| CMU Daily - on the inside Thursday 17th August |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- CMU at the Edinburgh Festival
- Keane cancel gigs, Tom's tired
- Smashing Pumpkins back in studio
- Kaiser Chiefs book
- Bloc Party say album number two will have new sound
- Country star Duncan dies
- Anti-BPI label hits out over MyMusic promotion
- Album review: Pentatonik - The Five Angels
- Mercury Rev hits album
- NME.com compiling best song of last decade chart thingy
- Mystery Jets stage benefit in Barrett's memory
- Get Cape Wear Cape tour
- Timberlake tour goes to AEG
- Single review: Kish Mauve - Modern Love (Sunday Best)
- Jamster readies full download service
- New film celebrates eighties teen flicks
- Fallings out within the Totally Boyband
- Q Awards (up)date
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CMU AT THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL>>
Hello there, and welcome back to CMU, coming to you live from the Edinburgh Festival. There was a fire drill in the venue where Festival FM houses its studios this morning, meaning 20 minutes of our ThreeWeeks radio show (tune in every day at 11am at http://www.festivalfm.net) was left in the hands of the Festival FM automated jukebox while we evacuated the premises. The computer decided to play a bit of Sheryl Crow, Starsailor, Black Grape and Abba - which is all fine by us - and the good news is we managed to get back in the studio just seconds before a Ronan Keating track started to play - so the festival radio Gods were obviously on our side. So, that's our Fire Drill Of The Festival review, here's some reviews of gigs we've been to.
Martha Wainwright at George Square Theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe on 9 Aug
Martha Wainwright is such an honest, real person, and charming with it, that you could forgive her if she lacked talent. But it seems she's blessed with that too. Her delicious mix of country and folk-rock ballads suit her rich, beautiful voice down to the ground. For the relatively short time she was on stage, Martha managed all the things that make for a great gig. We had jokes, stories, songs, and even the time-honoured get-your-mate-up-for-a-song moment. In the lovely George Square Theatre, she got a mini standing ovation, and said she'd be back to play again next year. I, for one, am counting
the days. AMC
tw rating 5/5
Whimsical Tricycle - Kieran Butler and Michelle Wilson at Acoustic Music Centre at the Edinburgh Fringe on 12 Aug
I take it you know what 'blogging' is? Basically, it means writing your diary on a page on the internet. This show is, as Kieran himself puts it, the equivalent of a musical weblog, a number of songs he has written to describe some events - travelling with two sisters from Keri Keri, falling in love, a wedding - strung together with often humorous anecdotes from both Michelle's and Kieran's lives. Kieran sings and plays the guitar, Michelle plays the fiddle and sings second voice. The result is a good hour of touching, non-dramatic songs with a cheerful, upbeat sound that somehow reminds me a little of Barenaked Ladies; this is the kind of music you'd like on your iPod. Luckily they're selling cds! KVO
tw rating 4/5
Philip Contini and his 'Be Happy' Band's tribute to Louis Prima at Valvona & Crolla at the Edinburgh Fringe (until 26 Aug)
This is an impressive hour of jazz and swing - though some readers might find themselves a few decades younger than the core audience. Ashamedly, I couldn't have told you much about Louis Prima, before I went in; I came away well educated, however. He released ninety-seven albums, had many consecutive wives and was the voice of King Louie in the Disney hit 'The Jungle Book.' The band was fantastic, and the songs really got the audience going - in fact some of the lyrics had them in hysterics, and there was even some hand-jiving. Philip Contini croons like an Italian, but narrates the life of Louis in a broad Scottish accent. It's swinging hour of great music, bringing the life of Louis to light. FC
tw rating 4/5
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KEANE CANCEL GIGS, TOM'S TIRED
This just in, the boys from Keane are tired. I'm tired too. I've had three and half hours sleep since July. But am I cancelling editions of the CMU Daily? Am I pulling out of providing you with a daily burst of music nonsense? Of course not. We might be arriving in your inbox a bit late these days, but we're still here, even if the exhaustion means we move the Q Awards back a month through bad typing.
But Keane are cancelling three gigs because band member Tom Chaplin is "exhausted". They will still play Pukkelpop in Belgium tomorrow, and their V Festival gigs this weekend, but they won't be fulfilling their commitments to Ibiza Rocks on 23 Aug, Edinburgh's T on the Fringe on 30 Aug and a Dublin gig on 31 Aug. Instead they'll be, I don't know, getting some shut eye I guess.
To be fair, we wouldn't want Tom to make himself ill by fulfilling his touring commitments, so we shouldn't give him too hard a time. And all that repetitive warbling is probably very tiring. Anyway, here's what he's said on the matter: "I want to apologise to our fans, and I hope that everyone understands. Be assured that we will be back out there soon."
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SMASHING PUMPKINS BACK IN STUDIO
It's official, the Smashing Pumpkins are, indeed, back in the studio working on their first new material for, oh, I don't know, a decade? Billy Corgan is, of course, involved in the new project, as is original Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. Who else is in the studio with them is not, as yet, particularly clear. We were going to try sending someone along to see, but then we remember we are in Scotland and they are in the States, so that wasn't going to work. But this is what the band themselves have posted on their official website: "The Smashing Pumpkins are currently in the recording studio with legendary producer Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, The Cars, The Darkness), at work on their first new album since 1999".
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KAISER CHIEFS BOOK
One for fans of words now. A new book is being published charting the rise of Kaiser Chiefs from their early gigs using that moniker through to their Live 8 set. Called 'A Record Of Employment', the book will include stories and photos aplenty.
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BLOC PARTY SAY ALBUM NUMBER TWO WILL HAVE NEW SOUND
Bloc Party have said that album number two is going to be radically different than their much critically acclaimed debut 'Silent Alarm'. Having worked with top producer fella Jacknife Lee, the band's Kele Okereke has said the new material is "dark, bigger and quite abrasive".
Speaking to the NME.com people, who have apparently heard four of the songs, Okereke said: "It's not noisy, but it's quite dense. I think it's going to require people to make an effort with it. There's a lot of interplay and a lot of detail. There are some slower moments too. I was aware that we didn't have very many songs that were laid back. Everything was frenetic and that's fine, but we wouldn't be doing ourselves any justice as musicians if we just ploughed the same furrow."
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COUNTRY STAR DUNCAN DIES
Country singer Johnny Duncan, who had US hits with songs like 'She Can Put Her Shoes Under My Bed Anytime' and 'It Couldn't Have Been Any Better' back in the seventies, has died, aged 67. Fellow country singer Janie Fricke, who was essentially discovered by Duncan when he hired her to be a studio singer, paid tribute to a man she described as "very sweet guy", adding: "He touched a lot of hearts and touched a lot of lives during his time".
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ANTI-BPI LABEL HITS OUT OVER MYMUSIC PROMOTION
A record label that exists primarily to oppose the major labels' litigious approach to tackling the P2P problem are claiming that a 12 year old singer/songwriter has been banned from featuring in an upcoming schools music programme because of her association with them.
The 'MyMusic' programme is being run as part of National Music Week, and new programme being staged by the BPI later this year to promote home grown music talent. The BPI are encouraging schools to run lessons on the consumption of music, and on all things copyright, as part of music classes during and around the National Music Week promotion. As part of that, participating students will be able to preview music from ten artists picked as fine examples of new British music. Each student will be able to download a track from one of the ten for free, and the Official Chart Company will track what gets downloaded and will release an overall chart based on how many downloads each artist gets.
Independent record company Flowerburger Records, who have signed 12 year old Amy Thomas, claim that the singer was up for consideration to be one of the ten featured artists, but that BPI bosses barred her from participation after realising she was associated with a label proactively opposing their anti-P2P strategy. With that in mind, Thomas recruited 50 friends via her Bebo page, and they amassed outside the BPI headquarters earlier this week, releasing balloons in protest to the BPI's alleged actions.
Although Flowerburger Record's statement said the BPI had declined to comment on the whole thing, a spokesman for the trade body told CMU that while Flowerburger did put Thomas forward for the MyMusic promotion, she was never in the running for the yet to be announced final shortlist. They also say they weren't aware of the protest until the subsequent press announcement.
BPI: "Apparently some kids released some balloons outside our office yesterday, but we weren't aware of this until we read today's press release. Certainly there was no attempt to 'storm the office' - it seems that they just took a photo and left. It's not true that we declined to comment, since we weren't asked. But for the record, we have finalised the acts for the National Music Week campaign and look forward to announcing them soon. This artist was one of many acts to apply, but they won't be taking part and were never in the running in the first place".
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ALBUM REVIEW: Pentatonik - The Five Angels (Hydrogen Dukebox)
Hydrogen Dukebox has been a reliable source for decent, inventive techno and electronica in recent years but 'The Five Angels' is easily their best release yet. This follow up to Pentatonik's debut album 'Anthology' has taken over eleven years to appear, so to call it a difficult second album is an understatement, not least when you consider that creator R. Simeon Bowring apparently destroyed the last two Pentatonik albums for not being good enough. (The inclusion here of 'Credo' and 'Zeitgeist', both of which previously appeared on a 1994 single, could also be suggestive of a crisis of confidence, though in fairness, they still sound wonderful today so their appearance is not unwelcome). It's rare that electronic music can feel this moving, but 'The Five Angels' is up there with the best work from the landmark artists of the genre - from Vangelis, through to the Aphex Twin and Global Communication, taking in Boards Of Canada, Ulrich Schnauss and beyond. It's as much an ambitious classical album as it is an intelligent piece of electronica, with each track being a veritable celestial symphony in its own right, and emotive strings peppering the multi-textured landscape. Two pieces (to call them tracks just sounds pejorative) featuring the sublime haunting vocals of Kirsty Hawkshaw (who has provided similar magic for the likes of Orbital, Way Out West and Hybrid) are as evocative as their titles ('The Last One And The First', 'Love Is A Rose') might suggest. Elsewhere, 'Storm Over The Manifold' and 'Sapphire Turns To Dust' feature piano as pure as Satie or Nyman alongside a lush but never bombastic panoramic digital orchestra; the results just stop you in your tracks. 'TFA' is simply an immense listening experience, containing some of the most beautiful music you're likely to hear. The decade long quest for perfection has been truly vindicated. See you in 2017. MS
Release date: 4 Sep
Press contact: Alchemy [all]
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MERCURY REV HITS ALBUM
A Mercury Rev greatest hits album will be released on 2 Oct, and will include two CDs worth of great tracks from the band's fifteen year career. On there will be all of the following:
CD1
Diamonds
In A Funny Way
Goddess On A Hiway
Chasing A Bee
The Dark Is Rising
Black Forest (Lorelei)
Holes
Carwash Hair
Empire State
Something For Joey
Frittering
A Drop In Time
Opus 40
CD2
I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier (1999 Peel Session)
I Only Have Eyes For You
Observatory Crest
Streets Of Larado
So There
Afraid
He Was A Friend Of Mine
Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp (Chemical Brothers remix)
It's A Man's Man's Man's World
Clamor
Seagull
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
Coney Island Cyclone (1991 Peel Session)
Silver Street
Deadman (with Alan Vega)
Philadelphia (KCRW Morning Becomes Eclectic mix)
Good Times Ahead
Memory Of A Free Festival
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NME.COM COMPILING BEST SONG OF LAST DECADE CHART THINGY
The aforementioned NME.com is ten years old, which is quite surprising, I didn't realise the music weekly was on to the whole website thing that quickly. Given how many music websites have come and gone in that time (and how many music magazines have disappeared too), they probably do deserve some kind of congratulations for still being around a decade on, and not just as some clever front for an e-commerce operation.
So, given all that, it seems worth plugging that as part of their tenth anniversary celebrations, the website is asking readers to vote on the best song of the last ten years. To vote, email your name, age, the name of your favourite track and a short explanation as to why you love it, to [email protected], though you need to put NME.COM List as the subject line for it to count. A final chart will be released next month, with some of the chosen tracks getting played during a tenth birthday party at Camden's Koko on 12 Sep.
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MYSTERY JETS STAGE BENEFIT IN BARRETT'S MEMORY
Mystery Jets are organising a benefit concert in tribute of the late Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett who, of course, died last month. The gig at Islington's Union Chapel on 18 Sep will feature the Mystery Jets themselves, with support from Lupen Crook, Kid Harpoon and The Television Personalities' Daniel Treacy.
Money raised will be going to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation - because Barrett suffered from diabetes in the latter part of his life. It is, of course, a cause very close to CMU's hearts, especially at this time of year, given that we are approaching the fifth anniversary of the death of CMU co-founder Alastair Walker who died of a condition related to diabetes - so we all encourage you to support this gig big time - we know Alastair (and no doubt Syd) would have done.
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GET CAPE WEAR CAPE TOUR
CMU favourites Get Cape Wear Cape Fly (who are not only CMU favourites because of the cool name, honest, though it is a cool name) have announced a rather long UK tour that runs thus:
11 Sep: London Betsey Trotwood
12 Sep: Isle Of Man Villa Marina
13 Sep: Northampton Soundhaus
15 Sep: Bridgewater Rugby Club
16 Sep: Merthyr Tydfil Studio Bar
17 Sep: Yeovil Ski Lodge
18 Sep: Southend Chinnerys
22 Sep: Manchester Night & Day
26 Sep: Reading Fez
27 Sep: Cambridge Soul Tree
28 Sep: Nottingham Rock City
30 Sep: Stoke Sugarmill
1 Oct: Liverpool Barfly
2 Oct: Sheffield Leadmill
3 Oct: Birmingham Academy 2
5 Oct: Carlisle The Brickyard
6 Oct: Newcastle Academy 2
8 Oct: Inverness The Raigmore
9 Oct: Aberdeen Tunnels
10 Oct: Glasgow ABC
11 Oct: Leeds Cockpit
13 Oct: Goole The Vikings Hotel
15 Oct: Oxford Zodiac
16 Oct: Bristol Academy 2
18 Oct: Brighton Concorde 2
19 Oct: Bridgend Rec
20 Oct: Penzance Acorn
21 Oct: Bridgeport Arts Centre
22 Oct: Exeter Cavern
24 Oct: Portsmouth Wedgwood Rooms
25 Oct: London Islington Academy
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TIMBERLAKE TOUR GOES TO AEG
According to Billboard, AEG Live have successfully won the rights to promote the next Justin Timberlake tour, which will take place in venues worldwide next year. The AEG deal follows a bidding war between rival concert promoters, with Live Nation also reportedly keen to have what is sure to be one of the biggest contemporary artist tours of 2007.
Meanwhile an upcoming Christina Aguilera European tour has been given to different promoters in different territories, with Live Nation securing the rights to some of the dates. Aguilera, due to tour Europe from mid-November, with a North American tour in early 2007, is also likely to be one of the big sellers in the next twelve months.
Both Aguilera and Timberlake are booked by the Creative Artists Agency - who have worked with both AEG and Live Nation previously, through AEG promoted the 2003 Aguilera/Timberlake joint tour.
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SINGLE REVIEW: Kish Mauve - Modern Love (Sunday Best)
Sunday Best are rapidly carving themselves out a niche as a label that any self-respecting fan of good electro-pop should be paying close attention to. Following Grand National's emergence a couple of years ago, we've recently seen promising material from the likes of Kompis and Howdi, and now this very fine single from Kish Mauve (who are a four piece, in case the name had you thinking otherwise). 'Modern Love' isn't quite as electronic as it initially sounds, being in fact more redolent of the new wave sounds of Duran, Blondie and Kim Wilde, which is no bad thing, obviously. There are guitars and real drums; as such, we're in territory mapped out by many other groups (New Order being an obvious example) who start with a rock template and layer on the nods to dance culture, forming their own blueprint for pop in the process. This is sleek, shiny, confident pop that knows exactly what it's doing and does it very well. And there's a fine disco-esque interpretation of The Passions 'I'm In Love With A German Film Star' on the b-side too, which is as good as any other cover version you're likely to hear this year, frankly. MS
Release date: 14 Aug
Press contact: Making Waves [all]
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JAMSTER READIES FULL DOWNLOAD SERVICE
Leading ringtone company Jamster (the Crazy Frog people, if I'm not mistaken) is preparing a full track mobile download service, which is piloting in the company's home country of Germany.
About 1000 users are currently involved in a test of the service, which will offer an a-la-carte download platform and a range of subscription packages through which customers can download music directly to their mobiles. Like most mobile download services, with every track purchased a duplicate copy can also be downloaded to a user's PC.
It is likely that single track downloads will retail at 1.29 euro, with albums available for 12.95 euro. An unlimited access subscription service will cost 14.95 euro. What air time costs customers will have to pay in addition to those charges is not yet clear.
Both SonyBMG and Universal are signed up to Jamster's mobile download service, and bosses there say they hope to have the other two major labels signed up ready for their full launch this Autumn.
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NEW FILM CELEBRATES EIGHTIES TEEN FLICKS
This is interesting, if only music news by association. Film director Matt Austin is making a documentary about the classic teen movies of the eighties, including 'Fast Times At Ridgemont High?', 'Sixteen Candles' and 'The Breakfast Club', taking the line that teen movies of that era are more relevant to modern day teenage film goers than the teen movies of today.
Austin says: "One of the reasons why we felt compelled to make this documentary 20 years after 'The Breakfast Club' was originally released was because we suddenly came to the realization that the majority of today's teenagers have enough trouble relating to the world than recognizing themselves on screen. A film from 20 years ago portrayed them more accurately then anything made for them today."
The reason why this has a music relevance is because the movie will be called 'Don't You Forget About Me', named, of course, after the Simple Minds track that famously soundtracked 'The Breakfast Club'. Not only that, but the film will include footage due to be recorded at Simple Minds' upcoming gig here at the Edinburgh Festival's T On The Fringe.
On the project, Simple Minds' Jim Kerr told Billbaord: "When we were asked to participate in the documentary, at first I was surprised that the original 'Breakfast Club' movie had became such a cult, since it was originally released 20 years ago. The song has become our biggest hit in America, and when we heard the rest of the original cast from the movie agreed to be interviewed ... we felt it was only fitting to participate."
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FALLINGS OUT WITHIN THE TOTALLY BOYBAND
Now this is fun, conflict has already occurred in the filming of the previously reported MTV show Totally Boyband, which will see the TV channel attempt to launch the uber-boyband, made up of former members of boy/teen bands past. With filming underway for the series, it seems that four of the uber-boyband members have turned against fifth member, Lee-Latchford Evans, formerly of Steps, and requested he be removed from the group.
Former New Kid On The Block Danny Wood explains: "We're all bringing our own experiences and I don't see what he's bringing."
While former Another Level member Dane Bowers added: "There's no real contribution, he's not helping the cause, we have two weeks to make a single."
Lee responded thus: "I'm not going to sit here and take it. I don't think they gave me a chance and haven't seen the real me".
Either way, Lee is out of the band, leaving Wood, Bowers, Bradley McIntosh from S Club 7 and Jimmy Constable from 911 to survive as a foursome. The behind the scenes footage of all this will be aired on MTV from 19 Sep, with the uber-group's debut single out on 23 Oct.
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Q AWARDS (UP)DATE
OK, just for the record, the Q Awards which we mentioned yesterday take place on 30 Oct, and not 30 Nov as we might have foolishly typed. So don't go showing up on the 30 Nov because you'll only be disappointed. And we wouldn't want that.