Monday 29 June 2009, 17:21 | By CMU Editorial

Album Review: Flipper – Generic (Domino)

Album Reviews

Domino’s reissue of Flipper’s 1981 undervalued classic (along the rest of their first four albums) is a welcome move and one that has no doubt been brokered upon the back of Flipper’s recent new double album ‘Love And Fight’. ‘Generic’ is a thoroughly forward-thinking album; despite the band’s sloppy playing and musical limitations it is noise rock at its best. Flipper’s shambolic, noise-driven sound is a wonderful combination of Loose/DePace/Shatter; the three provide the slow, uneven rhythm, the layered bass fuzz and the impassioned and raucous vocals which is then blended uneasily together with Falconi’s scratchy and distorted guitar playing. It’s effect is powerful and engaging; from the opener ‘Ever’ where the ambling rhythm is given a quick pick-up by an almost pop sounding hand clap (seemingly to comic effect), to the final song, a seven minute punk/funk track entitled ‘Sex Bomb’, with only one lyric repeated throughout: “She’s a sex bomb, my baby, yeah”. ‘(I Saw You) Shine’ is equally mesmeric, extending to eight minutes in total. Shine builds and builds through repetition to a dynamic conclusion that sees Falconi throwing in a wall of feedback to glorious effect. Flipper’s innovative use of fuzz and feedback, sloppy rhythms and atonal vocals saw them hailed as pioneers of the emerging noise rock scene, with ‘Generic’ being a master-piece of sorts within that field, and deservedly so. SJS

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Single Review: Withered Hand – You’re Not Alone (SL Records/Fence Records)

Single Reviews

For a long time Edinburgh was the musical equivalent of a small, pathetic tumbleweed. Nowadays the capital is in a maelstrom of musical creativity, with an anti-folk scene bursting at the seams. Withered Hand are the latest bright lights from this flame. This achingly beautiful EP was produced by Kenny Anderson aka King Creosote in a pokey hall in Anstruther. His trademark gritty finish provides heart-wrenching punch to every line uttered by the beguiling Dan Willson. This is never more apparent than in opener ‘No Cigarettes’, where Dan’s yearning voice pierces grainy strumming: “I’m not a smoker, though I said I was/In an elevator stuck between floors”. Songs continue in this vein, through a powerful tribute to Edinburgh artist Paul Carter (‘Big Ten Four’) to ‘R U Courageous?’, with its steady mantra brewing a stunning finale. With this EP, Willson has sealed his fate as a star on the brink of national acclaim. GB

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Single Review: The Rumble Strips – Not The Only Person (Universal/Island/Fallout)

Single Reviews

Take a hit making producer, mix in an award winning violinist and garnish it with Devon’s finest (sorry, Muse fans!) and the outcome is one fine piece of music. ‘Not The Only Person’, the first single to be taken from The Rumble Strips’ highly anticipated second album ‘Welcome To The Walk Alone’, has been produced by none other than the ‘King Of Brass’ Mark Ronson. This can only be a good thing since he has the ability to bang out catchy songs left right and centre. However, what makes the track really stand out are the strings arranged by Owen Pallet who has previously worked with Arcade Fire on both ‘Funeral’ and ‘Neon Bible’, and also with The Last Shadow Puppets. So, no pressure then! However, it all works and, despite the above names’ involvement, everything we love about the Strips has been kept intact. Lead singer Charlie Waller comforts us with the song’s hook “You’re not the only person to get it wrong, it’s alright” and you know it is! His voice is as wonderful as ever and enhanced by a 60s-esque set up, it’s very likeable. A welcome return by the boys. SD

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Single Review: The Big Pink – Stop The World (Beggars/4AD)

Single Reviews

Riding on the back of the success of first single ‘Velvet’, The Big Pink’s ‘Stop The World’ is another heavily stomping indie track with the face of Kasabian, the brain of Glasvegas and the heart of Jesus And Mary Chain. Despite its drone-like intentions, however, the track is close to squeaky clean and, God forbid, a little NME-punter friendly. If The Big Pink aren’t sucked into the oftentimes sound-killing vortex of “this is the greatest band you’ll ever hear EVER this year goddamn, this is 2009, woo!”, then my guess is they’ll be okay. ‘Stop The World’ is another loud anthemic tune that could get old fast, but has enough melodic quality and scuzzy shoegaze influence that makes it credible without too much pretention. TW

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Eddy Says: My festival diary

Eddy Says

Oh what a lovely time we had. The threat of a monsoon never materialised, and Glastonbury 09 will go down as one of the best I think. Looking back at it, it’s a really shit huge festival, with a LOVELY little festival tagged onto the bottom right hand corner.

Regrets? Certainly. Plans always vaporise at that place because of the size. Missing Enter Shikari, who have won me over with ‘Juggernauts’, and not getting to see Bat For Lashes and Blur was all very disappointing.

Triumphs? Certainly, and you can read them as they unfolded below, as rather than give you a précis, I thought it would be more interesting to just show all the Tweets I sent while I scoured the festival to my small circle of followers on Twitter. Technology is amazing. On the one hand there were people following me onsite, and on the other, people at home reacting to what they were seeing on the telly… it’s incredible. Those clever Victorian inventors would be so in awe of all this.

The only thing I’ll add to the Tweets below is that Hideous Wheel Invention texted me after seeing Pendulum on Saturday night. He’s been to every Glastonbury since the 1980s and in his words: “I’ve NEVER seen anything like that on this stage”. The weekend belonged to Pendulum, and to Florence And The Machine. Right there, that encapsulates it… the new Metallica… and the new Tori Amos, in the same place, almost at the same time.

Oh and one random thing I thought but didn’t get round to Tweeting: Why are there no dogs at Glastonbury? That’s one thing I love about Secret Garden, those doggies, often in fancy dress. And it made me think: that lovely little festival tagged onto the big shit one… the WHOLE of Secret Garden Party is like that. I think they’re going to sell out this week, so I’d get your skates on with getting your tickets if you haven’t done already.

26 Jun

12.19pm: Glastopacking: I’ve found that awesome battery powered air pump for the lilo but where the f**k did I put my sleeping bag?! Gah!

12.23pm: A spare tent? Where did that come from?? I just need a chuffing sleeping bag… where IS it!?

12.43pm: Thanks Rose Bruford Ball for booking me tonight, so by the time I get to Glasto, no queues to notice I have my son’s Spiderman sleeping bag.

27 Jun

9.07pm: Saw a bit of Dub Pistols at sunset – nice – but Florence + Machine: wow. Never seen a better Glasto turn than that.

9.28pm: Pendulum on the other stage. God they deliver. Massive crowd, great sound, feels like the whole festival is here. It’s like a rocket up Glastonbury’s arse.

9.49pm: It has to be The Boss on Pyramid stage next, but my gosh he’s got a tough act to follow after Pendulum.

10.52pm: Bruce was light on hits and got boring, now seeing a very slick Ed Byrne in the Cabaret tent. I remember him from MTV days, lovely, funny man.

11.20pm: Seeing a tight and utterly charming Wonderstuff at Avalon. Gareth Pendulum wants to hook up, that boy is trouble.

28 Jun

12.46am: Missed Alex Metric, gah! Freeland at Arcadia now. This place is insane, it’s like flaming Mordor!

2.44am: Favourite random sign, hand held: ‘SHIT CAMERAS £1’

3.01am: Drag Strip is rocking, Ebony Bones is really good. That’s Andy from Primary 1 on keyboards. I’m about to go on. Pumped.

4.57am: Wow that was fun. Just staggered out the tent to that slightly depressing Ibiza feeling of daylight when you least expect it.

4.58am: Right. Which way to the Stone Circle? ‘Follow the sound of the bongos…’

12.32pm: God it’s so hot in this tent. I feel like I’m in a Turkish wrestler’s jockstrap.

12.37pm: I need something’s juice.

1.30pm: Don’t be tempted by the ‘All Day Breakfast in a Giant Yorkshire Pud or Breadie’ its like being given brekky in someone’s hat.

2.46pm: A man juggling ping pong balls… in his mouth. Awesome. Six balls in the air. This man is better than Bruce Springsteen.

4.26pm: Ew. it’s the Sunday turd lottery. What will we find behind *this* random door?

5.03pm: From afar, I thought the lead singer of Enter Shikari looks really gay… turns out it’s Karen O. Damn. How were they?

5.34pm: Ran into Scroobius Pip and noticed, in the sunlight, how *beautiful* he is. Without the comedy beard I think he could have been a model.

5.35pm: More beardy models please.

7.26pm: Breaking camp. Worst bit. Have to head home. Gutted to miss Blur.

29 Jun

11.18am: It’s such a lovely day but I still feel like a stunned mullet.

X eddy

Eddy Says from this edition of the CMU Remix Update.

Single Review: Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes (Domino)

Single Reviews

The kings of distorted American alt-rock that favours passion over melody release the second single from the lauded ‘Merriweather Post Pavilion’ album. It’s a particular phenomenon I’ve yet to get my ahead around, but there’s something in this aimless desert of noise that makes for an addictive experience, and ‘Summertime Clothes’ is one for repeated plays. You may never get anything particularly worthwhile from it, but like watching The GOD Channel, or going from one Wikipedia link to the next, it’s a strange experience you never really learn from, but you can’t help go along with. And that drum beat is pretty sweet. TM

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Approved: Queens English (SNAP Of The Day)

CMU Approved

As their MySpace declares, Queens English are not your typical hip-hop outfit. Instead of dealing with ‘guns’ and ‘bitches’, their lyrics focus on the far more middle class problems of lazy friends, smoking weed and girls. So drugs and ‘bitches’ then. The group consists of Sherlock, Leon Rhymes, Source, Something Else and Pikey Esquire, which translates to Has, Leon, Jess, Tom and Tom, or two MCs, a singer, a DJ and a beatboxer. Their music flits from rolling, rapid fire Foreign Beggars inspired tracks such as ‘Focus’ through to mellower and almost absurdly summery numbers like ‘Sally’s House’, which makes you wish you were their mates and could go round for tea. QE are a wonderfully diverse and entertaining act and a great addition to the blooming underground UK hip hop scene. Check out ‘Focus’ and ‘Sally’s House’ on their MySpace page for a taste of what to expect.

www.myspace.com/queensenglish

An awful lot of Jacko

Jacksons v AEG Timeline Top Stories

OK, where the hell to start with all the Michael Jackson stories that have surfaced since Friday lunchtime? Well, how about the drugs and the missing doctor who’s not missing?

As reported on Friday, within hours of Jackson dying from a cardiac arrest at his LA home on Thursday afternoon, a legal representative of the singer’s family told CNN he believed that the singer had been using excessive amounts of prescription drugs in order to make himself fit for his upcoming 50 night residency in London, and that he believed those drugs may well have caused Jacko’s death. The lawyer added: “I do not know what medications he was taking, but the reports that we have received within the family are that they were extensive. I can tell you for sure that this is something I warned about”.

Those comments were followed by reports that one of the drugs Jackson had been routinely taking was Demerol, a sort of morphine alternative (though generally safer and less addictive), and rumour had it the singer had received a shot of the medication shortly before his death. That led to speculation that Jacko’s private physician, Dr Conrad Murray, may have given the singer too strong a dosage, leading to a heart attack and the subsequent cardiac arrest. That version of events was taken up by an increasing number of media amid other reports that both the Jackson family and police were keen to speak with Murray, but that the doc had gone AWOL.

While some news media reported of a dramatic sounding police search for the medic, in the end he wasn’t quite so absent without leave as some were suggesting – in fact I think he’d just gone home but no one had thought to call by there. He was formally interviewed by LAPD officers this weekend, and subsequently told he was free to go. Murray’s lawyer told reporters that his client had been told there would be “no need for further questioning”, but added that the doctor intended to stay in LA so he would be on hand if there was any other way he could help with the police’s investigation. Attorney Edward Chernoff added that Murray had in no way contributed to Jackson’s cardiac arrest, while also denying the aforementioned Dermerol rumours.

The initial autopsy by LA authorities also concluded there was nothing suspicious about Jackson’s premature death, and certainly that there had been no foul play. However, as always, crucial toxicology tests will take six to eight weeks to complete, so no final conclusion will be reached on the singer’s exact cause of death for some time.

His body was subsequently released to the Jackson family, who are rumoured to be considering commissioning their own autopsy. After that, the Jackson clan will have to decide how they want to send off their departed son and brother, before concerning themselves with the tricky matter of his estate.

Mega memorial planned

Jacksons v AEG Timeline Top Stories

Most of the Jacksons, including parents Katherine and Joe, various of Michael’s famous siblings, and his three children, were reportedly at the family’s home in the LA district of Encino this weekend. It’s thought they are planning a private funeral and public memorial.

The latter would most likely take place in LA, and could, some estimate, surpass even Elvis and Princess Diana in terms of the number of mourners who want to be part of such an event. Some media are estimating a million people might flock to the city, which sounds like an awful lot. Either way, one senior LAPD chief was quoted in the local press as saying: “We are preparing for an event of historic proportions. We will be cooperating closely with the family once they have decided where to hold the funeral”.

After those services, it’s speculated that Jackson’s body may be buried at Neverland, the controversial former home of the singer, which has fall in the rack and ruin, by all accounts, since Jacko shunned the property after his 2005 acquittal on the Arvizo child abuse charges.

As previously reported, Neverland was at the heart of some of Jackson’s financial crises in recent years, one of which led to most of the property’s staff being laid off and the animals who also lived there being rehoused. Nevertheless, insiders say Jackson wanted to be buried at the ranch, and the investment company who now own the mortgage on it are reportedly supportive of those proposals, albeit as part of a grand plan to transform the property into a Graceland style tourist attraction, something which many reckon could help pay off the debts of the Jackson estate.

Jacko finances still to be untangled

Jacksons v AEG Timeline Top Stories

Which brings us to Jackson’s financial affairs. While Michael was reportedly on good terms with the rest of his family, they seemingly had little knowledge of his business and financial affairs. And given Jacko’s tendency in recent years to switch advisors and attorneys and accountants on a very regular basis, it’s suspected that no one person has a complete handle on the king of pop’s financial position.

Though it’s assumed that Jackson would only have agreed to a career revival as gruelling as the fifty night O2 residency he was signed up to do before his death if he was really desperate for cash. Insiders say a less intense, less public recordings-based project would have been more attractive to Jackson had such a venture been sufficient to meet his financial needs. The fact he turned down such projects (at one point he was in talks with Simon Fuller about such a venture) in favour of the mega-bucks AEG O2 residency deal suggests his cash reserves were in very low supply.

A string of creditors are now expected to line up as Jackson’s estate is investigated by his family’s representatives. While a Neverland theme park and a resurgence of consumer interest in Jackson’s recordings catalogue might help pay of some, if the singer’s debts are as significant as some have said, it’s doubtful there will be enough money to go round without the sale of some or all of the singer’s biggest single asset – his half of the Sony/ATV publishing company, which has been valued at $1 billion by some. The sale of Jackson’s Sony/ATV stake would probably pay off most of his debts and maybe even leave a mini-fortune for his children, though probably not anywhere near the size of fortune he’d have liked to have left.

Whether Sony Corp would be able to afford to buy Jacko’s share, or whether they would have to face working with a new business partner moving forward, isn’t clear. Despite Sony Corp’s own financial problems, Sony/ATV is one of its most successful businesses, so you’d think they’d be able to raise the finance to buy the Jackson estate out, should such a sale be required.

Where next for Jacko’s kids?

So, were AEG insured?

Ticketing agents promise full refunds

Jacksons v AEG Timeline Top Stories

What AEG have been more clear on is that everyone who had a ticket to one of Jacko’s O2 gigs will get a refund.

Details of how ticket buyers can get their money back are expected to be released this week, meanwhile the promoter has told fans to hold onto their tickets.

Of course AEG’s refund system will only work for those who bought tickets directly off the promoter’s primary ticketing agents like Ticketmaster. What about those who bought their tickets off resellers via an online auction website?

Well, in what is the first real test of claims made by the bigger secondary ticketing agents that they will protect customers who buy resold tickets via their services, most of big names quickly issued statements on Friday saying they’d ensure anyone who bought marked up tickets to Jacko gigs via their websites would get a full refund. It’s not clear if that means the sites will, if necessary, cover the mark up part of the tickets sold via their platforms themselves, should the person who sold the tickers prove unwilling or unable to give the buyer a full refund of all the money they paid out.

Both eBay and Seatwave this weekend announced that all their customers would get full refunds, while the residency’s official second ticketing agent Viagogo said on Friday: “Everyone at viagogo is deeply shocked and saddened at the news that Michael Jackson has passed away. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and fans. All Michael Jackson tickets purchased through viagogo will be refunded directly to fans. No forms, no fuss, just refunded. We will be in touch with everyone in due course”.

Jacko tributes continue

Jacksons v AEG Timeline Top Stories

Tributes galore continued to the King Of Pop over the weekend, with various artists and bands at Glastonbury incorporating tributes or clips of Jacko tracks into their acts, probably most notably Dizzee Rascal who told his audience “We lost a legend this week, so I think we should do a little something to remember all the great music he brought us”, before leading the crowd in a rendition of the ‘Thriller’ chorus.

In the US the first big tribute came at the BET Awards in LA, which were quickly rejigged so to celebrate Jacko’s music and life. Janet Jackson spoke for the late singer’s family, taking to the stage and telling the awards show audience: “My entire family wanted to be here tonight, but it was just too painful, so they elected me to be here”.

Music fans paid tribute by taking to the net and downloading and ordering some of Jackson’s classic recordings. So much so that at one point on Friday the top fourteen best selling albums of the day on Amazon UK came from Jacko, while Jackson tracks dominated the iTunes best seller lists. The impact was probably most obvious here in the UK, as you’ll see from today’s Chart Update.

And finally Jacko

Stefani denies No Doubt tensions

Artist News

Gwen Stefani has commented on rumours that she is not getting on well with the rest of her band No Doubt, after the group came together again following a five year hiatus in which the singer had a solo career and a couple of kids.

According to reports, tensions have emerged between Stefani and her bandmates, but Stefani insists that there is, in fact, no tension. Well, maybe a bit. In fact, there might have been a “heated conversation” with bandmate and ex-boyfriend Tony Kanal at one point, but, says the singer, it was a healthy altercation that cleared the air.

She tells American Elle: “Everybody’s making it like there’s all this tension, you know, like I stepped away from the band and now they’re jealous of me, and look, maybe there is a little bit of that… but some fights aren’t really what they seem. I think it was a little about the song, and a little about our coming back together. There was this air bubble that needed to pop, you know?”

LA label defend American Idol release

Releases

Los Angeles label Wilshire Records have defended their decision to release an album by ‘American Idol’ runner up Adam Lambert, despite the fact that it’s been disowned by the freshly-made singing star himself.

Lambert apparently spent three years working on the album ‘On With The Show’, prior to entering the TV talent contest, but says of the LP: “The work I did back then in no way reflects the music I am currently in the studio working on”. Meanwhile, his new management have played down Lambert’s role in the album. A 19 Management spokesman said the near Idol only provided some vocals on the long player.

But Wilshire Records have contested those claims. They said in a statement: “Adam is now enjoying the success that he and Wilshire Records hoped for. However, he is now represented by high-profile companies who released a statement in Adam’s name saying the songs on ‘On With the Show’ were recorded four years ago and Adam only contributed vocals. This is simply not true. The songs were recorded in a professional recording studio with top notch musicians and producers since the music was always meant to be released. Of the 11 songs that will appear on the album, ‘On With the Show’, Adam co-wrote eight with Monte Pittman (Madonna’s guitar player)”.

They continue: “As co-writer and performer, Adam will receive significant royalties just as any superstar artist would. He has the chance, finally, to make a fortune for his work – definitely more with this album than through a major label deal. This pre-Idol work is a fantastic representation of who Adam is and what inspired him during the months before he became famous”.

Rolo Tomassi/Throats do split 7″ release thingy

Releases

Holy Roar Records and Hassle Records have announced that they are to collaborate on a split 7″ single featuring their respective artists Throats and Rolo Tomassi. The record, out 3 Aug, will feature covers by each of the bands of the other’s work; Rolo Tomassi do a medley of ‘Headclouds/Reign of Low’, Throats do ‘I Love Turbulence’. The release will be limited to 500 copies only, 250 of which will come in Hassle packaging, with 250 in Holy Roar packaging. Each kind will be available direct from the respective label.

Now you’re in the mood, here, for your information, are some upcoming Rolo Tomassi tour dates.

3 Jul: Eurockeennes Festival, Belfort, France
4 Jul: Tivoli De Helling, Utrecht, Netherlands
5 Jul: Metropolis Festival, Rotterdam, Netherlands
10 Jul: MOHO Live (Clubnight), Manchester
17 Jul: 2000 Trees Festival, Cheltenham
19 Jul: Dour Festival, Belgium
22 Jul: Parklife Festival, Milan, Italy
1 Aug: Sonisphere Festival, Knebworth
2 Aug: Underage Festival, Victoria Park, London
3 Aug: OFF Festival, Poland
4 Aug: Pukkelpop Festival, Hasselt, Belgium
5 Aug: Lowlands Festival, Netherlands

Here, for your further information, are some upcoming Throats tour dates.

6 Sep: Offset Festival, Hainault Forest
8 Sep: Barfly, Cardiff (with The Plight)
9 Sep: White Rabbit, Plymouth (with The Plight)
10 Sep: Cavern, Exeter (with The Plight)
11 Sep: Academy 2, Bristol (with The Plight)
12 Sep: Student Union, Luton (with The Plight)
13 Sep: Corporation, Sheffield (with The Plight)
14 Sep: Academy 2, Newcastle (with The Plight)
15 Sep: King Tuts, Glasgow (with The Plight)
16 Sep: Fibbers, York (with The Plight)
17 Sep: Sugarmill, Stoke (with The Plight)
18 Sep: Academy 2, Liverpool (with The Plight)
19 Sep: Academy 3, Birmingham (with The Plight)
20 Sep: Rock City Basement, Nottingham (with The Plight)
21 Sep: Joiners, Southampton (with The Plight)
22 Sep: Engine Rooms, Brighton (with The Plight)
23 Sep: 12 Bar, Swindon (with The Plight)
24 Sep: Academy 2, London (with The Plight)
24 Oct: Twisted Wheel, Glasgow (with Brutality Will Prevail)

Amanda Palmer live news

Gigs & Festivals

As well as her previously reported 22 Aug gig at the Edge Festival – you know, the music strand within the Edinburgh Festival Fringe – CMU favourite Amanda Palmer has also confirmed a concert at London’s Union Chapel on 12 Sep. Author Neil Gaiman will be on hand to sign copies of his recent collaborative effort with the singer ‘Who Killed Amanda Palmer: A collection of photographic evidence’ at both, we hear.

Eavis happy to pay Springsteen induced fine, and other Glasto tales

Business News Gigs & Festivals Live Business

Glastonbury boss Michael Eavis has said that he’s happy to pay the £3000 fine that will be enforced because of a broken curfew, because the final minutes of Bruce Springsteen’s over-running set at the weekend’s festival were worth it.

The US star went over the 12.30am limit by nine minutes, in a performance that lasted two hours and forty minutes. Eavis said: “I gave him 10 minutes and he took nine. I’ll pay the fine – £3000. Paul McCartney [2004 headliner] paid me back, [but] I’m going to pay the Bruce Springsteen one myself. It’s not a lot because it was fantastic. The last nine minutes were spectacular”.

Presumably keen to ensure no one thought Eavis’ comments meant they all make light of curfew times, a festival spokesman added later: “There are limits because a lot of people live nearby and it is right that things draw to a close at a reasonable hour. [But] each year we get only a handful of complaints about noise”

Elsewhere in Glastonbury news, a man was arrested at this year’s event for being naked in public for the first time in the history of the traditionally liberal festival. At least 131 arrests were made over the course of the weekend, mostly drugs related, which easily tops last year’s figure of 89.

Next up, swine flu; six possible cases were apparently discovered during the course of this year’s Worthy Farm extravaganza. Amongst them were a student from Edinburgh University, a student from Exeter and a ten year old from a family of four. Dr Chris Howes, the festival’s medical services director, said: “We worked very closely with the Health Protection Agency and NHS Somerset in monitoring the situation. The cases of swine flu are suspected but not confirmed because formal testing takes longer, but we gave these patients anti-viral drugs. Everyone had mild symptoms and none required hospital admission. Everyone else was advised to continue with normal hygiene precautions, such as frequent hand washing”.

And finally in Glasto news; a woman attempted to give birth at the festival this weekend, but failed. The mother to be took her midwife with her to the festival in hopes of making her very bizarre dream of a Glasto birth a reality. The unnamed lady wouldn’t have been the first person to give birth at the event – the last one happened in 1998. But it was not to be this time. Despite the fact that she, er, “went to the garden where the healing angel is to sit in a dome which is a sacred place connected to the earth to get good energies”, eventually she had to be taken off to a nearby village to finish the process.

MCPS to take hit from interest rate slump

Business News Labels & Publishers

The boss of PRS For Music has admitted the publishing royalties collecting society will lose out because of a recession-caused slump in interest rates.

Steve Porter revealed that MCPS – the bit of PRS that takes royalty payments off record companies who make mechanical copies of songs – made £4 million in interest in 2008, but that that was likely to fall below one million this year because of what he called an “interest rate meteor”. But, Porter said, the body was taking steps to address the issue so the impact would not be so strongly felt by the music publishers and songwriters the body represents. I’m not sure what those steps are. Perhaps everyone at PRS is going to go out busking.

Porter was speaking at the AGM of the Music Publishers Association in London last week. According to Music Week, the meeting also saw Peermusic’s Nigel Elderton re-elected unopposed to the position of Chair of the Association, while Music Sales’ Chris Butler was re-elected unopposed as his deputy. So, nail-biting election then.

Merlin board up for election

Business News Labels & Publishers

Talking of elections, Merlin, the global indie label digital rights body, has opened up nominations for its board. The inaugural board who have been responsible for bringing the organisation into being will complete its initial two year term in August.

Any owner, CEO or senior exec at a Merlin affiliated label is eligible to stand. Of the final board, five will come from Europe, five from North America, and five from elsewhere in the world. Board hopefuls need to get in touch now – nominee lists and voting instructions will be sent to those who are eligible to vote on 31 Jul.

Commenting on the board elections, Merlin CEO Charles Caldas told CMU: “We have been extremely fortunate to have such an experienced, passionate and dedicated inaugural board in forming this organisation. It is now time for the members to elect a new set of representatives, and I am confident that we will see another remarkable set of people ready to contribute to Merlin’s ever growing importance in the market”.

Theft down at Rock Ness

Business News Live Business

The Association Of Independent Festivals have announced that the first deployment of their previously reported ‘security task force’ was something of a success. The AIF team were involved in security at the recent Rock Ness festival, where theft fell 95%. Apparently there were only five reported thefts at this year’s Inverness music fest, compared to 95 last year.

As previously reported, AIF have teamed up with security firm Showsec to ensure some coordination between independent festivals on security issues – especially in matters of theft. It’s believed there are gangs that hit all the festivals to target camp sites, and it’s hoped a coordinated approach between festivals will help target those teams. The AIF security task force work with each festival’s own security team and local police to plan onsite action, and it’s thought the pre-festival briefings and planning supported by the task force helped cut theft levels at Rock Ness.

Commenting on the pleasingly low theft levels at Rock Ness, AIF co-founder Ben Turner told CMU: “Though it would be wrong to claim complete responsibility for the dramatic decrease in crime it is a very positive step forward in the festival markets attempt to curb crime of this nature. AIF is very pleased with how the task force worked at the first AIF festival of the season and it fills us with great positivity going forward”.

Pirate Bay bias claims knocked back by appeals court

Business News Digital Legal

Now Sweden’s Court Of Appeal has confirmed that the judge who oversaw the high profile Pirate Bay trial was not biased.

As previously reported, after the three founders and main funder of the rogue BitTorrent tracker were found guilty of all kinds of copyright infringement and sentenced to a year in the slammer, some alleged that the judge who heard the case, Tomas Norstrom, was biased because he was a member of two intellectual property organisations. His membership of those groups, the Pirate Bay Four’s legal reps argued, made him biased towards the copyright owners who were suing them.

Earlier this month the District Court in which Norstrom sits said it didn’t believe their man was biased, adding that he had only joined the two IP bodies so that he was better informed on the copyright issues being assessed in the Pirate Bay trial. And now the Swedish Court Of Appeal, who are considering the bias issue as part of the Pirate Bay Four’s full appeal, have said they don’t believe Norstrom was biased either, though they did say he should have made all parties aware of his membership of the IP groups before the trial began.

That ruling means the Four’s claims for a complete retrial have now been fully turned down – though their application for an appeal hearing is still being considered by the appellate court.

Needless to say the appeal court’s ruling wasn’t welcomed by supporters of the Bay, who say that judges in the Appeal Court were also biased. Meanwhile, the Bay’s Head Of Comedy Peter Sunde, a defendant himself of course, announced via Twitter he is considering taking the matter to the European Court Of Human Rights. He tweeted: “The Pirate Bay will now file charges against Sweden for violation for Human Rights – more info later – (the bias-judge is himself biased…)”.

Meanwhile Christian Engstrom of the Bay supporting Swedish Pirate Party, which, of course, recently won seats in the European Parliament, told a Swedish radio station: “This is part of a pattern. It shows that the Swedish legal system is no longer to be trusted when it comes to copyright cases. It’s a travesty of justice quite simply. I’ve been a lay judge for seven years and I’ve never seen an indictment as bad as the Pirate Bay verdict. But that didn’t stop the court from setting ridiculous sentences”.

TLRC sell another station

Media

I’m not sure there’ll be much left of the all new Local Radio Company soon.

The local radio firm, under new management since rivals UKRD became majority shareholders of course, have now announced they are selling off two more of their stations – Sussex-based Sovereign Radio and Arrow FM will both go to Media Sound Holdings.

TLRC have already sold Fire Radio in Bournemouth and Silk FM in Macclesfield and closed down Mix 107 in High Wycombe.

Tom Ravenscroft presents Global Soundtracks

Media

John Peel’s son Tom Ravenscroft is doing a new project, a podcast via globalsoundtracks.com which focuses on underground and experimental music from around the world, as well as a bit of pop, and features live recordings and documentaries. A new edition is released every Monday, and it sounds good, actually, so I am planning to have a listen.

Chart update – w/c 29 Jun 2009

Artist News

Various people I’ve spoken to in the last few days have been pondering what the most fitting tribute to Michael Jackson would be. I saw one guy on Saturday morning wearing a homemade t-shirt, and a group of Londoners turned out for an impromptu moonwalk outside Liverpool Street Station on Friday evening, but it seems that most people just rushed out to buy as many Michael Jackson CDs as they could.

As a result, Jackson has the number one album this week, with his 2003 compilation ‘Number Ones’. Also in the top ten, at seven, is ‘Thriller’, and you’ll find another four Jacko albums in the top 20 and a total of seven in the top 75. In fact, if you stretch it out to the top 200 there are eleven Michael Jackson and Jackson Five albums in the chart. Which is quite a lot. Although ‘Thriller’ appears twice, with the 25th anniversary edition of the album at 45. That still counts, though. And ‘Thriller’ is also still the biggest selling album of all time.

In the singles chart Jackson has 16 solo singles in the top 75, with that number rising to 20 if you include Jackson Five songs too. However, none managed to break the top ten, with the highest entry being ‘Man In The Mirror’ at 11. But the fact that none have made the top ten doesn’t stop this being a mighty achievement – because these chart positions are based almost exclusively on less than two days of sales. All but two albums (‘Number Ones’ and ‘Thriller’) and one single (‘Thriller’) are new entries on the chart, and those that were already there weren’t even inside the top 100. In total, Jackson accounts for over 300,000 record sales across both charts this week.

HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo told the BBC: “Once we had the announcement of his death people came into our stores and we had large crowds. Fortunately we had a lot of stock because we had been preparing for the O2 concerts, but sadly we didn’t expect to sell them for this reason”.

There is a Jackson at number one in the singles chart, but it’s not Michael. La Roux vocalist Elly Jackson admitted to the BBC that getting her first number one single with ‘Bulletproof’ was a slightly bittersweet moment, as Michael had been a major influence on her. However, she should be pleased that this single looks like it may outsell previous single, ‘In For The Kill’, which is already one of the biggest selling singles of the year, beaten only by the rubbish Lady GaGa’s keeps putting out.

Other new entries in the top 40 singles chart this week are Florence And The Machine with ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’ at 12 and Basement Jaxx with ‘Raindrops’ at 21.

In the album top 40, Take That and Lady GaGa both break back into the top ten, and there are new entries from Neil Sedaka, Jack Penate, Gossip, Dream Theater, Regina Spektor. There are a number of sharp rises worth noting, too, with Keri Hilson, up from 61 to 22, Noisettes, up from 54 to 24, The Script, up from 47 to 26, Duffy up from 64 to 36, and most notably, Calvin Harris, whose debut album ‘I Created Disco’ rises from 124 to 40 this week.

The charts are blamed on the boogie by The Official Charts Company.

White Lies on success and what have you

And Finally

White Lies have been talking about having a good year of it, and have concluded that they deserved it.

Bassist Charlie Cave told Absolute Radio: “All the things we’ve achieved we can instantly relate X number of hours of immensely hard work to. Whether it be touring, which means the ridiculous logistics of planes to and from places and 16-hour overnight drives. Whatever it is, I certainly honestly don’t feel as though any of the success we’ve had over the last year has not been deserved in comparison to the work we’ve done… we’ve worked really, really hard.”

I feel duty bound to say, at this point, that plenty of bands, and indeed, non-bands, work that hard, are talented and clever, and never, ever achieve that level of success.

Of the the band’s upcoming shows supporting Coldplay singer Harry McVeigh added: “The Coldplay dates are going to be super exciting for two reasons. One, because we’re obviously supporting one of the biggest bands in the world. But also, the other support is Girls Aloud and Jay-Z, which is going to be amazing”.

Perez loses advertiser

And Finally

According to Aussie website Undercover, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has lost an advertiser, following the week in which he called Will.i.am a faggot, got punched by the Black Eyed Peas’ tour manager and incurred disapproval from Jacko fans by making jokes about the deceased singer (albeit before he realised he was actually deceased). Express.com has reportedly asked its agency to remove their ads from Hilton’s site.

It may or may not be in relation to what Hilton’s been up to in the last week, but he has, for sure, made no friends. His veracity over the Black Eyed Peas incident has been questioned, because photos of the altercation appear to show him being attacked from behind, when he claims to have been left with a black eye. Plus readers apparently responded badly to his initial suggestion, as the news of Jackson’s illness, but not death, broke, that the singer was faking a cardiac arrest to get out of doing his O2 residency.

Reports also claim that Hilton says that if he wins the $25k he is suing Will.i.am et al for, he will donate it to the Matthew Shepard Foundation, but that the group have declined the offer.

Approved: Deep Funk at Madame JoJo’s (CMU Friday Tips)

Club Tip CMU Approved

VIGSY’S CLUB TIP: Deep Funk at Madame JoJo’s
Keb Darge is a rare gem of a bloke. He is really underrated, though his Deep Funk night is actually quite legendary in some circles. This mild mannered Scot has a record collection spanning from his Northern Soul days at the Wigan Casino through to much more modern releases, and with this armamentarium he has produced some great compilations on BBE in recent years. I have seen him a few times at Sosho, and he has never disappointed. Add this old cabaret club’s velour surroundings and this should be a great night, fusing old and new to the future and beyond. Should be a cracker.

Friday 26 Jun, Madame JoJo’s, 8-10 Brewer Street, Soho, London W1 0SE, 9.30pm ’til 3am, £8 all night.

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Monday 29 June 2009, 16:50 | By Eddy Temple-Morris

Oh what a lovely time we had. The threat of a monsoon never materialised, and Glastonbury 09 will go down as one of the best I think. Looking back at it, it’s a really shit huge festival, with a LOVELY little festival tagged onto the bottom right hand corner.

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