrison, and that accompanying long player is set to feature previously unreleased Beatles Material.
According to Variety, Apple Corps plan to release an album of "completely new music", with McCartney and Starr overseeing Martin's remastering of the unheard Fab Four recordings. Martin's son Giles, also working on the project, told the publication that they were attempting to achieve "the same intimacy we get when listening to the master tapes at Abbey Road. I think we will achieve a real sense of drama with the music. The audience will feel as though they are actually in the room with the band."
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METRO WEEKENDER LINE-UP ANNOUNCED
The line-up has been announced for the Metro Weekender event - the umbrella for South West Four on Saturday 26 Aug and Get Loaded In The Park on Sunday 27 Aug, both taking place on London's Clapham Common.
DJ-fest South West Four, now in its third year, boasts a line-up that includes Carl Cox, Paul Oakenfold, Judge Jules, John Digweed, Shapeshifters, Stanton Warriors and Seb Fontaine, with sets taking place across three arenas from 12pm until 9pm. More guests are expected to be announced soon, but for more information on the line-up see http://www.southwestfour.com
The following day the Common plays host to Get Loaded In The Park, also in its third year. Babyshambles make a 'UK exclusive festival' appearance (assuming they turn up, presumably), on the main stage, accompanied by acts including The Buzzcocks, De La Soul, The Slits, The Cuban Brothers, Adamski (Live), Killa Kella, Hacienda Soundystem (Peter Hook, Graeme Park & Bez) feat. N-Joi (Live), Adam Freeland (Live). Acts elsewhere on the line-up include Tiga, Erol Alkan, British Sea Power, The Boy Least Likely To and Barefoot. See http://www.getloadedinthepark.com for more info.
Tickets are available separately or for both events. Oh, and both South West Four and Get Loaded will also be holding simultaneous events in Cooper's Field in Cardiff. Press info from Paul Stix - [email protected]
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LOVEBOX WEEKENDER ANNOUNCED
Talking of festivals taking place in London's parks, The dates and headliners have been announced for Groove Armada's Lovebox. This year's event will take place on 22 and 23 July in East London's Victoria Park, and sees the aforementioned GA headlining the Saturday night, with Jamiroquai topping the bill on the Sunday. Other confirmed live acts include The Feeling, The Bees, Jamie Liddell, Cut Copy, New Young Pony Club, Secret Stealth, Bugz In The Attic, Shlomo, Ben Westbeech, Electric Souls Sound System, Heritage Players vs Grime Allstars, with DJs Marky & Patife, Mr Scruff, Gilles Peterson, Layo & Bushwacka, and CMU favourite Joey Negro also set to appear.
If all that's not enough for you, the event also promises Cabaret Performances, Circus Acts, Cocktails, Gourmet Food and a Traditional Fun Fair. Crikey. Groove Armada's Andy Cato says: "The Lovebox parties that started in 1999 have grown into London's leading music festival and this year's line up is the best yet. We've put together a weekend's worth of the freshest music in the centre of town, wrapped in a traveling circus of surprises." So there you go.
Tickets are £35 for a day ticket or £60 for a weekend ticket. See http://www.loveboxweekender.com, press info from Darling (RP, NP) or Nile-On (online).
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PEACE BURIAL AT SEA SINGLE, TOUR
Peace Burial At Sea have released a free download single, 'Czarina Catherine', including B-sides 'Easy Meat For Faceless Men' and 'This Is A Godless Town.' The single is released ahead of the band's second album - which may be out soon, I'm not too sure exactly when.
Anyway, the band are heading out on tour shortly, dates as follows:
19 Apr: Newcastle Dog and Parrot
21 Apr: Oxford Wheatsheaf
22 Apr: Leicester Charlotte
23 Apr: Worthing Tides
24 Apr: Leeds Vine
23 May: Newcastle Head of Steam
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SPANK ROCK ANNOUNCE UK TOUR
The rather good Spank Rock have announced that they are to tour the UK in May. The announcement follows the release of album 'Yo Yo Yo Yo Yo' and latest single 'Sweet Talk', out yesterday.
The dates are as follows:
19 May: London, Fabric
22 May: Sheffield, The Plug
23 May: London, Barfly
24 May: Glasgow, King Tuts
25 May: Leeds, Hi:Fi Club
26 May: Roadhouse, Manchester
27 May: Newcastle, Digital
28 May: Nottingham, Dot to Dot
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KYLIE RELEASES NEW PHOTOS
A set of photographs of Kylie Minogue, taken by actor boyfriend Olivier Martinez whilst the pair were holidaying recently in the Italian village of Portofino, have been posted on the pop star's website, and show the singer looking happy and healthy as she continues her recovery from Breast cancer. A note posted alongside the images said that Minogue is "relaxed and happy" and wanted to "send a big hello" to her fans.
As previously reported, Kylie finished chemo in Dec, but is still receiving treatment. Indications are that she will attempt to reschedule the Showgirl dates she was forced to cancel when diagnosed with breast cancer for later this year; Michael Eavis, of course, revealed last week that he is still in talks with the Minogue camp regarding a possible appearance at Glasto 2007.
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ARTHUR LEE UPDATE
A website has been set up to receive donations to the fund set up for Love frontman Arthur Lee, who, as previously reported, has been diagnosed with leukaemia. The star has already undergone chemotherapy that he is not able to afford, due to a lack of medical insurance. Friends of Lee are, of course, attempting to organise a concert to raise money, but in the meantime, donations can be made at http://www.thelovesociety.com.
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GEORGE MICHAEL SMASHES THREE CARS
Well, if you will own a car entirely unsuited for city use, things like this are bound to happen. According to The Daily Mirror, George Michael crashed into three vehicles whilst attempting to park his SUV on Sunday. Police have apparently confirmed that the trio of cars were been damaged, but the driver of the SUV had not yet been identified; anonymous witnesses had, however, told the tabloid that they had seen the incident occur and recognised the singer. The story added that a representative for the singer had attempted to contact the owners of the damaged cars in order to pay for the damage.
As previously reported, George Michael has been having quite a bit of car trouble in recent weeks. As you'll remember, he was found slumped at the controls of one back in February and was arrested on suspicion of drugs possession.
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ALBUM REVIEW: Daft Punk - Musique Vol. 1 1993-2005 (Virgin Records)
Daft Punk have what I like to call 'Texas Syndrome'. You listen to compilations of their work and find out that you actually know far more of their songs than you thought you did, sometimes due to their ubiquitous presence on adverts and television programmes, but sometimes just because you hadn't really thought about it before. Daft Punk fall into the latter camp on this compilation – I like their music a lot, and it's stuck in my memory, but I've never really associated it with the band themselves directly, with the exception of their biggest hits. There isn't a lot to say about the tracklisting - it's a best-of collection, ordered roughly chronologically and includes everything you'd expect it to include, notably 'Da Funk', 'Around the World', 'One More Time' and 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger'. More recent efforts 'Robot Rock' and 'Technologic' are also included, along with remixes of songs by Scott Grooves, Ian Pooley and Gabrielle. I've always had a lot of time for Daft Punk, despite feeling that their recent work doesn't quite live up to earlier lofty heights, and this collection doesn't disappoint me as a fan. Get hold of it if you've always liked Daft Punk and never bought anything by them, or if you have a friend who you know would love them. There's probably not much sense in going out of your way for a copy if you already own the Daft Punk back catalogue, however. DG
Release Date: Apr 3
Press Contact: APB [all]
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GOTHS MORE LIKELY TO TRY SUICIDE
Barely surprising news now, from a study by a research team at Glasgow University who say that young people who become Goths are more likely to commit suicide or attempt self harm than other youths. The researchers, who describe Goth as a subgenre of Punk "with a dark and sinister aesthetic, with aficionados conspicuous by their range of distinctive clothing and makeup and tastes in music," studied 1,258 young people and their links to various youth cultures, and though other subcultures were associated with a degree of self harm, Goths were found to be the most likely to hurt themselves. Head researcher Robert Young said "although only fairly small numbers of young people identify themselves as belonging to the Goth subculture, rates of self-harm and attempted suicide are very high among this group."
However, the findings of the report, again unsurprisingly, do not suggest that it's being a Goth causes the instability, more that being unstable can cause, er, Gothism. Young continued: "One common suggestion is they may be copying subcultural icons or peers. But since our study found that more reported self-harm before, rather than after, becoming a Goth, this suggests that young people with a tendency to self-harm are attracted to the Goth subculture."
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CHART UPDATE
Some things don't change, and the position of Gnarls Barkley in this week's chart is one of them. Last week we may have mentioned that Gnarls Barkley were the first band to ever get to number one on download sales alone, and to then stay at number one once physical sales kick in. They're still number one this week, which does in fact mean that yes, they are now the first band to get to number one on download sales alone, to then stay at number one once physical sales kick in, and to then stay at number one for a further week. Hurrah.
Anyway all this is all very confusing for me. Normally my co-editor does this bit, and I'm on my own this week and wrestling with the issue that my co-editor was talking about last week – that because of the addition of download sales to the chart, major releases basically have two new entries. I think I might ignore the whole issue, and tell you what has entered the chart this week, be it on download sales or not. Here we go, new entries as follows: Shayne Ward's 'No Promises' at 2, Rihanna's 'SOS' at 5, Hard-Fi's 'Better Do Better' at 14, Trina ft Kelly Rowland with 'Here We Go' at 15, Jamie Foxx ft Ludacris with 'Unpredictable' at 16, Michael Jackson's 'Smooth Criminal' at 19, Fall Out Boy's 'Dance Dance' at 26, Gorillaz' 'Kids With Guns' at 27, Studio B's 'C'mon Get It On' at 28, Lorraine's 'I Feel It' at 29, and Infernal's 'From Paris To Berlin' at 34. Shayne Ward's 'That's My Goal' gets a re-entry at 36.
In the albums chart, The Streets' latest, 'The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living' has gone in at number 1, but I can only find two more new entries, Westenra's 'Odyssey' at 16 and Don Williams' Greatest Hits album at 27.
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CMU RADIO SHOW PLAYLIST
Here it is then. It's what we played on our radio show this week. The very radio show you can listen to later today at http://www.thebeatsbar.co.uk/cmuradio.
Imagination - Just An Illusion (off 'A-Z of The Cuban Brothers' album on Sunday Best)
Gene Pitney - 24 Sycamore (off 'The Trip curated by Jarvis Cocker and Steve Mackey' on Family Recordings)
Imogen Heap - Goodnight And Go (Megaphone Records)
Shack - Tie Me Down (Sour Mash Records)
Modern American Science - Where Pieces Join (Where They Fall Apart)(unsigned - http://www.modernamericanscience.com/)
Joseph Arthur - Honey And The Moon (off The 'OC Mix 1' on Warner)
Ben Folds - Zak & Sara (Epic)
El Perro Del Mar - Dog (Memphis Industries)
Liam Frost and The Slowdown Family - The Mourners of St Paul's (Lavolta Records)
Captain - Broke (EMI)
Dean Walker - Wish Too Late (2 Dogs Records)
Delays - Valentine (Rough Trade)
Infadels - Love Like Semtex (PIAS/Wall Of Sound)
Studio B - Cmon Get It On (Loaded)
The Killers vs. Stevie Wonder - Somebody's Part Time Lover (Sebwax Mix) (Bootleg)
Propaganda – Duel (taken from 'The Trip navigated by Joey Negro' on Family Recordings)
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K-FED SUED BY THOMAS DOLBY
Eighties pop star Thomas Dolby is suing Kevin Federline because the aspiring rap star sampled Dolby track 'She Blinded Me With Science' for one of his own songs entitled 'America's Most Hated'.
Dolby said: "You can't just take a very well-known piece of music and add your own vitriolic rap over the top of it and get away with it. If anybody's going to sing nasty lyrics over my music, it's going to be me."
He added that he would have been happy to consider allowing Mr Britney Spears to use the sample, but not after hearing the song: "I wouldn't have turned it down because of who he is. I knew nothing about him, quite frankly, and just because he gets a bad rap in the press doesn't make him a bad guy. But just on the merits of the song, I would have said no. The lyrics are pretty evil, and I just don't think it was appropriate."
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GATES DROPPED BY LABEL
According to The Sun, Gareth Gates has been dropped by his label, which is a surprise to me, because I assumed he'd been dropped a long time ago.
A source apparently told the tabloid: "The record label felt there was no way for them to take Gareth's career forward. He had been working hard on trying to relaunch himself with a new sound and new image. But his latest material wasn't strong enough to compete with fresh talent being churned out on programmes like X Factor."
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JOHN LYDON SAYS NO TO BRITS
Hardly surprising, this – John Lydon has said that he would not turn up to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Brits. As previously reported, the ceremony is rumoured to be going live next year, with sources suggesting that organisers would like to give The Sex Pistols an award, not least because it might shake things up a bit.
Lydon says: "I don't want to know. They're wasting their time and they've been doing that for a long time. They think they can just come along and use us. We're not a prop. We were never anyone's prop. They're just trying to glean some credibility. I wrote something that meant something and had a serious effect on society."