| CMU Daily - on the inside Thursday 2nd November |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- MPs back campaign against Jersey tax loophole on CD sales
- Intergroove go under
- Madonna adoption latest
- Sway to get US hip hop award
- Conductor Varviso dies
- Dreadzone guitarist dies
- U2 hits tracklisting revealed, possibly
- Moby DVD collection
- Kasabian confirm new single
- McFly enter Christmas number one race
- Plumps to release the Mad Cow via digital
- Michael lends Imagine piano to anti war exhibit
- Prince to open nightclub
- Kittens reform for support gig
- INXS dates
- Spank Rock cancel European tour dates
- Drink thrown at Streisand
- Horrors man attacked on stage
- Youth Music hope to build respect through music
- Chrysalis: profits up but share price down
- iTunes US launches Latin mini-store
- Japanese download platform gives in because of iPod dominance
- Press Gazette to go into administration
- Jono quits BBC London breakfast show
- NME announce US extensions
- Blink 182 man hates Blink 182
- My Chemical Romance talk about musical film possibilities
- Klaxons say they're not new rave, okay?
- Does Tom Chaplin look bothered?
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TOP BIT>>
So much to recommend at the moment. Yesterday's AIM Music Connected event seemed to go down very well. Though I did get a few strange looks when I accidentally walked into the 'mailing industry conference' that was happening in the same hotel, with my stripy hat and a scruffy backpack full of CMU Beats newspapers. At least I look slightly less like a terrorist now I've had my hair cut - meaning I did manage to get through security and into the right conference suite. Eventually. Anyway, the next industry event that is CMU Recommended is Music Tank's Production Magic conference, previously reported here in the Daily, though not here in the Top Bit. This is the one stop all day event for anyone working in music production, with a stack of top names offering their insights into this exciting sector of the music biz. Dance music pioneer Nile Rodgers will provide the opening address, multi-Grammy winning Phil Ramone will be interviewed, plus Guy Chambers, John Leckie and Hugh Padgham are among the other producers who will speak at the event. Also speaking are EMI A&R chief Chris Briggs and producer Magnus Fiennes - both just added to the line up. This all takes place at the London offices of the Magic Circle (I kid you not) a week on Saturday - 11 Nov. For full details you need to get on over to http://www.musictank.co.uk. Admission to the conference is £155, but CMU readers can get a £40 discount (ie the trade association rate) - for details of how to book with that discount email [email protected]
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CLASSIFIEDS>>
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CMU RECOMMENDS>>
BREAKING GROUND
Another storming night for your diaries - the second edition of breaks fest Breaking Ground. All the big names are going to be on the bill - Pendulum (Live), Stanton Warriors, Rennie Pilgrem with MC Chickaboo, Splitloop (Live), Precision Cuts, Janette Slack, Breakfastaz, Deekline & Wizard with MC Ivory, Cltr-Z, Freshold, Si Begg, General Midi, Soto, Merka, Symmetrik, Dirtpop, Mr Sushi and Fyoog. Phew. It will all take place at London's seOne Club on Saturday 2 Dec, from 9.30pm to 6am. Tickets are £18.50 in advance - from http://www.ticketweb.co.uk - press info from Leyline.
Full info>> http://www.leylinepromotions.com/breakingground
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MYSPACE OF THE DAY: YOURCODENAMEIS:MILO
Yourcodenameis:milo are all set to release a brand new album, so what better time to feature them in our highly prestigious MySpace Of The Day feature? The new long player is called 'Print Is Dead' and is out on 6 Nov. Now, it's not just any album. No. No it's not. It's a collection of collaborations with other artists - the likes of The Automatic, Hot Club De Paris, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, Lethal Bizzle, Tom Vek and Martin Grech. A single from the long player, 'Wait A Minute', which features the talents of Bloc Party's Gordon Moakes, is out now. Anyway, if you go to the MySpace page, you can preview the entire album. If you're a big fan, you can read all their blog entries, and look at their pictures. Whatever you are, do check it out. This is rather interesting stuff. PS: There's an album launch at Camden's Proud Galleries tonight - press info from James Grant.
http://www.myspace.com/yourcodenameismilo
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MPS BACK CAMPAIGN AGAINST JERSEY TAX LOOPHOLE ON CD SALES
Sixty of those MP types yesterday signed an 'early day motion' put forward by the All-Party Parliamentary Small Business Group calling on the government to take more action to block the much previously reported VAT loophole that gives large online retailers an unfair advantage over independent traders, especially in the music retail sector.
The loophole comes about because the Channel Island of Jersey is outside the EU, but is geographically and commercially close to the UK. According to EU rules, companies whose mail order operations are based in Jersey can sell products up to £18 without paying VAT. This, of course, includes the majority of CD releases. As a result Amazon, Play.com, Tesco, HMV and others have based their CD and DVD mail order operations on the island, allowing them to undercut independent retailers in mainland UK without affecting their profit margins.
Both the governments in Jersey and the UK have raised concerns over the loophole but those campaigning against it say little has actually been done to close it. Yesterday's early day motion was another attempt to force the UK government to take proactive steps - perhaps by reducing the price of goods that are VAT exempt under the EU system, so that it ceases to be viable to use it for the sale of CDs.
Victoria Carson of the Federation Of Small Businesses, who are running the campaign against the loophole, told reporters: "We estimate that around £80 million of tax revenue is being lost because of this loophole, and that is due to grow to £200 million in the next few years. Since the Chancellor [Of The Exchequer, that'll be Gordon Brown] paid this issue lip-service in his budget speech [last year], there has been little action to help those small independent retailers who are being pushed to the wall by companies exploiting the loophole. Meanwhile, big retailers are making record profits at their expense".
The early day motion in parliament was put forward by MP Andy Love, who is chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Small Business Group. The motion says that the loophole "undermines the credibility of the UK's VAT system" and "the viability of the UK's independent music stores", and "threatens the livelihoods of the several thousand people who work in those stores and creates an environment in which compliance with the taxation laws of this country is seen as an optional exercise".
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INTERGROOVE GO UNDER
Talking of tricky times for independents, independent distribution company Intergroove has gone under, which is bad news for the dance sector, and especially the burgeoning breaks scene, many of the leading labels from which distributed via Intergroove.
Labels who had used Intergroove's services include Fat, Chi, Finger Lickin', Burrito, Boombox, 10Kilo, Alternative Route, Frontroom, Lot49, Mob, Marine Parade, Functional, Get Physical, Menu, Kilowatt, Spinout, Slave, Supercharged, Streetwise, Systematic, TCR, Tagsta and Whoop. Some of them switched to Intergroove after suffering from the collapse of that other indie distributor, 3MV, back in 2004.
Labels still using Intergroove's services will now have to quickly find an alternative distributor (which isn't so easy for those looking for decent 12" vinyl distribution) and, more importantly, might have to write off the last two months sales income, which will probably be lost through the distributor's demise. Some in the independent dance sector reckon that loss could put some smaller labels out of business.
DJ Mag quote Abel Reynolds of breaks label Finger Lickin, who distributed via Intergroove until recently, who says: "Intergroove has been very honourable in upholding their payments to labels. But as a result of the company closing, quite a few labels will go bust too, because they won't receive payment for records distributed by Intergroove in the last couple of months. The breakbeat scene will especially suffer, because lots of small breaks labels will go bust".
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MADONNA ADOPTION LATEST
The saga continues. Madonna has said that she would offered to leave the baby she has adopted, David Banda, in his home country of Malawi whilst continuing to support him, but that his father Yohane declined.
In a Newsnight interview, broadcast on Wednesday, the singer explained that she only took an interest in David after being told that he had been left alone at the orphanage, and denied reports that his family were making regular visits. Asked if she would have been willing to offer the child financial support, but leave him behind, she replied: "Yes, I offered that option to the father and he declined".
She continued: "I was told... that from the day that he was left in the orphanage he was not visited by any extended family members and that's really why I became interested in him. If someone had said to me, 'His dad comes every week or his granny visits on a regular basis and he's well looked after', I would not even have given it another thought."
As previously reported, human rights groups in Malawi are planning to contest the adoption in court, a move which Yohane Banda has opposed.
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SWAY TO GET US HIP HOP AWARD
London based rapper Sway is to be honoured at the inaugural Hip Hop Awards of US TV network Black Entertainment Television. The rap artist, nominated for the Mercury Prize this year, of course, will receive the best UK Hip Hop act gong, voted for by MTV Base viewers, and by BBC 1Xtra listeners.
Speaking about the award, which he will receive at a ceremony in Atlanta on 12 Nov, Sway told 1Xtra: "I'm over the moon. It's a massive opportunity for me and hip-hop in the UK in general."
Adding that he hoped the award would help him get a foothold in the US market, he continued: "I'm going to capitalise on it as much as I can. Stickers are going on every new CD I do."
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CONDUCTOR VARVISO DIES
Renowned opera conductor Silvio Varviso has died at the age of 82 in Antwerp following a brief illness. Varviso, the son of a singing instructor, was born in 1924 in Zurich, and made his debut at the age of 20 when he conducted a performance of Mozart's 'The Magic Flute'. During the course of his career, he conducted at the likes of Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, the Paris Opera and the Munich Opera Festival. For the last fifteen years, Varviso had been a permanent guest conductor at the Flanders Opera. He made his last appearance there on 19 Sep, conducting Puccini's 'Tosca'.
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DREADZONE GUITARIST DIES
Steve Roberts, Dreadzone guitarist, and brother of the eclectic dance outfit's founder Greg Roberts, has been found dead at his home. The cause of his death has not yet been established.
The group were due to tour, but this has now been cancelled. A statement on the Dreadzone website reads: "Those close to him are devastated and overcome with grief. Steve has been with the band for the last two years and is going to be greatly missed both personally and professionally. As you can imagine this will greatly affect the forthcoming tour and all future Dreadzone plans. We feel there is no alternative than to cancel all forthcoming Dreadzone Live dates".
A statement from Functional Records, who released the band's 2005 album 'Once Upon A Time', said: "You are going to be greatly missed Steve."
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U2 HITS TRACKLISTING REVEALED, POSSIBLY
A tracklisting for U2's upcoming greatest hits album has appeared online, but it's on an unofficial website, so they might be wrong. According to reports, a German fan site has cracked the code for that previously reported competition to promote the long player's release, and that has apparently revealed which tracks will feature on the compilation.
Here's what they reckon the tracklisting is. Bet you're all on the edge of your seats.
Beautiful Day
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Pride
With Or Without You
Vertigo
New Year's Day
Mysterious Ways
Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of
Where The Streets Have No Name
Sweetest Thing
Sunday Bloody Sunday
One
Desire
Walk On
Elevation
Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
The Saints Are Coming
Window On The Sky
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MOBY DVD COLLECTION
Moby is to release a DVD collection featuring video promos from across his career, videos which have been directed by some pretty legendary film types, such as Roman Coppola, Joseph Kahn, David LaChapelle, Mike Mills, Jonas Akerlund, and Evan Bernard. There are a few award winning ones in there - 'Natural Blues' won MTV's best video award in 2000, 'Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?' got the German Cornet award, also in 2000, and 'We Are All Made of Stars' got an MTV award for best cinematography in 2002.
That's on Disc 1. On Disc 2 there's a film about Moby that charts his rise to fame and includes interviews with family and friends plus tour footage.
Here's the the list of what's on Disc 1:
Go - dir. Ondrej Rudavsky
Hymn - dir. Walter Stern
Feeling So Real - dir. Julie Hermelin
Every Time You Touch Me - dir. Julie Hermelin
Into The Blue - dir. Dani Jacobs
That's When I Reach For My Revolver (main version) - dir. Lance Bangs
Come On Baby - dir. James Hyman
James Bond Theme (Moby's re- dir. version) - dir. Jonas Akerlund
Honey - dir. Roman Coppola
Run On - dir. Mike Mills
Bodyrock (fire version) - dir. Fredrik Bond
Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad? - dir. Susi Wilkinson, H.Laurence and P.Alcada
Natural Blues - dir. David Lachapelle
Find My Baby - dir. Barnabyand Scott
Porcelain - dir. Jonas Akerlund
We Are All Made of Stars - dir. Joseph Kahn
Extreme Ways - dir. Wayne Isham
In This World - dir. Stylewar
Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday) - dir. Stylewar
Jam For The Ladies - dir. Simon and Jon
Make Love F*** War - dir. Giles Bury
Lift Me Up - dir. Evan Bernard
Spiders - dir. Ben Weinstein
Beautiful - dir. Ben Weinstein
Raining Again - dir. Barnaby Roper
Dream About Me - dir. Hugo Ramirez
Slipping Away - dir. Hugo Ramirez
Bonus Video Tracks:
Bodyrock (Audition version)
Natural Blues (Animated version)
Porcelain (US version)
Extreme Ways - Bourne Identity cut
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KASABIAN CONFIRM NEW SINGLE
Kasabian have confirmed that following the release of 'Shoot The Runner' on 6 Nov, the next single to be taken from their second album 'Empire' will be 'Me Plus One', and it will be out on 29 Jan. The band are to appear alongside Noel Gallagher at a Russell Brand hosted gig at Koko tonight, in aid of drug recovery charity Focus.
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MCFLY ENTER CHRISTMAS NUMBER ONE RACE
Latest McFly release news now - yep, this is the bit you tuned in for. Universal yesterday confirmed that the McFly boys will follow up this week's chart topping 'Star Girl' with a double a-side single, featuring 'Friday Night' and 'Sorry's Not Good Enough'. That'll be released on 18 Dec which, if my maths is correct, puts them into the race for Christmas number one. Both tracks appear on the new McFly album 'Motion In The Ocean', out next week. Hurrah.
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PLUMPS TO RELEASE THE MAD COW VIA DIGITAL
While breaks masters the Plump DJs work on a follow up to last year's wonderful long player 'Saturday Night Lotion', they will release one of their current set favourites, 'Mad Cow', via digital next month. This has proved to be a hugely popular tune when dropped by the Plumps during their many many DJ sets over the summer and, we're told, has even spawned its own bespoke dance, that some call The Horn Dance. The track will be released via Finger Lickin Records next month. Press info from Get Involved.
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MICHAEL LENDS IMAGINE PIANO TO ANTI WAR EXHIBIT
George Michael is to lend the piano on which John Lennon wrote 'Imagine' to a US anti-war exhibit organised by the former Wham! star's partner Kenny Goss. Michael bought the upright at auction for £1.67m back in 2000. It's the first time the instrument will leave the UK, to appear in the exhibition which will take place at Goss's gallery in Dallas.
Goss told Reuters there is "no better place to reiterate how important peace is. Dallas is George Bush's home. It's a great place to remind people how important it is that we find peace".
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PRINCE TO OPEN NIGHTCLUB
According to reports, Prince is to open a nightclub in Las Vegas. The pop star is apparently set to relaunch the venue, the Rio hotel, next month, and will host his own shows, plus gigs by acts signed to his own label, NPG. Billboard say that the promoters of his 2004 Musicology tour are involved in the venture.
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KITTENS REFORM FOR SUPPORT GIG
Atomic Kitten are set to reform for a one off gig in support of imprisoned Liverpool FC fan Michael Shields, who is serving ten years in prison in Bulgaria for the attempted murder of a barman. The band will appear alongside the likes of Chris Moyles, Gloria Gaynor, The Bay City Rollers and The Farm at the event, which will take place at the Empire Theatre in Liverpool. The concert is intended to raise funds to help pay Shields' fine of £90,000 so that he can return from Bulgaria and serve the rest of his sentence in the UK.
Shields has always maintained his innocence over the attack, which is alleged to have taken place in Varne in July 2005, following Liverpool's Champions League win.
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INXS DATES
The all new INXS, who are back in the UK this weekend to play gigs in Glasgow (4 Nov) and London (6 & 7 Nov) have just announced a string of new dates for next summer. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, press info from Noble PR.
5 Jun: Bristol, Colston Hall
6 Jun: Nottingham, Royal Concert Hall
12 Jun: Glasgow, Clyde Auditorium
14 Jun: Manchester Apollo
15 Jun: Newcastle City Hall
17 Jun: Brighton Dome
18 Jun: Birmingham Symphony Hall
25 Jun: Sheffield City Hall
26 Jun: Ambridge, Corn Exchange
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SPANK ROCK CANCEL EUROPEAN TOUR DATES
Spank Rock have announced that they have to cancel their forthcoming European tour due to personal and professional commitments. The tour was due to start tonight in Zurich, and was set to call at ten locations on the continent, as well as taking in Bristol, London, Glasgow, Manchester and Leeds on the UK leg. The collective expect to be back in the New Year.
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DRINK THROWN AT STREISAND
Barbra Streisand had a drink thrown at her at a recent gig in Fort Lauderdale, following a skit, staged half way through the concert, which made fun of US President George W Bush. It's not the first time during the singer's current US tour that the sketch, featuring a George Bush impersonator, has met with a bad reaction.
Streisand's publicist, Dick Guttman explained that the paper cup did not actually hit the star, whilst manager Martin Erlichman added that the singer had shrugged off the incident, and told the heckler "It's a free country and they're entitled to express their opinion."
Erlichman went on to say that impersonator Steve Bridges, who wrote the sketch, is in fact a Republican, adding: "This skit has been so massively covered by media, it's impossible that it still could come as a surprise to any of the Bush admirers who bought tickets. It stays in the show except for the few performances where Steve has a conflicting commitment".
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HORRORS MAN ATTACKED ON STAGE
And it's not just Barbra Streisand incurring the wrath of audience members - The Horrors frontman Faris Badwan was attacked by an angry fan as he played a gig in New York on Tuesday night. Badwan made light of the incident, in which a gig goer got up on stage and dragged the singer to the ground, telling the audience: "It really is Halloween."
Badwan told NME: "This guy kept trying to grab the microphone, and after I told him to stop, he tried to start a fight with me", adding "you should have seen HIS face afterwards."
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YOUTH MUSIC HOPE TO BUILD RESPECT THROUGH MUSIC
As both Streisand and Badwan will tell you, put people in a musical environment and suddenly they become very respectful. With that in mind the government is throwing £666,000 into a new programme that hopes to make kids learn a bit of respect, by making them make some music. Money well spent, every time.
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell formally launched the government funded Youth Music organised programme yesterday, saying she hoped it would help "tackle antisocial behaviour and raise aspiration and respect". Young people in fourteen English regions will have the chance to work with local mentors on music based projects. The programme will include one to one training from local musicians and older teens, small group tutoring sessions and specialist input from established and well known musicians or music business practitioners. According to Jowell, the programme aims to boost respect and reduce antisocial behaviour because "the creativity of making and performing music can have such a powerful impact in raising ambition, giving a sense of purpose, confidence and self-respect, and for young people who lack this sense of themselves, I know that Youth Music's mentoring will make a real difference".
Welcoming the government's support for the programme (well, their cash mainly), Youth Music CEO Christina Coker told reporters: "There is a view that individuals and groups of young people are perceived to be a particular problem, and for some a threat, in communities up and down the country. However, the incredible work that Youth Music Action Zones are achieving in 24 areas of social and economic need across England and Wales indicates just how much young people can accomplish when provided with quality activities and progression routes".
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CHRYSALIS: PROFITS UP BUT SHARE PRICE DOWN
Music and media company Chrysalis reported an impressive jump in pre-tax profits yesterday - though suffered a poor reception from the city because of their assessment of the radio advertising market. Chrysalis, who own Echo Records, the music publishing company of the same name, and a number of radio stations, including the Heart and Galaxy stations, announced that profits in the year ending 31 Aug were up from £2.5 million last year to £5.8 million this year, despite a fall of revenues from $133.6 million to £131.9 million. But Chrysalis bosses admitted that the radio market had been "particularly challenging" over the summer, and remained that way throughout September and October, meaning radio revenues were down so far this financial year. Despite assuring investors they were confident they would see some growth as the financial year continued, the group's share price fell 11.75p.
Commenting on the share price fall, Chrysalis CEO Richard Huntingford told the Guardian: "I am surprised by the share price reaction because we didn't think what we were saying about the decline in September and October would be new news to anybody. I think the disappointment is that probably we have confirmed what I think a lot of people have feared". But he added that he felt it was important to be realistic when making predictions to the city, adding that a realistic perspective had helped his company make considerable achievements in the last year. He continued: "[we have] a really good set of results given what has been a tough year for the media industry as a whole. I think we are the only media company that will have actually delivered results in line with expectations that were set a year ago. That's been driven by outperformance for the both the radio and the music businesses."
The music side of Chrysalis' business continued to do well, the recently revamped Echo Records (now run as an 'incubator label' to pilot new work by songwriters represented by the firm's publishing division) has returned a profit, while Chrysalis publishing had a number of successes, not least Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy', on which Huntingdon added: "That would have been one of the most played songs throughout Europe, throughout the world probably, which for us as a publisher is brilliant because we earn on it however it is used".
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ITUNES US LAUNCHES LATIN MINI-STORE
Apple Computers yesterday launched a new mini-store within the US version of its iTunes Music Store dedicated to Latin music and entertainment. iTunes Latino will feature top Latin music, music videos, TV programmes, audiobooks and podcasts.
Apple say its catalogue already includes hundreds of thousands of Latin and international tracks, with artists set to appear in the new mini-store including David Bisbal, Daddy Yankee, Aterciopelados, Marco Antonio Solis, Paulina Rubio, Mana, Cafe Tacuba and Luny Tunes y Tainy.
On the TV side, Apple has entered into a partnership with the US's second biggest Spanish language TV network Telemundo and will make some of the network's programmes available for download, including some bilingual shows off Telemundo's youth network mun2.
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JAPANESE DOWNLOAD PLATFORM GIVES IN BECAUSE OF IPOD DOMINANCE
Japanese music company Oricon is closing down its download platform because it says it cannot compete while it is unable to sell music compatible with the market dominant iPod. The company is moving into mobile music services - because in Japan, unlike most other places, the mobile music sector is ahead of the online download sector.
A spokesman for the company said: "The iPod has outrun us all. If iPod users could download music from our site, we may have waited to see if the tide turns from mobile phones to online downloads".
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PRESS GAZETTE TO GO INTO ADMINISTRATION
It's all companies closing down today, isn't it? Perhaps CMU should go into liquidation too - I mean, if it's the fashion. Anyway, the Guardian reports that the Press Gazette is going to go into administration today, and I think they're right, mainly because the Press Gazette are reporting it too. As previously reported, the newspaper industry trade weekly's main shareholder, PR man Matthew Freud, has let it be known he is no longer willing to bankroll the title, seemingly because the newspaper industry is considering setting up a rival awards event to that run by the trade mag, which has been a valuable revenue stream for it. Employees were yesterday paid for one day's work in addition to their October pay cheques - but that may be all they now see money wise. Nevertheless, insiders remain hopeful that a buyer may be yet found, especially once Freud formally puts the paper into administration. And there are still hopes that the previously reported trust ownership idea being touted by editor Ian Reeves may still work out, though that depends on major newspaper groups being willing to put in some cash in order to become trustees, and the Guardian reports so far only a handful of national newspapers have shown active interest.
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JONO QUITS BBC LONDON BREAKFAST SHOW
Jono Coleman is quitting the breakfast show on BBC London just a year after succeeding Danny Baker on the show, and half way through a two year contract, though he has a pretty good excuse for doing so - he plans to return to Australia to look after his mum, who is about to have a serious operation. BBC London bosses wouldn't comment on who might take over, nor on rumours Danny Baker might return to the show. He stepped down last year, despite winning a Sony award for the show, so he could concentrate of a film project he was working on.
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NME ANNOUNCE US EXTENSIONS
By the way, the CMJ Music Marathon is currently well and truly live over there in New York, which is very exciting. For people in New York. And for those NME types, who have used the convention to launch a New York version of its Club NME and to announce that they are launching two US news desks, one on the East coast, one on the West, to enhance the NME.com music news service.
Commenting on it all, NME editor Conor McNicholas told reporters: "CMJ is renowned as a showcase for the world's best new music, in much the same way that NME provides a platform for the best international new music. It makes perfect sense to announce our plans for the US right here, at the biggest new music party in the world".
NME publishing director Paul Cheal added: "This is a great time to be extending NME into the US. Not only will our readers there get even more value out of our investment in NME.COM, but they can also now enjoy the full-on live experience of Club NME in both LA and NYC!"
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BLINK 182 MAN HATES BLINK 182
Former Blink 182 frontman Tom Delonge thinks his old band was rubbish, apparently. As you'll remember, Blink 182 began an "indefinite hiatus" last year, after 11 years together. Various reasons were suggested at the time for the split, but not this one. In a video posted on YouTube, Delonge is heard to say: "I do not want to be in a bullshit pop band with some bullshit pop songs while you drive your fucking bullshit car and sing along to it like you're some 14 year-old girl."
Get him, eh?
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MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE TALK ABOUT MUSICAL FILM POSSIBILITIES
It doesn't sound like it's an actual plan, it's just Gerard Way musing on stuff in response to questioning. NME asked the My Chemical Romance man if they plan to copy Green Day, who are working on film treatments for 'American Idiot', and do the same thing with their album 'The Black Parade'.
And here's what he said: "I think it needs to be something. If not a play then a musical. It's such a visual thing. I think it would make a great animated film, something experimental would really work for this. It'd also be really interesting to rewrite the script so when you make it into a movie it should be something almost totally different. There should be elements of a rock band in that, or maybe this character has a rock band. It would be cool to maybe play with the notions of what you're making than just simply tell the story."
So there you go.
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KLAXONS SAY THEY'RE NOT NEW RAVE, OKAY?
What is it with these bands, eh, not wanting to embrace the genre labels that the music media limit them with? Even when they started it? Eh?
Buzzy buzz buzz band Klaxons have averred that they are not part of this so-called 'new rave' movement, and say they've got nothing to do with it. Okay? The band's Jamie Reynolds says: "It's a joke that's got out of hand, I said it at the start of the year and people just won't stop with it now, it's got nothing to do with us."
He added that his band feel okay about all the hype surrounding them, which is good, because there's a lot of it. "I don't feel pressure 'cos I think we have just made a really good record," he said. "If we had failed in making a good record then I would feel the pressure but we have confidence in the album."
The band's debut 'Myths of the Near Future' is out on 29 Jan.
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DOES TOM CHAPLIN LOOK BOTHERED?
Keane frontman Tom Chaplin says he doesn't care about the fact that Liam Gallagher called him a posh, idiotic, lightweight last week. Crikey, is he on drugs or something? No, no, of course not.
Chaplin told The Mirror: "I'm a massive fan of Oasis and he's entitled to his own opinion. But, frankly, I'm not bothered."
On his rehabilitation, he added: "I'm feeling much better. It's hard to come to events like these [dunno where he was] where there's wall to wall booze but I'm doing ok."