US INDIE STORES PROTEST JAY-Z AND KANYE EXCLUSIVES
Numerous independent record store owners in the US have put their names to a letter protesting exclusive deals (in America) with iTunes and Best Buy for Jay-Z and Kanye West's 'Watch The Throne' album. Written by the organisers of Record Store Day, the letter explains that the decision to release the album to iTunes four days before the physical release, and then give Best Buy exclusive rights to sell a deluxe version of the CD for the first ten days "will be doing great damage to over 1700 independent record stores".

The album is due for release in America on 12 Aug (8 Aug on iTunes), and the letter was being circulated around indie store owners to gather signatures ready for publication in US trade mag Billboard. But along the way, someone passed it on to Pitchfork, which published it early, possibly as some kind of post-modern example of how the impact of something can be reduced when it's leaked early. Or maybe Pitchfork saw it as reclaiming the letter for independent companies from the big, bad Billboard. Whatever, it's out now, so let's see what it says.

Noting that the exclusivity deals on 'Watch The Throne' will hurt "stores that have supported you and your music for years" the letter concludes: "We know that you are busy, and that you put most of your energies into creating great music, but we are writing to you in the hope that you will hear us and take the time to rectify this matter. As representatives of the independent record store music community, we are asking you to allow record stores and music fans equal access to your new album".

Exclusivity deals with retails on album releases have always been a bit controversial, though less so in recent years as they have become more and more common. So it's interesting to see the indie store community take a stand now. You can read the letter in full here.

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MEATLOAF COLLAPSES ON STAGE
Meatloaf fainted on stage at a show in Pittsburgh last Thursday. The singer was reportedly out cold for several minutes after suffering an asthma attack, but got up and completed the show once he had recovered.

Before performing 'Paradise By The Dashboard Light', he explained to fans: "I've had really bad asthma for the last three days and it just fucking got me, OK? So... I'm not gonna fucking stop for nobody's business".

He had apparently just finished singing 'I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)' when he collapsed. Which is annoying, because I had money on 'fainting due to an on-stage asthma attack' being the thing he wouldn't do.

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TORY MP DEFENDS HER FORMER LIFE AT EMI
So, former chick lit writer and current Tory chick Louise Mensch MP was in the news again at the end of last week, this time in relation to her other former life working for EMI in the 1990s, which is how this counts as music news, in case you wondered.

Mensch was first in the headlines last month, of course, when she used the Culture Select Committee's recent grilling of those involved in the News International phone hacking scandal to implicate Piers Morgan as being involved in Planet Tabloid's dodgy dealings.

As it turned out, her allegation that the one-time Mirror editor and now CNN anchor had basically admitted to using phone hacking was based on a misunderstanding of Morgan's autobiography which she hadn't actually read herself (well, who in their right mind would?). She was forced to apologise for making the allegations last week (because she made them in the confines of parliament, Morgan couldn't sue for libel), though not before new rumours about the one time Mirror guy's tabloid past began circulating on both sides of the Atlantic. Although all such allegations are unproven, Morgan's reputation could as yet be tarnished, which is a problem for CNN which has been portraying its newish recruit to Americans as a serious news man.

Talking of attempts to tarnish reputations, Mensch last week received a letter from an investigative journalist called David Jones (the exact identity of whom remains a bit of a mystery, it's not the Daily Mail journalist of that name) asking her to comment on various allegations relating to her time as an EMI executive. In particular, that she once took drugs and danced the night away at a club with violin guy Nigel Kennedy, that she was fired from the major for writing one of her novels on their time, and that she named a character in her first novel after her former EMI boss Roger Lewis.

Killing any potential tabloid scandal relating to her record industry past, Mensch issued a response via her own website. On the night of drug taking and dancing with Kennedy, she said: "Although I do not remember the specific incident, this sounds highly probable. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Nigel Kennedy, whom I remember with affection. Additionally, since I was in my 20s, I'm sure it was not the only incident of the kind; we all do idiotic things when young. I am not a very good dancer and must apologise to any and all journalists who were forced to watch me dance that night at Ronnie Scott's".

On the other allegations against her, she said that while she did use EMI computers to write her first novel, she wrote it out of office hours, and that it wasn't the reason she was dismissed from the music firm. That was because of slacking off early, taking a few sickies and "inappropriate dress", she confessed. And while she probably did use Roger's name for a character in her debut novel, he's never said he had any problem with that fact.

So, well done to Mensch and her PR Tom Steiner for killing those tabloid stories before they could even be published, and very possibly preventing any other tales of the MP's record industry days becoming tabloid fodder. With even left-leaning bloggers and Tweeters commending the Tory for using admirable honesty to counter moves by tabloid journalists to tarnish the high profile tabloid critic, the mysterious David Jones justified his letter to the Guardian by claiming that Mensch is pro the criminalisation of drugs, and is therefore a hypocrite given her confessions about her own casual drug taking. Though Mensch subsequently denied having expressed any opinions on drug laws in parliament.

Either way, the musician at the heart of the allegations against the MP had a warning for any newspaper types looking to take her on this weekend. Kennedy told reporters: "I am a socialist myself but do remember having some great times with my beautiful and very clever right-wing friend when she was at EMI. Louise is pretty scary and I would warn anyone that it's not a good idea to mess with her".

So, that's you told.

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OMNIFONE MARKETING CHIEF DIES
Emily Saunders, most recently Global Marketing Director for Omnifone, has died aged 31, after losing a two year battle with cancer. Having originally worked in TV and film, Saunders became a popular figure in the digital music world after joining the Omnifone company, which she helped expand to a global operation providing music services to the likes of Sony and HP.

Paying tribute to Saunders, Omnifone chief Rob Lewis told Music Week: "Emily was a true leader who showed powerful belief, dedication and enthusiasm toward ensuring a successful future for digital music. She built up true friendships and made partnerships work. She also made sure everyone she worked with in the industry had fun, as we helped evolve the global music space. I know there are hundreds of people in the industry who will miss her hugely".

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DELS GIVES AWAY GUEST VOCAL
DELS has launched a competition for aspiring songwriters, the winner of which will receive a guest vocal from the rapper on one of their own tracks.

The winning song will be selected from the 20 entries that receive the most votes from fans on the Big Dada website.

Submit your tracks or listen to other entries here: www.bigdada.com/dels-vocal/

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RADIOHEAD STREAM NEW REMIXES FROM FOUR TET AND MORE
Radiohead release the third in their series of twelve-inch singles featuring remixes of tracks from their 'The King Of Limbs' album today. This time they've crammed three reworks onto the release, with new interpretations from Lone, Pearson Sound and Four Tet.

You can stream them all here: www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/110729/remixes-by-lone-pearson-sound-and-four-tet

In other Radiohead news, the band's previously reported studio performance of 'The King Of Limbs' got a second airing in the US on Saturday. It was shown on MTV2, having been broadcast by Palladia a week earlier. The programme is yet to be shown on UK TV, as the channel which had been lined up to air it pulled out. The band recently said via their Dead Air Space website: "The original broadcaster decided not to show it, but we are working on it getting it shown on another channel".

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RUSTIE ANNOUNCES DEBUT ALBUM
Warp-signed producer Rustie has announced that he will release his debut album through the label on 10 Oct. His previous release was last year's 'Sunburst' EP, also on Warp.

For an idea of what it might sound like, Rustie has uploaded a short clip of the album's psyched-out title track, which you can watch here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k6PQcGzcBI

Tracklist:

Glass Swords
Flash Back
Surph
Hover Traps
City Star
Globes
Ultra Thizz
Death Mountain
Cry Flames
After Light
Ice Tunnels
All Nite
Crystal Echo

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KIDDA ANNOUNCES SECOND ALBUM
Producer Kidda has announced the follow-up to his 2008 debut album 'Going Up'. Entitled 'Hotel Radio', it will be released by Skint on 12 Sep. The first single, 'Wanna Be Loved', is out this week.

While his debut was instrumental, this time around Kidda enlisted a variety of vocalists to sing over his tracks. He told CMU: "I listened back to the first album recently, and it just seemed to have gaping holes in it where words should've been. They're filled in now, I just feel this time it's more substantial - everything's there. It's a lot more fun".

To give you an idea of how much fun it is, he's put together this mini mix of tracks from the album: soundcloud.com/iamkidda/hotel-radio-sampler

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BIG CINEMA CHAINS BAN US DANCE FESTIVAL DOCUMENTARY AFTER PREVIEW SCREENING RIOT
America's biggest two cinema chains have announced they won't be screening a documentary about the US's biggest dance music event after a private preview screening resulted in a mini-riot in Hollywood.

Trouble seemingly broke out at the preview of the 'Electric Daisy Carnival Experience' last week after one of the DJs featured in the documentary, DJ Kaskade, who was DJing at the private launch party, invited his fans to join him via Twitter. But said fans weren't actually invited, and instead formed a crowd outside the cinema hosting the screening. Said crowd then began clashing with police sent to deal with the large number of people gathering outside the Hollywood venue, resulting in an all out riot.

Which has in turn resulted in the Regal and AMC cinema chains refusing to show the film altogether. Confirming that was so, the festival's promoter Insomniac said this weekend: "We are very disappointed that Regal and AMC theatres have abruptly decided not to show the 'Electric Daisy Carnival Experience'. [But the] film has not been cancelled and will continue to be shown in hundreds of theatres nationwide".

They added: "It is extremely disheartening that some theatres wrongly associated an unaffiliated block party, and its disorderly crowd, with the private screening of the film. The individuals who caused problems outside of our movie premiere were not the same audience, which wants to buy tickets to the film, just as the same people that cause disturbances after a sporting event do not represent all fans of that team".

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LADY GAGA TO PUBLISH PHOTO BOOK
It used to be that every popstar had an autobiography, now they've all got a book of photographs. Basically, popstars don't believe their fans can read. Or it's possible that photographers are much cheaper than ghostwriters. Anyway, Lady Gaga is the latest musician to announce a book of pictures of her doing stuff.

Simply called 'Lady Gaga', the book with be published in the US by Grand Central Books in November and will show "intimate, random, behind-the-scenes moments" from throughout her life, including a set of exclusive photos taken during the making of her latest album, 'Born This Way'.

In other Gaga news, the singer last week paid for fans waiting for her outside the Chateau Marmont Hotel in LA to have a slap up dinner at McDonalds. This is being written up as an act of outstanding generosity, though it's possible that after she was fined for encouraging her fans to be noisy outside a hotel in Paris recently, she just wanted them to go away.

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WHY? ANNOUNCE UK SHOWS
CMU favourites Why? have announced a handful of acoustic shows for October, where they will preview some tracks from their forthcoming new album.

Tour dates:

23 Oct: Bristol, Colston Hall
24 Oct: London, Union Chapel
25 Oct: Brighton, Duke Of York's Picturehouse

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JEFFREY LEWIS ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM AND TOUR
Jeffrey Lewis will release a new album, 'A Turn In The Dream-Songs', trough Rough Trade on 10 Oct. The follow-up to his brilliant 2009 album 'Em Are I', it was recorded at Manchester-based all-vintage studio Analogue Catalogue, and features various guests, including members of The Vaselines, Au Revoir Simone, The Wave Pictures and Misty's Big Adventure.

Having performed at the Indietracks festival in Derbyshire yesterday (not to mention a matinee show in Preston), he'll play two more UK shows this week, as well as hitting Brighton later this month:

1 Aug: Sheffield, The Harley
2 Aug: London, The Lexington
22 Aug: Brighton, Sticky Mike's Frog Bar

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MS DOCKVILLE FESTIVAL, various venues, Wilhelmsburg, Germany, 12-14 Aug: Housing a rammed roster of really good acts, this little gem of a two-day German music/arts bash will welcome Wild Beasts, Santigold, Editors, Crystal Castles and Kele. Glasser, Yuck, Mount Kimbie and Zola Jesus are also booked to play, as are Crystal Fighters and SBTRKT. Not sure where this festival has been all our lives, but thank goodness it's here now. en.msdockville.de

SUMMERSONIC, Kaihin-Makuhari, Tokyo and Maishima, Osaka, 13-14 Aug: Split across two locations, with acts performing at both on alternate days, this Japanese festival boasts a huge line-up of acts, including headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Strokes, plus Beady Eye, Korn, Primal Scream, Suede, The Mars Volta, Metronomy and Japanese bands such as FACT, X Japan, Maximum The Hormone and Perfume. www.summersonic.com

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RIAA CHIEF MAY STAND DOWN
The boss of the Recording Industry Association Of America, Mitch Bainwol, is in talks to move to another American trade body. It's thought Bainwol is in negotiations with the main US auto-industry trade organisation about taking a top job there. According to C-NET, although talks are ongoing, Bainwol has informed the board of the RIAA that he may be leaving in the near future.

Bainwol has not been without his critics while running the US record label trade body, partly because of his sizable pay packet, and partly because he oversaw much of the organisation's self-harming 'sue the fans' initiative for tackling file-sharing, which cost millions and achieved nothing. That said, he has scored some successes in the fight against piracy in the last year, including the LimeWire settlement and the deal with US ISPs for them to voluntarily start sending out warning letters to suspected file-sharers.

It's thought that if Bainwol does go, the trade body's President, Cary Sherman, who played a key role in the aforementioned ISP deal, would be a lead contender to take over.

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MORRISSEY DEFENDS NORWAY COMMENTS
Morrissey has defended comments he made on stage in Poland last week, in which he compared the recent massacre in Norway to the actions of fast food companies.

As previously reported, before performing Smiths song 'Meat Is Murder', the singer said: "We all live in a murderous world, as the events in Norway have shown, with 97 dead. Though that is nothing compared to what happens in McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Shit every day".

Although a spokesperson initially told the Mirror that Moz would be making no further comment on the matter, last week he spoke to fansite True To You in an attempt to calm the controversy that has blown up around him in the last seven days.

He said: "The recent killings in Norway were horrific. As usual in such cases, the media give the killer exactly what he wants: worldwide fame. We aren't told the names of the people who were killed - almost as if they are not considered to be important enough, yet the media frenzy to turn the killer into a Jack The Ripper star is... repulsive. He should be un-named, not photographed, and quietly led away".

He continued: "The comment I made onstage at Warsaw could be further explained this way: Millions of beings are routinely murdered every single day in order to fund profits for McDonalds and KFCruelty, but because these murders are protected by laws, we are asked to feel indifferent about the killings, and to not even dare question them".

And finally: "If you quite rightly feel horrified at the Norway killings, then it surely naturally follows that you feel horror at the murder of ANY innocent being. You cannot ignore animal suffering simply because animals 'are not us'".

I don't think we really needed a lengthy clarification to know that's what Morrissey was trying to say with his on-stage proclamation. Nor does it change the fact that it sounded rather bad.

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