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SPECULATION REGARDING GATELY'S DEATH
With some mysteries still surrounding the sudden death of Boyzoner Stephen Gately last weekend the tabloids have being trying to fill in the gaps.

The Mirror reckons that after a night of drinking at Majorca's Black Cat club, the singer opted to sleep on the sofa of the apartment where he and his civil partner were staying and, while in a deep sleep, vomited. Having not woken up, he then choked to death.

The tabloid reports that police have already provided that explanation to Gately's family, though a spokesman for said family seemed to disagree with that claim, but did rule out pretty much every other option without specifically mentioning alcohol - "it's not drugs, it's not suicide, it's not murder, it's not a fight".

There has been some speculation about the presence of a third man at the apartment where Gately and his other half Andy Cowles were staying. Some reports suggest Georgi Dochev, who accompanied the couple back to their flat after a night of drinking, was the one who discovered Gately's body, though others say it was Cowles who found him.

Reports that police were trying to track down Dochev were almost certainly untrue, given he seems to have been on the scene when police first arrived after being called by Cowles. Certainly both men have been questioned by police, but said questioning seems to have been entirely routine. There has been some speculation that Cowles and Dochev were sharing the bedroom of the apartment while Gately took the sofa, though said speculation has little to do with the cause of the singer's demise.

That said, Cowles does seem to beating himself up for not being next to Gately that night, theorising he could have done something to help. The Mirror report that Gately's civil partner told the rest of the Boyzone guys: "I will never forgive myself for this. He died and I couldn't help him. I feel like my life is over".

Meanwhile a source told the tab: "They kept telling Andy that he shouldn't blame himself - but he just kept crying his eyes out. The guy is in a deep state of shock and he hasn't slept for a minute since this tragedy unfolded. He is a total mess and everyone is worried about him".

A post-mortem is due to take place today, yesterday having been a bank holiday in Spain. The rest of Boyzone have now returned to Dublin, but are expected to return to Majorca to accompany the body back to Ireland. No word yet on funeral or tribute plans.

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OVER 100 UNRELEASED JACKO SONGS IN THE VAULT
With that new Michael Jackson single going live on the late singer's website yesterday - it will also appear on the soundtrack to the 'This Is It' documentary - there has been some press speculation as to when the song was originally recorded. It's thought the song may have originated from Jackson's 'Dangerous' sessions in 1991, though one NY Times critic says he thinks it may have originally come from much earlier than that - maybe even 1979's 'Off The Wall' sessions.

Sony exec Rob Stringer, who oversees the Epic label, admits that there is a whole stack of unreleased Jackson material, most of it stored in a random way making it hard to ascertain just how much material there is, and when things were recorded.

Speaking about 'This Is It', Stringer told the Times: "It was titled 'This Is It'. It was in a box, and we listened to it... We probably have at least 100 songs in varying degrees of being finished. And we think there probably is a lot more. We haven't gone into the archive to search it properly yet. It's just too complicated to do that".

That story suggests we were wrong when we assumed the new song had been created by Jackson in the months before his death for the 'This Is It' O2 residency. Stringer adds that since the late king of pop's demise a number of producers have been in touch to say they recorded unreleased tracks with the singer. It's thought there could be at least two albums worth of content recorded since Jackson was out of contract with Sony, which would mean the Jackson clan could do a deal with another major. Rumour has it talks are already underway between the Jackson estate and Universal Music.

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CARLY SIMON SUES STARBUCKS
Carly Simon is suing Starbucks over an album she released via the coffee giant's short lived record company Hear Music.

As much previously reported, for a short time Starbucks stepped up its music partnership programme by becoming a fully fledged record company, most notably releasing Paul McCartney's first album outside of his career long relationship with EMI. However, while still selling music through its stores, Starbucks scaled back its direct involvement in Hear Music in May 2008.

The scaling back coincided with the release of Simon's latest album, 'This Kind Of Love'. In her lawsuit she claims that, as a result of Starbucks' sudden shift in strategy, they failed to promote the album to the extent that they had originally promised, even, she claims, not stocking it in many stores. Later the coffee chain cut the price of the album which, the singer says, damaged her reputation. She also alleges that she never received her full advance payment from the coffee chain, an advance which was already significantly less than original promised when the coffee firm first approached the singer.

Although it is true Starbucks cut back its music ambitions around about the time the Simon album was released, the coffee chain refute the allegations it reneged on its promotional commitments to the singer as a result. They say they went above and beyond in promoting the album, and that sales were disappointing not because of a lack of an effort on their part, but because of a lukewarm consumer response to her Brazilian-influenced fourteen track long player.

They said in a statement yesterday: "Unfortunately, sales continued to lag as the title received tepid response from music consumers. Other retailers faced the same fate with this CD".

Should this case got to court I wonder if they'll centre on what marketing activity Starbucks did for the album, or on whether or not the albums was, indeed, "tepid".

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BRENDAN MULLEN DIES
A Scot who played a prominent role in the seventies LA punk scene has died after suffering a massive stroke.

Brendan Mullen, who moved to LA in 1973, created The Masque, a legendary punk venue in the city which hosted early gigs from the likes of The Screamers, The Weirdos, The Alleycats and The Go-Gos.

The original venue was closed in 1978 when a fire marshall raised safety concerns and Mullen's landlords began eviction proceedings. Various bands of the scene took part in two fundraisers to help Mullen pay his legal fees to fight the eviction, though they ended in rioting which didn't necessarily aid the promoter's case for keeping the venue open.

After The Masque Mullens ran a number of 'Masque Presents' gigs at other venues, opened a short lived Other Masque venue elsewhere in the city, and then started programming gigs at LA's Club Lingerie, a job he continued for much of the eighties. He subsequently consulted for a number of other LA clubs, including the Viper Room and Luna Park. Having worked as a journalist before moving to the US, he later wrote and co-wrote a number of books about the US punk scene.

Mullen died at Ventura County Medical Center, according to his companion of sixteen years, Kateri Butler. The couple were travelling in the area to celebrate the promoter's 60th birthday. She is quoted by the LA Times thus: "The doctors are completely perplexed. They can't figure out why he had a stroke - he had none of the indicators, his cholesterol was perfect. One of the neurologists summed it up best when he said, 'Sometimes, your number is just up'".

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JAILED TI WINS AT BET AWARDS
US rapper TI sent his fiancee to pick up his two awards at the BET Hip Hop Awards last weekend, he being in prison and all. The incarcerated hip hopper won Best Collaboration for his song with Rihanna, 'Live Your Life', and Best Album for 'Paper Trail'.

TI, of course, is serving a year in jail for various weapons offences. His fiancee, Tameka Cottle, read out a letter from the rapper, which said: "Although I'm not there with you all, I'm there in spirit. My road to redemption is almost over... Thanks for the support".

Other winners on the night include Drake, who won Rookie Of The Year, Jay-Z, who was named MVP Of The Year ('most valuable player' in US sports speak I think), and Ice Cube, who won an Icon Award. Collecting that prize Ice said this: "When you get recognised by your peers for a life of work, you got to be humbled. I'm honoured by this. I have 20 more years of work left in me. I hope [BET] is ready to give out two of these awards".

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UNIVERSAL RE-SIGN JOHNNY MARR
Universal Music Publishing has re-signed Johnny Marr to a long-term, global publishing agreement covering all of the guitarist's rights in The Smiths catalogue.

Confirming the deal, Marr told CMU: "I'm very happy that The Smiths catalogue is with Universal Music Publishing. It's great to be working with people who understand the band's legacy and genuinely appreciate the music".

Universal's Paul Connolly added: "The Smiths are one of my all-time favourite bands and our long-term relationship with Johnny is a joy. We are huge admirers of his legacy with The Smiths and look forward to enjoying many more years of working together".

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BMG SIGN GERMAN VIOLIN STAR
BMG Rights Management have signed a publishing contract with David Garrett, the German violinist that at least one journalist has called "the David Beckham of the classical scene". Garrett's two main albums to date ('Virtuosos' and 'Encore', he recently released an eponymous long player too) have sold 400,000 units in the extended German music market. The BMG deal will cover the publishing rights in those past releases and new work, and will also see the music firm represent the musician on sync rights.

Garrett's manager Rick Blaskey confirmed the deal yesterday, saying: "We are excited to now have BMG Rights as our publishing partner, as we wanted to work with a company that is hungry, entrepreneurial and is at such an exciting stage of its development. As David emerges as one of the world's leading music entertainers, it was important for us to work with a publisher whose roots are so firmly based in the international entertainment business. Now, together, we have such exciting opportunities to create and exploit our music across so many other possible areas beyond just the record business".

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KINGS OF LEON WRITE ALBUM BY FORCE
With Oasis out of the picture, Kings Of Leon now have to take the lead as pop's biggest squabbling family members. And it sounds like they're doing a pretty good job of it. According to reports, frontman Caleb Followill's brothers and cousin are having to forcibly make contributions to their fifth album, the follow-up to last year's 'Only By The Night'.

Speaking to The Daily Star, bassist Jared Followill reportedly said: "We started seriously writing the songs when we got back home from tour. I got a call from Caleb going: 'I'm sitting here writing the next album by myself'. And we're like: 'Oh no, you're not'. We ended up going to his house so that when the record comes out he can't go: 'Dude, I'm getting 70% of this shit'".

He added: "Caleb was really weird when we started. Everything that I thought was quite charming about us, he wanted to lie about. For me it's hard having an opinion on this band. If I wasn't involved I can't imagine liking us a lot, just because I only control 25% of it. In every song there's something I wish I could change. Each one of us are like that, though. We're definitely missing the rawness that we had when we started".

Saying he'd like to move back to the style of the band's earlier material, he also took a quick swipe at his brother's more recent lyrics: "I'd like to start getting back to the storytelling aspect of songwriting. Songs like 'Trani' and 'Joe's Head' were full of great stories. Although, let's keep it about things that are deep and meaningful like sexually transmitted diseases and sex".

The band have also announced that they will release a live DVD recorded at their shows at the O2 Dome in June. The standard DVD edition will be out on 9 Nov, with the swanky Blu-ray version out on 23 Nov.

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WAITS TO RELEASE A CD OF BETWEEN SONG RAMBLINGS
Tom Waits will next month release a two disc live album documenting his Glitter And Doom tour from last year. It'll be interesting in that while disc one will have sixteen songs tapped from ten different nights of the tour, disc two will consist exclusively of Waits' between song ramblings. Here are the tracks that appear in on the first disc (with where they were recorded in brackets).

Lucinda/Ain't Goin Down (Birmingham)
Singapore (Edinburgh)
Get Behind the Mule (Tulsa)
Fannin Street (Knoxville)
Dirt In The Ground (Milan)
Such A Scream (Milan)
Live Circus (Jacksonville)
Goin' Out West (Tulsa)
Falling Down (Paris)
The Part You Throw Away (Edinburgh)
Trampled Rose (Dublin)
Metropolitan Glide (Knoxville)
I'll Shoot The Moon (Paris)
Green Grass (Edinburgh)
Make It Rain (Atlanta)
Story (Columbus)
Lucky Day (Atlanta)

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GRIZZLY BEAR ANNOUNCE VECKATIMEST SPECIAL EDITION
Grizzly Bear have announced that they will re-release their third album, 'Veckatimest', via Warp on 2 Nov, featuring an extra disc of stuff and a 24 page photobooklet. For those of you who already went out and bough the album, don't feel foolish, the bonus tracks will be available as a stand-alone release on iTunes.

Here is the tracklist for that second disc:

Southern Point (KCRW Session)
All We Ask (KCMP Session)
Ready, Able (KCRW Session)
Foreground (Duyster Session)
Two Weeks (BBC Maida Vale Session)
Dory (World Café Session)
While You Wait For The Others (BBC Maida Vale Session)

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ANIMAL COLLECTIVE: NO ALBUM (BOO), EP (YAY)
Okay, so yesterday we reported on rumours that Animal Collective might be releasing a new album called 'Fall Be Kind'. Well, it turns out they're not. But, hey, don't cry, they will be releasing a new EP called 'Fall be Kind'.

The band's Avey Tare told Pitchfork that the EP will feature five new songs that will be "darker" than the material on the 'Merriweather Post Pavillion' album, which was released in January. They will also be releasing a new single taken from that album, 'Brother Sport', on 9 Nov.

Of the EP, he said: "It's like 28 minutes long, five songs. The title is kind of a play on fall behind', when you move the clocks back. Everything seems to be very seasonal or weather-oriented for us this year. I wanted to keep it a little bit in line with that. It felt like 'Merriweather Post Pavilion' was really springy or summery. We always try and push for our releases to come out at a specific time. It didn't really happen with 'Merriweather', unfortunately, but that's because we just really wanted to get that one out quickly. But with this one, we were hoping it would come out in the fall, so 'Fall Be Kind'".

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THE XX ANNOUNCE 2010 TOUR
The xx have announced their first round of 2010 tour dates already. They're not even happening until March, which is ages and ages away.

Oh well, here are the dates anyway:

1 Mar: Brighton, Komedia
3 Mar: London, Shepherds Bush Empire
5 Mar: Birmingham, Academy 2
6 Mar: Manchester, Academy 2
8 Mar: Leeds, Cockpit
9 Mar: Edinburgh, Studio 24
10 Mar: Liverpool, The Kazimier

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ANDY WILLIAMS CONFIRMED FOR GLASTONBURY
Andy Williams has announced that he has been booked to perform at next year's Glastonbury festival. A spokesperson for the festival refused to confirm this, saying that the line-up would not be officially announced until next year.

That doesn't mean Williams is lying, though. He's very trustworthy. I remember on the promotional leaflet for The Anvil venue in Basingstoke, which had a quote from the singer that said: "My three favourite places in the world are New York, Paris and Basingstoke". And that couldn't possibly be a lie.

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MORE SPEAKERS ADDED TO DUBAI SOUND CITY
The organisers of next month's Dubai Sound City have announced a load more speakers who will be taking part in what is set to be one of the most international music business events I've ever come across. Two keynotes have been added to the agenda, which will come from Kimitaka Kato from Universal Japan (on Thursday) and the always insightful Brian Message, ATC Management boss and Radiohead manager of course (on Friday).

Confirming the new additions, Dubai Sound City's Festival Director David Pichilingi told CMU: "We're thrilled to announce two of the biggest music industry heavyweights as keynote speakers at Dubai Sound City. Universal Japan's Kimitaka Kato and ATC Management/Polyphonic's Brian Message have unparalleled knowledge in their respective fields and we're extremely excited that they will be sharing the secrets of their trades with over 300 delegates at the inaugural conference. With 30 industry specialists speaking at eight panels split across two days, Dubai Sound City Conference is going to be a fantastic opportunity to mix with the most highest level industry movers and shakers from all over the world".

Also set to speak at the convention this year are ReverbNation's Lou Plaia, Grooveshark's Sam Tarantin, Nokia's Jake Larsen, Activision's Tim Riley and Australian promoter extraordinaire Michael Chugg. More at www.dubaisoundcity.com

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ALBUM REVIEW: Elbow - Asleep In The Back (Deluxe Edition) (Universal)
If you don't already own Elbow's impressive decade-old debut album, this re-release presents a good opportunity to discover it. If you already have, however, the extra material on the (sadly dispensable) bonus discs comprise nothing to make this an essential purchase: the second CD's live and session tracks might be interesting curios for fans (which also goes for the bonus DVD), but are ultimately redundant. What is still worth exploring though, is the music.

Like Coldplay, keyboards form a key part of Elbow's sound but, unlike Chris Martin's group, there's no concession to stadium-friendly anthems here (which probably partly explains the differing success levels the two groups have experienced); the mood is solemn, downbeat, occasionally angry, even; there's a general air of bitterness and resignation in Guy Garvey's vocals and lyrics, whilst the morose trip hop moodiness of 'Any Day Now' and 'Little Beast' puts them closer to Massive Attack than to indie contemporaries like Snow Patrol. The abrasive guitar of 'Bitten By The Tail Fly' meanwhile recalls fellow Mancunian miserablists Joy Division ('She's Lost Control'), whilst there's something of latter-day Radiohead in the sinister sombreness of 'Coming Second'.

What does stand out more than any of that though is a songwriting guile and way with mood that has been subtly refined over subsequent albums. As re-releases go this is a slightly pointless one; an obvious attempt to milk a cash cow in light of recent Mercury success. But it still feels good to bathe in this luxurious melancholy again. MS

Physical release: 26 Oct
Press contact: Universal IH [NP], Bang On [O]

Buy from iTunes
Buy from Amazon

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BAUER RADIO MAKE REGULATION MAN REDUNDANT
Bauer Media's radio division have made their Head Of Regulatory & Public Affairs, that's Mike Philips, redundant. One of Philips' key jobs was liaising with media regulator OfCom. Steve King, who is acting Station Manager for the group's Kerrang! and Q radio stations will take over his responsibilities.

Seemingly departing on good terms, Philips said in a statement: "I have enjoyed my time with Bauer Media working closely with Dee, Travis, Steve and our station teams. It is has been a privilege working with such professionals at Bauer and at Ofcom. Both organisations sharea common purpose in wanting to see each and every station achieve ever greater things. Our industry has undergone enormous structural change over recent years and I am pleased to have played a part. I wish my colleagues at Bauer Media all the very best for the future".

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TOTAL ROCK WORLD ALBUM CHART
It's this week's Total Rock World Album Chart, as counted down on Total Rock last weekend - www.totalrock.com. New entries and re-entries marked with a *.

1. Muse - The Resistance (Warner Bros)
2. Megadeth - Endgame (Warner/Roadrunner)
3. Pearl Jam - Backspacer (Universal)
4. Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown (Warner Bros)
5. Brand New - Daisy (Universal/Interscope)*
6. Porcupine Tree - The Incident (Warner/Roadrunner)
7. Daughtry - Leave This Town (Sony Music)
8. Nickelback - Dark Horse (Warner/Roadrunner)
9. Billy Talent - III (Warner/Atlantic)
10. Five Finger Death Punch - War Is The Answer (Spinefarm)*
11. Children Of Bodom - Skeletons In The Closet (Spinefarm)*
12. The Used - Artwork (Warner Bros)
13. Shinedown - The Sound Of Madness (Warner/Atlantic)
14. AC/DC - Black Ice (Sony Music)
15. Pearl Jam - Ten (Sony Music)*
16. Thrice - Beggars (Vagrant)
17. Rise Against - Appeal To Reason (Universal/Geffen)
18. Black Dahlia Murder - Deflorate (Metal Blade)
19. Theory Of A Deadman - Scars & Souvenirs (Warner/Roadrunner)
20. Ace Frehley - Anomaly (Season Of Mist)

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LIAM GALLAGHER "GUTTED" ABOUT OASIS DEMISE
Having recently admitted that Oasis is well and truly over following his brother's acrimonious departure at the end of August, Liam Gallagher has told the Daily Mail he's "gutted" about recent events and doesn't really want to talk about them. Just yet. He told the paper: "It's only just been a month and I have to sit down and work it out. But I'm gutted. I love being in Oasis. When I'm ready, you will hear my side of the story".

Talking about his new clothing label Pretty Green - which was the point of the Mail interview, I think - Liam did find time to have a little swipe at Noel. He observed of his brother and former bandmate: "He dresses like Liz Hurley's son. He's on the posh vibe. Loves a cardigan and all that. He had some of the Pretty Green gear when we were almost on speaking terms, but I don't think he's happy about it. A few of my mates were backstage wearing it and he was like 'Why are you wearing that?' And my mates were like 'Cos you bloody can't'. What does he know anyway? His fashion sense is massively overrated".

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CHIPMUNK FANCIES SATURDAYS HOOK UP
Having beaten The Saturday to the top of the singles chart this week, Chipmunk has suggested he collaborate with the girls. He told The Star: "When I heard we were coming out on the same day as The Saturdays, I was nervous. We are going to be working together - gimme one of their verses and I'm gonna kill it".

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HOOK CALLS MORRISSEY A TWAT
Peter Hook's been good value for money lately. Last week he was revealing that he carried on signing Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis' name on records even after he'd committed suicide, now he's calling Morrisssey a twat and claiming that the former Smiths frontman gets his mum to do all his legal work.

Speaking at a Q&A session at Borders in Bristol, where he was promoting his new book, 'The Haçienda: How Not To Run A Club', Hook said: "There's no way I could have liked The Smiths as they were our competition. Morrissey's a twat anyway. He makes Mark E Smith look popular! He really does. What I do love about Mozzer though, is that any time anyone has any legal problem with him, the only person you can speak to about [it] is his mother! That's true. So if you have a problem you have to deal with Morrissey's mother. And the first thing she says is, 'Our Steven wouldn't do that!'"

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