| CMU Daily - on the inside 10 Oct 2002 |
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In today's CMU Daily:
• Chapman denied parole,
• New technology beats CD sound quality,
• Review: Luke Howard - Hi Life/Low Life,
• Fatboy looks to hip hop for influence,
• EMI admits Robbie deal comes with extras,
• Kylie competes with Kylie in christmas charts,
• Music downloading on the up,
• Review: Daniel Prydz - EP2,
• Timberlake tracks showcased on Nelson’s Radio 1 show,
• Moby launches book swap scheme,
• New Streets track online,
• New ILR chart show deal signed,
• A1 are now three,
• Williams and Minogue among Magic Roundabout cast,
• Xpress 2 man releases solo mix album
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What rock ‘n’ roll claims to fame are held by Tittenhurst Park (in Bedfordshire) and Stocks Country Club (in Hertfordshire)?
Answer tomorrow
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CHAPMAN DENIED PAROLE
The man who shot John Lennon, Mark David Chapman, has had his latest bid for freedom rejected by New York parole officials. They say the premeditated and vicious nature of his crime indicated that Chapman was still a threat to society. Parole board members did note Chapman's efforts to rehabilitate himself over the years, but said letting him go at this time would "deprecate the seriousness" of the crime and "diminish respect for the law".
In a statement to Chapman they said: "You have acknowledged that you planned this murder for several months intending to wipe out this international celebrity for being a hypocrite living a decadent lifestyle." Chapman, who once blamed a troubled relationship with his father for the Lennon murder, reportedly resides in a secluded cell apart from the general prison population for his own safety.
The latest decision was handed down yesterday - what would have been Lennon's 62nd birthday. Chapman's next parole hearing is scheduled for October 2004. Yoko Ono, who wrote a letter to parole officers urging them to not release Chapman the last time he was up for parole two years ago, has yet to comment on the latest decision.
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NEW TECHNOLOGY BEATS CD SOUND QUALITY
Though some, especially in the dance arena, claim the music industry’s attack on vinyl has been unsuccessful, now it seems conventional CDs may become a target. In the last two years manufacturers and record companies have rolled out two new musical formats – DVD Audio and Super Audio Compact Discs (SACDs) – which some hope will replace the CD. The new formats, when coupled with the right speakers, apparently produce a superior sound with parts of a recording previously buried in layers of music (a drumbeat, an extra guitar, some backup vocals) revealed, crystal clear. They also store considerably more content, with the DVD Audio offering the option to store pictures, lyrics and videos on the same disc.
Retailing slightly more expensively than a CD, DVD Audios can be played on most DVD players. SACDs need a new player, though Sony have made a cheap player available for £300. That said to get the full benefit on the sound quality consumers have to invest in an expensive new sound system, the conventional DVD player or a cheap SACD player doesn’t offer all the audio benefits.
“If you talk to the man on the street, I think most people would say the CD is fine,” David Kawakami, director of the SACD project at Sony admits, "but there has always been a portion of the marketplace that has found the CD lacking in certain respects. The things that they say we sacrificed when we transferred from vinyl to CD are things like warmth and the ability to record air around the instruments. The SACD is basically a three-dimensional experience. Music has depth, width and height, and just as if you're sitting in a concert hall, you're hearing music not only coming directly at you but coming to you ... it's also ricocheting off the walls."
Whether a step up in sound quality will be enough to persuade record buyers remains to be seen, but another feature of the new technology may encourage record labels to push them. The relative complexity of DVD-Audios and SACDs makes them much harder to pirate. While this fact may discourage part of the population from buying the new formats, it may provide an incentive for the labels to subsidise them to help build interest in the mainstream.
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REVIEW: Luke Howard - Hi Life/Low Life (Afro Art)
Out on the Ashley Beedle’s Afro Art label two new tracks from Luke Howard on one 12”. Howard has been DJing since the late 80's, and has been a resident at Queer Nation since 1990. 'Hi Life' is a blissed out dub - think Ernest Ranglin in a good mood with a tropical sun kissed guitar lick over a punchy bassline but calypso stylee. 'Low Life' takes us into a dirty groove with a minimal housey dub where the BPMs are around 120 for extra sleaziness – sounds good, but no where as jovial as the flip, it’s just a bit too slow. PV
Release date: 18 Nov
Press contact: Afroart IH [all]
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FATBOY LOOKS TO HIP HOP FOR INFLUENCE
Fatboy Slim has told Xfm’s Zane Lowe that he plans to turn to hip-hop for inspiration as he starts work on the follow up to 'Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars'. He cites the declining interest in dance music as a motivation to try out different genres. "Dance music seems to be going through a fallow period at the moment, and there’s not a lot that’s turning me on, so although I’m not saying it’s gonna be a Hip-Hop album, I would be surprised if there wasn’t a larger rap element in the new album."
Cook has only just started work on the album due to other producing commitments, in particular the latest Blur project. "I started work on the new album on the first of September," he said, "And I’ve done about three days work on it since then, cos other things like the Blur project keep getting in the way. As soon as the Blur thing’s done I’m gonna lock myself in the studio.”
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EMI ADMITS ROBBIE DEAL COMES WITH EXTRAS
EMI chief David Munns has been speaking to the LA Times about the much hyped Robbie Williams deal, saying much of what was reported was “rubbish”. “After the Mariah Carey deal, we made it clear that we are not going to do crazy record deals that have a huge risk in them. I assure you that this is not a deal in that category. We'll make money on it with no sweat".
In fact it seems that Williams has increased the size of his latest contract by giving up rights to a number of things normally controlled by an artist's management or publisher. In return for an increased advance EMI will have a cut of touring, merchandise and publishing revenues. This is a real sign that record labels have realised that however many anti-piracy suits they pursue they will inevitably make less money on recordings in the future. To survive the record labels need to get involved in other areas of an artist’s work, income streams normally monopolised by artist management companies.
In another interview EMI Chairman Alain Levy confirmed this is the direction in which EMI is heading. "Our goal is to transform EMI from a recording company into a music company that shares in all kinds of revenue generated by the artist. It's less volatile than record sales alone.” While Williams has done well out of this general development in the music industry some artists fear it will make record labels even more control freakish in the management of their careers.
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KYLIE COMPETES WITH KYLIE IN CHRISTMAS CHARTS
Kylie will be competing with herself in the album charts this Christmas. Current label Parlophone are planning an album of remixes of her most recent LP ‘Fever’. But at the same time Jive, who own the rights to the chart toppers of her PWL days, are planning on putting out an album of her early hits. Kylie’s said to be not too pleased about the timing.
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MUSIC DOWNLOADING ON THE UP
No surprise here – but a new report has confirmed music sharing on the internet is on the up. Research company Jupiter Media says music accounts for much of the file swapping on the internet, and that music exchange will grow even more when broadband internet access becomes the norm. Analysts now warn that unless the industry offers real alternatives soon, the legitimate digital music industry will be stillborn. Hopes to steer music swappers into legitimate download sites were also dealt a blow by the report – it says 44% of net users say they do not want to pay for online music in future.
"The digital music industry in Europe is in danger of being stillborn," Jupiter Media analyst Mark Mulligan told the BBC. "Legitimate file-sharing so far has just been about setting the tone and finding out what consumers want. There needs to be concerted action from record labels against peer-to-peer or strong enough alternatives." he said.
On the up side, double the number of people researched who had actually used illegal file-sharing sites said they would be prepared to pay for music downloads compared to those that had considered but never used illegal music swap services. Researchers suggest this might be because users are increasingly irritated by the number of advertisements and the file quality available with illegal services. These users, it is argued, may be persuaded to pay a small monthly fee if the ads went and quality was guaranteed.
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REVIEW: Eric Prydz - EP2 (EMI/Credence)
Swedish Prydz returns with the imaginativly titled three track ‘EP2’, on the momentum gaining EMI owned Credence label. 'Tha Get Down' is a subaverage funky groove which overdoses on the bleeps. ‘Tonight' is a Daft Punk clone - carbon copying their pulsing distorted bass that fades in and out. Nil point for ingenuity here. But then a redemption with 'Deeper Still' - a minimal tech workout with a touch of silicon soul. Think of a more brooding harder edged Robert Miles. An ‘only just reasonable’ effort from the man who quotes Underground Resistance and Depeche Modes as his major influences. PV
Release date: 11 Nov
Press contact: EMI IH [CP, CR, RR, NR], Sainted PR [RP, NP]
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TIMBERLAKE TRACKS SHOWCASED ON NELSON’S RADIO 1 SHOW
Tracks from Justin Timberlake’s solo album will be debuted on Trevor Nelson’s R’n’B chart show this Saturday on Radio 1. The album, released on 5 Nov in the US, is yet to have a confirmed release date here, though Timberlake is doing the media rounds promoting its up coming arrival. Whether the inclusion of the Nsync star’s solo material on a specialist R’n’B show is a compliment to Timberlake, or a reflection of how pop Radio 1’s R ‘n’ B coverage has become - I’ll let you decide.
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MOBY LAUNCHES BOOK SWAP SCHEME
Moby has launched a book swapping scheme to run alongside his current tour, which hits the UK at the Birmingham Academy on 20 Nov. Fans are encouraged to bring a book they have finished to the gig, and to take away a different book left by another fan. Speaking to The Sun he said: "When someone finishes a book they put it in a little box and when someone else wants a new book they look into the box and find one. Ozzy Osbourne used to snort ants. Led Zeppelin had sex with hookers on private planes. And I start a book club. Because one can only snort so many ants and have so much sex before one starts to long for the comfort and companionship of a book."
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NEW STREETS TRACK ONLINE
Mike Skinner has made another brand new track available on the official The Streets website - www.the-streets.co.uk. The track, ‘Street Score’, is a b-side on forthcoming single release ‘Don’t Mug Yourself’, released on 21 Oct.
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NEW ILR CHART SHOW DEAL SIGNED
The key commercial radio companies have sealed a three-year deal with independent production company Unique for a revamped Sunday chart show. The revamp comes as the long standing Pepsi sponsorship deal comes to an end, as EMAP launches a new interactive chart show on its local and national digital stations, and as Radio 1 prepares to revamp its flagship chart programme. Capital, GWR, Scottish Radio Holdings and Chrysalis have re-signed up with Unique, confident the company can provide a winning new formula to be broadcast on the groups’ collective 94 stations around the UK. Although the Pepsi Chart Show (known as the Network Chart prior the the Pepsi sponsorship) still has a million more listeners that its BBC rival, the next year will be a crucial time for the show.
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A1 ARE NOW THREE
Boyband A1 are down to three after Paul Marazzi suddenly quit the band. He yesterday announced he will leave the band for ‘personal reasons’ – the other three members are said to be "heartbroken" at his decision. The band, who got their real chart success with a cover of the AHA classic ‘Take On Me’, turned their hands to song writing and instrument playing on their last album producing some fine pop songs, though probably falling behind rivals Westlife and Blue in terms of commercial success.
Announcing his decision Paul told reporters: "After a lot of thought and deliberation I have made the difficult choice to leave the band due to personal reasons. I have had a brilliant five years with A1 and would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been part of the whole A1 experience, everyone at Sony, but most of all our amazing fans. I would like to wish Christian, Ben and Mark all the best of luck in the future."
The rest of the band said: "There is no way that we could ever replace him. He isn't just a band mate but a great friend. We will however be carrying on with our plans for the future and are very excited about our new single and album early next year."
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WILLIAMS AND MINOGUE AMONG MAGIC ROUNDABOUT CAST
Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue are among the names being tipped to supply voices for the movie version of cult kids TV show The Magic Roundabout. Williams will play 'front-dog' Dougal, while Minogue will voice the prim Florence. Joanna Lumley will play Ermintrude the cow, Jim Broadbent will voice Brian the Snail while the voice of Richard O'Brien will appear as Zebedee. Actors Tom Baker and Ray Winstone will voice new characters. The animated film will be made next year and should be released in 2004.
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XPRESS 2 MAN RELEASES SOLO MIX ALBUM
The main man in X-Press 2 - Diesel - will release a solo mix album on 4 Nov. The LP, called ‘DL01’, will be released by Trust The DJ. Talking about the album Diesel said it would include: “some of the records that have caught my attention, and that show underground music is still alive and well. The music I have chosen covers a variety of styles but keeps the emphasis on groove.”
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Answer to Tuesday’s pop quiz:
Who said: “Anyone that walks can sing”?
REM’s Michael Stipe