DJ SHADOW CONFIRMED FOR GREAT ESCAPE CONVENTION AND FESTIVAL
It wasn't the best kept of secrets in the end, but organisers of The Great Escape have this morning confirmed that the mighty DJ Shadow will perform on the first night of the festival this year. He will be bringing his 'Shadowsphere' show to Brighton for one night only, an awe-inspiring high-tech multi-media musical experience.

Not only that, and this bit is particularly exciting for us, Shadow will also appear as part of the In Conversation strand at The Great Escape convention, which is being programmed by CMU this year. The day after the live show he'll be joining us on the TGE convention stage to talk through his extraordinary career to date.

One of hip hop's true pioneers, whose influence spreads throughout countless genres, Shadow has always experimented in the field of music and audio-visual technology, pushing boundaries in the process. From his record-breaking debut album 'Endtroducing.....' via the first UNKLE record, the Quannum Projects label, the 'Four-Track Era' project, his involvement in the 'DJ Hero' franchise, to the latest ground-breaking live show, Shadow will step out of the sphere for Great Escape delegates to lift the lid on his inspirational career.

Shadow isn't the only addition to The Great Escape festival line-up this morning. Sufjan Stevens has also been confirmed to play, in his case on the final night of the proceedings. Both the Shadow and Stevens live shows, and the DJ Shadow In Conversation event, are co-promotions between The Great Escape and the Brighton Festival, the three week cultural fest which takes over Brighton during May, the full programme for which is due out today.

Shadow and Stevens join a Great Escape festival line up that already includes the likes of Friendly Fires, Warpaint, Katy B, Brother, Twin Shadow, D/R/U/G/S, Becoming Real, PVT, Dutch Uncles, Tribes, worriedaboutsatan, Teeth, Visions Of Tree and Seams.

Meanwhile, on the convention side, Shadow joins BRIT Award winning producer Paul Epworth in the In Conversation programme, while discussing the future shape of the music company, the music market and the artist deal will be PRS for Music's Will Page, Cooking Vinyl's Martin Goldschmidt, BMG UK's Alan Pell, Deloitte's Paul Lee, Various Artists Management's David Bianci and many more. This year will also see the launch of a new masterclass programme and a series of case study sessions providing practical advice on how to develop, launch and monetise new talent.

For more info on all things The Great Escape, and to book your delegates passes, get yourself over to www.escapegreat.com.

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BUJU BANTON FOUND GUILTY OF DRUGS CHARGES
Buju Banton is facing up to fifteen years in jail after being found guilty of various drugs charges in the Florida courts over allegations the reggae singer conspired to set up a cocaine deal in 2009.

As previously reported, Banton was arrested after seemingly trying to buy five kilos of cocaine in 2009. Prosecutors also told the court that the singer had told a police informant that he could set up a coke deal on several occasions.

However, Banton has always maintained that he was tricked by a cocaine smuggler, and that while he may have told the informant he could set up a drugs deal such claims were actually idle boasts. The prosecution conceded that no money had ever changed hands in relation to any drugs deal Banton spoke about.

When the case first came to court last September jurors couldn't reach a decision and a mistrial was declared. This time it took jurors two days to decide the singer was guilty of three of the four charges he faced: conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offence and using the wires to facilitate a drug trafficking offence. He was cleared of the charged of attempted possession with the intent to distribute.

Banton is now awaiting sentencing, but his lawyer admitted yesterday he could get up to fifteen years. He has been in a US jail since being arrested back in 2009.

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ABI MCQUATER WINS BASECAMP ROCKS
The final of new bands competition Basecamp Rocks took place at the Camden Barfly last night, with five bands competing for the overall prize of an all-expenses paid mini-tour of some key Alpine ski resorts in April.

As previously reported, this new bands contests, sponsored by ski company Basecamp, begins online with fans voting for their favourite acts via the competition's website. 24 bands then performed at a mega-semi-final at the Islington Academy at the start of the year. A judging panel of four, including CMU Publisher Chris Cooke, then picked four finalists, with a fifth going through based on an audience vote.

Competing last night were folk-tinged acts Early Ghost and Dickie & The Bohemians, rock bands Cytota and Rothko (who had changed their name from Kill!TheKid since the semi-finals), and singer-songwriter Abi McQuater. All five put on impressive sets, but it was McQuater who got the most votes from the returning judging panel, making her the overall winner.

Commenting on the final, the boss of Basecamp, Fergie Miller, told CMU: "Last night showed how important a competition like Base Camp Rocks is. With our final selling out for the second year in a row, it is great to be providing such talented young artists with the opportunity to perform at some of the best London venues, the O2 Academy Islington for the semi-finals, and The Camden Barfly last night".

He added: "Thanks must go to all of our musicians and judges who have made BCR another huge success this year, along with our partners, including The Eleven, Ticket To Ride and OnePiece. Though, of course, our main praise has to go to Abi McQuater, our incredible champion. We now look forward to heading out to The Alps with her for her prize-winning tour!"

You can check out McQuater at www.myspace.com/abimcquater

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LADY GAGA BEST FOR STRESS, POLL FINDS
Commuters find Lady Gaga most relieves stress at the start of the working week, according to new research by mental health charity Mind.

The organisation also found that 74% of people listen to their favourite songs on their way to work, and 52% reported feeling energised for the day as a result. A third said that listening to music cheers them up when they are down about work, while just under a quarter agreed that they found listening to music during their morning commute relaxing.

While at work, 36% of people who listen to music in their offices said it improved the workplace, 32% said it improved morale and 26% said it reduced stress and workplace disagreements. Meanwhile 18% reckoned that listening to music at their desk would make them more productive. The other 72% are presumably listening to the wrong music.

A poll found that people's top five stress-busting acts are as follows:

1. Lady Gaga
2. Cheryl Cole
3. Rhianna
4. Mumford & Sons
5. Take That

Mind Chief Executive, Paul Farmer told CMU: "The therapeutic benefits of listening to music are well-known. A song which makes you feel good can be incredibly soothing and help to reduce anxiety. If you're worried about your working day ahead then listening to your favourite songs on your commute can be a great way to relax and refocus".

He continued: "When you're tackling a heavy workload, music can be a great motivator and boost productivity. It helps to eliminate distractions around you such as noisy colleagues, machinery or phones so that you can focus on the task in hand. While listening to music may not fit in with the culture of every workplace, we urge employers to be flexible in their outlook and create dialogue with their staff about their preferences".

Mind is now launching a Twitter campaign asking people to tweet their favourite stress-relieving songs with the hashtag #MindMusicMonday at the start of each working week. Those people who do so can not only show off their awesome taste in music, but will also help raise awareness of issues around stress and anxiety.

Follow Mind on Twitter at: twitter.com/mindcharity

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WILD BEASTS ANNOUNCE NEW ALBUM
Wild Beasts have announced that they will release their third album, 'Smother', on 9 May via Domino. The band will also embark on a brief tour of the UK around the release, which will include two nights at Wilton's Music Hall in London on 11 and 12 May.

Watch a trailer for the album here: youtu.be/0Vf6oNalJ_8

And here's the tracklist:

Lion's Share
Bed Of Nails
Deeper
Loop The Loop
Plaything
Invisible
Albatross
Reach A Bit Further
Burning
End Come Too Soon

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UNKLE ANNOUNCE NEW EP AND ALBUM RE-RELEASE
UNKLE are to release a new EP entitled 'Only The Lonely' on 4 Apr via Surrender All. The five-track record features a collaboration with Leila Moss of The Duke Spirit, and also a star turn from Nick Cave, who lends his vocals to lead track 'Money And Run'.

Full of praise for the duo, Cave admits: "I've always had a huge soft spot for UNKLE - their pop sensibilities, their hooks, big choruses, their super-treated production - so when they sent me some music to sing over I jumped at the chance. The song they sent was great too - something wonderfully dense about it, like T Rex's 'Metal Guru' or something. I wrote a lyric - something desperate sounding to run counterpoint to the joyful racket of the music. It's a fucking hit".

The EP's tracklisting:
Money and Run (feat Nick Cave)
The Dog Is Black (feat Leila Moss)
Only The Lonely (dub)
Wash The Love Away (feat Gavin Clark)
Sunday Song (feat Rachel Fannan)

The EP release will be followed shortly by an extended re-issue of UNKLE's 2010 album 'When Did The Night Fall' on 11 Apr. The new version includes a bonus disc with all sorts of rarities and such like on it. Preceding all this release-related hoopla, UNKLE will also play a set at London's Brixton Academy on 1 Apr.

In almost related news, UNKLE's James Lavelle put together a brilliant Powers Of Ten playlist for us last year, featuring ten tracks from The National, Carl Craig, Queens Of The Stone Age and more. Click here to see the full tracklist and to listen in Spotify.

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PATRICK WOLF REVEALS ALBUM DETAILS
An increasingly jovial Patrick Wolf has both written and produced his new album 'Lupercalia', and on it he plays the Appalachian dulcimer amongst other strange instruments. The rosy-cheeked pop minstrel hopes to reach a more mainstream audience with his latest full-length record, which is due for release on 31 May through Mercury/Hideout.

Get a feel for Pat's jauntier new sound by watching the video for 'The City' here: youtu.be/3hBJIbSScBM

The tracklisting is as follows:

The City
House
Bermondsey Street
The Future
Armistice
William
Time Of My Life
The Days
Slow Motion
Together
The Falcons

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GLENN CLOSE NOT PLAYING SUSAN BOYLE
Glenn Close isn't going to star as Susan Boyle in a film version of the singer's life. I'm amazed you thought she was, to be honest. Despite claims in The Sun earlier this week that Close was signed on to portray the 'Britain's Got Talent' runner up on the big screen, a spokesperson for the actress told Lifeline Live today that all such chatter was "complete rubbish".

Meryl Streep's playing Margaret Thatcher in a film. That's probably where you've got confused.

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KOMPAKT TO SHOWCASE ITS STARS AT ETHER FESTIVAL
Cologne-based electro label Kompakt will take up temporary residency at London's Southbank Centre as part of the innovative multi-arts festival that is Ether, which runs from 24 Mar to 28 Apr this year. The label will stage two nights during the festival itself, and is also hosting an Ether launch party later this week.

Taking place in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the dates look something like this:

25 Feb: Juan MacLean, Matias Aguayo/Daniel Maloso's Comeme, The Hundred In The
Hands and Stopmakingme

3 Apr: KrautPopAmbient feat Wolfgang Voigt and Jörg Burger, The Field's Axel
Willner plus special guests

8 Apr: Pantha du Prince, Apparat and Walls (DJ Set)

Find further details on the Ether website here: www.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/festivals-series/ether

Also check out this colourful video from Kompakt artist Matias Aguayo, who will perform at this Friday's show with a nine-piece band from Buenos Aires: youtube.com/NwpniTJ3B84

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TWIN SHADOW TO TOUR IN MAY
Having released acclaimed album 'Forget' towards the end of last year, synth wizard George Lewis Jr, aka Twin Shadow, has announced that he is to embark on a series of European dates later this year. This kicks off with a couple of UK stops, which look like this:

11 May: London, The Scala
12 May: Brighton, Corn Exchange

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FIELD DAY PRESENTS NIGHT AT XOYO
The orchestrators of Victoria Park's annual Field Day extravaganza, which this year will welcome acts including Wild Beasts, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti and The Horrors, have released details of a special one-off event at London's XOYO on 11 Mar.

Field Day Night is co-hosted by BleeD and Eat Your Own Ears, and will feature a DJ set from the talented Four Tet, as well as appearances by Floating Points, Brackles, Casper C and Chimes.

See here for more info: www.xoyo.co.uk/events/gigdetails/11-mar-11-a-field-day-night-xoyo/

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FESTIVAL LINE-UP UPDATE

BENICASSIM, Valencia, Spain, 14-17 Jul: Sweet Scottish crooner Paulo Nutini is amongst the latest additions to the Benicassim bill, with Pendulum and The Stranglers also poised to perform. And So I Watch You From Afar, Professor Green, The Morning Benders, O Emperor and more will perform alongside Congotronic vs Rockers, a collaborative ensemble that includes members of Deerhoof, Kasai Allstars and Wildbirds & Peacedrums. www.fiberfib.com

CAMDEN CRAWL, various venues, London, 30 Apr-1 May: Amongst the horde of acts announced to play this Gaymers-backed bash are Lethal Bizzle, Hadouken!, Villagers, The King Blues, Ghostpoet, Little Comets and Cocknbullkid, who will perform at venues across the north London borough. www.thecamdencrawl.com

DOT TO DOT, various venues, 29-31 May: Taking place across venues in Manchester, Bristol and Nottingham, the bank holiday shindig will play host to avante-garde pop duo Hurts, as well as The Naked & Famous, Mona, Ed Sheeran and Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. Unfortunately for those in the other two cities, Darwin Deez will only appear at the Manchester leg. www.dottodotfestival.co.uk

DOWNLOAD, Donington Park, 10-12 Jun: US glam-metallers Twisted Sister are newly confirmed to appear directly beneath Alice Cooper (on the bill, that is) at Castle Donington's heaviest of heavy rock events. Ex-GNR bassist Duff McKagen is also set to make a triumphant return with his band Loaded. Hardcore band Trash Talk of the 'powerviolence' genre will also put on a powerful performance, though hopefully not a violent one. Metal supergroup Down complete the recent announcements for the festival, which is co-headlined by Linkin Park and System Of A Down. www.downloadfestival.co.uk/2011/

HEINEKEN OPEN'ER, Gdynia, Poland, 30 Jun-3 Jul: MIA will bring her brilliant brand of world alt-music to Poland for this year's Open'er festival, appearing alongside Cut Copy, Youssou N'Dour and Abraham Inc. These are added to a bill that includes Foals, Hurts, Primus and line-up supremos Coldplay. www.opener.pl/en

SONAR, Barcelona, Spain, 16-18 Jun: Making a second appearance in the Line-Up Update today is MIA, who will treat crowds to the best of her latest album and recent 'Vicki Leekx' mixtape at this year's Sonar. South African rap outfit Die Antwoord further boost the festival's cool factor, while Cut Copy and Boys Noize will also take to the stage on both legs of the dual-venue fiesta. Buraka Som Sistema, Shackleton, Nicolas Jaar, Africa Hitech, Global Communication, Paul Kalkbrenner and Steve Aoki will also play alongside such already-announced acts as Salem, Underworld and Magnetic Man. www.sonar.es/en/

T IN THE PARK, Balado, Scotland, 8-10 Jul: T organisers have launched this year's event via Twitter with a veritable feast of announcements. Keeping things very British, headlining duties will be shared between Arctic Monkeys and Coldplay, with Pulp and Beady Eye also set to play. This theme continues with BRIT darlings Tinie Tempah, Jessie J and Plan B all on the bill, alongside Friendly Fires, Manic Street Preachers, Tom Jones, The View and White Lies. There will be some foreigners, though. My Chemical Romance, Brandon Flowers, Ke$ha, Bright Eyes and Diplo are all also set to appear. www.tinthepark.com

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ALBUM REVIEW: The Death Set - Michel Poiccard (Ninja Tune/Counter Records)
Created after the death of TDS co-founder Beau Velasco from a drug overdose, 'Michel Poiccard' is a somewhat befittingly messy record.

Along with Dananananaykroyd and Johnny Foreigner, you might want to think of TDS as 'fight pop', a slightly made up genre to be reckoned with. An energetic, raucous blip on the indie scene, this music is at once exciting and annoying, but never boring.

With that in mind, what's messy about 'Michel Poiccard' doesn't lie in its naturally given genre, but in its only partly successful attempts to escape from it. It's a raw and emotional album, with a significant amount of depth in it for such a shallow breed of indie pop. With the help of XXXchange, Diplo and Spank Rock, the scattering, undeniably bratty sound of the band's earlier work is reigned in and polished. Just.

Next single, 'We Are Going Anywhere Man' is actually a pretty lovely song, exhilarating and uplifting, not unlike the album's counter highlight 'Chew It Like A Gun Gum'. But, of course, a leopard will never change its spots and there are also still a load of brash, tantrumy songs about French girls who enjoy anal sex (in your dreams, gentlemen). However, some softness creeps through with 'I Miss You Beau Velasco', a gorgeous track, which owes a small nod to our friends The Radio Dept in its dreamy, textured layers of sound.

I don't really like anything that's labelled 'uber cool' - my nerdy little heart shrivels inside and I back away to more comfortable pastures - but I will always have a soft spot for the faux-geekiness of TDS, more so now with thanks to this fitting tribute to Velasco. TW

Physical release: 28 Feb

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FESTIVAL AWARDS TO STAGE DEBATES AROUND THE UK
Organisers of the UK Festival Awards have announced a series of mini-conferences to be staged in cities around the UK. Called The City Sessions, each event will feature a panel discussing a different issue affected the festival sector and allow for networking between those involved in festival-type events. The City Sessions will take place in Leeds, London, Bristol, Glasgow and Birmingham this spring, and will presumably be like mini versions of the Festival Conference which is staged alongside the Festival Awards each autumn.

Festival Awards MD James Drury told CMU: "The UK Festival Conference has proved extremely popular so we wanted to make sure the festival industry across the UK could get access to the same high quality information and expertise without the expense of coming to London. By working in tandem with regional and national music industry organisations, each Session will give delegates practical, tailored information which will help make their business stronger - which is good news for everyone who loves festivals".

The Festival Awards have also set up a new website aimed at those working in the festivals industry at www.festivalinsights.com.

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BMG APPOINTS BANKERS TO ADVISE ON POSSIBLE WARNER BID
According to Sky News dude Mark Kleinman, BMG has hired the services of not one but two sets of bankers (because you can never have too many bankers) to advise it on a possible acquisition of Warner/Chappell, the music publishing business of the Warner Music Group.

BMG and its backers KKR have long been favourites to bid for some or all of Warner Music, ever since it became clear the US music major's current owners would be taking offers.

KKR is one of the few potential bidders who commentators believe could conceivably bid for the whole of Warner, and BMG boss Hartwig Masuch has said he is interested in extending his company's recording rights assets as well as further adding to their publishing catalogue.

Though the latest rumours seem to be that KKR/BMG will only bid for Warner/Chappell. Such a deal is believed to be preferred by Warner CEO Edgar Bronfman Junior, who would hope to use the monies raised by a sale of the publishing business to fund an acquisition of some of EMI, probably the record labels, which is also up for sale.

Sky says that both Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan are now advising BMG on how to structure and finance a Warner/Chappell bid. As previously reported, they face competition from up to twenty other bidders for the Warner publishing catalogue.

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IE FORMS PARTNERSHIP WITH AUSSIE INDIE DOWN UNDER
The Australian office of London-based management firm ie:music, best known for managing Robbie Williams, has entered into a partnership with Inertia, a leading Australian independent record company and label services business.

Reps for the two companies say that ie:inertia will be a "full service artist management venture" providing "a locally based, experienced management team with an established worldwide support network". The new venture will be overseen by ie:music's Dan Medlan, who recently relocated to Sydney to manage Ladyhawke and Passenger.

Inertia's Group MD, Colin Daniels, told The Music Network: "Inertia has built a reputation for providing artists and labels a high level service experience across industry platforms. It's our aim to extend those services to include artist management providing full support including funding for new artists".

Meanwhile, in a statement ie:music joint MDs Tim Clark and David Enthoven said: "As a management company, we provide the best possible services to the artists we represent. We are not a rights acquisition company but rather a company that aims to promote, exploit and protect all our artists rights. Inertia share our philosophy and we are delighted to be forming ie:inertia with them".

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NEW MP3 RESALE SITE EMERGES
Oh, here we go again, another MP3 resale service has appeared on the horizon. Remember Bopaboo? No? Go on, it's there somewhere deep in your memory, the website that allowed people to resell their MP3s to others providing they promised to delete their original copy once someone else had bought it off them.

It was one of those services plagued by copyright issues from the word go. I'm not quite sure what happened to it. Its owners made quite a bit of noise for a few weeks and then quietly disappeared - the company's official blog is now turning up a lovely syntax error. I'm not sure it was around long enough for record companies to actually sue.

The new MP3 resale service has launched in the US and is called the ReDigi Marketplace. When Hypebot raised the copyright issues that surround their service, one of ReDigi's founders Larry Rudolph was upbeat: "Being a group of computer geeks when someone tells us something can't be done, we immediately set a course to figure out how to do it".

He continued: "There are many layers that go into ReDigi that make it work, legal and technical being just a few. Our team figured out what could be done to legally ensure that consumers regain the freedom to manage their own personal music collections".

Rudolph seems confident that as well as the technical framework he and his colleagues have built for ReDigi, they have also found a legal framework that will satisfy rightsholders. That includes passing a portion of any resale money back to the artist or label whose content is being resold.

I'm not convinced that will be enough to avoid a cease and desist from at least one major if and when ReDigi takes off, but it should be interesting to watch in the meantime.

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LEONA LEWIS TO GO DUBSTEP?
Leona Lewis has had enough of singing boring ballads, and will be switching to dubstep on her next album. Well, according to The Sun, anyway.

A source told the paper: "Simon Cowell's Syco team have asked songwriters to hand them dubstep and dance tracks with traditional lyrics for the 'X-Factor' winner. And they've specifically stated no ballads. It's a big change for her".

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JUSTIN BIEBER GETS HAIR CUT, FILM CUT AND MOULD CUT
It was a big news day in Bieber-ville yesterday. Biggest of all was the revelation that the pop tyke's trademark Lego haircut had been removed and replaced with something shorter.

The hair-cutting incident seemingly happened during a video shoot for a new track he's recorded with Rascall Flatts. Jay DeMarcus from the band later posted a picture of the new do on Twitter, which you can see here: plixi.com/p/79060195. Justin is the one on the right. I think.

But don't worry, the hair-cutting atrocity was all for a good cause. Bieber later tweeted himself: "Yeah, so it's true... I got a lil haircut. I like it, and we are giving all the hair cut to CHARITY to auction".

Of course, having shorter hair means less protection when things like this happen: youtu.be/0e50vqY7Szo

Elsewhere in Bieber news, Paramount's Insurge Pictures has announced that a new director's cut of the pop star's 3D documentary, 'Never Say Never', will be released in the US and Canada this weekend, less than two weeks after the original version's release. 'Justin Bieber: Never Say Never Director's Fan Cut' will feature an extra 40 minutes of footage, extending it to just under two hours in length.

Director Jon M Chu explains that when he was editing the original cut of the film he realised he was removing some real "riches" to get it down to size. With that in mind, he went online and quizzed some Beliebers about what they wanted to see, presumably because making a film based on internet suggestions worked so well for 'Snakes On A Plane'.

Quite why he didn't use the Bieber fans' input for the original version of the film, rather than going with the riches-free version, I don't know. Anyone would thing he and his producers wanted a clever way to force every parent of a whiny Belieber to take their offspring to see what is basically the same film for a second time just two weeks later.

It's not clear if this clip will be included in the new footage: youtu.be/0e50vqY7Szo

Finally in this unnecessarily long Bieber update, news reaches us that a waxwork of the star will be unveiled simultaneously at Madame Tussauds in London, New York and Amsterdam next month.

Liz Edwards of Madame Tussauds in London told the BBC: "Justin Bieber is truly a worldwide sensation. We have been absolutely inundated with requests from young fans from around the world to see him at Madame Tussauds. We're sure his fans will be just as delighted as we are that Justin will be joining the A-list here in March".

Of course, usually waxworks at Madame Tussauds are eventually melted down to make new ones, once the waxed-up c'leb's celebrity has waned. Maybe Bieber could come to some sort of agreement with the tourist attraction to keep all three for himself when that happens, because he could use them to confuse would be attackers: youtu.be/0e50vqY7Szo

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