Friday 26 August 2011, 12:54 | By CMU Editorial

Charlotte Gainsbourg announces new EP and album

Releases

Charlotte Gainsbourg’s brilliant, isn’t she? Yes, she is, and I won’t have any of you saying any different. I just won’t listen. Go on, try to say she’s not. Lalalalalalalalalalalala see? I told you I wo… lalalalalalalalalalala no, it’s no goo lalalalalalalala okay, stop it now. Thanks. I know you didn’t mean it, anyway.

Right, so, you’ll be pleased to hear that Chazza has a new EP coming out next month. Like her 2009 album ‘IRM’, the EP was produced by Beck. Unlike her 2009 album ‘IRM’, it will be called ‘Terrible Angels’. And it’s an EP, which isn’t like her 2009 album ‘IRM’ either.

‘Terrible Angels’ will be released by Because Music on 5 Sep, and will feature three new songs, as well as a cover of Bob Dylan’s ‘Just Like A Woman’, and a live version of the title track. Speaking of the title track, which is way more electro than anything she’s done before, you can watch the video for it below. It features Gainsbourg and a load of lookalikes dancing in a carpark.

As well as this, on 8 Nov Gainsbourg will release a two disc collection of live and unreleased material entitled ‘Stage Whisper’.

Ed Sheeran announces debut album

Releases

Sofa-surfing indie phenom Ed Sheeran is all set to release his debut album ‘+’ via Asylum Records on 12 Aug.

“I’d like to say it’s all about positivity”, muses Ed on the album’s title. “But really it’s just a cool sign that I love”. Cool beans.

Though you’ll find his current tour dates completely sold-out, the ‘+’ tracklist is free to browse indefinitely:

The A Team
Drunk
UNI
Grade 8
Wake Me Up
Small Bump
This
The City
Lego House
You Need Me, I Don’t Need You
Kiss Me
Give Me Love

Bradford Cox to release new Atlas Sound LP

Releases

Deerhunter mastermind Bradford Cox is to release his latest album as Atlas Sound, the solo moniker he has carried around since childhood, via 4AD on 7 Nov.

Mark the occasion by nabbing a free copy of woozy acoustic lilt, ‘Terra Incognita’, here.

There’s also a tracklist to browse, should you feel like it. Wonder if ‘Te Amo’ will turn out to be a Rihanna cover. It could happen.

The Shakes
Amplifiers
Te Amo
Parallax
Modern Aquatic Nightsongs
Mona Lisa
Praying Man
Doldrums
My Angel Is Broken
Terra Incognita
Flagstaff
Nightworks

Karen O announces opera

Artist News

Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O will premiere her debut opera at St Ann’s Warehouse in New York on 12 Oct. Entitled ‘Stop The Virgens’, the show will run for eight performances at the venue.

Created by Karen O and design director KK Barrett, the show is part of The Creator’s Project, which is producing various events in NY in October. O’s opera will feature performances from members of The Raconteurs, Money Mark, Yeah Yeah Yeahs drummer Brian Chase, and actress Lili Taylor. Musical direction was handled by O’s other YYYs bandmate Nick Zinner and producer Squeak E Clean.

O says of the show: “I have a pretty good idea of what the psycho opera is about but I wouldn’t dare try and put it into my clumsy words. I’m hoping to create an original live experience, it should feel like a psychedelic ride laced with catharsis. There is emotional cost to our narrative so we’re aiming to engage the audience, this piece isn’t aiming to be all about spectacle or abstraction though there is good helping of both in the production. It’s aiming to have all the good stuff of escapist entertainment with a few sucker punches to the gut along the way. I’m in the camp that needs to discover and take risks, sometimes it’s with the promise of something special and new, sometimes it’s to stay awake, either way it’s much more stressful with all the uncertainty but worth the pain in the end”.

New Kasabian tour dates

Gigs & Festivals

Following the release of their new LP ‘Velociraptor’ on 19 Sep, Kasabian will be dragging their gigantic egos around an arena tour of similarly gargantuan proportions. Hurrah!

Tour dates:

28 Nov: Brighton, Centre
30 Nov: Cardiff, Motorpoint Arena
2 Dec: Nottingham, Capital FM Arena
4 Dec: Liverpool, Echo Arena
6 Dec: Birmingham, NIA
7 Dec: Manchester, Evening News Arena
8 Dec: Newcastle, Metro Radio Arena
10 Dec: Sheffield, Motorpoint Arena
11 Dec: Glasgow, SECC Arena
14 Dec: London, O2 Arena

Ford & Lopatin announce London date

Gigs & Festivals

Kaleidoscopic synth-pop types Ford & Lopatin will be airing tunes from their rather good new album ‘Channel Pressure’ on the evening of 17 Sep at London’s Rhythm Factory. That is all.

Gotye to play London show

Gigs & Festivals

Australian cult sensation Gotye has announced he’s to bring an ambitious new live set-up to a show at London’s St Stephen’s Church on 31 Oct.

“I have a ten-piece band, in which everyone sings and plays multiple instruments”, he says. “It’s exciting because it’s dangerous. It could go wrong on every song. I’ve never been one to make my life easy”.

Watch the video for ‘Somebody I Used To Know’, the much-discussed lead single from Gotye’s latest album ‘Making Mirrors’, here:

Name Gary Barlow’s new band

And Finally Awards

As previously reported, Gary Barlow has been putting together a new group to record this year’s Children In Need charity single. Featuring Ed Sheeran, Rizzle Kicks, N-Dubz, Miss Dynamite, Wretch 32, Tinchy Stryder, Mz Bratt and Dot Rotton, they recorded a cover of Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’, produced by Labrinth earlier this week.

Barlow told The Sun: “I think this is a brilliant project. Children In Need has a history of doing upbeat singles with comedians but it’s a serious charity doing a lot of hard work for serious causes. It’s time to do something with artists who young people actually listen to. I’ve done these things before, I’m used to doing group situations, I like it – it’s a challenge. It hasn’t been easy. But bless him, Labrinth and his manager have been the key to the whole thing”.

The single is due out on 13 Nov, but the band doesn’t yet have a name and, frankly, they can’t be bothered even trying. So, if you’ve got any ideas, you should email them over to biz@the-sun.co.uk by midnight and they’ll make the least sweary one the winner.

Q&A: Charlie Simpson

Artist Interviews

A seventeen year old Charlie Simpson scored his first chart hit in 2002 with ‘What I Go To School For’, as lead guitarist in teacher-fancying pop-rock outfit Busted.

When the trio disbanded in 2005 to pursue separate side projects, Charlie took up with progressive alt-rock band Fightstar, with whom he had been moonlighting during his latter years with Busted. The band released their debut EP ‘They Liked You Better When You Were Dead’, subsequently earning sometimes grudging (given Charlie’s boyband origins) critical acclaim across three successive albums.

Shortly after Fightstar elected to take a hiatus, with plans to reunite for a new LP next year, Charlie began work with producer Danton Stupple (Doves, Coldplay, The Cure) on his debut solo album ‘Young Pilgrim’. It was released earlier this month in partnership with fan-funding platform PledgeMusic, meriting a top ten UK chart position despite losing 30,000 units to the recent [PIAS] warehouse fire.

Following a slot at homespun music festival Harvest At Jimmy’s on 10 Sep, Charlie is set to open his first solo tour with a show at Bristol’s Anson Rooms on 18 Oct. Before that, we asked him to tackle our Same Six Questions.

Q1 How did you start out making music?
I started making music at around the age of eleven. I had a very basic set up which included a Tascam four-track tape recorder which I imported from the States, a cherry red acoustic guitar, a Sure 57 microphone and a lot a spare time.

Q2 What inspired your latest album?
I think this record was inspired by looking at life in retrospect. ‘Young Pilgrim’ feels like a journey to me, and it was nice to look back over my life so far and be able to write about it. I dug out a lot of my 70s Americana records as well to feed my inspiration. Those albums will always be very special.

Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
I tend to start writing on either an acoustic guitar or a piano. Once I have found some melodies I like I then start to build the track up in my head, which usually means writing a drum part and then adding other instrumentation. I usually leave the lyrics until last, once I have nailed down all of the melodies.

Q4 Which artists influence your work?
I would say that two artists that have been a great influence to me are Pete Yorn and Jackson Browne. I have been a fan of both these artists for a very long time and they have always been a big inspiration to me.

Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Get a decent pair of headphones to listen to it with!

Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
I feel as though my main ambition for this record was just to make an album that I am incredibly proud of, which is something I have managed to achieve. So anything from here on in is just an added bonus!

MORE>> www.charliesimpsonmusic.com

Approved: Rustie

CMU Approved

Following a brief teaser trailer that announced the upcoming release of Glaswegian producer Rustie’s debut album ‘Glass Swords’, he’s now unveiled the first full track from it. Having received its first play on Annie Mac’s Radio 1 show last Friday night, the track is now up on SoundCloud for all to hear.

Immediately engaging from the first burst, its vocal sample, ‘All Nite’, is a supremely funky track that takes you through three minutes of sonic landscaping, rising up over layered synth hooks and dipping down into pockets of screaming bass. Coupled with that taste of the title track we’ve already had, it suggests that ‘Glass Swords’ will be more than able to stand out in a year of strong electronic albums.

Released through Warp on 10 Oct, the album will get not one but two launch parties, the first at XOYO in London on 1 Oct, followed by a second at Stereo on Glasgow on 14 Oct.

Steve Jobs steps down as Apple CEO

Digital Top Stories

Apple Inc yesterday announced that Steve Jobs was stepping down as the company’s CEO, and that he would become Chairman instead. Jobs, of course, has been on sick leave for some time, leaving the day-to-day running of the IT firm, with its huge influence on all things music, to his top team. One of those top teamers, Tim Cook, currently COO, will take over as Chief Executive, and also get a seat on the company’s board.

In his resignation letter Jobs wrote: “I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come. I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you”.

Although Jobs didn’t give any specific reason for stepping down as CEO at this time, his health has been a concern for a few years, particularly since he had a liver transplant in 2009 after surviving pancreatic cancer. Jobs’ decision to formally stand down as Chief Executive now may be more about keeping investors happy than because of any significant change in his health.

Jobs has been a very popular leader among the investment community, so much so that every time speculation about his health circulated Apple’s share price wobbled. With that in mind, some shareholders, recognising that it is unlikely that Jobs will ever be able to return to a full-on full-time executive role at the company, have been pushing the firm’s board to reveal a decent succession plan. Keeping Jobs involved as Chairman of the board is a sensible move to ensure Apple still benefits from his expertise, but that concerns about his health will have less of an impact on the day-to-day running of the business.

Paying tribute to Jobs’ role in the revival of Apple, an IT firm at one point written off but now one of the most powerful in the world, fellow board member Art Levinson said yesterday: “Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company. Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration”.

Syl Johnson considering litigation over Kan-Z track

Legal

Soul singer Syl Johnson and archive label the Numero Group are threatening legal action against Jay-Z, Kanye West and Universal’s Def Jam label over the use of a sample on Kan-Z’s recent collaborative album ‘Watch The Throne’.

Via a post on the company blog, the Numero Group says that the hip hop duo sampled Johnson song ‘Different Strokes’ on their track ‘The Joy’ without permission. It adds that it had been in talks with Def Jam about West using the sample of his previous album ‘My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy’, but could not reach an agreement. There had been no talk, the music company adds, of the same sample being used on ‘Watch The Thone”.

The Numero Group’s blog concludes: “Island Def Jam seems to think that Syl doesn’t have any fight left in him. We’re betting otherwise”.

The Universal division is yet to respond.

Mutya wins Sugababes trademark, sort of

Legal

So, those of you with good memories for music-related trademark disputes will remember how, in November 2009, Mutya Buena applied for ownership of the name of her former group Sugababes. Although she had quit the outfit in 2005, in late 2009 only a few months had passed since her former bandmate Keisha Buchanan had done likewise, resulting in no original members being in the outfit.

It turned out that neither the management company nor the label who oversee the Sugababes operation had ever thought to register the name as a trademark in the UK or EU, meaning in theory it was up for grabs, though said management and label indicated they would submit an objection to Buena’s application anyway, on the basis that they had a better claim to the mark in an entertainment context.

All went quiet, and Buena indicated that she might withdraw her application anyway. But, it seems, she did not, and so an objection to the application was duly submitted, presumably by management or Universal Music. However, yesterday the singer announced via Facebook that her application had been successful and that she was now the rightful owner of the Sugababes mark. A disaster for the current incarnation of the girl group, right?

Well, possibly not. When you register trademarks you have to pick the sectors in which you will trade using the registered name. Bands would usually go for ‘video/sound recordings’ and ‘entertainment services’ for starters, whereas Buena seems to have been granted use of the name for ‘paper products and stationery’, which you might want for band merchandise purposes, but doesn’t seem to be enough to stop the current Sugababes line-up from recording or performing under that name.

Still, Buena seems very please with herself, so that’s nice. And I’m sure there’ll be big demand for the Sugababes writing set.

Liam drops libel claim against Noel

Legal

Liam Gallagher has reportedly dropped his lawsuit, in which he accused his brother Noel of lying about some of the reasons Oasis split in 2009.

As previously reported, Liam sued Noel earlier this month over comments he made at a press conference in July, particularly a claim that the band’s 2009 headline set at the Chelmsford leg of V Festival was due to Liam having a hangover.

In a webchat with fans earlier this week, Noel said: “For the record, it is a fact that Liam was diagnosed with laryngitis and it is fact he had a doctor’s note to prove it. But I’d just like to say that if he gets offended by opinions on such things then I apologise. It’s all getting very silly and a bit out of hand and it’s not very cool”.

Whether it was the apology or the accusation that he wasn’t being cool that got Liam’s attention, we can’t be sure. But he has apparently now dropped his case against Noel. An unnamed source told The Sun: “Liam had spoken to his mum Peggy and she was upset by the whole episode. That was playing on his mind then he had a moment of realisation that Noel wasn’t being vindictive – he was just being cheeky. It was an anger that had built up over two years because he was so angry Oasis was over”.

They continued: “In the cold light of day he realised his brother was actually being quite calm about it all, and decided a legal battle was a bad idea. Hopefully that will draw a line under it all and everyone can move on”.

Frank DiLeo dies

Business News Obituaries

Former Michael Jackson manager Frank DiLeo died yesterday from complications arising from heart surgery, which he underwent in March of this year. He was 63.

Born in 1947 in Pittsburgh, DiLeo began his career in the music industry distributing records to stores in the city shortly after leaving high school in the late 60s. After a number of other jobs in the industry, he was hired to work in sales and promotion for Epic Records in 1968. He then moved to RCA and Bell Records before leaving the music industry and returning to Pittsburgh in the early 70s.

In 1979, he returned to Epic as Vice President of National Promotion, helping the company to more than triple its revenues in only a few years. The company’s biggest success was the 1982 release of ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson, who asked DiLeo to become his manager in 1984.

While managing Jackson, DiLeo orchestrated what was arguably the singer’s most successful period as a solo artist, which included his Pepsi endorsement deal and his feature film, ‘Moonwalker’. However, the relationship ended abruptly and without explanation in 1989. He briefly acted as the singer’s manager again in 2009, prior to Jackson’s death.

DiLeo remained active in management, working with artists such as Taylor Dayne, Jodeci and, briefly, The Jackson in the 90s. More recently, his Nashville-based company, Dileo Entertainment Group had been concentrating on emerging artists, and launched a publishing arm.

As well as working in the music industry, DiLeo also acted in several films in the 90s, most notably playing the character of Tuddy Cicero in ‘Goodfellas’, as well as appearing as record company executive Frankie Sharp in both of the ‘Wayne’s World’ films.

DiLeo is survived by his wife, a son and daughter, and one grandson.

50 Cent discusses Interscope

Artist News Business News Labels & Publishers

With his ongoing beef with Interscope still, er, ongoing, 50 Cent has spoken to MTV to discuss some of his issues with the label.

As previously reported, having said his fifth studio album was 80% complete at the start of the year, he took to Twitter last month to tell fans not to expect that record any time soon, saying: “Man I’m not releasing an album… I can’t believe Interscope is this fucked up right now. I apologise to all my fans. I will work with other artists on their projects but I will not put out another album. They dropped the ball with me one time too many… they can’t seem to get it right when it comes to me”.

This week, he said that he has major problems with how the company has handled his latest record, ‘Black Magive’, which he says will be his last for the company. He told MTV: “To this point, I’ve recorded more than enough material for it. It’s interesting, I’ve taken more time than I usually take on this record. It’s actually my final requirement. My fifth album and the final requirement for Interscope. I had some difficulties with the actual system. There are people there that are afraid to lose their job; they’ve seen other people get fired. I think they’re afraid to make some decisions that need to be made right away, they just sit and look”.

“We’ve had some conversations communicated to develop plans for different things and it’s not actually executed in the time plan that we’ve created. And I get frustrated and I start doing things, like I put the record out. I condition my core audience to hear me a lot, because I perform at least two albums worth of material before I actually release the album. And when they don’t hear aggressive content, they turn their nose up at material, unless it’s already worked on radio”.

“I have issues with the actual company but any artists that doesn’t have issues with the company, they’re probably on one album and haven’t released a record. It doesn’t actually mean that I don’t like the company because all the success I’ve had in my career has been with Interscope records. It’s just a frustration at different points – like I had a song just go out and it was in their position, they were moving around to actually make the music video for it and then they go ‘ok, I don’t want that song no more’ because it’s been presented in the wrong way to the public”.

“Then people go ‘I don’t like this, I like this, I don’t know!’ – there’s no event to it. It’s not difficult when you’ve recorded 40 songs, it’s like so what? If you only have one song, you should just go jump off the song. Go get it”.

Decca to release McCartney ballet

Releases

Decca will release a recording of Paul McCartney’s debut ballet, which is due to premier in New York next month. Entitled ‘Ocean’s Kingdom’, the album will be released in October next year. The project was commissioned by the New York City Ballet. Last year, McCartney told the BBC: “I’m interested in doing things I haven’t done before. That offer came up and I love writing music, the two went together and I said, ‘Yeah’. So, I just accept things before I even know what I’m doing”.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah announce third album

Releases

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah will release their third album, ‘Hysterical’, on 12 Sep through V2. Produced by John Congleton, the release album’s release will be preceded by a handful of live dates, with an appearance at the End Of The Road festival followed by headline shows at the Queens Social Club in Sheffield on 6 Sep and The Scala in London on 7 Sep.

Here’s a teaser trailer for the album:

Napster film in the works

Business News Digital

After Napster co-founder Sean Parker’s prominent role in Facebook movie ‘The Social Network’, it was probably only a matter of time before a full-blown movie based on the file-sharing network was in the works. I say “probably”, but a full-blown Napster movie is in the works right now. So, definitely, then.

Actually, director Alex Winter has been working on this project for a decade now, meaning it pre-dates ‘The Social Network’ by some distance. However, having originally been planned as a dramatised version of events, it is now being shot as a documentary.

Winter told Deadline: “The rise and fall of Napster and the birth of peer-to-peer file-sharing technology created by Shawn Fanning when he was a college student, changed music to movies, and made possible everything from Julian Assange, WikiLeaks to the iPod and Facebook. It became an expression of youth revolt, and contributed to a complete shift in how information, media and governments work. And it is a fascinating human story, where this eighteen year old kid invents a peer-to-peer file-sharing system, and brings it to the world six months later”.

He added: “Nobody wanted to deal with this college kid and the music industry took a hard stance and focused on shutting him down. It’s a grey area. I can understand Fanning’s side, but I can also empathise with the horror that Metallica’s Lars Ulrich felt when a single that wasn’t even finished ended up on the radio”.

According to Winter, both Fanning and Parker will appear in the film, as will various music industry execs and musicians.

Kid Koala announces subdued graphic novel launch party

Gigs & Festivals

Scratch artisan Kid Koala is to present an evening of intergalactic fun in honour of ‘Space Cadet’, his new graphic-novel-come-soundtrack, which is out via Ninja Tune on 19 Sep.

Comprising a story-related Q&A, character introductions, and a live performance of tracks from the ‘Space Cadet’ “still picture score”, the one-off ‘Music To Draw To’ launch will take place on 13 Sep at the Material/Red Gallery on London’s Rivington Street from 7pm. The only rule, according to the man himself, is “no dancing”. Further details here.

And for those wishing to brain up on the ‘Space Cadet’ scenario and its main protagonists, why not check out Kid Koala’s recap:

Listener UK tour dates

Gigs & Festivals

“Talk music” duo Listener, whose sound sits somewhere between Sage Francis and No Means No, are in the UK this week, playing some shows.

They’ll hit London next Tuesday, and if you’re a CMU reader (which you are), you can get into their show at The Star Of Kings for just £3 if you send an email with the subject line ‘CMU Listener’ to twistedlicks@googlemail.com.

Get an idea of what you’re in for via the acoustic performance of ‘Building Better Bridges’ screening below.

Tour dates:

25 Aug: Brighton, The Hydrant
26 Aug: Southampton, The Joiners
27 Aug: Cheltenham, Greenbelt
28 Aug: Cheltenham, Greenbelt
29 Aug: Fleet, The Links Hotel
30 Aug: London, The Star Of Kings

[PIAS] announces new Wichita sales partnership

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

The folks at [PIAS] have signed a global (excluding the US) sales and marketing deal with Wichita Recordings. In more concrete terms, this means [PIAS] will thereby handle the distribution of forthcoming releases from Wichita-signed artists including Kele Okereke, Los Campesinos!, The Cribs and Simian Mobile Disco. The deal brings about the end of a similar partnership with Universal’s Cooperative.

Dick Green, who co-founded Wichita in 2000 with Mark Bowen, said this: “[PIAS]’s enthusiasm and commitment to the independent sector has always impressed us and we are very excited to start this new relationship. From the outset Wichita has been committed to developing acts internationally as well as domestically and the [PIAS] set up will allow us to pursue these objectives across both our established artists and some exciting new signings”.

[PIAS] Group MD, Edwin Schroter added: “We are delighted to be working together with Mark and Dick and the many great artists they represent. I am sure that with their world-class roster and our broad range of services that they can tap into both in the UK and internationally, we can add another chapter to the already impressive Wichita success story”. Hurrah!

MySpace to relaunch as music service

Digital

So, MySpace is going to reinvent itself as a music-centric service. Hmm, where have I heard that one before? Though this time that means anything not musical will likely be dumped from MySpace website.

We were expecting a press conference last week from the flagging social networking site’s new owners, Specific Media, possibly with their newly appointed Creative Director Justin Timberlake on hand to offer some words of wisdom. That press event didn’t happen, but the company’s also newly appointed Senior VP Of Global Marketing, Al Dejewski, has told Ad Age that the new look MySpace will be 100% focused on music, suggesting everything the web firm has tried that wasn’t music-related in the past was a big fat mistake.

Says Dejewski: “[In its eight year history] MySpace has been like young male adult who found a way to express himself through music but decided to bulk up on things like classified ads and horoscopes along the way. This young adult male needs to be put on a diet, we need to get it on P90X, clean its system and get back to its foundation. And we’ve found that foundation is music. No other music destination online today can claim the breadth of partnership we have with the four major music labels in addition to the tens of millions of independent artists and the libraries of their songs”.

So that’s something to look forward to, isn’t it? A leaner, more musical MySpace. I give it to 2013.

Music Week appoints new editor

Media

UK industry trade mag Music Week has appointed a new editor following its recent acquisition by Intent Media. Despite only recently undergoing a team revamp under previous owners UBM, the implication is that new boss Tim Ingham will build a new team around him as Intent tries to make the music business weekly a commercially viable operation.

Ingham, who currently works for consumer-facing video game website CVG but previously worked for other Intent trade titles, will take over at Music Week on 3 Oct.

Confirming his new role, Ingham told reporters: “Entertainment media publications don’t come much more respected than Music Week. Even more excitingly, it’s a brand that carries an almighty potential, particularly online. My lifelong passion for music burns brighter than ever, and I’m ecstatic to take up such a prestigious role right in the belly of the business”.

Ingham will be joined by Darrell Carter who will be the mag’s Sales Manager, he already heading up sales for other music-related titles owned by Intent.

In other Music Week news, the trade mag admitted yesterday that the front page scoop on today’s edition, that Lady Gaga is to work with ‘X-Factor’ finalist Cher Lloyd is, in fact, not true. The story was the result of a big of a misunderstanding when producer RedOne revealed the Gaga was working with Cher. He, of course, meant the Cher, and not ‘X’ wannabe Lloyd.

Admitting their error on their website yesterday, the mag’s editorial team said: “Music Week has, of course, been ‘flamed’ online for [the error], and we accept all the barbs and brickbats in good grace. Tomorrow won’t be any better than today, as the print edition will hit your desks with that completely erroneous story on, you guessed it, the front page. Ignore it. Please. Concentrate on the excellent news about record-breaking single sales, maybe. That’s all totally true, promise”.

Calvin Harris and Chris Brown make up

And Finally

Calvin Harris and Chris Brown have patched up their differences, after Harris accused Brown of stealing his song ‘I’m Not Alone’ on his own single, ‘Yeah 3x’. Harris suffered a torrent of abuse from Brown fans after he tweeted: “Choked on my cornflakes when I heard new Chris Brown single this morning. [Just] because Chris Brown is an international celebrity doesn’t make it OK to rip off a guy from UK not many people have heard of”.

The incident even made it into the prestigious CMU Beef Of The Week column. But it’s all water under the bridge now, as Brown gave Harris half of the royalties from the track. Harris revealed to BBC Newsbeat this week: “He phoned me up. He was gutted about the whole situation. Once he heard the original he was like: ‘Wow. OK”, and sorted it out. He gave me half that track … We’re fine. We’re great. Chris Brown’s like my best mate now”.

Harris isn’t the only person to try to patch things up with Brown. Let’s all watch Fox News presenter Andy Levy’s ‘apology’ one more time.

Q&A: Icarus Line

Artist Interviews

LA punks the Icarus Line formed in 1998, putting out first EP ‘Highlypuncturingnoisetestingyourabilitytohate’ on Epitaph imprint Hellcat Records later that year. Debut album ‘Mono’, released in 2001, was succeeded in 2004 by acclaimed LP ‘Penance Soiree’.

Amongst a spate of line-up adjustments in the wake of the latter release, co-founding guitarist Aaron North quit the band to join Nine Inch Nails, leaving frontman Joe Cardamone to forge on with 2007 album ‘Black Lives At The Golden Coast’. Cardamone and his present bandmates recorded their latest full-length, ‘Wildlife’, in a fortnight, with production input from Ariel Pink and Giant Drag’s Annie Hardy, at Hollywood’s infamous Sunset Sound studios.

With ‘Wildlife’ due out via Cobraside/Roar Scratch on 29 Aug, the self-professed “motivated fuck ups who had no other choice” will be making their next live appearance, the first in a string of UK tour dates, at Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach on 10 Oct. Ahead of all that, Joe did our SSQ.

Q1 How did you start out making music?
I probably started out making music by listening to all the records my parents played around the house as a child. My dad had a decent record collection and as far back as I can remember there were Beatles records playing in the house. And, according to them, I had a 45 of the ‘Star Wars’ theme score and listened to that relentlessly. I am told that I would hum it loudly on car trips until I fell asleep.

Q2 What inspired your latest album?
‘Wildlife’ was inspired by living life. The record is a document of the things that were happening to myself and the people around me from the time directly after touring ‘Black Lives’ until the recording of the album. Although the themes aren’t completely different from any other record I have made, I feel like I am always trying to refine the way of saying them. I have always tried to write about a sect of society that isn’t well documented in mainstream media or just current “rock music”. Rather than ironically doing a parody of rock n roll, I try to have an honest more romantic approach to the genre. The record is more of a Los Angeles record than any of my previous efforts, completely written and recorded in the city.

Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
Only since I have become a producer for other artists have I noticed how my own process is kinda fucked up. My process is a very unconventional approach at a conventional method. It is almost a synthetic organic process. The whole thing is an oxymoron.

I bring a rough idea into the jam room with the band. They are very in tune with what I want to do, letting me conduct arrangement and dynamics as we go. I will usually be playing guitar with them during the writing process to show key and feel. Even though we are jamming as a band, it isn’t a free for all. The band is out of control intuitive, with very little verbal communication they follow closely. As we play, the song develops because I have the best inspiration in the room in my band.

Arrangement lengths, and everyone’s individual parts, will occur to me spontaneously. Halfway through the jam I will hear the right bass part, either from my head or something Alvin does, and stop, lock it in, and then keep going. It happens like this over and over until the song takes shape. I wouldn’t do it any other way. This method has worked for me for years, and it helps to ensure a sound that is spontaneous and not too wrought over. It also allows for a little wiggle room, creatively, because in the early stages every one has a chance to impress my taste. If something great is going on, I will encourage it immediately.

It’s a fucked up way to write, but this is how a lot of my music comes together. I love to be in a room jamming to write complete tunes. I can do it all alone too, but it just isn’t as much fun. There is an excitement, of instant gratification, orchestrating on the fly. And that’s why I chose music in the first place, I can make something great take shape in a hour. What other art forms allow you to do that?

Q4 Which artists influence your work?
Lately it has been people like Captain Beefheart, Mingus, Dead Boys, The Move and any other great rock n roll from the past.

Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Turn it up loud and listen to it again, then once more, and now again.

Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
My ambitions for ‘Wildlife’ were to make a better record than I had before. Something that gets to the heart of my message more closely. With every tune I am working on distilling the music to a pointier edge. I think that is the only way to remain excited about what I am doing here. I will do it again next time and hopefully succeed. It would also be a great thing to bring these songs to the stage and really do renditions that leave lasting impressions on people for years. That has always been the goal with The Icarus Line.

MORE>> www.theicarusline.org

Approved: Wild Beasts’ Lady Gaga remix

CMU Approved

Lady Gaga has been getting a lot of unexpected people to remix tracks from her second album, ‘Born This Way’. It’s possibly an attempt to salvage something good from the largely horrible-sounding originals. Well, OK, maybe she (or whoever is commissioning these remixes) doesn’t quite see it that way. But it’s working, so well done anyway.

Analogue electro quartet Mirrors turned in their own take on ‘Judas’ back in May, and now another British indie outfit has created a remix of one of the Gaga’s tracks. In its original form, the slightly generic, umlaut-mocking country ballad ‘Yoü And I’ is one of the more palatable songs on the album, but Wild Beasts nonetheless take it and strip almost everything out of it but for a few lines of vocals. They then twist it into a shimmering ambient track and slip in a new piano hook.

As you’d expect from Wild Beasts, the results are beautifully composed, and suggest that they should offer themselves up as remixers more often.

Summary judgements in MP3tunes case

Digital Legal Top Stories

MP3tunes.com

A federal court in the US yesterday issued a summary judgement on the long running EMI v MP3tunes case, finding in favour of both sides but on different elements of the dispute.

As previously reported, MP3tunes, founded by original MP3.com creator Michael Robertson, was one of the early music-specific digital locker services. EMI claimed that Robertson’s service required a licence from the record labels and music publishers to operate, and without such a licence MP3tunes infringed their copyrights. Robertson, however, claimed MP3tunes needed no such deals with the music companies.

It was originally thought any ruling in the MP3tunes case might add some clarity to the copyright situation with regards all digital lockers, a topic which has become more relevant this year as major players like Google and Amazon entered the music-specific locker market place.

While in most territories a very basic online storage service can safely operate without a licence from any music companies, because such a service is covered by a user’s private back-up copy right (though no such right currently exists in the UK, of course), some rights owners argue that the minute a user is given a friendly web-based player through which they can stream their music collections to any net-connected device, a licence is needed. Google, Amazon, Robertson and MP3tunes do not concur.

However, in the end the MP3tunes case did not centre on the licensing requirements of such a service, because many of EMI’s objections related to other elements of Robertson’s platform, in particular the facility that allows users to organise and store links to music streams they have found online, whether or not said streams are legal. The summary judgements mainly focus on that links management facility.

The judge partly found in EMI’s favour over MP3tunes’ failure to operate an efficient takedown system with regards its link management service, so that links made by users to unlicensed streams stayed even after the major label had alerted the digital company of their presence. The judge also ruled against Robertson himself for personally posting links to illegal sources of content via his own website.

But there was some good news for MP3tunes, too. The court backed the digital firm’s claims that its links management service was protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s safe harbour clause, so it could not be liable for any users who used the service to link to illegal music providing the company operated a decent takedown system to remove said links when rights owners spotted them.

So, the safe harbour principle applies to link management services providing they operate an efficient takedown system, that much we know from this ruling. But as for the wider debate as to when digital locker services do or do not need licenses from music companies, that will continue.

EMI welcomed the bits of the ruling that went in its favour, telling reporters: “We are pleased that MP3tunes and Michael Robertson have been held liable for infringing hundreds of sound recordings and musical compositions through their websites. The court’s decision confirms that businesses cannot simply pay lip service to the law while undermining the rights of the musicians, artists and writers that create popular music. The decision also proves that company executives that personally contribute to and commit copyright infringement will be held accountable for their actions”.

However, the music major added: “At the same time, we’re disappointed that the court found that MP3tunes was entitled to a safe harbour for some of its conduct under the DMCA. EMI believes that companies like MP3tunes, which knowingly build a business based on stolen music, should not be entitled to any DMCA safe harbour defence, and we’re evaluating our options to seek review of those portions of the decision. We will continue to fight – in this case and in the future – for the rights of our artists and writers, and to ensure that they are always properly compensated every time their music is used in a commercial setting”.

In a long statement, Robertson said the summary judgements were a “victory for cloud music” adding that “few companies have been able to stand up to the record labels attacks and get rulings from the court on key issues relevant to the future of internet music. In this case EMI alleged a long list of ways that MP3tunes infringed and nearly all of the arguments were rejected”.

He concluded: “Overall this is an enormous victory for MP3tunes and digital music compatriots like Amazon, Google and Grooveshark. It wasn’t a complete victory and it’s not a final ruling, because there are outstanding issues and both sides can appeal, but we’re prepared to continue battling”.

Amy Winehouse toxicology results show no illegal drugs

RIAA appeals Jammie Thomas ruling

Business News Labels & Publishers Legal

Some people might say that once you’ve realised you’ve engaged in one of the worst PR exercises your industry has ever seen, and have found other less self-harming ways to pursue your agenda, that it would probably be best to put anything to do with the disastrous exercise behind you. But hey, those people don’t work for the Recording Industry Association Of America.

Yes, even though it means spending even more money on a case that will never see any return, and only serves to make the general public think that record companies are evil, the RIAA is appealing the latest ruling in the long-running Jammie Thomas case.

OK, a quick (by which I mean slightly lengthy) recap: Back in 2005, Jammie Thomas was sent a letter offering her the chance to settle out of court, after it was found that she had shared 24 songs illegally using Kazaa. She refused and was sued by the Recording Industry Association Of America.

At first hearing, Thomas was ordered to pay $222,000 to the record industry in damages, but then the judge overseeing the case decided that hearing hadn’t been done right, and ordered a second trial. At that, the jury hearing the case, for reasons best known to themselves, ordered Jammie, a single mother of limited means, to pay $1.92 million in damages. A judge subsequently ruled the jury had got it wrong, and slashed the damages figure to $54,000.

The RIAA, to be fair, was willing to accept that figure, but Jammie, perhaps sensing things were going in her favour, refused to pay even the lower sum. So the RIAA appealed the judge’s amendment of the original jury decision, sending the case back into court for a third time, where the jury awarded the record industry $1.5 million in damages.

Then last month, the judge hearing the case ruled that the damages agreed by the jury in the latest trial were “outrageously high” and “appalling”, and cut the figure back down to $54,000.

In new documents issued to the appeal court this week, and seen by CNET, the RIAA is asking for that latest ruling to be reconsidered, on the grounds that the judge may have incorrectly applied two sections of the US Copyright Act. And so the case, and the story, and the big fat headache that was the RIAA’s sue-the-fans strategy last decade, rumbles on.

Friday 26 August 2011, 12:54 | By CMU Editorial

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Wednesday 24 August 2011, 12:44 | By CMU Editorial

LA punks the Icarus Line formed in 1998, putting out first EP ‘Highlypuncturingnoisetestingyourabilitytohate’ on Epitaph imprint Hellcat Records later that year. Debut album ‘Mono’, released in 2001, was succeeded in 2004 by acclaimed LP ‘Penance Soiree’.

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Wednesday 24 August 2011, 12:42 | By Andy Malt

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