FULL FOUR YEAR SENTENCE FOR CONRAD MURRAY
Dr Conrad Murray was yesterday sentenced to four years in jail for the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson, the longest possible sentence for the crime.

Prior to the sentencing, the prosecution delivered a lengthy statement calling for Judge Michael Pastor to hand the doctor the maximum sentence. Deputy District Attorney David Walgren detailed all of Murray's various failings in his treatment of the late king of pop, who died from on overdose of the surgical anaesthetic propofol, which Murray was administering to the singer in a domestic setting, with no monitoring equipment, as a cure for insomnia. Various experts told the court during the doctor's trial that using propofol outside of a hospital and without constant patient monitoring was grossly negligent.

The prosecution also focused on Murray's seeming efforts to cover his tracks after Jackson stopped breathing, hiding equipment that would have shown he had been administering the propofol, and failing to tell paramedics or staff at the hospital Jackson was taken to about the drug. Prosecutors noted the Conrad Murray TV documentary, shown shortly after his trial, in which the doctor said he didn't tell other medical staff about the propofol because he didn't believe it was relevant. This, Walgren implied, was either lies, or another act of gross negligence.

With Conrad Murray again waiving his right to speak, his defence attorney, Ed Chernoff, took to the stand to deliver an emotional plea for leniency, seemingly going into much more detail about his client's life than even he himself expected. Yes Murray had been negligent in his treatment of Jackson, Chernoff conceded, but didn't the 56 years of his client's life prior to the crime count for anything, the lawyer asked: the clean slate, the academic successes against the odds, the grateful patients, the pro bono work for the poor community.

Arguing that his client was not a danger to society, and that he would be punished enough through the revocation of his medical licence, and by being labelled as "the man who killed Michael Jackson" for the rest of his life, Chernoff questioned whether locking Murray up was really necessary. Surely probation, and putting Murray to use through some sort of community service programme, was better for everyone that seeing this man locked up in a small cell?

But Pastor did not concur. Despite insisting that he had indeed considered the "whole book of Murray's life", the judge delivered a damning final statement, portraying Murray as a greedy man who shunned his duties as a doctor to please a rich client. Though it seemed that possibly the biggest factor in convincing Pastor that Murray should be denied probation and serve a full four year sentence was the aforementioned TV documentary.

The judge seemed mightily pissed off that Murray, having waived his right to testify in court, had chosen to give his side of the story to the TV cameras. On several occasions Pastor noted that Murray had shown no remorse - nor accepted any responsibility - for Jackson's death on the TV programme. "Not only isn't there any remorse", the judge told the court room, "there's umbrage and outrage on the part of Dr Murray against the decedent". After the damning summing up, that the judge denied probation and handed Murray the full four years in jail came as no surprise.

One issue relating to the case remains unresolved though, that being restitution. Pastor said that the Jackson family were due restitution for their loss, but that with the MJ Estate claiming that the cancellation of the 'This Is It' tour alone cost the singer's children over $100 million, that he would need more information regarding the prosecution's restitution claim than the three line statement from the Estate so far submitted to court.

Chernoff agreed with the judge that the defence would need a full break down of any restitution claim, though he added that there was no way Murray would ever be able to pay those kind of figures, implying that a $100 million claim would therefore be pointless. Of course you could argue that the Michael Jackson catalogue and name is much more valuable to his children and family now he's dead than it was when he was still alive, though that would probably be a brave argument to field in court. A restitution hearing was scheduled for January.

Outside the court Katherine Jackson welcomed the sentencing, telling reporters that "four years is not enough for someone's life - it won't bring [Michael] back - but at least he [Murray] got the maximum sentence". Meanwhile Chernoff's colleague on the defence team, Michael Flanagan, said he felt Pastor had been "openly hostile" to Murray from the word go, but conceded that Murray choosing not to testify was probably a mistake, adding to that hostility.

The Murray team now have 60 days to decide whether to appeal. Meanwhile there has been much speculation about just how long the doctor will actually spend behind bars, given how overcrowded the Californian jails are just now, and the fact that Murray's crime is non-violent. Some reckon he could be moved to a house arrest scenario within a few months.

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NO CRIME COMMITTED IN SMILEY CULTURE DEATH, SAYS IPCC
The Independent Police Complaints Commission yesterday confirmed that it had found no evidence of a criminal offence in the events surrounding the death of former reggae MC and DJ Smiley Culture, real name David Emmanuel.

As previously reported, Emmanuel died at his Surrey home during a police raid in March. Police attended the reggae man's house to arrest him on a new drugs charge (he was already facing other drug-related charges) and to search his premises (they seemingly found a small amount of cannabis, but none of the cocaine the suspect was accused of supplying). Three officers conducted the search while a fourth stayed with Emmanuel. But before the search was over Emmanuel had died from a single stab wound. His stabbing, officers have insisted from the start, was self-inflicted.

Police papers seemingly say that Emmanuel, who had been calm throughout the arrest and raid, suddenly became very angry right at the end of their operation as one officer filled out some paperwork. It's claimed that it was while the officer was distracted filling out a form that Emmanuel grabbed a knife, shouted something like "do you fucking want some of this", and then stabbed himself. The officers, the official report continues, called for the emergency services more or less immediately, cuffed Emmanuel to "stop him doing any more harm to himself", and tried to administer first aid.

The IPCC investigation into the incident looked at both the conduct of the four police officers and the planning of the operation as a whole. On the latter issue, the Commission's report does raise some concerns about the planning that went into the raid, and in particular the risk management process undertaken. As a result, the IPCC will make recommendations to the Metropolitan Police about its planning processes. However, on the conduct of the individual officers, the Commission says there were no specific failings on the part of any one officer, and therefore there wasn't a case to pass the matter onto the Crown Prosecution Service.

Emmanuel's family already knew much of this because the IPCC's Commissioner Mike Franklin wrote to them in September with a summary of his conclusions (and we already knew much of this, because the family spoke to The Guardian at that time). The family remain unhappy with the Commission's findings, claiming that the report fails to properly address why Emmanuel was cuffed when he died, and that the IPCC's investigation wasn't sufficient because, by treating the four officers whose conduct was being reviewed as witnesses rather than suspects, they were not formally interviewed.

The singer's nephew, Merlin Emmanuel to The Guardian this week: "We firmly believe Smiley was murdered and that the IPCC have let us down and treated us miserably. They promised us a thorough investigation and that they would get to the bottom of what happened. But there are still so many unanswered questions - and the IPCC have now made sure that the officers who saw what happened are never going to be pressed to tell the truth about what happened that day". The family now plan to launch a private prosecution in relation to their uncle's death.

Meanwhile, the IPCC report will be sent to the coroner and will be considered at an inquest hearing before a jury, though that won't take place until after the aforementioned drugs-related criminal proceedings Emmanuel was involved in have been through the courts.

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SONIC YOUTH "ENDING FOR A WHILE"
Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo has said that he is unsure about the future of the band following the announcement last month that co-founders Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon are to divorce. Speaking to Rolling Stone, he said that the band's recent South American tour dates, which began shortly after Moore and Gordon announced their split, "are certainly the last shows for a while".

Ranaldo told the magazine: "[The news of the divorce is] not as sudden for me as it's been in terms of the press and what not. Actually, the tour went really well. It really didn't affect it all that much. It was a pretty good tour overall. I mean, there was a little bit of tiptoeing around and some different situations with the travelling - you know, they're not sharing a room any more or anything like that. [But] I would say in general the shows went really well. [Though] it kind of remains to be seen at this point what happens to the future. I think they are certainly the last shows for a while and I guess I'd just leave it at that".

He added: "I'm feeling optimistic about the future no matter what happens at this point. I mean, every band runs its course. We've been together way longer than any of us ever imagined would happen and it's been for the most part an incredibly pleasurable ride ... I'm just happy right now to let the future take its course and I guess I'm kind of thankful that I've got this other project that kind of came about on its own. It wasn't kind of like, well, 'Oh the band is ending for a while and I've got to figure out what to do'. It kind of naturally happened in the course of things so that was a nice way for that to come about".

The "other project" Ranaldo speaks of is his solo album 'Between The Times & The Tides', which will be released through Matador in March.

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BLACK EYED PEAS WILL RETURN
Bad news, everyone. Although "hiatus" is generally a nice way of saying "split", it seems Black Eyed Peas do intend to return. Though Will.i.am says that when they reunite they will "make beautiful music", so maybe they're planning a drastic change of direction.

Speculation about the future of the band has been rife since they announced their plans to go on hiatus, but Will.i.am claims this is just part of their normal routine, telling 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show' that they "always have two cycles of records and then ... take a break".

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S CLUB 7 INSPIRED TO REFORM BY STEPS
Although there have been rumblings about a full S Club 7 reunion since about March, their plans seem to have been kicked properly into action now that they've seen the success of the Steps reunion. Because who needs dignity when you've got a bit of cash in your pocket?

As previously reported, the group's Jo O'Meara, Bradley McIntosh and Paul Cattermole have been performing as S Club 3 since 2008, trawling the university circuit mainly. But now all of the group's former members seem keen to return to the stage. A source told The Sun this week: "S Club have seen what's happened to Steps and want a piece of it. They're hoping to make a TV show following their reunion, a tour and the release of an updated greatest hits album - just like Steps".

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MIA AND MINAJ ON MADONNA ALBUM
MIA has revealed that she and Nicki Minaj are to appear on one of the tracks being recorded for Madonna's new album. Well, she tweeted "summond to NYC by bitchesses > MADONNA and @NICKIMINAJ > cofffffiiiiiiieeeeeeeeee it iz a good day to get me tho trustttt bitches", which amounts to about the same thing. I think.

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HALLS ANNOUCES NEW EP
Buzzy producer Halls has announced that he will release a new EP, entitled 'Fragile', (his first to receive a physical release) on 16 Jan via the increasingly brilliant Sounds Of Sweet Nothing label.

The EP sees him moving away from a purely synth-driven sound and incorporating classical instruments such as piano and strings into the mix too. Ahead of the release, he is due to play his debut live show at Corsica Studios in London on 1 Dec.

Now, you would do well to spend the next five minutes or so watching the stunning video for 'I Am Not Who You Want', taken from the 'Fragile' EP.

vimeo.com/30139442

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BLEEDING HEART NARRATIVE RELEASE VIDEO AHEAD OF LONDON SHOW
Following the recent release of their new 'Bison' EP, winsome indie types Bleeding Heart Narrative have released a video for new single 'Shoals'. In order to achieve the desired aesthetic effect in certain scenes, the band agreed to have lots of buckets of water thrown at them while wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the EP artwork. Well, who's to say what is or isn't art? They'll be selling the tees at their next live appearance, which is at Dalston venue The Vortex on 9 Dec.

youtu.be/TU828ZDSk48

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JUSTICE TO TOUR
Having further established via their latest album 'Audio, Video, Disco' that they just can't and won't do things by halves, French electro duo Justice are all set to embark on a 29 date world tour. Said world tour will premiere to bleary-eyed Australian revellers on New Year's Day. Meanwhile, here's the more relevant UK portion of the run:

10 Feb: London, Academy
11 Feb: Birmingham, Academy
12 Feb: Glasgow, Academy
13 Feb: Manchester, Academy

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WE HAVE BAND ANNOUNCE TOUR
We Have Band have disclosed details of a forthcoming tour in support of their second album, 'Ternion', which is due out in January. Feel free to preview the album's lead single 'Where Are Your People' and its B-side, a cover of The Horrors' 'Still Life', below. Coming complete with a rendition of Washed Out's 'Within And Without', the single will have a digital-only release on 4 Dec.

Now, the dates:

15 Feb: London, Cargo
16 Feb: Birmingham, HMV Institute
17 Feb: Manchester, Ruby Lounge
18 Feb: Dublin, Academy 2
22 Feb: Glasgow, Captains Rest
24 Feb: Bristol, The Cooler
25 Feb: Brighton, Sticky Mike's Frog Bar

soundcloud.com/wehaveband/where-are-your-people-clip

soundcloud.com/wehaveband/stilllife

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DAS RACIST TO PLAY XOYO SHOW
Here's one to scribble into your live diaries in indelible ink. How does Das Racist playing a show at London's XOYO tomorrow night sound? The Brooklyn hip hop trio will probably give tracks from their debut album, 'Relax', a thorough live airing, if that helps.

Devonté Hynes, formerly of Test Icicles and Lightspeed Champion, is booked to perform under his present Blood Orange moniker by way of support.

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SONY'S THOMAS HESSE TO MOVE BACK TO BERTELSMANN?
Thomas Hesse, Sony Music's President of Global Digital Business, may be about to move back to German media firm and BMG owners Bertelsmann.

Hesse became a senior player at Sony Music via the merger of the Sony record company with the BMG record labels in 2004. He stayed with the Sony music firm after Bertelsmann sold its stake in the SonyBMG joint venture to Sony Corp in 2008, and was a close ally of the music major's former CEO Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, himself a former BMG man.

Schmidt-Holtz, of course, stepped down at Sony earlier this year to be replaced by former Universal Music top man Doug Morris. Meanwhile, back at Bertelsmann, another of Hesse's close former colleagues, Thomas Rabe, is about to be promoted from CFO to the CEO role.

It's thought that with Sony Music now under a new regime, and with Rabe having digital expansion high on his agenda for when he takes over as Bertelsmann CEO, the idea quickly came up for Hesse to move back to the German conglom.

Neither Sony nor Bertelsmann have commented on the rumours.

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BAUER RESEARCH SAYS RADIO STILL IMPORTANT FOR MUSIC DISCOVERY
Now, you would probably expect new research published by Bauer Radio to say that radio remains the most important place for people to find out about new music and, well, that's exactly what new research published by Bauer Radio says.

Of course the survey, undertaken mainly to combat the theory that web-based music services are taking over from radio in terms of music discovery, was limited to listeners of the media firm's Passion Portfolio stations - so the national brands which mainly broadcast on digital platforms - which means these stats don't account for those who have totally shunned radio. But they do possibly show that, for those people still listening to radio regularly, it remains an important medium for music and new music consumption. And for pop music especially, I don't think it's any secret that radio airplay can still make and break acts in the UK.

Anyway, of the Bauer listeners who completed the online survey, 88% had consumed music via radio in the previous seven days, compared to 61% via an MP3 player, 56% via a TV channel, 50% via websites, 46% on CD and 40% via their mobile phone. 48% said that radio was the "main way" they had consumed music in the previous week.

With regards new music, 83% said they found out about new tunes via the radio, someway ahead of the 'through friends' thing that social media-obsessed digital services are always going on about, which was mentioned by 53% of this audience. When asked whose music opinions they trusted, 42% said radio, while only 22% their friends.

Commenting on the stats, Bauer's Robbie McIntosh told reporters: "There have been some suggestions the internet is replacing radio as a music source so we wanted to investigate this and understand the truths about how young passionate music fans are exploring and sharing music. There was also a challenge issued to radio to show its continuing relevance to record companies at the recent Radio Festival, since the internet can connect fans and artists online. Our research of the most active online passionate music fans shows that radio is sitting at the heart of all music discovery, listening and sharing".

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COSTELLO SAYS "DON'T BUY MY OVERPRICED BOX SET"
Elvis Costello has advised his fans not to buy a box set of his music being released by Universal, because he objects to the price it's being sold for, which is currently £212.66 on Amazon. Indicating that he has been in dispute with his label over the price of the box set release for a while, Costello called the current price point "either a misprint or a satire", and urged fans not to buy the release.

Meanwhile a statement on the singer songwriter's official website recommended: "If you want to buy something special for your loved one at this time of seasonal giving, we suggest, 'Ambassador Of Jazz' - a cute little imitation suitcase containing ten re-mastered albums by one of the most beautiful and loving revolutionaries who ever lived - Louis Armstrong. The box should be available for under one hundred and fifty American dollars and includes a number of other tricks and treats. [And] frankly the music is vastly superior".

Ouch. Oh well, at least the Armstrong box set is on another Universal imprint.

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KORN: WE INVENTED DUBSTEP
So, if Korn haven't annoyed the dubstep community enough already, the band's frontman Jonathan Davis is now claiming to have invented the genre. As previously reported, the US metaller's forthcoming new album, 'The Path Of Totality', features collaborations with various dubstep producers, including Skrillex.

Davis told Billboard: "We were dubstep before there was dubstep. Tempos at 140 with half-time drums, huge bassed-out riffs. We used to bring out 120 subwoofers and line them across the whole front of the stage, 60 subs per side. We were all about the bass".

If I remember correctly, Jonathan Davis also once claimed that Korn were the first band to think of putting hip hop and metal together too. Though to be fair, on this occasion I don't think he was really claiming that he and his bandmates actually invented dubstep, rather that bringing that sound onto their latest album isn't quite as strange as some are suggesting. And just as Korn's sound polarised the metal scene in 1994, they're doing it all over again now.

"These kids are onto something completely innovative and new", said David. "It's pure and awesome and underground and heavy and different, not like stale-ass metal and rock n roll. I love them all, but the old school metalheads are not open to change. It's really cool to see glow sticks at the show, to see dance music culture infiltrating and becoming one with the metal community ... I think we've opened up a new style that both sides are happy with".

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GUY RITCHIE DISCUSSES MARRIAGE TO MADONNA
Guy Ritchie has said he's glad he married Madonna, because he got some nice children and a load of money out of it. Awwww.

Speaking to Details, Ritchie said: "I enjoyed my first marriage. It's definitely not something I regret. The experience was ultimately very positive. I love the kids that came out of it, and I could see no other route to take. But you move on, don't you? I stepped into a soap opera, and I lived in it for quite a long period of my life. I'll probably be more eloquent on it ten years from now".

He continued: "When you end up with a lot of the things you set out to chase and find that you've stumbled into all sorts of hollow victories, then you become deeply philosophical. I'm quite happy that that experience was accelerated for me. I'm glad I made money, in other words. And I'm glad I got married".

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