| CMU Daily - on the inside Tuesday 9th May |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- BBC do good at Sony Awards
- Apple win while Apple lose in Apple v Apple
- Rose makes impromptu radio appearance
- Downloaders protest against French copyright changes
- TI speaks following shooting
- Damian Marley triumphs at reggae awards
- Shakira, Marc Anthony honoured at ALMAs
- Lennox and Green Day win ASCAP awards
- Single review: Merz - Silver Tree EP
- Domino cancels festival appearance
- Keith Richards did have surgery, actually
- Babyshambles live dates
- Patrol to headline Belfast's Vital
- Line up announced for Rise 2006
- Amazon announce digital promotion with The Raconteurs
- New creative industry minister appointed
- Tarantino not making Hendrix film
- Albarn wants Gallagher
- Cash track to be Liverpool anthem
- Sony Award winners in full
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TOP BIT>>
I got a text message off Aaron from Delays yesterday reminding me that their super new single 'Hideaway' is out this week. Actually, that's not true. Eddy TM at Xfm got the text from Aaron, but he forwarded it on to me, so I'm pretending I'm on texting terms with my favourite band. But I'm not telling you this here simply to brag, oh no. I am bringing up Delays in order to fulfil my duty in reminding you that the finals of the 3/SUBtv Student Music Awards are this Thursday, 11 May, at ULU in London. Hips Like Cinderella, Olympus Mons, Lotus Lullaby, Whisky Cats and The Wailing Jacks are the student bands playing, all competing for the grand title of over all Student Band Of The Year and a stack of prizes too (I still haven't found out what the prizes are, I must do that at some point). The wonderful Delays will then play a headline set, which is sure to be storming. And as if that wasn't enough - Mr Mouth will be MCing and, we hope, beatboxing for your entertainment (more on him here on Thursday). Tickets are a fiver from http://www.sutickets.com, though we have a handful to give away to CMU Daily readers on a first come first served basis. Send over an email to [email protected] with your name and number if you want some.
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ON AIR>>
TODAY ON TOTALROCK
Natasha talks to Julianne Regan of All About Eve fame ('The Batcave', 9pm to midnight). Listen live at http://www.totalrock.com.
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CMU SUPPORTS>>
THE GREAT ESCAPE: You know the deal by now - three great days in Brighton offering an unrivalled programme of one to one interviews with leading industry figures, including Michael Eavis, ie Music's Tim Clark and David Enthoven and, just added, EMI CEO Tony Wadsworth, plus more great gigs and showcases than you can possibly imagine including The Futureheads, British Sea Power, The Kooks, The Bees, The Feeling, The Cribs and Martha Wainwright. It all takes place 18-20 May - full details at http://www.escapegreat.com - plus if you work for an independent or grass roots media or music company, or in the college space, email [email protected] and we'll tell you how you can get a full delegates pass for the very special rate of £175.
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RIGHT NOW IN THE CMU BEATS BAR>>
Beats in Brighton
The Brighton Festival is under way, and you can check out CMU's preview of the Great Escape, plus reviews of other music events taking place at the Festival this year courtesy of our sister title ThreeWeeks in Brighton, all online later on today at http://www.thebeatsbar.co.uk
MySpace Of The Day: The Pipettes
It seems like just last week that I was going on about how there aren't enough really successful womany bands despite there being plenty of good womany bands out there. Hang on, it was just last week. So that explains it. So, The Pipettes are a good band, and they're all girls. We love 'em here at CMU, which is why I'm recommending them. And we're not just recommending their MySpace, in fact. We've also recommended you check out their live set in our preview of this month's Great Escape, which you can, incidentally, read now at http://www.thebeatsbar.co.uk. Ahem. Now go visit The Pipettes' MySpace page which has great songs with great lyrics on it, and is a lovely sunset yellow in colour.
http://www.myspace.com/thepipettes
Read more about our MySpace of the Day right now at http://www.thebeatsbar.co.uk
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27 days and counting until the release of the year... it's very exciting.
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BBC DO GOOD AT SONY AWARDS
It was the radio industry's big night out last night as the 2006 Sony Awards took over the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. It was a good night for Radio 1, who took the over all Station Of The Year gong for the first time, while Chris Moyles won the Entertainment Award and Zane Lowe (a former CMU columnist, let us not forget) took Music Broadcaster and Best Specialist Show gongs. Well done them.
Accepting his prize which, he said, was a "long time coming", Moyles told the awards audience: "I never have to come to one of these godforsaken Sony nights ever again. Thank you very much."
It was a good night all round for the Beeb, with Radio 4 taking no less that seven awards, Radio Five scoring the sports prize and BBC Radio Ulster winning Best Speech Programme. Meanwhile Radio 2's Chris Evans was named the Music Radio Personality Of The Year and Terry Wogan won a special contribution Gold Award.
Accepting his prize, Wogan observed: "I am standing here as a shining signal that if you hang around long enough they are bound to give you something".
Commercial radio winners included LBC's Nick Ferrari of LBC who took the Breakfast Show prize, while Magic 105.4's Richard Park was named Station Programmer Of The Year and the West Midlands outpost of the Kerrang! Radio franchise won the Station Of The Year category for regional stations with a reach of over a million.
A full list of all the Gold winners at this year's Sony Awards is at the bottom of today's Daily.
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APPLE WIN WHILE APPLE LOSE IN APPLE V APPLE
So, Steve Jobs won't have to find another fruit with which to label his download platform, which is a shame because I thought Nectarine iTunes had a real ring to it. But a UK judge yesterday ruled that it is OK for Apple Computers to refer to their music service as Apple iTunes, despite a previous agreement with the Beatles owned company Apple Corps in which they said they wouldn't trade in the music space using the Apple name and logo.
As previously reported, the whole thing went to court when Apple Corps, which is owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the estates of George Harrison and John Lennon, said that with iTunes Apple Computers were very much trading in the music business, and had therefore broken that 1992 agreement in which the computer firm promised to stay out of the music space in which the Beatles had been using the Apple name since the late sixties.
However, the computer company argued iTunes is not, in fact, a music business - rather, it is a content distribution software and e-tail operation that happens to distribute and sell music. According to that interpretation Apple Computers are still within their past agreements with Apple Corps.
And yesterday in the London courts Mr Justice Anthony Mann agreed with that interpretation of what iTunes actually is in real terms. The judge described iTunes as "a form of electronic shop" that, crucially, was not in the business of "creating music". He added: "I conclude that the use of the apple logo ... does not suggest a relevant connection with the creative work. I think that the use of the apple logo is a fair and reasonable use of the mark in connection with the service, which does not go further and unfairly or unreasonably suggest an additional association with the creative works themselves."
Apple Corps must now pay its rival's legal bill, estimated to be in excess of £2 million, though the music company will appeal the decision. The company's Neil Aspinall told reporters yesterday: "With great respect to the trial judge, we consider he has reached the wrong conclusion. We felt that during the course of the trial we clearly demonstrated just how extensively Apple Computer had broken the agreement. We will accordingly be filing an appeal and putting the case again to the Court of Appeal."
Needless to say, Apple Computers boss Steve Jobs welcomed the ruling: "We are glad to put this disagreement behind us. We have always loved The Beatles, and hopefully we can now work together to get them on the iTunes Music Store."
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ROSE MAKES IMPROMPTU RADIO APPEARANCE
Axl Rose has made an impromptu appearance on a syndicated US radio show hosted by Eddie Trunk, and confirmed that the long long long long long long long awaited Guns n Roses album 'Chinese Democracy' will definitely be out in the autumn. The appearance happened because former Skid Row man Sebastian Bach, co-hosting the show with Trunk, called Rose on his mobile phone, patching the call through to the studio. Asked about the ten-years-in-the-making LP, Axl said: "It will be out this year. Sometime this fall or late fall."
Rose was then invited to drop into the studio, which he did, about an hour after the telephone conversation. Asked by Trunk about the band's abortive 2002 comeback tour, which ended with Rose doing a no-show in Philadelphia, the frontman explained that he had felt pressured into going on tour before he was ready to do so, but added that the series of gigs had not been entirely useless, as they had allowed new band members to get used to each other. Guns n Roses are set to break their subsequent silence with a four night residency at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, beginning on 12 May. Axl Rose confirmed that the line up will be the same as back in 2002, except for a new as yet unidentified lead guitarist.
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DOWNLOADERS PROTEST AGAINST FRENCH COPYRIGHT CHANGES
Demonstrators in Paris last Sunday protested against the proposed new copyright laws currently working their way through the French legislature.
As reported on, oh, one or two occasions, attempts to change French copyright legislation have got much media attention as proposals have been discussed and refined by the country's politicians. The original proposals aimed to toughen the country's stance on the sharing of music online via P2P networks by introducing automatic fines for those found guilty of uploading music without the permission of the content owner.
However, those proposals hit opposition in the French parliament, where opposition MPs introduced amendments that completely changed the proposals, essentially making the sharing of music online legal in return for a copyright levy to be charged by internet service providers.
But ministers quickly got to work removing those amendments for the proposals, placating some of the opposition by reducing the size of proposed fines for illegal file sharers, and by making certain demands of the music and technology industries to ensure their digital rights management systems do not infringe consumer rights. The French parliament passed those proposals, although reports suggest that the country's upper house, the Senate, is further refining the proposed laws, removing some of the restrictions the laws passed by the parliament would have placed on the DRM sector.
The 300 odd protestors who amassed near France's culture and communications ministry on Sunday oppose both the automatic fines for file sharers and the concessions being made for the DRM companies, advocating those proposals put forward by opposition MPs in the French parliament.
Protestors, many of whom came from the so called 'open source IT community', also object to the protection they see the new laws giving to major IT firms like Apple and Microsoft, arguing that the law will put grass roots and open source software developers at increased risk of legal action from one of the major players.
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TI SPEAKS FOLLOWING SHOOTING
US rapper TI, whose personal assistant Philant Johnson was shot and killed in that previously reported shootout in Cincinnati last week, has spoken to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the incident, implying that the death of his friend may force him to re-evaluate his life and career, saying "I'm kind of like watching my life change right before my eyes. I'm figuring out whether or not I even want to keep doing this stuff right now. I don't know."
The rapper, real name Clifford Joseph Harris Jr, also described Johnson's last moments. "I told him that I had him and it was going to be all right. That was what I said. And he said, 'All right.' "
TI, who spoke at Johnson's funeral on Monday in Atlanta, explained to the publication that Johnson had been his life long friend. "It just seems like as long as I can remember, he was there," he said. "As long as I can remember, his mama and my mama were partners. His cousin and my uncle were partners. His auntie and my grandmama stayed up the street from one another. And we just always knew each other, and it was cool."
Harris added that he wasn't sure what had provoked the disagreement that led to Johnson's death but expressed his disappointment at what had happened. "Man, we kind of thought we didn't have to live like that no more. We thought that [stuff] was over for us. I'm not ever going to be the same. Success isn't measured in money. It's measured in happiness. Peace. And I ain't at peace right now. And I ain't happy. My partner's gone."
Yesterday's reports suggested that TI would return to tour duties immediately, but in the interview, which he gave on Friday, he had implied that he was by no means ready to continue with his series of live sets, saying: "I don't know if I'm going to be in New Orleans Tuesday. It's hard to say. Because there are so many things that Philant would be doing that ain't going to be able to be done now. I mean, Phil handled everything. He made sure the only thing I had to worry about was performing and handling the business. One of the worst parts is, at the end of the day, I'm responsible for everybody. Everybody entrusts their husbands, their sons, their daughters, their brothers, cousins, their best friends - everybody entrusts them to me. And it is my responsibility to ensure their safety and their safe return. And this is one time that I could not do that."
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DAMIAN MARLEY TRIUMPHS AT REGGAE AWARDS
Back to awards news now. CMU favourite Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley led the field at the International Reggae & World Music Awards in New York at the weekend, winning three awards; Entertainer Of The Year, Music Video Of The Year and Recording Artist Of The Year for his 2005 release 'Welcome To Jamrock'. He shared a fourth award, Songwriter Of The Year, with his brother Stephen.
Elsewhere, Alton Ellis and Eddy Grant were admitted to the event's Hall Of Fame honors, buzzy Hasidic reggae star Matisyahu got Best New Entertainer, Marcia Griffiths got Best Female Vocalist and Jah Cure got Best Male Vocalist. Africa Unite, the concert held in Ethiopia last year celebrating what would have been Bob Marley's 60th birthday, was named Best Concert.
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SHAKIRA, MARC ANTHONY HONOURED AT ALMAS
Marc Anthony, Shakira, and reggaeton artist Daddy Yankee were all winners in the music categories of this year's American Latino Media Arts awards, which celebrate performances and achievements by Hispanic artists from the worlds of music, television and film.
Shakira and Daddy Yankee were both named Outstanding Musical Performers, whilst Shakira also won the Best Spanish Album award. Marc Anthony received the Celia Cruz Award For Excellence in Music.
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LENNOX AND GREEN DAY WIN ASCAP AWARDS
The American Society Of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP to their friends) are to pay tribute to the work of Annie Lennox and Green Day at their annual Pop Music Awards to be held in California on 22 May. Lennox will receive the society's Founders Award, whilst Green Day will be given the Creative Voice Award.
ASCAP President Marilyn Bergman called Lennox "uncompromising and unpredictable" adding: "Annie has worn every musical garment possible: Scottish folk singer, jazz singer, punk, rock - changing her image, but never her commitment to originality and excellence."
On Green Day, Bergman added: "Both as singers and songwriters, Green Day is one of the most musically ambitious, innovative groups, as relevant today as when they emerged on the scene as new artists".
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SINGLE REVIEW: Merz - Silver Tree EP (Gronland)
Merz (aka Conrad Lambert) peddles a beguiling sort of electronic folk music, revealing himself to be an off kilter singer-songwriter, in the vein of Björk or Patrick Wolf, with five songs here all infused with unconventional instrumentation and Lambert's emotive voice. The windswept 'Verily', is just lovely, with a pounding beat that's foreboding in a subtle way, along with a haunting mandolin that adds to the eerie charm. 'She Walks The Fields' is a sparse piece of Nick Drake-esque acoustic folk fragility, whilst the glowing 'Warm Cigarette Room' pulses with simple looped piano riffs redolent of Orbital at their most organic (namely the 'Snivilisation' album), fronted by vocals that are impassioned but never overwrought. There's also an Arkham remix of previous single 'Postcard From A Dark Star', which doesn't improve on the original, but is instead rendered slightly more starkly, though keeps the track's widescreen beauty intact. Like a Coldplay less bothered with selling records and more keen on experimentation, this is a simply intoxicating EP. MS
Release date: 29 May
Press contact: Dog Day Press [all]
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DOMINO CANCELS FESTIVAL APPEARANCE
Fats Domino, who, as previously reported, was forced to cancel a personal appearance last week because he felt unwell, was also forced to cancel his appearance at the New Orleans Jazz And Heritage Festival at the weekend. The 78 year old blues star was admitted to hospital mere hours before his scheduled live set with an undisclosed ailment.
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KEITH RICHARDS DID HAVE SURGERY, ACTUALLY
Well, despite reports that Keith Richards' people had denied that the Rolling Stone needed surgery following his fall from a coconut tree, it's emerged that Richards has, in fact, since undergone surgery, according to a statement released yesterday.
The statement reads: "Last week Keith was under observation in Auckland following a fall in Fiji and was feeling well after being examined by doctors last week, however after complaining of headaches yesterday doctors thought it prudent to move ahead with a small operation to remove the pressure. The operation was a complete success and Keith is already up and talking with his family today. He will need a few weeks recuperation."
So there you go.
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BABYSHAMBLES LIVE DATES
Babyshambles have confirmed four new live dates for later this month. I've exhausted my supply of unfunny gags about whether the band will turn up or not so I'll just show you the dates:
21 May: Edinburgh Corn Exchange
22 May: Aberdeen Music Hall
23 May: Glasgow Barrowlands
24 May: Sheffield Plug
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PATROL TO HEADLINE BELFAST'S VITAL
An event I'm not familiar with now, though it's in its fifth year, so I'm obviously horribly out of touch regarding Belfast based beer sponsored music events. For that I apologise. Organisers of the two day Tennant's Vital event, which takes place at Belfast's Botanic Gardens in August, have announced that local boys (kind of) Snow Patrol will headline the first day of the proceedings on 23 Aug, hot on the heels of their new chart topping album and last night's sell out gig at the city's Ulster Hall.
Confirming the event and its headliner, Tennant's Michele Grant told CMU: "We at Tennent's Lager are delighted to welcome back what is a truly unique urban music experience to such a vibrant city. We are also extremely happy to be able to bring Snow Patrol home to headline what will be one of the most talked about shows and one of the hottest tickets of the year in Northern Ireland".
Press info on all this from Material - 0141 204 7970
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LINE UP ANNOUNCED FOR RISE 2006
An event I am more than aware of now (I'm so London-centric, I must get out of town more). The Mayor Of London, you know, Ken, has announced details of this year's Rise festival which will take place on 8 Jul in North London's Finsbury Park. As always, this event has an anti-racism theme, which is why no one from Barking is invited. And more fool them, because they are going to miss out on sets from Graham Coxon, The Buzzcocks, The Wailers, Sway and the legend that is Roy Ayers.
Launching the 2006 event, Ken got on over to CMU central to fill us in. Chance would be a fine thing - does anyone at London's City Hall ever return phone calls ever? Does anyone really work there? Ah well, here's what he's quoted as saying in the press release: "There will be no concessions to racism in London - London is a successful city because it is diverse and open and we will fight for that diversity with every breath because it is our city's lifeblood. Now more than ever we have to stand up against racism. Racism is a dead end and music is one of the most powerful ways of demonstrating that fact. The Rise: London United [event] will bring together people from every background to celebrate the diversity of the capital. This incredibly strong and broad line-up of artists will make a great free day out for all with a strong message that our city loves its diversity".
More on all this at http://www.risefestival.org. Press info from City Hall on 020 7983 4068 - ha, good luck on getting them to call you back.
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AMAZON ANNOUNCE DIGITAL PROMOTION WITH THE RACONTEURS
Amazon have launched a promotion with Jack White's new band The Raconteurs which will see the e-tailer present two exclusive videos of live performances of two of the band's songs on their US site.
The tracks, 'Hands' and 'Yellow Sun', come from a recording of the band's first ever US performance at the Irving Plaza in New York. Alongside the videos, fans will be invited to pre-order the band's debut album 'Broken Boy Soldiers' and, if they do, will then get access to three audio tracks streaming in what the company call the 'Amazon Digital Locker'. Those tracks will be available through to 22 May, just after the album's release.
The new promotion is similar to one staged with Barbra Streisand last summer, and some see both ventures as a pre-cursor to Amazon's long anticipated move into the digital music space. Insiders say that Amazon continue to talk to the major labels regarding their digital music plans, though the timeline for the launch of any Amazon download service is still unclear. But the consensus is that we can expect more digital music based promotions from the e-tailer while they continue to develop their wider proposition.
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NEW CREATIVE INDUSTRY MINISTER APPOINTED
Phew, quite a radical shake up in government the other day wasn't there? The words "losing" and "grip" come to mind. That said, the reshuffle won't have a huge impact on the entertainment and media industries because Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell was unaffected by the cull.
That said, as a result of the reshuffle there is a new Minister For Creative Industries And Tourism. Former BBC producer Shaun Woodward will take over from James Purnell in the role that includes "broadcasting, film, music, press and censorship" in its remit.
Woodward's Beeb experience includes working on Newsnight, Panorama and That's Life!, though if you think he sounds familiar that's probably not because of his broadcasting CV, but because he was that bloke that grabbed the headlines by defecting from the Conservative Party to Labour back in 1999.
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TARANTINO NOT MAKING HENDRIX FILM
Quentin Tarantino has rejected recent reports that he is set to helm a biopic of Jimi Hendrix, a project said to currently be in pre-production.
A spokesperson for Tarantino said: "It's not a project Quentin has any involvement with, and his representatives have never been contacted by anyone associated with it."
Tarantino himself spoke to Ain't It Cool News about the rumours, calling the reports "complete fabrication" and saying that "there's not even an iota of truth to it".
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ALBARN WANTS GALLAGHER
And not in a fight. According to the Daily Mirror, Damon Albarn wants Liam Gallagher to appear on the next Gorillaz album. Which is weird, because the last time I reported on Gorillaz, it was because Albarn had apparently been saying there wouldn't be another album. Ah well.
The tabloid quote him as saying: "I'd love him to be on the next Gorillaz record, but let's wait and see how his band does in the next 12 months. I'm sure he'll be all right on his own - he doesn't really need me."
Oh, hang on though, perhaps this is what he meant when he said Gorillaz were heading for oblivion. Albarn continued: "Gorillaz isn't really a band any more. We're making a feature film, so the next bit of Gorillaz music will be a film score."
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CASH TRACK TO BE LIVERPOOL ANTHEM
Ultra famous Johnny Cash song 'Ring Of Fire' has been reworked by Echo & The Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch and is set to be Liverpool FC's official anthem at this year's FA cup. The track will be released as a download at the team's official website after the final, which takes place at the weekend, apparently.
Ian Gordon of song management company Oxygen Music told the Liverpool Echo: "It's a song that means so much to Liverpool fans and sounds great on the terraces. Ian was keen to get involved as he's a fanatical Liverpool fan and has had a season ticket since he was a kid."
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SONY AWARD WINNERS IN FULL
The Breakfast Show Award: Nick Ferrari At Breakfast, LBC 97.3fm
The Music Programme Award: Mornings With Rick Shaw, Kerrang! 105.2 West Midlands
The Specialist Music Programme Award: Zane Lowe, BBC Radio 1
The News & Current Affairs Programme Award: 1800 News Bulletin, BBC Radio News For Radio 4
The Sports Programme Award: Fighting Talk, Worlds End For BBC Radio Five Live
The Speech Programme Award: The Stephen Nolan Show, BBC Radio Ulster
The Interactive Programme Award: Scott Mills, BBC Radio 1
The Entertainment Award: Chris Moyles, BBC Radio 1
The Music Broadcaster Of The Year: Zane Lowe, BBC Radio 1
The Music Radio Personality Of The Year : Chris Evans, BBC Radio 2
The News Journalist Of The Year: Angus Stickler, BBC Radio News For Radio 4
The Speech Broadcaster Of The Year: Eddie Mair, Pm For BBC Radio 4
The Station Programmer Of The Year: Richard Park, Magic 105.4
The Drama Award: No Background Music, BBC Radio Drama For Radio 4
The Comedy Award: The Ape That Got Lucky, BBC Radio Entertainment For Radio 4
The Feature Award: A Requiem For St Kilda, BBC Radio & Music Factual For Radio 4
The Music Special Award: Lennon: The Wenner Tapes, Brook Lapping Productions For BBC Radio 4
The News Feature Award: Return To Sarajevo, BBC World Service News & Current Affairs For The World Service
The Breaking News Award: The London Bombings, Capital Radio/Gcap Media News, for Capital Radio, 1548 Am Capital , Xfm & Choice Fm
The Live Event Coverage Award: The Boat Race 2005, LBC Newsroom & Programming for LBC 97.3fm & LBC News 1152am
The Community Award: Hearing Voices, BBC Hereford & Worcester
The Promo Award: Kerrang! Christmas, Kerrang! 105.2 West Midlands
The Competition Award: Xfm's Rock School, Xfm
The Station Imaging Award: Kerrang! 105.2 West Midlands
Station Of The Year (with a potential audience of under 300,000): Coast 96.3 (North Wales Coast)
Station Of The Year (with a potential audience of of 300,000 -1 million): Pirate FM (Cornwall, Plymouth & West Devon)
Station Of The Year (with a potential audience of 1 million plus): Kerrang! 105.2 West Midlands
Digital Terrestrial Station Of The Year: Planet Rock
UK Station Of The Year: BBC Radio 1
The Special Award: The Beethoven Experience
The Gold Award: Terry Wogan