Friday 27 November 2009, 12:15 | By CMU Editorial

Gogol Bordello on Rick Rubin

Artist News

Bassist with gypsy punks Gogol Bordello, Tommy T, has been singing the praises of producer Rick Rubin, who was responsible for pressing record and play at the same time for the band’s as-yet-untitled forthcoming new album, which is due out early next year.

He told Spinner: “[Rick Rubin is] a genius. He’s a person who’s absolutely confident and absolutely believes his instincts. And that means he’s going to bring the best out of you. His instincts are deadly – you can see that through his work, many years through many styles. He builds a song from the ground up. It’s not about a riff, it’s not about this or that. The whole thing is about a song”.

Steel Panther announce Xmas single

Releases

OTT rockers Steel Panther have announced that they will release a Christmas single next month.

‘Sexy Santa’ will hit stores on 13 Dec, backed with the slightly less festive, ‘Party All Day (Fuck All Night)’.

Future Of The Left tour dates

Gigs & Festivals

Good news for people who like good stuff, Future Of The Left will be heading out on a UK tour tomorrow, with support from Tubelord.

Here are the dates:

28 Nov: Norwich, Arts Centre
29 Nov: Oxford, Bullingdon
30 Nov: Portsmouth, Wedgewood Rooms
1 Dec: Birmingham, Academy 3
3 Dec: London, Garage
4 Dec: Brighton, Freebutt
5 Dec: Bristol, Thekla

Horse Feathers tour dates

Gigs & Festivals

Horse Feathers will hit the UK for a week long tour of the UK and Ireland next month, performing, amongst others, songs from last year’s ‘House With No Name’ album, which featured immensely talented musician Peter Broderick and his sister Heather. For the upcoming shows, mainman Justin Ringle will be joined by Nathan Crockett (violin, saw, vocals), Catherine Odell (cello, vocals) and Sam Cooper (banjo, mandolin, percussion, violin, vocals).

Tour dates:

7 Dec: London, Hoxton Bar & Grill
8 Dec: Oxford, Jericho Tavern
9 Dec: Manchester, Dulcimer
10 Dec: Glasgow, Nice N Sleazy
11 Dec: Dublin, Academy 2
12 Dec: Belfast, Speakeasy

Muse to play Glasto?

Artist News Gigs & Festivals

With all the usual “U2 to headline Glastonbury” rumours turning out to be true for 2010, now the usual “Muse to headline Glastonbury” rumours are taking centre stage. Several sources are apparently saying the Musesters have been signed up to play Glasto 2010. Time will tell, I guess.

Borders goes into administration

Business News HMV Timeline Retail

Books and CD sellers Borders have gone into administration after management there failed to find a buyer for their 45 store chain.

The firm’s current owners only acquired the company a few months back as part of a management buy-out.

Administrators MCR say that it is business as usual at the company’s Borders and books etc stores as they try to find a buyer for the chain as a whole. Though many commentators are not optimistic that such a buyer will be found.

Atlantic US doing rather well, apparently

Business News Labels & Publishers

So, does the future of the record industry depend on everyone doing what the team at Atlantic USA are doing? Possibly. According to Hits Daily Double, here is what Warner Music chief Edgar Bronfman Jr said when asked by a City type, during a conference call on the major’s previously reported fourth quarter financials, why his company’s Atlantic US division was outperforming all the other parts of his business.

Bronfman: “I have always believed that a key executive management team is critical to success, and the team at Atlantic has jelled together – and that is not just the leadership of Craig Kallman and Julie Greenwald, but the entire Atlantic team and staff, and they have employed a very disciplined financial strategy. And that allows Atlantic to focus very strongly on the artist that it believes in and not to spend too much time on artists that don’t have that kind of potential”.

He continued: “The last three years are the most successful years in the history of Atlantic Records; 2008 was the greatest year in Atlantic’s history, 2009 is even ahead of 2008. So it is the rebuilding of our artist roster, but most importantly it is the right executive team with the right management underneath them and disciplined focused financial approach, which is really bearing fruit at Atlantic”.

Mininova streamlines its service, shuts down infringing bit

Digital

Mininova, a Dutch BitTorrent search service which, like The Pirate Bay, helped file-sharers find torrent sources of music and movie files, has shut down part of its operation so that from now on they will only provide links to content sources in its own ‘content distribution network’.

That network consists of content owners who have signed up to use Mininova as a way of promoting and distributing their work, and therefore provides links to mainly unsigned and lesser-known musicians and filmmakers.

A Dutch court ruled in August that the wider Mininova service was guilty of copyright infringement for linking to unlicensed sources of content. The court also ruled that Mininova’s ‘take down procedure’, where they pledged to remove links to illegal content sources if told to do so by content owners, was not sufficient to side step liability for infringement.

It was with that in mind that Mininova have decided to simply shut down the bit of its service where the dodgy links occurred, having not found a viable way to automatically stop infringing links from being submitted by users.

In a statement on their company blog, Team Mininova wrote: “We’ve been testing some filtering systems the last couple of months, but we found that it’s neither technically nor operationally possible to implement a 100% working filter system. Therefore, we decided that the only option is to limit Mininova to Content Distribution torrents from now on”.

However, the statement added that the torrent firm was still considering its legal position confirming: “We are still considering an appeal at this moment”.

The General Counsel of the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry, Jo Oliver, welcomed the development, saying: “[It] is further proof that courts will not tolerate operations that offer infringing torrents. By curbing the illegal distribution of content online we can create an environment in which investment in legitimate digital music services can thrive”.

Absolute launch iTunes tagging

Media

Absolute Radio has announced it will become the first radio station in Europe to provide an iTunes Tagging service, albeit only in London where it broadcasts on FM.

The new service utilises the FM receiver that has been added to the iPod Nano, and uses that technology originally developed for the now defunct CLIQ download service. Basically, as you listen to Absolute, if you like a song playing you can press a button, then the next time you sync your iPod to iTunes you will be given the option to download the song from the iTunes Store.

CLIQ was developed by Unique Broadcasting, and planned to incorporate a download service into a clever radio set. The service never really got off the ground. However, technology developed for that service will be utilised by Absolute’s iPod service.

Unique’s Simon Blackmore told reporters this week: “We were extremely pleased to see Apple announce the arrival of an FM tuner in the latest iPod Nano and it’s now even more welcome having implemented iTunes Tagging with the team at [Absolute Radio’s] One Golden Square Labs, who continue to be at the forefront of technology”.

Unique CEO Simon Cole, meanwhile, said this: “The use of radio as a prompt to purchase for music has been a vision of ours for the last three years. I’m really pleased to see much of the work we have put into developing IP in this area coming to fruition in our work with Absolute”.

Elsewhere in Absolute news, their previously reported ‘listener controlled’ live music station Dabbl will formally launch next week with a recording of a recent Kasabian gig.

ITV buy Disney out of GMTV

Media

ITV has taken full ownership of GMTV.

For historic reasons, the franchise to broadcast between 6am and 9.25am on the third terrestrial channel is separate from the franchises to broadcast after 9.25am. The breakfast licence is also national, whereas the other third channel licences are regional.

GMTV have held the breakfast licence since 1993. As the other ITV companies in England and Wales all merged to create ITV plc that company ended up with a 75% stake in GMTV, with Disney owning the other quarter of the company. Yesterday ITV plc bought out Disney.

It’s thought that ITV plc taking complete ownership of GMTV will result in more integration between breakfast and daytime on ITV1, though GMTV also airs in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where the other ITV franchises are owned by different companies, STV and UTV respectively.

Both STV and UTV traditionally air most of ITV plc’s English programmes, though STV are increasingly replacing English shows with Scottish-made ones, resulting in a lot of ITV/STV squabbling. Whether that will limit ITV plc’s hopes to make breakfast and daytime ITV more cohesive remains to be seen.

Grohl thought Reading show could be Nirvana’s last

And Finally

Dave Grohl has admitted that prior to Nirvana’s now legendary Reading Festival performance in 1992, which was released on DVD this month, he thought it could have been the band’s last. Mainly because he expected it all to go horribly horribly wrong.

Speaking to The Scotsman, he said: “I really thought, ‘This will be a disaster, this will be the end of our career, for sure’. Kurt had been in and out of rehab, communication in the band was beginning to be strained. Kurt was living in LA, Krist and I were in Seattle. People weren’t even sure if we were going to show up. We rehearsed once, the night before, and it wasn’t good. It turned out to be a wonderful show, and it healed us for a little while”.

Xmas LP completely serious, says Dylan

And Finally

Bob Dylan has insisted that his recently released Christmas album, ‘Christmas In The Heart’, is not a joke. Anyone who thinks it is apparently just doesn’t understand it. Or maybe Bob just doesn’t get the joke.

Dylan told The Big Issue: “Critics like that are on the outside looking in. They are definitely not fans or the audience that I play to.They would have no gut level understanding of me and my work, what I can and can’t do – the scope of it all. Even at this point in time they don’t know what to make of me. These songs are part of my life, just like folk songs. You have to play them straight, too… The songs don’t require much acting. They kind of play themselves”.

Debelle booed by Take That fans

And Finally

Speech Debelle was booed off stage at the launch event for the new Take That edition of karaoke videogame, ‘SingStar’. The 500-strong crowd apparently took exception to the Mercury winner after she chose to rap her way through the TT classic, ‘Pray’, instead of singing it. Which, given that the game scores you on how closely you can mimic the original song, is probably fair.

The Mirror claims that Debelle retorted: “I’m a rapper. I don’t do Take shit”. Although that seems quite unlikely. However, it seems that the event’s host, James Corden, did return to the stage and announce: “That was shit, anyone can rap”, before launching into a rap of his own.

Held in aid of HIV charity Body & Soul, Lily Allen, Paloma Faith, Rachel Stevens, Kate Moss, Pixie Geldof, Amy Winehouse’s goddaughter Dionne Bromfield and Take That themselves were all in attendance.

Q&A: Anti-pop Consortium

Artist Interviews

Alternative hip hop group Anti-pop Consortium formed way back in 1997 when Beans, High Priest, M Sayyid and producer Earl Blaize met at a poetry slam in New York City, releasing several singles and two albums before signing with Warp Records in 2000. The group disbanded in 2002 due to creative differences, seeing Beans pursue a solo career whilst Priest and Sayyid formed Airborn Audio. After recently reforming and signing to Big Dada, the group released their new album, ‘Flourescent Black’, in September. We spoke to Beans and Earl Blaize to ask our Same Six Questions.

Q1 How did you start out making music?
Beans: When I was seventeen, I started trying to be a DJ but I couldn’t afford the equipment so I started writing instead.

Earl Blaize: I used to make cassette ‘pause’ tapes, splicing together megamixes from radio stations, Then started DJing, and got my first drum machine, a TR-707, which led me to start producing and engineering.

Q2 What inspired your latest album?
Beans: The title comes from a lyric I said in the track ‘Apparently’, but it was Sayyid’s idea to use it as the title for the album.

Earl Blaize: I was inspired by Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’.

Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
Beans: Anyone of us can come to the table with a track. Most tracks are done individually but some have been created out of collective improvising

Earl Blaize: Each member’s process is different. For me, creating a track is like creating a new life. Like any new life, it should have a reason to exist. This is why the track must have a pulse that can be felt by the listener. If it doesn’t move you, then it’s just constipation.

Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Beans: Dude, too numerous to list. I dig Sun Ra, 70s Miles Davis, Public Enemy, Suicide, Mantronix to name a few. We each vary with that question.

Earl Blaize: Mantronix, John Williams, Bob Powers (engineer), Led Zepplin, PE, Marilyn Manson, Eminem, Pharoahe Monch, KRS-One, WarDolphin

Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music the first time?
Beans: Enjoy the ride!

Earl Blaize: Hopefully you’ll experience a unique approach to hip hop that doesn’t fit into a nice neat little box.

Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
Beans: To continue to make records and music on our own terms

Earl Blaize: To continue to enjoy creating audio landscapes that take the listener through time and space without the need for a government-issued passport.

MORE>> www.myspace.com/antipopny

Single Review: Monsters Of Folk – Whole Lotta Losin (Rough Trade)

Single Reviews

I went to see Monsters Of Folk recently in London, and they were bloody brilliant. Actually, they were better than brilliant. And this has nothing to do with the fact that I’m quite possibly in love with M. Ward and have been for a few years now. No – it was because they were, and are, the best entertainers from the best possible corners of American music, tied together by their love of bluegrass, Americana and shiver-inducing bottleneck guitar.

‘Whole Lotta Losin’, the latest single to be taken off of the fantastic eponymous debut, is perfect. True story. And there’s something wrong with you if it doesn’t make you at least want to nod your head along to its infectious continuation of the lyrics “by and by”. Catchy from the first play, the song is upbeat; a folksy, country-tinged epidemic of heroic proportions, and will make you love this band whether you want to or not. TW

Buy from iTunes
Buy from Amazon

Approved: Emika

CMU Approved

From the sound of her debut EP, Ninja Tune’s latest signing Emika is someone we’ll be listening to and talking about a lot next year. The EP’s title track, ‘Drop The Other’, sounds like a squeaky clean R&B track that’s been taken out on a heavy night and then left alone in a strange town to find its way home at 4am. In the rain. It’s catchy and definitely has pop in its heart, but it also sounds damaged and subdued. Glitchy piano flicks in and out of frame, drums skitter along underneath and Emika’s soft, effortless-sounding vocals drift quietly over the top of it all. It’s not out til January, but Ninja Tune are already giving away a Scuba remix of ‘Drop The Other’, which holds the essence of the original but gives it a bit more kick, right now. To download it, click the link below.

www.ninjatune.net/emika

Three-strikes petition has over 24,000 signatories

Digital Top Stories

A petition against the government’s proposals to introduce a three-strikes style system for combating online piracy is currently the sixth most signed on the Number 10 Downing Street website, despite being among the newest petitions on there. As I write this 24,390 people have added their names to the petition.

It was set up by a rep of internet service provider TalkTalk who have, of course, been especially vocal in opposing any measures that would force ISPs to take action against persistent file-sharers. The petition is a response, also of course, to the government’s Digital Economy Bill, published last week, which includes a provision for suspending the internet connections of those who continue to access illegal sources of music or film content despite warnings.

While claiming that persistent file-sharers will hack into others’ wi-fi connections to access illegal content, meaning innocent parties will face warning letters and suspension, the main part of the petition focuses on the usual issue associated with three strikes: whether cases will go through a court of law before suspension takes place.

It was that issue that caused French three-strike proposals to initially stumble at the country’s Constitutional Council, and was also at the heart of uproar in New Zealand when politicians there made three-strikes law. The French government got round it by having a judge rubber stamp any disconnection notices, and by assuring constitutional judges there would be an opportunity for those accused of file-sharing to defend themselves.

Whether adding such a nominal judicial element to the UK’s three-strikes system would appease objectors I’m not sure, though it’s unlikely to appease TalkTalk who’d rather have to never think about what their customers are up to on their servers.

The anti-three-strike petition was aided by that Tweeter-In-Chief Stephen Fry. He had previously leant his support to the aforementioned anti-three-strike movement in New Zealand, and earlier this week urged his British followers to sign TalkTalk’s petition.

Noting that the three-strikes provisions have been pushed through in the main by Peter Mandelson, he tweeted: “Dear Mandy, splendid fellow in many ways, but he is SO WRONG about copyright”.

Of course Number 10 petitions rarely result in anything much – certainly those tedious political types managed to ignore the last one I put my name to, calling for the National Anthem to be replaced with a Human League track. But organisations like the Open Rights Group have reported tangible increases in membership since the three-strikes proposals were formally put on the parliamentary agenda last week, so opposition to the idea is likely to be even more vocal if and when it reaches the House Of Commons.

Meanwhile, BPI boss Geoff Taylor and the Featured Artist Coalition’s Jeremy Silver are due to talk on this very issue at an Internet Service Provider Association conference next week, which should be interesting. The FAC have mixed opinions about net suspensions for file-sharers, of course, but the BPI has been spearheading the lobbying activity to get such measures on the statute book. Given most ISPs hate the idea of suspending net users, Taylor could be in for an interesting hour.

Heaven & Hell man has cancer

Artist News

Heaven & Hell and sometime Black Sabbath frontman Ronnie James Dio has announced he has been diagnosed with stomach cancer. The announcement follows the news Dio was cancelling some live shows last week due to ill-health.

In a statement issued yesterday, Dio’s wife Wendy told reporters: “Ronnie has been diagnosed with the early stages of stomach cancer. We are starting treatment immediately at the Mayo Clinic. After he kills this dragon, Ronnie will be back on stage, where he belongs, doing what he loves best, performing for his fans. Thanks to all the friends and fans around the world that have sent well wishes. This has really helped to keep his spirit up. Long live rock and roll, long live Ronnie James Dio”.

Guardian student winners

Awards

So, in case you hadn’t noticed, this is the week for celebrating the great and the good among the UK’s student media community. Tuesday night saw the Student Radio Awards take over the Indigo bit of London’s big dome, while last night The Guardian dished out its awards to the students who write well at Camden’s Proud Gallery. And tonight Record Of The Day will present the CMU-supported Best Student Music Journalist gong at their awards for music journalism and PR, which is all jolly exciting.

But let’s take a step back and list, celebrate and congratulate the winners of the Guardian’s student media awards for 2009, which are as follows:

Reporter Of The Year: Michael Stothard – University Of Cambridge
Feature Writer Of The Year: Zing Tsjeng – University Of Cambridge
Photographer Of The Year: Stuart Capper – Blackpool & The Fylde College
Publication Design Of The Year: The Journal – University Of Edinburgh
Critic Of The Year: Catherine Sylvain – University Of Edinburgh
Broadcast Journalist Of The Year: Steph Oliver – Nottingham Trent University
Sports Writer Of The Year: Ben Riley-Smith – University Of Cambridge
Diversity Writer Of The Year: Jessica Tabalba – London School Of Economics
Travel Writer Of The Year: Clyde Macfarlane – University Of Manchester
Columnist Of The Year: Charlotte Runcie – University Of Cambridge
Student Journalist Of The Year: Patrick Kingsley – University Of Cambridge

Newspaper Of The Year: Leeds Student – University Of Leeds
Magazine Of The Year: The Oxymoron – Oxford University
Website Of The Year: www.nouse.co.uk – University Of York

25 recordings added to Grammy recordings Hall Of Fame

Awards

The Beach Boys, Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown and Louis Armstrong have all got songs about to be listed in the US Recording Academy’s Grammy Hall Of Fame which, unlike the main US Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame, honours songs rather than bands.

Songs have to be at least 25 years old to enter the Hall Of Fame. The youngest song added to the Hall this time round is Birdland’s ‘Weather Report’ from 1977.

Announcing this year’s list, the Recording Academy’s Neil Portnow told reporters: “These recordings all greatly deserve to be memorialised. The selections are timeless staples that span six decades and represent a wide range of genres from comedy to rock, reggae, jazz and R&B”.

The comedy, by the way, is George Carlin’s ‘Class Clown’, the 1972 comedy album most notable for the “seven words you can never say on television” routine.

The rock, reggae, jazz and R&B can presumably be found somewhere in this list of the other 24 new entrants to the Grammy Hall…

Dooley Wilson – As Time Goes By (1944)
Weather Report – Birdland (1977)
The Beach Boys – California Girls (1965)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Catch A Fire (1973)
Billie Holiday Crazy He Calls Me (1949)
King Oliver & His Jazz Band – Dippermouth Blues (1923)
Duke Ellington – Don’t Get Around Much Anymore (1940)
Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie – Ella and Basie (1963)
Jose Feliciano – Feliz Navidad (1970)
Judy Garland & Gene Kelly – For Me And My Gal (1942)
Mahalia Jackson – His Eye Is On The Sparrow (1958)
Muddy Waters – I Feel Like Going Home (1948)
James Brown – It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World (1966)
Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd – Jazz Samba (1962)
Jelly Roll Morton – Kansas City Stomps (1928)
Louis Armstrong – Lazy River (1931)
Louis Armstrong & His All-Stars – …Plays WC Handy (1954)
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Mr Bojangles (1970)
Janis Joplin – Pearl (1971)
The Doors – Riders On The Storm (1971)
The Isley Brothers – Twist And Shout (1962)
Bo Diddley – Who Do You Love (1956)
Harry James & His Orchestra – You Made Me Love You (1941)
Johnny Mercer – Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah (1946)

Former EMI chief gets honorary degree

Awards

Tony Wadsworth, chair of record label trade body BPI and formerly UK boss of EMI, has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate Of Music from the University Of Gloucestershire.

The honorary degree recognises Wadsworth’s role in setting up the popular music degree at the university, as well as his general contribution to the good old music business, especially during his 26 year career at EMI, all the way up until the point then new owners Terra Firma kicked him out of the door in possibly their least wise decision since acquiring the major.

Confirming the award, the leader of the university’s Popular Music course, former Sneaker Pimp Joe Wilson, told reporters: “It is not an exaggeration to say that without the contributions of Tony Wadsworth, the sound and success of British Music around the world would have been radically different. His vision and leadership has led British music to have an international reputation for excitement, creativity and originality”.

Tony himself added: “This is a real honour and very humbling; but the biggest thrill is to see the passion for music of the first cohort of popular music graduates, as they bring their collective energy to the UK music industry”.

Take That break DVD sales record

Artist News

We’re moving ever closer to a day where Take That hold all sales records in the music industry. Their latest is for having the fastest selling music DVD ever in the UK, with ‘Take That Present: The Circus Live’. They managed to rack up the highest first week sales ever in just one day, shifting 82,414 copies in 24 hours and snatching the record from the previous holder, ‘Now That’s What I Call A Music Quiz’.

HMV’s Gennaro Castaldo told reporters: “We’ve had record pre-orders for a music DVD title [for this release] via hmv.com, and now we’re seeing a real surge in demand through our stores around the country. This is a phenomenal performance for a non-studio release, and it underlines the band’s massive popularity with fans of all ages”.

Beyonce’s Crazy In Love named best song of the decade

Artist News

Who doesn’t love a poll? That’s right, no one. So, you’ll be pleased to know that the NME have asked around a bit and found out what the best single of the last decade is. Turns out it’s ‘Crazy In Love’ by Beyonce. So now you know.

Here’s the top ten:

1. Beyonce – Crazy In Love
2. MGMT – Time To Pretend
3. The Strokes – Hard To Explain
4. MIA – Paper Planes
5. OutKast – Hey Ya!
6. The Rapture – House Of Jealous Lovers
7. Klaxons – Golden Skans
8. Blur – Out Of Time
9. Arcade Fire – Rebellion (Lies)
10. Arctic Monkeys – A Certain Romance

Speaking of excellent polls, there’s still time to vote in CMU’s Track Of The Year. Let us know your favourite song from the last twelve months here.

Pussycat Dolls deny split rumours

Artist News

Pussycat Dolls founder Robin Antin has denied rumours that the group have split, following claims that main singer Nicole Scherzinger has stopped speaking to her bandmates.

Antin told HollyScoop.com: “The Pussycat Dolls are very much alive and there is no truth to the silent treatment statements. Nicole and the Dolls have always been close. Nicole is and always has been a strong creative force within this group and I cherish the way we collaborate”.

Reef return

Artist News

Reef are back together and will head out on a UK tour next April. According to the press release we received about this from the band’s PR yesterday, the dates were to be released “exclusively to fans” later today, which I assumed meant “only on the band’s website”. In which case, I’m sure band and fans alike will be pleased to know that Live Nation sent out the dates to everyone in a press release this morning.

Here they are:

18 Apr: Norwich, UEA
20 Apr: Birmingham, Academy
21 Apr: Bristol, Academy
23 Apr: London, Shepherds Bush Empire
24 Apr: Manchester, Academy

Florence prepares for album #2

Releases

Florence Welch, she of Florence And The Machine, has revealed that she will begin work on her second album in January, following her biggest UK tour to date next month.

Welch told The BBC: “We’re recording the second album in January. Got the plan, I just want to start recording as soon as possible”.

Of course, Flo has had quite a year this year, albeit attracting as many naysayers as she has fans. However, she says she’s tried not to let negative comments get to her: “Sometimes I get scared by the exposure, scared by negative criticism but it’s something you learn to deal with and take it less personally. When you first get that it’s like, ‘Why is someone saying something so mean?’ But you learn to take it not so personally”.

Arcade Fire album coming next year

Releases

Following much rumour and speculation, Mercury Records yesterday confirmed that “Arcade Fire’s third album will emerge in 2010”.

No further details have yet been announced, but the band’s Richard Parry recently told The Quietus, that the band were in a New York studio recording “some strings for some new songs” earlier this month, though he would not say whether or not the songs were intended for a new album.

Throats announce debut album

Releases

Endlessly on tour and flippin brilliant UK hardcore boys Throats will release their eponymous debut album via Holy Roar on 1 Feb. To celebrate, they’ll play a free album launch show at The Old Blue Last in London on 30 Jan with Hang The Bastard, Brutality Will Prevail and Betty Pariso, before heading out on a full European tour.

Get a taste of the action here: www.myspace.com/throatsofgold

And here’s the album’s tracklisting:

Wake
My Hands Are Cold
Fuck Life
Failgiver
Something Low From This Way Comes
Oaken/Wait

Madness announce new single

Releases

Madness will release a new single, ‘Forever Young’, from their latest album, ‘The Liberty Of Norton Folgate’, on 11 Jan.

Jamie T forms covers band

Gigs & Festivals

Jamie T has announced that he is considering forming a covers band to play some gigs while he takes a break from writing his own material.

He told BBC 6music: “I seem to spend a lot of time talking about starting a covers band at the moment, which I’m thinking of doing with a couple of friends. We’ve done a lot of music over the past year, we’ve written a lot and I think we are coming to the end of a phase of that I suppose. Maybe it’s time to stop writing for a bit. As strange as that sounds, sometimes you need to collect your thoughts a bit before writing, so I think a covers band might be fun. I don’t think we’ll get into the studio. I think we’re just going to play some shows. I think it’s just more for the sake of having fun and going out and playing it”.

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