| CMU Daily - on the inside Monday 21st August |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- CMU at the Edinburgh Festival
- Busta Rhymes charged with assault
- The Darkness confirm Justin in rehab
- Manilow cancels gigs
- Ordinary Boys cancel Set / V Fest update
- Spice Girls favourites for reunion
- Doherty's mum on, erm, Doherty
- German bishop calls for boycott of Madonna tour
- Philharmonia Orchestra present sit down music
- Lordi tour, cola, stuff
- Yorke on Kelly inspired track
- Field Music album two on its way
- Tom Waits plans mega album
- Apple admit iPod makers work too long
- Peel junior gets radio show
- New ticket exchange website launches in UK
- George completes community service
- Sugababes: "we nearly split"
- Timberlake on Nipplegate
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CMU AT THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL>>
The third and final week of the Edinburgh Festival is upon us, and you can still check out the very latest coverage courtesy of CMU's sister publication ThreeWeeks, at http://www.threeweeks.co.uk, or tune your internet into http://www.festivalfm.net tomorrow and every morning at 11am for the ThreeWeeks radio show. Meantime, here's 5/5 reviews from the ThreeWeeks music review team. Go on, get on/in a train, plane or automobile and get up to Scotland and take in some of this, and the rest of the largest arts festival on the planet.
Born To Swing at Calton Theatre CafeBar at Edinburgh Fringe (until 26 Aug)
Off the beaten Festival track is an intimate club showcasing some of the finest jazz musicians you're ever likely to hear. The Geoff Castle Trio consists of altosaxist Bob Martin, Geoff Castle on keyboards, and Frank Holder on conga. Their repertoire spans the jazz greats - Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Charlie Parker and Cole Porter - with the occasional original creation by Castle. Star vocalist, Frank Holder is simply astounding. At 81, he has the energy of someone a quarter his age - his hands just a blur on the conga. His scatting brings to mind Louis Armstrong (who he impersonates to a tee in their rendition of the blues classic 'Georgia') and his voice is rich and velvety smooth. It's definitely worth the trip. SR
tw rating 5/5
Bach For Breakfast at Royal Over-Seas League at Edinburgh Fringe (Until 24 Aug)
This was an amazing display of virtuosity so early in the morning; Nicola Eimer played J S Bach's 'Partita No 2 in C minor' then was joined by other Eimer piano trio members for Brahms 'Piano Trio in B'. Apart from the technical brilliance of the playing, the emotion was wonderful - at times violinist Matthew Denton jumped out of his seat with the intensity of the music and Ms Eimer's facial expressions interpreted it as eloquently as her fingers; much of the Brahms was a conversation between the instruments and the connection between the players was there for all to see. The Eimer trio gets a lie-in now because the artists differ at each concert. Price includes refreshments afterwards. LR
tw rating 5/5
The Spaghetti Western Orchestra at Assembly Rooms at Edinburgh Fringe (until 23 Aug)
Thank God the Spaghetti Western orchestra didn't just do covers from the greatest of Sergio Leone's films - Ennio Morricone's music is far too epic for any musician to try to outclass. That's why the five lads acted (very convincingly), sang, played the saw, the horseshoe and tin can violin and, of course, whistled. The versatility of the performance kept the audience lively as musicians stumbled and saddled into flawed and outlawed characters - a quality that brought out the original, low budget, anarchic essence of Spaghetti Westerns. The grippingly foreboding music left us staring into the frontier with only the cicadas as company; the hauntingly legendary memories of the Wild West have been embalmed by the Spaghetti Western Orchestra's conquering tribute. KR
tw rating 5/5
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BUSTA RHYMES CHARGED WITH ASSAULT
Busta Rhymes has been arrested and charged with assault after an incident at this weekend's AmsterJam festival in New York. According to local reports, the arrest followed a fracas which allegedly came about after a festival-goer spat on the rapper's car. Specifics on the incident are unclear, but it seems that Rhymes tried to make a quick getaway after his AmsterJam set after being tipped off that the police were after him. However he was arrested at around 8pm local time on Saturday night.
He was questioned for several hours overnight and not just about the alleged assault. According to the New York Daily News police also took the opportunity to question Rhymes about the previously reported murder of his bodyguard Israel Ramirez during a Brooklyn video shoot back in February. The rapper has so far refused to cooperate with police investigating that crime.
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THE DARKNESS CONFIRM JUSTIN IN REHAB
The Darkness have confirmed those rumours from last week that the band's frontman, Justin Hawkins, is in rehab. While they haven't gone into the specifics of Hawkins' treatment (reports suggest he is battling drug and/or alcohol addiction), they have confirmed that the singer is currently staying in a rehab clinic and that, as a result, upcoming concerts have been cancelled. They also stress that this does not mean the end of the band, while denying other rumours that the band have been dropped by Warner Music.
In a lengthy statement a spokesman for the band said: "As everybody found out today, Justin has been admitted to a rehabilitation clinic. We would, however, like to make it clear that this emphatically does not signal the end for The Darkness, nor are their label considering 'dropping' them. On the contrary they have taken up their option with the band and are looking forward to releasing The Darkness's third album in early 2007. We are not here to comment on Justin's private life - or anyone else's for that matter - but he is feeling better already and as soon as he is ready we will be going straight into the studio to begin recording album number three. We hope you would join us in wishing Justin well - and it is for you to judge if a platinum album, headlining and co-headlining sold out shows across the UK, Continental Europe and Australia to an audience of thousands of adoring fans can ever be considered a failure."
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MANILOW CANCELS GIGS
Also cancelling gigs is Barry Manilow, though he is about to undergo surgery to repair torn cartilage in both hips, so you can hardly blame him. Manilow was due to play three shows in Las Vegas this weekend, but cancelled them at the last minute because, according to the Associated Press, he was simply in too much pain. The singer does, however, hope to be able to perform at the Emmy Awards in LA on 27 Aug, even though he will not undergo surgery until the very end of the month. Manilow has already called off 16 shows that would have immediately followed the medical treatment.
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ORDINARY BOYS CANCEL SET / V FEST UPDATE
And yet more cancelled gigs. Well, cancelled festival sets. The Ordinary Boys had to cancel their set at the V Festival in Stafford this weekend after bassist James Gregory fell ill. He went ahead with Saturday's set at Chelmsford despite feeling ill, but his condition worsened after that show so that by Sunday he was unable to play. It is the first time the Ordinary Boys have had to cancel a show.
Frontman Sam Preston told those NME chaps: "We've never cancelled a gig before and yesterday when we played James soldiered on with flu. But he's been shitting and vomiting all night and his skin is nearly translucent so we have to take him to hospital. This is a genuine apology, we were going to play three new songs today which I was really looking forward to. We want to make it up to the fans, so go to our website and suggest covers for us to play - the sillier the better - and we'll do it the next time we play Manchester."
Despite the Ordinary Boys having to pull their second set, everyone tells us that this weekend's V Festival went down a storm (and I don't think they were talking about the weather). As has become the tradition with the big festivals, a small number of tickets for next year's event are already on sale. V Festival Director Simon Moran told reporters yesterday: "Despite some inclement weather the spirits of our festival goers wasn't dampened and everyone's having a fantastic time. It's great we are now in a position whereby we can sell tickets to dedicated music lovers without a line up announcement."
Of course, and with no disrespect to the V Festival people, all the really cool kids this weekend were down at the Secret Garden festival. They're still sleeping it off - so I guess we'll find out how it went later in the week.
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SPICE GIRLS FAVOURITES FOR REUNION
The Spice Girls have been voted the group most UK idiots, sorry, I mean music fans would like to see reunite. Following the huge success of the recent Take That reunion, Yahoo Music UK surveyed music fans on which band they would most like to see back together.
While the poll was far from conclusive, with a number of bands getting similar levels of votes, the Spice Girls polled the highest with 17% saying they would like to see the group perform together again. Led Zeppelin came in second, with The Police third. The Jam and the Stone Roses were also mentioned.
Commenting on the results of the survey, Yahoo! Music UK Editor Gareth Bellamy told reporters: "The Spice Girls' music, like it or loathe it, has that amazing ability to transport the listener straight back to their heyday".
Of course there have been rumours for a long time of a possible Spice Girls reunion, more recently specifically regarding the possibility of some concerts to coincide with the release of a greatest hits album. Geri Halliwell, who quit the group, of course, is supposedly up for rejoining her former bandmates, but Melanie Chisholm is said to be less keen on reforming the band.
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DOHERTY'S MUM ON, ERM, DOHERTY
Pete Doherty's mum has given an interview to the Times about her son the Babyshambler, ahead of the publication of her upcoming book on the topic, 'Pete Doherty: My Prodigal Son'.
She told the paper that she never thought her son would become involved in drugs, explaining: "I remember being so proud of my children who were bright. They would never take drugs or break the law; they were past their teenage years and we'd sailed through those without a hitch."
But she was also keen to stress that despite everything Pete had only ever harmed himself through his drug addiction. She continued: "We haven't suffered as much as other families of junkies. Pete's never stolen from us, never beaten us for money, never brought trouble to our door."
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GERMAN BISHOP CALLS FOR BOYCOTT OF MADONNA TOUR
That controversy surrounding the crucifix routine in Madonna's current live show continues, with a German bishop now calling on fans to boycott the singer's concerts, due to take place in the country this week.
Ahead of Madonna's first concert in Dusseldorf last night, Protestant Bishop Margot Kaesmann told German newspaper Bild Am Sonntag: "I thought Madonna was better than this because she claims to be a religious person. But maybe the only way an aging superstar can attract attention is to offend people's religious sentiments. I advise people to ignore Madonna. Stars come and go, but the Christian faith endures."
As previously reported, while Madonna's routine has caused outrage among Christian groups elsewhere, it is in Germany where the singer might find herself on the wrong side of the law because of the routine. Legal experts there had already warned that Madonna's show could break laws preventing people from "insulting religious beliefs", and prior to last night's show, authorities in Dusseldorf confirmed they would monitor the performance after receiving one complaint of blasphemy from a member of the public.
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PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA PRESENT SIT DOWN MUSIC
Hang on a minute, the largest arts festival on the planet is happening here in Edinburgh, but the most exciting music project of the day is happening back there in London, that can't be right. The South Bank Centre based Philharmonia Orchestra has placed a load of cube seat-like things by the banks of the Thames. As people sit on each cube they initiate some music, and as more people sit down more of the score is unveiled. People can also text in their own sounds via their mobiles which will somehow be incorporated into the project.
South Bank Centre Artistic Director Jude Kelly told reporters: "This is exactly the way we are looking at developing our site by fusing the community with the artistic world of ideas and technology in our many versatile spaces."
Alistair Mackie, chairman of the Philharmonia Orchestra, added: "Central to the Philharmonia Orchestra's vision is exploiting new media to take music out to the widest possible audience, breaking down the barriers which have stood in the way of their access and enjoyment."
The good news is that the whole thing will be live until 2 Oct, so we can enjoy the rest of this here Edinburgh Festival, then return to London and enjoy some time running around the musical cubes on the South Bank.
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LORDI TOUR, COLA, STUFF
Eurovision winners will be over in the UK in October to play five live dates. Whether they will be selling Lordi cola drink at the bar at these venues we don't know, though a Finnish drinks company is reportedly launching such a cola drink in honour of the band's success at this year's Song Contest. Here are the dates:
26 Oct: Nottingham Rock City
27 Oct: Birmingham Academy
29 Oct: Manchester Academy
30 Oct: Glasgow Barrowlands
31 Oct: London The Forum
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YORKE ON KELLY INSPIRED TRACK
Thom Yorke has been talking about his new single release 'Harrowdown Hill' (out today), which is, as much reported, about the mysterious death of former government weapons expert Dr David Kelly.
Yorke has told Scotland's Daily Record: "He was the chief expert on chemical weapons who went into Iraq, twice, the whistleblower. He's believed to have committed suicide, but the circumstances surrounding it were certainly painful and horrible, and there was an inquiry where they wanted to get to the bottom of it. Yet it being an inquiry in Britain, all those who were found responsible were not held responsible and remained blameless. The song was my response to it. I have never been so upset and angry with my country. I was upset with the Ministry of Defence in how they dealt with this man, and I think they should all rot."
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FIELD MUSIC ALBUM TWO ON ITS WAY
The rather good Field Music have announced that their second album will be released in early 2007, that it will be called 'Tones Of Town', and that a first single will come out in October, called 'In Context'.
On the new album, the band's Peter Brewis told reporters: "We did loads of stuff to try and get different sounds, recording guitars in corridors and percussion in stairwells, whacking whatever bits of junk were lying around and sampling it, singing into pianos, using the ladies toilets underneath the studio for reverb."
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TOM WAITS PLANS MEGA ALBUM
Tom Waits will release an album of new and rare material on 20 Nov. The album, to be called 'Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards', will include three hours of music and a 94 page booklet. Describing the music that will appear in the collection, Waits told reporters it contains: "rumbas about mermaids, shuffles about train wrecks, tarantellas about insects, madrigals about drowning. Songs of dubious origin rescued from cruel fate and now left wanting only to be cared for".
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APPLE ADMIT IPOD MAKERS WORK TOO LONG
Following those media reports earlier in the year that manufacturers of iPods in China were violating various workers' rights, Apple bosses have admitted that their own investigation found that some employees working on iPods in China for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co were working longer hours than allowed by their own supplier code of conduct.
In a statement, Apple told reporters that suppliers had violated some rules in its own code of conduct relating to work hours, though they stressed that those working the long hours were doing so voluntarily. Apple: "We found no instance of forced overtime. We, however, found that employees worked longer hours than permitted by our code of conduct."
Apple says bosses at Hon Hai division Foxconn, who manufacturer the music players, have now addressed their concerns.
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PEEL JUNIOR GETS RADIO SHOW
John Peel's son is getting his own radio show on Channel 4 Radio. Tom Ravenscroft will present a show called Slashmusic which will very much share the ethos of his father's legendary Radio 1 show. Ravenscroft: "The aim of Slashmusic is to give exposure to the vast amount of fantastic music out there that is relatively unknown".
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NEW TICKET EXCHANGE WEBSITE LAUNCHES IN UK
A new ticket exchange website has launched that is designed to give the holders of unwanted tickets a legitimate place to sell them on at face value to other fans. Established by Eric Baker, a co-founder of US based ticket exchange agency StubHub, the new service is called Viagogo.
The new service aims to persuade promoters to name them as the official site for any exchanges of their tickets between fans. As previously reported, a recent government led review on the rise of online ticket touting suggested that such official ticket exchange websites should be established to provide legitimate fans with unwanted tickets an official forum where they can sell those tickets on - as opposed to eBay style auction sites or third party touts.
Although Viagogo is yet to announce any formal relationships with concert promoters in this regard, it does count both Manchester United and Chelsea football clubs as clients. The laws governing the reselling of football season tickets in the UK are much stricter than those governing the resale of other tickets, and it is hoped that Viagogo will help football fans sell on tickets without violating those rules. However, given the concerns regarding online ticket touting in the live music sector, Viagogo hope that other music and entertainment promoters will utilise their service as well, despite having fewer legal obligations to do so.
Following the UK launch, Viagogo plans to launch in Germany later this year, with ambitions to expand across Europe in the near future.
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GEORGE COMPLETES COMMUNITY SERVICE
Boy George's week of community service sweeping the streets of New York is over, and his manager has claimed that the former pop star "responded extremely well" to his punishment for wasting police time last year.
Manager Jeremy Pearce told reporters this weekend: "It was hard work but he seemed to almost enjoy it. It's been great actually. It's been really quite positive. I think George has responded extremely well. He just kind of took to it. He did it very conscientiously. He liked the people he was working with, both those who were doing community service and the people who ran the Sanitation Department, who were very fair".
A spokesman for the New York sanitation department, meanwhile, said George had done "very well" during his five days on the job, adding: "He came in on time, he was very co-operative and he did what he had to do. I'm told that he made the best of the situation and he did his work", which is all very nice. In fact, it's possibly the best review Boy George has had in years.
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SUGABABES: "WE NEARLY SPLIT"
Sugababes have admitted they very nearly split up after Mutya Buena quit the band at the end of last year. Heidi Range has admitted that it was the band's manager who persuaded them to continue with a new third member.
Speaking to the News Of The World, she says: "It was a complete shock to Keisha and I and we thought at one stage, that's it - we're going to split up. We really didn't know what was going to happen."
Fellow Sugababe Keisha Buchanan added: "It was a bittersweet time. I was upset Mutya had gone - we'd known each other since she was nine - but really happy Amelle could join us. That was nine months ago and the change has been good. We're doing as well as ever."
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TIMBERLAKE ON NIPPLEGATE
Justin Timberlake has been sticking up for Janet Jackson about the whole Nipplegate thing - and about time too. Timberlake, of course, was quick to distance himself from the whole thing as the uproar that followed the duo's Superbowl performance reached fever pitch back in 2004 - despite initially joking about the whole thing (it was he, of course, that referred to Jackson's on stage breast reveal as a "wardrobe malfunction").
On the backlash that followed the show, he told MTV last week: "If you consider it 50/50 - I probably got 10 per cent of the blame and that says something about society. I think that America's harsher on women and I think that America's unfairly harsh on ethnic people."
On his decision to stay out of the limelight after the incident, he continued: "I didn't handle it the best way I could have but you get your bumps and bruises from it and you learn."