AKON TO STAND TRIAL IN 'FAN TOSS' CASE
That long-running 'fan toss' case, brought against Akon over a year ago now, rumbles on. The latest development is the decision that the singer should stand trial, after he pleaded not guilty to charges of endangering the welfare of a minor and second-degree harassment.

As previously reported, Akon got security guards to pick 15 year old Anthony Smith out of the audience after he allegedly threw something at the R&B star during his performance at a festival organised by US radio station K104 in June last year. Akon then manhandled Smith and ultimately threw him back into the crowd. Although the incident was videoed, it wasn't entirely clear if Smith was playing along (and the being thrown into the audience was essentially an elaborate stage dive), or whether Akon was in fact assaulting him live on stage. Matters weren't helped when Smith landed on another fan, who claimed she was concussed.

A statement issued by Akon's lawyers Benjamin Brafman and Andrea Zellan said: "We are pleased that Judge Epstein adjourned the case to a date certain for either a trial or a negotiated resolution. Akon looks forward to putting this incident behind him, and in the meantime he will continue to meet every requirement set forth by the Court".

Smith's father, William said outside the court: "We didn't expect this to happen. We'll see".

Assuming there is no out of court settlement, as hinted at by Akon's lawyers, the singer's trial will begin on 1 Dec at Fishkill Town Court in New York State. I trust no one in the jury will be tempted to throw anything at the defendant.

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WIPPIT CLOSES DOWN
London based digital music firm Wippit, one of the first legit download outfits I ever came across, has ceased trading after eight years in business.

Speaking to music website Distorted Loop, a spokesman for the digital music firm explained: "Wippit has closed. After eight years of pushing the digital boundaries, we can no longer compete in the current market climate. Thank you to everyone that has supported us over the years and apologies to those that will miss us".

Founded by Paul Myers back in the early days of the original Napster, Wippit was one of the first companies to try and find a legitimate digital music model, initially dabbling in that much talked about concept - a licenced P2P file sharing network - before moving into the pay-per-track download domain, selling music via its own download store while also powering digital music offerings provided by brands like Motorola, the Evening Standard, Duracell, Heineken and the Easy Group.

With major label deals in place (albeit with DRM embedded in their music), Wippit seemingly survived the sudden market dominance of Apple after it launched the iTunes Music Store, and also the arrival of new independent players in the download market like 7Digital, but the future of the company has been less certain since the departure of Myers last year.

Asked about Wippit's demise by Distorted Loop, Grokster founder Wayne Rosso, who himself has tried to get a licenced P2P service off the ground, remarked: "The truth is that Paul Myers was the poster boy for trying to do the right thing and was shat upon for years for doing so. They fought him at every turn and made life extremely difficult - yet as far as the media goes he was doing the right thing".

"They", of course, are the major record companies, who Rosso reckons screwed companies like Wippit, and some of his own digital music ventures, firstly by holding off for years before allowing download stores to sell iPod compatible MP3s, and more recently by demanding excessive upfront payments before licensing their catalogues, a policy which favours conglom-backed download stores over independent start ups.

Rosso continues: "The record business doesn't look upon the Wippits of the world as partners and try to help them. They look upon them as sources of advance income that they can milk knowing full well that they'll put these start ups out of business saying 'well it's their problem'. They do absolutely nothing to help nurture the business and everything to kill it, as a result investors have no confidence in the business, making things even harder".

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NE-YO AWARDED $700,000 IN TOUR LAWSUIT
Georgia-based concert promoter Rowe Entertainment Inc has been ordered to pay Ne-Yo and his touring company $700,320 by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge. This relates to that much reported lawsuit filed by the singer after he was dropped from R Kelly's last tour after just two shows. He claimed he was dropped because he was upstaging Kelly, something which has always been denied by Kelly, his people and Rowe Inc. Kelly was not named as a defendant on the lawsuit.

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ALLEN KIDNAP FRIEND ANGRY AT 'IRRESPONSIBLE' COMMENTS
A friend of Lily Allen who was recently kidnapped has hit out at the singer after she publicly discussed the case. The man, known only as 'Charlie', was kidnapped by an armed gang from a west London sports shop on 2 Aug, along with a co-worker. The gang later contacted the pair's family, asking for £75,000 in ransom and held them hostage for seven days before they were rescued by police.

Speaking about the case on her blog recently Allen wrote the following: "Thank you to the Met for getting my friend back. We were all terrified and from what I hear you guys did an amazing job", and then blabbed again at the GQ Men Of The Year Awards on Tuesday, saying "I just want to thank the Met Police. They did an incredible job. He was in the boot of a car being driven around London before he was found. It was all over money".

'Charlie' was not pleased, to say the least, and has branded Allen's comments "appallingly irresponsible", while former Scotland Yard police commander John O'Connor, called them "outrageous" and said that she could have jeopardised the whole case. Doh.

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BRITNEY TO OPEN MTV VMAS
It turns out that when Britney Spears' manager Larry Rudolph said last week, "Contrary to media reports, Britney was never slated to perform on this year's VMAs", he actually meant, "As per media reports, Britney is slated to perform on this year's VMAs". It's an easy mistake to make.

Yes, after months of speculation, Britney Spears will appear again at the MTV Video Music Awards this year, following that embarrassingly terrible set at last year's awards. In fact, she will open the whole show - presumably because MTV know everyone will tune in hoping to see a train wreck and will then stick around to watch Russell Brand trying not to say the words he's been told not to. Or maybe they just think Britney will be brilliant this time, I don't know.

Anyway, in a statement, Spears said: "MTV has long played an important role in my career. How can I not be there to kick off their 25th VMAs? I'm excited to open the entire show, to say hi to my fans and to be nominated".

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BEN FOLDS FIVE TO REUNITE
Ben Folds Five will reform for their first gig in nearly ten years for a new MySpace show called 'Front To Back'. The band will play their final album, 'The Unauthorised Biography Of Reinhold Messner', in full on 18 Sep in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It will then be broadcast on MySpace in October. All proceeds from the gig will go to Operation Smile: Changing Lives One Smile At A Time.

Ben Folds, who releases a new solo album in September, told Billboard: "Of our three albums, this one brings back the most vivid memories. It was actually written to be one song of many movements, which is why there are motifs that appear throughout the album. That should make 'Reinhold' a natural to be played front to back".

Tickets and flights for all CMU staff will be gratefully accepted. Or perhaps the 'Five' could be persuaded to come and play a UK reunion set at the CMU Social. There's three of them and lots of us - that seems a much more eco-friendly plan.

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SLIPKNOT VS THE GAME CHART RECOUNT DRAMA
Slipknot have claimed the number one slot in the US Billboard album chart after a recount showed that they had actually sold more than The Game. Initially, The Game had been hailed this week's biggest selling, after the first count showed that his 'LAX' album had sold 238,285 copies - 13 more than Slipknot's 'All Hope Is Gone'. But it turned out that there was hope for Slipknot (you like what I did there?) because, as it happened, they had actually sold over a thousand copies more than The Game.

Positions switched, peace was returned to Music Town.

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BONO SAYS U2 "DEFY GRAVITY"
Bono has been telling the official U2 website that recording sessions for their new album are going very well indeed thank you very much, with the band apparently looking back to their seminal 'Joshua Tree' album for inspiration.

He said: "This is our chance for us to defy gravity once again. We have what it takes, we have the songs, new rhythms and a guitar player who is not ready to re-enter Earth's atmosphere until he's taken a slice of the moon! It's been fun, it's been maddening... there have been injuries and recoveries, no babies born that I know of, but this one is nearly ready for the new year of 2009".

Explaining the process for the writing and recording of the new album, he continued: "When we set out on this record it was Larry who came up with the plan not to have a plan. He put up this idea that wouldn't it be great just to make music for its own sake, not for the purpose of a live show or on album but just to see what we're capable of. We've hit a rich songwriting vein. It gets a bit dark down here but looks like we've found diamonds not coal. I thought a while back we might have the album wrapped by now, but why come up above ground now if there's more priceless stuff to be found? We said to each other that if we got to the great place then we wouldn't stop".

He went on: "We know we have to emerge soon but we also know that people don't want another U2 album unless it is our best ever album. It has to be our most innovative, our most challenging ... or what's the point? It's a brand new chapter for us, and everyone we've played the tracks to has said that musically it feels like another departure. The last two records were very personal, with a kind of three piece at their heart, the primary colours of rock - bass, guitars and drum. But what we're about now is of the same order as the transition that took us from 'The Joshua Tree' to 'Achtung Baby'".

Reconfirming that we're talking early next year before any of this new music surfaces, he concludes: "I'm always the one who underestimates how easy it is to simply 'put out the songs now', if it was just up to me they'd be out already! But early next year people will be able to start hearing what we've been doing. We want 2009 to be our year, so we're going to start making an impression very early on".

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AMY NO-SHOW FESTIVAL OFFER DISCOUNTS
The organisers of the Rock En Seine festival, which took place in France last weekend, have offered disappointed ticket-holders tickets for next year's festival at half price, after Amy Winehouse cancelled her Friday night headline performance at the last minute. They will presumably then attempt to claim any losses back from Winehouse when they launch that previously reported legal action. Winehouse claimed ill-health for the cancellation, but the festival's organisers say the singer pulled out with very little notice and failed to give an adequate excuse.

Bestival, meanwhile, have a back up plan in case she fails to turn up for her headline slot there on Saturday night, so don't you all worry. As previously reported, head honcho Rob Da Bank wrote on his blog: "Regarding Amy, simply, I do not have any more info as of today. I am in contact with her agent and manager. If she can't do the gig, rest assured I do have a very good back up plan... Have we ever let you down?"

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GUNS N ROSES BLOGGER LAUNCHES FEE APPEAL
Kevin Cogill, who leaked nine new Guns N Roses songs on his blog and was subsequently arrested by the FBI, has launched an appeal to help raise money towards his legal costs. As previously reported, he faces federal criminal charges of copyright infringement and is facing up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines. His preliminary hearing is set for 17 Sep.

He wrote on his blog: "It has definitely been by far the biggest expense I have ever faced in my entire life, and my resources are very limited while formidable costs shall continue to pile up. It's beyond daunting, being a single independent citizen facing a full-force prosecution by the most powerful government in the world. The United States Attorney`s Office has almost unlimited resources to prosecute. The FBI has nearly unlimited resources to investigate. And by 'resources' I mean taxpayer dollars. Of course, in this case they also have the added resource of the band's lawyers, on which they have already relied. Supporters have expressed an interest in contributing to a defense fund, so I've opened one up".

He also told Antiquiet: "I am trying to take full responsibility for my predicament, and see my legal fees as mine to bear".

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EP REVIEW: Slow Club - Let's Fall Back In Love (Moshi Moshi)
'Let's Fall Back In Love' is a contradiction; it presents itself as an archetype of folksy indie, far removed from the cynicism of modern pop, yet in reality it treads a similar path, losing its way to a vocal sound that is so close to Tilly And The Wall that you would easily be led to think they were straight out of the mid-west. Don't get me wrong, Slow Club are interesting enough for sure, and this EP will certainly grab the attention of fans and critics alike - I'm about to say nice things about it myself - but overall these guys sound a little bit trite, and not quite what you'd initially expect of a band from Sheffield. Back to the nice things. The EP opens with the glorious 'Let's Fall Back In Love', a song replete with gang-vocals, hand claps and an assortment of percussive instruments. It stomps along clapping and clopping, whilst Charlie and Rebecca, on guitar and percussion respectively, chorus in unison a sweet tale of love. Equally sweet is the chirpy 'Come On Youth', the second song on the EP. Here the tempo is dropped but the saccharine juices drip just as sweet. The guitar has a Beach Boys tone to it, all reverb and no bass, creating a tender but upbeat effect. This evocative character is applied throughout the majority of the songs, which is sweet, though possibly the source of my initial reservations - it also sounding a bit twee. But Slow Club do get it right often, and 'Summer Shakedown' is a wonderful tune, springing along with a tidy rock and roll riff at its core. This one, in particular, is just quirky enough to carry the listener through all the aforementioned tweeness. But overall, the quirkiness on this EP fails to push past the principle fact that Slow Club sound like an American band, and that left me a little disappointed. SJS
Release Date: 1 Sep
Press Contact: Create Spark [all]

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NEW METALLICA ALBUM LEAKS
Metallica's new album, 'Death Magnetic', has leaked after a French record shop accidentally sold copies ahead of the 12 Sep worldwide release date. Doh.

But recently-converted-to-all-things-web Lars Ulrich has told US radio station Live 105 that he's not bothered if the album leaks now, anyway. He said: "Listen, we're ten days from release. I mean, from here, we're golden. If this thing leaks all over the world today or tomorrow, happy days. Happy days. Trust me. Ten days out and it hasn't quote-unquote fallen off the truck yet? Everybody's happy. It's 2008 and it's part of how it is these days, so it's fine. We're happy".

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MUTE RELEASE BBC RADIOPHONIC WORKSHOP RETROSPECTIVE
Mute have announced that they will release a 50th anniversary retrospective double CD from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, which will feature 100 classic, rare and previously unavailable pieces of music and sound effects from various BBC TV and Radio shows from 1958 through to 1997, including work by the likes of John Baker, Delia Derbyshire, Daphne Oram, Elizabeth Parker, Desmond Briscoe, Paddy Kingsland, Peter Howell and Malcolm Clarke, amongst others.

The Radiophonic Workshop was, alas, shut down in 1997 during some BBC cut backs. However, while operating it created numerous sounds and themes, most notably those of 'Dr Who'. Using reel-to-reel tape machines, early heroines of the unit such as Daphne Oram and Delia Derbyshire recorded everyday or strange sounds and then manipulated these by speeding up, slowing down or cutting the tape with razor blades and piecing it back together. The sound of the Tardis in Dr Who, for example, was a sound engineer's front door key scraped across the bass strings on a broken piano.

'BBC Radiophonic Workshop: A Retrospective' is released by Mute on 3 Nov.

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CINEMATIC ORCHESTRA GIG, DVD REISSUE & NEW FILM
The Cinematic Orchestra will play a special one-off show at The Roundhouse in Camden on 10 Oct to coincide with the re-release of their DVD, 'Man With A Movie Camera' - Dziga Vertov's classic silent film with a specially commissioned Cinematic Orchestra soundtrack - in November. At the show, the group will screen 'Man With A Movie Camera', as well as performing their latest album, 'Ma Fleur', which will feature guest appearances from Lou Rhodes, Heidi Vogel and Grey Reverend.

But before that, today in fact, you can see the online premiere of their latest film, 'To Build A Home', which is streaming on www.creativereview.co.uk. Starring Peter Mullan and Julia Ford and directed by Andrew Griffin, it sets about reinventing the music video. The film goes on general release on 27 Oct. You can watch a trailer here.

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THE DEARS ANNOUNCE LONDON SHOW
The Dears will play a one-off gig at Porchester Hall in London on 16 Oct. The band's really quite lovely new album, 'Missiles', will be released on 27 Oct.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Thin Lizzy - UK Tour 75 (Major League Productions)
How best to describe anything Thin Lizzy has done in such a short space? It's like explaining rock and roll using only the words "rock" and "roll". Coming way before Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Motorhead, Thin Lizzy had been waging hard rock for four years before this recording of a live show in 1975. The album sees the band play with founding members Phil Lynott (with his a smooth, Mercury-style vocal ability) and drummer Brian Downey, alongside long-serving guitarists Scott Gortham and Brian Robertson. It's worth noting that while the line up is 'classic' Lizzy there is a bit of a lack of 'popular' hits, 'Whiskey In The Jar' in particular, and to a casual listener every song may sound like it's on the verge of being 'The Boys Are Back In Town' - not to be recorded for another year. Being a live album, the recording is obviously a little rough around the edges, but is, nevertheless, surprisingly clean and precise; and what you loose in atmosphere, you gain in thundering guitars, especially on 'Me And The Boys' which tries to shred your eardrums to pieces. The album is packed full of little rarities designed to appeal to the hardcore Lizzy fan (like a 'Cowboy Song' prototype, called by a different name), but someone new to the band would be better served by listening to 'Live And Dangerous'. Nevertheless, head-thumping tracks like 'The Rocker', 'Little Darling' and 'It's Only Money' provide great nostalgia for a time when bands like Alphabeat would be eaten alive as an after dinner mint. RL
Release Date: 8 Sep
Press Contact: Work Hard PR [all]

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AMAZON LAUNCH ONLINE ARTIST DIRECTORY
Amazon has launched its own Wikipedia style website which will allow music fans to add to and edit biogs and discographies of artists and bands. Called SoundUnwound, the new service will differ from Wikipedia in that it will be monitored by Amazon editors who, in theory, will ensure entries don't go awry as a result of some dodgy or devious editing.

At beta launch the site will carry Amazon reviews of albums by listed artists, access info from existing online music directory Musicbrainz, tap into Amazon's existing 'if you like this you'll like that' recommendations, and include links to relevant YouTube videos and, of course, Amazon's recently launched (in the US anyway) digital music store.

No word on when a full launch of the service is planned, or if and how it will be integrated into the main Amazon site.

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UKT&I STAGE SEMINAR FOR CONTENT OWNERS WITH MOBILE AMBITIONS
That UK Trade & Investment outfit is hosting a seminar in London later this month aimed at 'creative businesses', which includes music companies, I'm guessing, who are interested in capitalising on opportunities in the global mobile market - ie in making their content available for mobile phone consumption around the globe. It takes place on Wednesday 24 Sep at 2pm. If you want to go you need to email [email protected] for more information.

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58% UNSURE WHAT SOCIAL NETWORKING IS
A new report published by Synovate has found that 58% of people don't know what social networking is. The study questioned 13,000 people aged between 18 and 65 in 17 countries. They were also asked (well, the 42% who had heard of social networking, I'm assuming) if they thought that users were losing interest in social networks. 36% said yes, with the highest dissonance registering in Japan, Slovakia, Canada, and the US - with 45% in the latter saying they were getting bored of it all. However, given the age range questioned, the results may be skewed by the dearth of teenagers, who are generally more likely to sign up to and then actually use social networking websites.

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CLASH ANNOUNCE GOVERNMENT GRANT AND ONLINE EXPANSION
Ah, to be based in Scotland again, where the government seems to be handing out all sorts of cash at the moment to anyone with a project with 'digital' in its title.

One of the lucky beneficiaries of one of these Scottish government 'investment grants' is the Clash Music Group, ie the people behind popular music mag Clash. They confirmed yesterday that they had secured £230,000 in grant funding which they are planning on adding to up to £270,000 of other investment to take their online service - www.ClashMusic.com - to a whole new level. Much of the money will be used to expand the Clash team by up to 18 people in order to develop and manage new online services.

Announcing the grant and his new online plans, Clash MD John O'Rourke told CMU: "We are delighted our business has been awarded £230,000 from the Scottish Government to expand ClashMusic.com. We now have the opportunity to develop the platform with more applications that will captivate our unique community of music tastemakers and help realise our global aspirations. Clash will continue to concentrate on quality in both our content and delivery, streaming many exclusives and adding new channels, all of which shall see the level of growth continue".

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FORMER CHRYSALIS BOSS JOINS NET RADIO MAKER
Phil Riley, the former CEO of Chrysalis Radio, which was - of course, sold by the Chrysalis Group to Global Radio - has returned to the radio industry by taking the chairman role at Reciva, a Cambridge based company that manufactures internet radio technology, and which has become something of a market leader in what is seen by many as a huge growth area in broadcasting.

Confirming his new role, Riley told reporters: "I'm thrilled to be with Reciva, which has positioned itself as the leading technology provider in the rapidly expanding internet radio market. 'Connected' radios will define the future of audio broadcasting, so it's great to be working with the market leader at such an early stage".

Reciva CEO Ben Terrell added: "Phil is an acknowledged leader in the UK radio industry. His business and broadcasting skills will ensure Reciva maximises its market leading position as the Internet radio industry develops".

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LOWE APOLOGISES OVER TANKIAN SWEARING
Zane Lowe has been forced to apologise after he played an expletive-ridden song by former System Of A Down frontman Serj Tankian before the 9pm watershed on Tuesday evening.

Tankian was interviewed on Lowe's Radio 1 show, before the DJ played an uncensored live recording from this year's Reading Festival. The song was apparently quite sweary and the recording also made reference to Tankian's backing band, The Fucking Cunts.

Lowe told listeners: "What just happened was way beyond acceptable, I'm really sorry".

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BRITNEY PRAISES FATHER
Britney Spears has said that her father saved her life by taking over all her legal and business affairs earlier this year. As you'll remember, the courts gave Spears senior complete control of his daughter's affairs after one of her particularly loopy turns.

She told The Daily Star: "My father saved my life. I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him. I've not always been a good daughter; but he basically gave up his job and his life to look after me at a time when I wasn't even sure I wanted to go on living. I owe him my life".

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TAKE THAT ALBUM DELAYED BY NOISY NEIGHBOURS
Take That are currently in a west London studio working on their second post-reunion album, but sessions are reportedly being disturbed by US pop band Iglu & Hartly, who are renting a flat above the studio before their upcoming UK tour.

A source told The Daily Star: "Take That are recording downstairs and apparently Iglu & Hartly are disrupting their recording so much that the band want them out. They will be evicted at the weekend. They've been partying so hard that there have been loads of complaints. The band left a key on a window ledge outside the flat during the Notting Hill Carnival and people broke in. They also locked themselves out and had to kick the door down twice".

The band's vocalist Sam Katz apparently confirmed all this, saying: "The landlady went ape when she saw the apartment. But to us it was just a few dirty dishes. I'm cleaning the place up now, but who knows where we'll end up".

Asked about the angry old men downstairs, he said: "Take who? Are they like New Kids On The Block? Cool".

Iglu & Hartly's painful new single 'In The City' is released on 15 Sep.

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NOEL GALLAGHER SAYS WOMEN ARE RUBBISH
Noel Gallagher has revealed his top 10 favourite pop stars ever, and the criteria for getting onto the list: no solo artists; no collectives; mo women.

In a blog post on the official Oasis website, Gallagher wrote: "In the dressing room the traditional debate has started about 'The Top 10'. This means the top 10 bands of all time. No solo artists allowed. No female artists allowed. No collectives allowed (Public Enemy etc). This is the 1000th time we've been here with this. It never gets any less interesting for me".

And so, I know you can't wait, here is the definitive list:

1. The Beatles
2. The Rolling Stones
3. The Who
4. The Sex Pistols
5. The Kinks
6. The La's
7. Pink Floyd
8. The Bee Gees
9. The Specials
10. (Peter Green's) Fleetwood Mac

Yeah, well here are my criteria. No Noels. No Liams, No Gallaghers. Hmmph.

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