Wednesday 27 February 2013, 12:15 | By Aly Barchi

Charli XCX romances True new LP

Releases

Nouveau-grunge-age popstar Charli XCX has said that her long-long-belated first long-player, ‘True Romance’, will, at long, long last, be released on 15 Apr. We’ve been waiting for this for some time, did I successfully communicate that there?

But still, it’s done, and so this is Charli laying bare the themes and real meaning of the LP: “Each song is about love in some shape or form, whether that be euphoric love, heartbreak or obsession. Every corner of my own romantic history is explored on this record, so for me it’s very raw, it’s very honest and it’s very true. I’ve written a pop record from the heart, and when people hear it I hope they want to dance and cry at the same time”.

Quite apart from all the romance and truth, she’s announced a practical trio of shows, too, the first of which is at London’s Old Blue Last on 17 Apr.

Album tracklisting:

Nuclear Seasons
You (Ha Ha Ha)
Take My Hand
Stay Away
Set Me Free
Grins
So Far Away
Cloud Aura
What I Like
Black Roses
You’re the One
How Can I
Lock You Up

Cody Simpson to publish autobiography

Artist News

Well, this is good news for my collection of hastily-produced pop autobiographies (pride of place: Vanilla Ice’s ‘Ice By Ice’ and Darius’ ‘Sink Or Swim: My Story’), Cody Simpson is going to publish the first volume of his life story. HarperCollins will publish the sixteen year old singer’s first book, ‘Welcome To Paradise: My Journey’ on 22 Oct.

Says Simpson: “It’s incredibly exciting for me to be partnering with HarperCollins to tell my story. I hope that my journey inspires kids from all around the world to pursue their passions and work hard for their dreams”.

Echoing similar sentiments, Harper Non-Fiction Publishing Director Anna Valentine added: “Cody Simpson is one of the most exciting up-and-coming artists of his generation and I’m thrilled to welcome him to HarperCollins. Having toured the world with Justin Bieber, Cody has thrilled millions of teenage fans with his chart-topping music – and I’m excited for him to do the same with his debut book”.

I’m not sure The Kids read any more, do they? Oh well, there might be an audio-book version.

St Vincent & David Byrne touring anon

Gigs & Festivals

The president and first lady of alt-pop duets, Ms St Vincent and Mr David Byrne (who, to clarify, aren’t married or anything) will make a plush live progress of European concert halls, but not till August.

The pair will play a repertoire of tracks from their collaborative 2012 LP, ‘Love This Giant’, on the following British dates:

27 Aug: London, Roundhouse
28 Aug: Birmingham, Symphony Hall
29 Aug: Glasgow, Royal Concert Hall

Watch the video for ‘Who’ from ‘Love This Giant’ here:

The Weeknd adds arena dates

Gigs & Festivals

Hey, The Weeknd’s Abel Tesfaye is playing three arena dates in November, one for each third of the triple ‘Trilogy’ LP he released officially last year. What symmetry.

Though by that, I don’t mean he’ll be playing only one of his initial works at each show. Just there’s a three theme going on here. Providing you don’t count the four previously announced dates Tesfaye is playing in March.

Speaking of which, if you want to catch him in a relatively small venue any time soon, you’d better check those out.

Tesfaye’s new single, ‘Twenty Eight’ will be available on 25 Mar, by the way, and he’s made a sexually-explicit new video to go with it. Watch that, if you like, after watching this list of shows:

22 Nov: Birmingham, NIA
23 Nov: Manchester, Apollo
26 Nov: London, O2 Arena

Tegan & Sara playing live in June

Gigs & Festivals

Alternative pop types Tegan & Sara are going to endorse their new LP, ‘Heartthrob’, via a very enticing four date tour. So enticing, in fact, that fans won’t be able to resist buying tickets to it when they go on sale on 1 Mar. Or perhaps they will, who can say?

The dates:

8 Jun: Manchester, Ritz
9 Jun: Glasgow, ABC
11 Jun: London, Troxy
12 Jun: Birmingham, Institute

Chvrches to tovr

Gigs & Festivals

Glaswegian band Chvrches are back ‘on the road’ again. At least, they will be in April, when, like spring lambs, they’ll gambol forth on a trail of live dates. Okay, so lambs don’t really do that, but… whatever.

Chvrches will gambol as follows:

24 Apr: Aberdeen, The Garage
29 Apr: London, Village Underground
30 Apr: Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
1 May: Manchester, Sound Control

Senses Fail playing shows in May

Gigs & Festivals

Post-hardcore artistes Senses Fail have arranged a tour starting in May. They’re even fitting in appearances at this year’s Leeds, London and Wolverhampton-based Slam Dunk festivals, which is nice of them.

The band’s new LP ‘Renacer’ is released on 25 Mar, and one of its tracks, ‘Mi Amour’ sounds like this:

Tour dates:

8 May: Kingston, Peel
19 May: Southampton, Talking Heads
20 May: Bristol, Thekla
21 May: Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
22 May: Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
23 May: Glasgow, King Tuts
24 May: Newcastle, Academy 2
28 May: Manchester, NQ Live
29 May: Norwich, Waterfront Studio
30 May: London, Underworld
31 May: Exeter, Cavern
1 Jun: Oxford, Academy 2

Festival line-up update: Creamfields, Benicassim, SXSW, Secret Garden Party and more

Artist News Festival Line-Up Update Gigs & Festivals

So as dance festival Creamfields – which was half-cancelled last year because of “significant flooding” – splashes £500,000 on improving its on-site drainage, trackways, bridges and contingency plans, it also announced the first wave of acts on its 2013 line-up this morning. The festival’s watertight artistic listings features superstar DJs Tiësto, Steve Angello, David Guetta, Eric Pryz, Paul van Dyke and Above & Beyond. Oh, and playing live in what’ll be their one and only “UK PERFORMANCE” of 2012 are The Prodigy.

And what else is new in this year’s fluid FLUU influx?

Well, since you ask, Vince Power’s Arctic Monkeys, QOTSA and Killers-headlined Spanish fiesta Benicassim has taken La Roux, Miles Kane, Woodkid and Everything Everything into its midst, so that’s nice. The Netherlands-based Awakenings and Pitch have also expanded their billings, with Pitch confirming James Blake, Azealia Banks, Trentemølller and AlunaGeorge, and the less ‘alternative’ Awakenings naming Carl Cox, Sven Väth, Ben Klock & Marcel Dettmann as new bookings.

Oh, and you’ll probably want to know that Soulwax and Django Django are the initial headlining acts added to this year’s superstition-themed Secret Garden Party, which centres on CMU columnist Eddy Temple Morris’ “lovingly curated” Temple Of Boom.

Fred Fellows, the festival’s programming boss at large, says: “Every couple of years it seems that music bubbles up an endless host of new wonders in a relatively short space of time. In such a moment as this, we feel incredibly honoured to be hosting so many of these incredible new bands at the Garden Party. When added to the amazing new site works I really just can’t wait for this year’s SGP”.

That said and done, read on to view news of other new additions to the above plus Deer Shed, FarmFestival, Secret Garden Party, South West Four and Folkestone’s newly-renamed Ska Splash. Oh, and confirmation of Billy Joe Armstrong’s first post-rehab appearance (with Green Day) at this year’s South By Southwest fest.

AWAKENINGS, Spaarnwoude, Netherlands, 29 Jun: Carl Cox, Sven Väth, Ben Klock & Marcel Dettmann, Marco Carola, Jeff Mills, Loco Dice, Blawan, Peter Van Hoesen, Speedy J, Ben UFO, Nina Kraviz, DJ Koze, Modeselektor, Gui Boratto. www.awakeningsfestival.nl

BENICASSIM, FIB Heineken, Valencia, Spain, 18-21 Jul: La Roux, Miles Kane, Everything Everything, Woodkid, Le Carousel, Childhood, Christian Smith, Chvrches, The Coronas, El Gran Manel, Hanni El Khatib, Hyetal, J Roddy Walston & The Business, Jacco Gardner, Pegasvs, Ratoniles, The Riptide Movement, Terrence Dixon, Toddla T, Toundra. fiberfib.com

CREAMFIELDS, Daresbury, Cheshire, 23-25 Aug: The Prodigy, Madeon, Zane Lowe, Zedd, Borgore, Major Look, Tom Staar, Avicii, Knife Party, Nicky Romero, Nervo, Norman Doray, Above & Beyond, Paul Oakenfold, Arty, Norin & Rad, Andrew Bayer, Gareth Wyn, Rob Harnetty, Gareth Emery, Steve Angello, Benny Benassi, AN21, Max Vangeli, Third Party, Tim Mason, Qulinez, Wayne & Woods, Eric Prydz, Marco Carola, Adam Beyer, Maceo Plex, Scuba, George Fitzgerald, Fehrplay, Maya Jane Coles, Annie Mac, Julio Bashmore, Eats Everything, Toddla T Sound, Justin Martin, Baauer, Monki, AlunaGeorge, Pete Tong, Solomun, Joris Voorn, David Squillace, Hernan Cattaneo, Hot Since 82, Jaymo & Andy George, Sasha, Skream, Benga, Andy C, Redlight, Rustie, Jack Beats, Alvin Risk, Zinc, Bondax, Clean Bandit, Kidnap Kid, Woz, Phil Faversham, Carl Hanaghan, Sam Cannon, DJ Eibhlin, Dean Oram, Tom Da Lips, Tiësto, Steve Angello, Hardwell, Tommy Trash, Alvaro, David Guetta, Afrojack, Feed Me, Porter Robinson, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Pegboard Nerds, Sebastian Ingrosso, Alesso, Otto Knows, Mat Zo, Deniz Koyu, Carl, Armand Van Helden, Ferry Corsten, John O Callaghan, Simon Patterson, Jordan Suckley, Adam Sheridan , Richie Hawtin , Loco Dice, Seth Troxler, Gaiser, Paco Osuna, Hobo , Groove Armada, A-Trak, Fake Blood, Jaguar Skills, Jackmaster, Burns, Eli & Fur, Laidback Luke, Eddie Halliwell, Chuckie, Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, Tom Swoon, La Fuenta, Steve Aoki, Sub Focus, Modestep, Mistajam, Shy FX, Friction, Monsta, Killsonik, Majestic, Decibel, North Base, BitR8, Kutski, Andy Whitby, Alex Kidd, Andy Whitby , Hard Organ Donors, Hard Mark EG, Cally & Juice, Sam Townend, Jimmy Dean, Tone b2b Shaun T, Phil Mackintosh b2b Sykesy, Andy Daniels, Phoebe D’Abo, Stu Ojelay, Andy Norman, Deniz Koyu, Danny Avila, Mixmag Allstars, Duke Dumont, Shadow Child, Riva Starr, Russ Chimes, Citizen, Unit 7. www.creamfields.com

DEER SHED, Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, 19-21 Jul: Edwyn Collins, The House Of Love, King Creosote, The Phantom Band, Smoove & Turrell, Deaf Club, Novella, Moulettes, Sweet Baboo, AlascA, David McCaffrey. www.deershedfestival.com

FARMFESTIVAL, Bruton, Somerset, 26-27 Jul: Ghostpoet, Art Brut, The Skimmity Hitchers, The Skints, DJ Die, Reeps1, Son Of Dave, Typesun, Mt Wolf, Nimmo And The Gauntletts, DJ Woody, Leftside Wobble, Laid Blak, and The Fire Beneath the Sea, The Standards, Three Kings High, Harting, The Flamenco Thief, Dropbear, Francis & Boyd, The Drystones, Ick Bin Finn, Thyla, Ay Ducane, Blue Skin Fever, Louie Louie, Slatternly, Mishima, Dr Fish, COR DJs, Farmfestival DJs, James Bell. www.farmfestival.co.uk

FOLKESTONE SKA SPLASH, various venues, Folkestone, Kent, 16-18 Aug: Skatalites, The Selecter, The Neville Staple Band, The Beat, Bad Manners, The Toasters, The Dualers, Toot’n’Skamen, The Equators, King Hammond, Freddy Loco & The Gordos, Dub Tonik, The Skanx, Blaster Master, Orange Street, By The Rivers, Goldmaster Allstars, Skamanians, The Estimators, The Ghouls, Tallowah, Les Gueules Noires, Hey Rudi, The Snare, Skatacus, ChainSka Brassika, The Apocryphalites, The Skatonics, Covered In Skas, The Skangsters, The Talks, Rhoda Dakar, Trevor Evans, Ska Shack, Phil Enthucol, Olas Boss, Tony B, Roger Twiggy Day , The JJs, Ali Skaba, Dangerous Dave, Nathan Atkins, Chris Watts, Lee Edgington, Madam Scorcher, Darren Bennett, Andy Barton, Skaoovie, DJ Tiddles, Mick Jeffries. folkestoneskasplash.com

PITCH, Cultuurpark Westgasfabriek, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 5-6 Jul: James Blake, Disclosure, Django Django, Azealia Banks, Jamie Lidell, Mykki Blanco, Bonobo, Trentemølller, AlunaGeorge, Baauer, JETS, Bicep, Jon Hopkins, Cashmere Cat, MØ. pitchfestival.nl

SECRET GARDEN PARTY, Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, 25-28 Jul: Soulwax, Django Django, Bastille, The Strypes, Big Youth, Wolf Alice, Childhood, Eliza And The Bear, Public Service Broadcasting, Rodigan, Findlay, Mø, Roo Pains, Dan Croll, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Winston Francis, Skip ‘Little Axe’ McDonald, Son of Dave, Ava Leigh, The Family Rain, Ben Caplan, Deep Sea Arcade, Big Boy Bloater, Treetop Flyers, Annie Eve, The Ladykillers, Steve Hooker, Blackbombers, Unkle DJs, Embrace DJs, Evil Nine DJs, The Correspondents, Loadstar DJs, The Other Tribe, Wilkinson DJs, Foamo DJs, Never Say Die Allstars DJs, Josh Butler DJs. www.secretgardenparty.com

SOUTH WEST FOUR, Clapham Common, London, 24-25 Aug: Boys Noize, Marco Carola, Sander Van Doorn, Solomun, Boys Noize, Nicky Romero, Baauer. www.southwestfour.com

SXSW, various venues, Austin, Texas, USA, 12-17 Mar: Green Day. sxsw.com

Morrisons buys six HMV shops

Business News Deals HMV Timeline Retail

Supermarket chain Morrisons has bought six of HMV’s stores, according to City AM.

Morrisons has been mooted as a possible buyer of some of the flagging entertainment retailer’s shops ever since the HMV Group went into administration last month, it looking to expand its convenience store brand M Local, a rather late in the day competitor to Tesco Express and Sainsbury’s Local. Morrisons has also reportedly acquired 49 former Blockbuster stores for the same purpose.

As previously reported, administrator Deloitte has confirmed that 103 of HMV’s UK stores, plus all its Irish shops, will close as it and preferred bidders Hilco work out how to rescue the entertainment retail firm.

Kobalt makes two NYC-based appointments

Business News Industry People Labels & Publishers

Kobalt has announced the appointment of two new execs. Karen Lieberman will work in a digital and marketing role across the group, while Shari Segalini will lead sales activities for the Kobalt Label Services business in America.

Lieberman joins the independent from Sony Music, and will take the title VP Digital Strategy and Marketing, supporting both Kobalt’s music publishing and label services divisions from a New York base. Confirming the appointment, Kobalt Music Group President Richard Sanders told CMU: “As Kobalt continues to grow its client services around the world, Karen’s expertise in all areas of social media, analytics and digital marketing is an invaluable asset to our writers, producers and artists”.

Segalini’s appoint comes as Kobalt Label Services, launched early last year, opens a New York office for the first time. Also joining Kobalt from a Sony business, though the major’s indie distributor RED, Segalini will be SVP of Sales, North America for the label services business, reporting to KLS MD Paul Hitchman.

He told CMU: “We are very pleased to have Shari join the KLS team. From unknown and established artists to superstar talents, Shari has contributed to the success of artists in all genres and at all levels of development. Her deep experience and contacts will be a tremendous asset to Kobalt Label Services clients”.

New CEO for Nordoff Robbins

Business News Industry People

Music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins has announced that Pauline Etkin will retire as CEO of the organisation tomorrow. Etkin, who has been with the charity for three decades, will be replaced by Marcus Stephan, who has previously led and consulted for a number of charities in the healthcare space.

Confirming the changes at the top, the charity’s Chairman, former EMI man David Munns, told CMU: “There are many thousands of disadvantaged children and adults whose lives have been transformed as a result of Pauline Etkin’s work. Pauline’s dedication to Nordoff Robbins is a lasting legacy for us all. She is leaving Nordoff Robbins in great shape to take on the challenges ahead and I believe that Marcus, with his strong third sector background, has the skills and expertise to meet those challenges”.

SFX buys Beatport

Digital

The all-new SFX Entertainment has bought dance-centric download site Beatport in a deal thought to be worth just over $50 million.

The deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions and partnerships in the EDM space led by Robert FX Sillerman, whose original SFX business became a live entertainment powerhouse that was subsequently acquired by what became Live Nation, and who went on to create CKX, the company best known for controlling the Elvis Presley estate and buying Simon Fuller’s Idol-franchise-owning 19 business (and now operating as the CORE Media Group under the ownership of Apollo Management).

With EDM becoming big business in the US of late, and with various corporate players in the American industry seeking a slice of the newly appetising dance music pie, Sillerman announced he had set aside a billion for acquisitions in the genre early last summer. Since then his new SFX business has acquired various players in the EDM space, mainly club and festival promoters such as Dayglow Productions and Disco Donnie Presents, as well as taking ownership of more eclectic events like Voodoo Experience and striking up a joint venture with Dutch dance promoter ID&T.

Launched in 2004, Beatport has succeeded in the competitive digital music market by finding and servicing a niche ignored by the major players in the download space, not least by striking up deals with specialist dance labels whose catalogue was and sometimes still is missing from more mainstream platforms. The digital firm also sees itself as a destination site for dance music fans, and sees the potential to extend its brand further, possibly into live events, which is seemingly why the SFX acquisition seemed attractive to the company’s owners.

Beatport boss Matthew Adell told the New York Times: “We already are by far the largest online destination of qualified fans and talent in the market, and we can continue to grow that”.

Meanwhile Sillerman said of his latest acquisition: “Beatport gives us direct contact with the DJs and lets us see what’s popular and what’s not. Most important, it gives us a massive platform for everything related to EDM”.

Timberlake not sorry for sweary show

And Finally

If you were offended when Justin Timberlake swore at you from the stage of London’s Forum last week at his late-night post-BRITs gig, well you can fuck off can’t you?

Asked about the bad language, the one time boy band boy told Capital FM (again): “I swore a lot, every club show we do is age appropriate… I’m 32 years old, sweetheart, nobody’s going to tell me anything… it’s all in good fun”.

Just to reiterate, Justin Timberlake said the words: “I’m 32 years old, sweetheart, nobody’s going to tell me anything”.

He added: “This is my analogy, it’s like dressing for the weather. If you are going to play at The Forum, it’s a proper rock n roll venue… I’m not a rock n roll star but we’re gonna put on my version of a rock n roll show. And it’s eighteen [years] and up”.

Though Justin mate, I wouldn’t worry about swearing in front of the kids. Just ask that veteran rock n roller Pete Townshend – the way you do it is say you’re not going to swear as you berate the child for taking an interest in your music, and then you mouth your curse words of choice anyway.

Robbie and Guy Chambers reunite to bitch about the BRITs

And Finally

Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers have patched up their differences and written a new song. It’s a bit sweary. It also reveals that Robbie thought The BRIT Awards ceremony was “fucking boring” this year. Robbie Williams appeared on stage at this year’s BRITs twice, both singing and presenting. And was interviewed during the TV broadcast. I’m sure he doesn’t mean those bits though.

In a blog post, Robbie wrote: “Here’s a gift from me and Guy (Chambers). We wrote it on Saturday recorded it on Sunday. If you have kids in the room, don’t play it”.

Equally, if you don’t want the hook of “It’s like a VD clinic – only pricks are in it” stuck in your head for the rest of the day, don’t listen to it.

Q&A: Doldrums

Artist Interviews

Doldrums, aka Airick Woodhead, released his first mixtape in 2010 on VHS. A year later he moved onto more accessible formats with the ‘Empire Sound’ EP through No Pain In Pop, which featured the brilliant ‘I’m Homesick Sittin Up Here In My Satellite’. It was that track which started to get him noticed, but a real turning point was the re-release of Portishead’s ‘Chase The Tear’ later in 2011, which included his cover of the same track as the b-side.

Part of the same Canadian electronic music scene that spawned artists such as Grimes and Purity Ring (indeed he produced a track on the former’s ‘Visions’ album), this week he releases his debut album ‘Lesser Evil’ through Souterrain Transmissions. Less sample-based than his earlier work, it features heavily layered electronic collages of sound, formed into strange, otherworldly pop.

Tonight Doldrums will play an in-store performance at Rough Trade East in London, ahead of which CMU’s Andy Malt caught up with him to ask a few questions about the album, his attempts to create a musical lie and being licked by “a lot of dogs”.

AM: When and how did you start playing music?
D: My first gig was on the cello when I was twelve – my friend gave me five bucks to do it!

AM: And when did you start writing your own music?
D: I started writing songs with my brother around that age too. We had a good one about being on anaesthetics in the dentist’s chair. I listened to The Stone Roses and The Verve and played guitar with huge amounts of delay on it.

AM: Your earlier releases were a lot more sample-based than ‘Lesser Evil’, what led to this shift in your sound? Did you want your debut album to be a distinct body of work in its own right?
D: I was mostly trying to avoid getting sued! By mostly using my own voice as the keyboards and using a lot of glitchy and broken drum sounds I tried to create a sonic world that was very dehumanised but still expressive. I hate electronic music that sounds like wallpaper. Bad wallpaper, I mean. Wallpaper can be great.

AM: Do you feel you’ve now settled on a ‘sound’ that you want to further experiment within, or do you plan to go through a similar sonic shift for your next release?
D: Oh, I think a sonic shift is inevitable, but the most important thing to me is the songs. I’m first and foremost a songwriter, you know, and I try to use the production stuff to augment whatever I’m singing or thinking about. It’s got to have a good melody and lyrics. You can only polish a turd so much.

AM: Do you have a particular process you go through when writing a new track? Do you have an idea of what you want to do before you start or is it more a process of experimentation?
D: When I hear something that gets me excited or go to a great show it stimulates a great desire in me to rip it off – haha! I used to do it by writing similar sounding things but recently I find it’s easier to just sample it. I’m in the merger and acquisitions department of Doldrums. I want my sonic world to sound artificial and shiny, cheap and disposable. A sleek silver lie.

AM: Your live shows are very energetic and musically you seem to do a lot live on the fly. Is it difficult to keep it all under control? Is that part of the appeal?
D: Yes, the term ‘janky’ gets tossed around a lot after shows. I’m used to playing at house parties and DIY venues were the audience is right in front of you and you have to be really confrontational to get anything across. It’s strange now to do these bigger tours where the audience treats you like a movie, you have to really slap them around to make them remember they are there to take part in something, not just check something out.

AM: Have your shows always been so hyperactive, or is that something that’s developed over time?
D: They’ve definitely become less hyperactive! My first tour was with my friends Tonka Puma playing punk houses in California. I just had a glitchy VCR and a microphone – I don’t really know what I even did at those shows. There were a lot of dogs in the crowd one night, and I was rolling around on the ground singing into my friend’s iPhone and the dogs came over and started licking me and rolling around with me.

AM: You’ve already remixed and worked with the likes of Portishead, Grimes and Peaking Lights. Who else would you like to have on your list of collaborators, and why?
D: Black Dice did a remix of one of my tracks recently and that was like the biggest compliment I could receive. I want to do a track with Caroline from Chairlift. Her voice is beautiful.

AM: How did your DJ Dick Officer project come about, and will you do more under that name? Do you have other side projects you want to concentrate on?
D: Haha, I can’t believe you know about that! I guess it’s up on the SoundCloud. That was the result of a drunken night with Rollie [Cadence Weapon]. My friend Melissa, and Caila from Mozart Sister sang on something. I’ll probably keep collaborating with friends like that but I think I’ll stick with the name doldrums, basically out of convenience

AM: A lot of quite distinct electronic music has emerged from Canada in the last couple of years, from you, Grimes, Purity Ring and others. Would it be fair to call it a scene, or is it more disparate than that? Do you feel connected to these other acts, and who else should we be looking out for?
D: Ya, I’m so proud to be a part of that. A lot of those people are my best friends! And we’ve all worked from the ground up, toured for years playing shitty shows and creating a community where is was possible to be a working musician without a big label and not be just some internet phenomenon.

AM: What album have you listened to most in your lifetime?
D: Probably ‘Amnesiac’ or ‘OK Computer’. Or Sgt. Pepper. They felt like my own personal discoveries, treasures when I was a teenager.

AM: What are you planning to do next now your album’s out?
D: Start on the next one!

Approved: King Tuff – Sun Medallion

CMU Approved

So, Kyle Thomas (aka King Tuff) has a backlog of ‘lost’ releases familiar only to his most loyal fans. Who knew? Well Burger Records did, for one, and will be gifting an ‘in memoriam’ re-pressing of Thomas/Tuff’s circa 2008 record ‘Was Dead’ back to lovers of last year’s higher-fi ‘King Tuff’ who may have passed it over the first time.

An explanatory sleeve note from Thomas, who’s from Vermont originally, reads: “I wanted ‘Was Dead’ to be a pure Vermont rock n roll record, fuelled by extra sharp Cabot cheddar cheese and hot, grade A fancy maple syrup poured over crisp white snow and served with a pickle and a cider donut. You sit down on the shitty concrete in the parking lot and you slurp it all up. I had already made a few King Tuff albums in the early 2000s and had laid the project to rest around 2003. But something told me to resurrect King Tuff, hence the title ‘Was Dead'”.

Aha. Taken from its midst, this is the oh-so louche ‘Sun Medallion’:

American style three-strikes goes live

Digital Legal Top Stories

The American version of three-strikes, which is more like six-strikes, and with a mainly undefined final sanction, is go, with the US Center For Copyright Information putting its Copyright Alert System live yesterday.

As previously reported, whereas three-strike type systems for combating illegal file-sharing have gone live in some other countries, including France and New Zealand, through a change in the law, and therefore are ultimately run by a government agency, in the US a graduated response set up has come about through a voluntary agreement between the music and movie industries and many of the country’s major internet service providers (many of whom are also cable TV providers, and who therefore have an incentive to crack down on piracy).

As with other graduated response programmes, under the Copyright Alert System rights owners will be able to alert ISPs of IP addresses that they believe are being used to regularly access unlicensed sources of music or movie content. The ISP controlling that IP address will then send a letter to the relevant customer, alerting them to the fact copyright infringement is occurring via their net connection.

A series of more severe letters would follow, ultimately with some sort of threat if a user ignores the warnings, though exactly what will be threatened will depend on the ISP and, as this is a voluntary programme, will not involve law enforcement. Although at that point the rights owners could choose to sue the end user.

The voluntary scheme had been due to kick off in late 2012, but was delayed in November, partly because some of the companies involved had suffered set backs as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Now that the programme is live, labels are expected to start filing infringement reports with the CCI this week, which will result in ISPs mailing out the first letters next month.

It remains to be seen how successful the programme is in encouraging people to use only legit sources of online content. In the UK, of course, while the 2010 Digital Economy Act theoretically put a three-strikes system in place, various sets backs, in part caused by certain UK ISPs trying to resist involvement in anti-piracy activities, mean no letter sending has as yet occurred.

Pirate Parties in Norway and Spain take on Sweden’s Pirate bay web services

Digital Legal

Sweden’s Pirate Party has stopped providing bandwidth to the infamous Pirate Bay, after the previously reported threats by a Swedish organisation calling itself the Rights Alliance which threatened to sue the political party for aiding the Bay, which has been judged liable for copyright infringement in many jurisdictions, and in the Swedish courts via the conviction of three of TPB’s founders and their original funder.

However, the net services Sweden’s Pirate Party has been providing to the Bay, which actually hosts much of its online operations in a secret location, will now be offered by Pirate Party organisations in Norway and Spain. Confirming the shift, which hasn’t had any noticeable effect on the Bay’s operations, a rep for the controversial file-sharing site told TorrentFreak: “It will be interesting to see who is now blamed for hosting TPB. In the end, maybe the anti-interneterians will understand that they can’t win a fight when they have the people against them”.

Fast Company names most innovative music companies

Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Live Business

Want to know what music firms US business magazine Fast Company reckons are the “most innovative” as of now? Digital hoo haa dominates obviously, though Coachella and music film makers Pulse also get name-checks, so that’s all groovy.

Top ten below, or follow this innovative link to find out just why these innovative companies are so innovatively innovative. What ever happened to the Innovations catalogue? That was fun, wasn’t it? My desk definitely needs more gadgets.

1. Rap Genius
2. Spotify
3. YouTube
4. Pulse Films
5. Merlin Network
6. Moment Factory
7. Coachella Festival
8. Songza
9. StageIt
10. The Space John Peel Records Archive

“Reinvented” Nine Inch Nails to tour US this year

Artist News

Three years ago Trent Reznor decided to put Nine Inch Nails on hiatus and retire from touring, a few months later telling his audience at the Bonnaroo festival: “It just dawned on me that this is our last show ever in the United States. Don’t be sad. I’ll keep going. But I think I’m going to lose my fucking mind if I keep doing this, and I have to stop”.

Well, if you weren’t able to stop yourself from being sad, now is the time to cheer the fuck up again, because Reznor has just announced the return of NIN.

New material from the project has been mooted for some time, but in a post on official Trent Reznor website, Pitchfork, the musician has revealed that the first new NIN activity since those “last ever” shows is actually a tour. Whether there will be new material as well isn’t clear. In fact, nothing is very clear, except that Reznor has decided to “re-think the idea of what Nine Inch Nails could be”.

In a statement, Reznor wrote: “I was working with [King Crimson’s] Adrian Belew on some musical ideas, which led to some discussion on performing, which led to some beard-scratching, which (many steps later) led to the decision to re-think the idea of what Nine Inch Nails could be, and the idea of playing a show. Calls were made to some friends, lots of new ideas were discussed, and a show was booked – which led to another, which somehow led to a lot of shows”.

He continued: “The band is reinventing itself from scratch and will be comprised of [Ex-Jane’s Addition bassist] Eric Avery, Adrian Belew, [previous NIN member] Alessandro Cortini, [Telefon Tel Aviv’s] Josh Eustis, [Angels & Airwaves, Paramore and Ex-Lostprophets drummer] Ilan Rubin, and me. The first shows will begin this summer, followed by a full-on arena tour of the US this fall, and lots of other dates worldwide to follow through 2014”.

Exactly how the band will be reinvented remains to be seen, as a new line-up isn’t exactly anything new for a project that has always been Trent Reznor and some other guys.

But anyway, for no specific reason, let’s all watch this studio performance of ‘Something I Can Never Have’:

Blue join Big Reunion

Artist News

Blue

So, the ‘Big Reunion’ roulette-of-horrors will not stop spinning. Why won’t it stop? Ahem, so anyway… last time, it landed on an Atomic Kitten-branded fragrance range, and this time… well, this time it’s hit Blue, who’ve just been added to the official cast-list of ITV’s televised pop do-over-athon.

Quite aptly given that nonsensical metaphor, Blue’s first LP in ten years ‘Roulette’ will be released later this year on the back of their new ITV exposure. They’re also playing beside 5ive, 911, B*Witched, The Honeyz and Liberty X (and Atomic Kitten, naturally) at London’s Hammersmith Apollo tonight. So if you’re going to that, congratulations, you’ve won a free boyband.

David Bowie releases second single from The Next Day

Releases

David Bowie has released the second single from his new album, ‘The Next Day’. Entitled ‘The Stars (Are Out Tonight)’, the track is rockier and quicker in pace than first single ‘Where Are We Now?’, and comes accompanied by a Floria Sigismondi-directed video featuring Bowie and Tilda Swinton as a happily married couple whose world is turned upside down when a young celebrity couple move in next door.

You may watch the video here:

The National releasing new album in May

Releases

The National have announced that they will release a new album in May. That’s about it really. No title, no other information. Presumably it’ll be released by 4AD again. There wasn’t room in the tweet the band sent out to provide these sorts of details.

In another tweet, the band also announced that they will be touring the US in June.

Twitter, eh?

Iggy And The Stooges (not) ready to die

Releases

Iggy Pop has shared vital stats on ‘Ready To Die’, his and The Stooges first LP since 2007’s ‘The Weirdness’, and first since 1973’s ‘Raw Power’ to feature original Stooges guitarist James Williamson and drummer Scott Asheton. Mike Watt fills in for late bassist Ron Asheton, who died in 2009.

A significant disc for Iggy et al in many ways, ‘Ready To Die’ will be released via Fat Possum on 30 Apr.

Railing angrily as part of this video Q&A, Iggy says: “My motivation in making any record with the group at this point is no longer personal. It’s just a pig-headed fucking thing I have that a real fucking group when they’re an older group they also make fucking records. They don’t just go and twiddle around on stage to make a bunch of fucking money”.

So there you go. This is ‘Ready To Die’ track ‘Scarecrow’:

Little Boots names new LP, gives away track

Releases

Having spent a year or so refining her new LP, mini pop artiste Little Boots is at last all set to release it, ‘it’ being a ten-track-containing ‘suite’ titled ‘Nocturnes’.

DFA Records MD Tim Goldsworthy, Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford, Hercules & Love Affair’s Andy Butler, Sky Ferreira/Charli XCX collaborator Ariel Reichstadt and Gaga’s ‘Born This Way’ co-writer Jeppe Laursen are all names associated with its making.

Little Boots’ Victoria Hesketh is giving away ‘Nocturnes’ intro ‘Motorway’ as a free means of luring us all into buying the album when it’s released on 6 May, so give into that scheme via her website, or you can stream it here:

Marnie Stern sets May dates

Gigs & Festivals

Recent CMU interviewee Marnie Stern has listed lots of shows she’s doing in May and June, primarily as a means of playing her new LP, ‘The Chronicles Of Marnia’, to the populace after its release. Which is 18 Mar, by the way.

The tour dates (plus a play of Stern’s LP-featuring new track ‘Nothing Is Easy’) are presented thus:

30 May: Birmingham, Hare & Hounds
31 May: Sheffield, Queens Social Club
1 Jun: Manchester, Ruby Lounge
2 Jun: Glasgow, Broadcast
3 Jun: Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
4 Jun: Bristol, Louisiana
5 Jun: London, The Garage

Stool Pigeon’s live ‘wake’ to star Savages

Gigs & Festivals

The Stool Pigeon has arranged a ‘wake’-style party to mark the passing of its last ever issue, at London’s The Lexington on 4 Mar. The free newspaper first heralded the ‘death’ of its print editions (and online doings) earlier this month.

Savages, Teeth Of The Sea and Hermot will all pay their respects by playing live sets, and there’ll also be a deathly cool “dance macabre” and sale of spare Stool Pigeon miscellanea.

Buy tickets via this link.

Festival line-up update: Camp Bestival, V Festival, Wilderness and more

Artist News Festival Line-Up Update Gigs & Festivals

So, we’ll begin this CMU FLUU interlude with Ash, who are the first ‘beginning-with-A’ artist added to this year’s ‘Around The World’-themed Camp Bestival, according to its spate of A-Z additions. Now we have only to wait for ‘B’!

And here she is right now, B – or Beyonce to you – has been announced as the first headliner of this year’s V, which also keeps the single letter theme going, if jumping ahead a little too quickly. Whatever, V will be Beyonce’s only UK festival performance this year, which is a shame because V is the worst festival on the planet. Kings Of Leon have also been confirmed to headline too, which doesn’t help matters much.

Announcing those two, as well as various other acts for this year’s event, V Festival Directors Bob Angus, Simon Moran and Dennis Desmond sang in near-perfect harmony: “We’ve worked hard to bring fans an exciting and diverse line-up, securing Beyonce for an exclusive European festival appearance and Kings Of Leon as headliners is a great achievement. These acts along with one of the strongest bills in V Festival’s eighteen year history is something we are very proud of. We have a reputation for bringing fans the best world class acts and breakthrough artists, 2013 is set to be another sensational year”.

Now, who’s interested in the first list of live names to find themselves on the bill attached to MAMA/Secret’s un-wild boutique soiree Wilderness? W, see? We’re still on the alphabet thing. If so, have Empire Of The Sun, Noah & The Whale, Rodriguez, Michael Kiwanuka, Tom Odell, King Krule and Melody’s Echo Chamber with Wilderness’s compliments. Oh, and a rapt quote from the man at the heart of Oscar-winning film ‘Searching For Sugar Man’, fabled folk character Rodriguez, who says: “It is an honour and pleasure to be included to perform at this year’s Wilderness. I am told that it is at a beautiful location, so we are definitely looking forward to the scene”.

Yeah, the scene. Orchestrating that scene – which features opera, theatre, banquet-style gourmet hors d’oeuvres and even a luxury spa – are MAMA/Secret’s Dean James, Tim Harvey, Jim Whewell and Jo Vidler, who, like those V types, sang their statement together (it was wonderful, you really should have heard it): “As festival organisers, Wilderness is still the mouth-watering prospect it’s always been. Each and every one of the amazing shows and happenings have been inspired by the lakes, valleys, copses and rides of our majestic home. From this year’s exquisite banqueting concepts to theatrical shows we are bringing over from mainland France, it will be a weekend of both electrifying entertainments and restful escape. We can’t wait”.

Well, they’ll have to wait a while for all that, but this itemised synopsis of all-new FLUUs is ready for consumption right now, including the inaugural Alton Towers Live, insular Croatian fest Echo, Finland’s Kendrick Lamar-starring Flow, Henley’s self-titled jazzy pop party, city-central rock revel Live At Leeds, and the Matlock-based Y-Not:

ALTON TOWERS LIVE, Alton Towers Resort, Staffordshire, 6 Jul: Rizzle Kicks, Labrinth, Little Mix, James Arthur, Conor Maynard, Stooshe, Union J. www.altontowers.com/alton-towers-live

CAMP BESTIVAL, Lulworth Castle, Dorset, 1-4 Aug: Ash. www.campbestival.ne

ECHO FESTIVAL, Kanegra, Umag, Croatia, 6-9 Jun: Magda, Redshape, John Roberts, Lorca, Audio Werner, Mandy Jordan, Voigtman, Lamache, Daniel Padlung, Luca Pilato. www.echofestival.com

FLOW FESTIVAL, Suvilahti, Helsinki, Finland, 7-11 Aug: Kendrick Lamar, Haim, AlunaGeorge, Disclosure. www.flowfestival.com/en

HENLEY FESTIVAL, Henley On Thames, 4-8 Jul: Jamie Cullum. www.henley-festival.co.uk

LIVE AT LEEDS, various venues, Leeds, 3-5 May: The Walkmen, Savages, MS MR, Dutch Uncles, Mo, Melodys Echo Chamber, Still Corners, Sky Larkin, Dinosaur Pile Up, Splashh, Still Corners, Backyards, Bebe Black, Castrovalva, Charlie Boyer and The Voyeurs, Chloe Howl, Deep Sea Arcade, Filthy Boy, Findlay, Fryers, Fun Adults, Georgia Thursting, Gliss, Hawk Eyes, Heart Ships, Humanfly, Indians, Jacobean Ruff, Jetta, John Newman, Luke Sital Singh, Lulu James, Man Like Me (live), Max Raptor, Maybeshewill, Middleman, Must, Nadine Carina, Night Engine, On An On, PINS, Post War Years, Robert DeLong, Syron, Take Turns, The Concetines, The Coopers, The Covelles, The Dunwells, These Monsters, Those Rotten Thieves, Tokyo Corner, Troumaca, Wild Swim, Wolf Alice. www.liveatleeds.com

V FESTIVAL, Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Weston Park, Staffordshire, 17-18 Aug: Beyonce, Kings Of Leon, Stereophonics, The Script, Emeli Sandé, Calvin Harris, Beady Eye, Jessie J, Two Door Cinema Club, The Vaccines, Basement Jaxx, Olly Murs, Paloma Faith, James, Rita Ora, The Courteeners, Jason Mraz, Fun., Labrinth, Ellie Goulding, Kendrick Lamar, Of Monsters And Men, Maverick Sabre, Travis, DJ Fresh/LIVE, Jessie Ware, Maximo Park, Lianne La Havas, Rudimental, James Arthur, Scouting For Girls, Deacon Blue, Little Mix, Ocean Colour Scene, The Fratellis, Gabrielle Aplin and Laura Mvula. www.vfestival.com

WILDERNESS, Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire, 9-11 Aug: Empire Of The Sun, Rodriguez, Noah And The Whale, Michael Kiwanuka, Tom Odell, Ghostpoet, Tribes, Matt Corby, Lucy Rose, King Krule, Melody’s Echo Chamber, Eliza And The Bear. www.wildernessfestival.com

Y-NOT FESTIVAL, Matlock, Derbyshire, 2-4 Aug: The Cribs, The Twang, Dizraeli And The Small Gods, Propellers. ynotfestivals.co.uk

BMG announces FKO acquisition and Kertekian partnership

Business News Deals Labels & Publishers

Music rights firm BMG has made another acquisition, this time through its French arm, in the form of the FKO Music catalogue, perhaps most notable for owning all the songs of the late Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti.

BMG has also announced a new joint venture partnership with FKO Music’s founder Francis Kertekian, which will see the creation of a new company called FKGC through which both parties will develop and administrate new and future songwriter signings. Kertekian will also remain closely involved with the existing FKO catalogue through the partnership.

Confirming the deal, BMG France MD Stéphane Berlow told reporters: “I am proud that BMG has now become the recipient of the FKO catalogue. Fela Kuti is one of the most iconic artists there’s ever been, his infectious beats are universal but above all, his message lives on. [And] the [wider] catalogue that Francis Kertekian has put together over the years is full of successful music with a twist, always interesting and different”.

Berlow continued: “To continue developing the exploitation of this catalogue and to contribute to expanding it further through BMG France’s set up and BMG’s network of companies internationally is a fascinating project. And working with Francis on the FKO catalogue and FKGC’s new signings will be both a pleasure and an honour”.

For his part, Kertekian added: “This deal is a major step towards the kind of impetus that I was looking for, for my catalogue. The agreement with BMG will enable me to continue supporting with a new momentum all the artists that have been entrusting me for all these years. At the same time, it was essential for me that the acquisition by BMG had to go hand in hand with the development of a new venture for future signings. I am pleased of Stéphane’s enthusiasm and commitment to these projects and I look forward very much to our collaboration”.

Azoff ally resigns from Live Nation board

Business News Industry People Live Business

The Executive Chairman of Madison Square Garden Company resigned his seat on the board of Live Nation last week, somewhat abruptly. Though it’s thought James Dolan’s departure may be the logical conclusion of Irving Azoff’s exiting from the live music giant at the end of last year, rather than the result of any internal conflict.

Dolan, also CEO of MSG’s parent company Cablevision, came to the Live Nation board table via his friendship and business dealings with Azoff. Venue operator MSG bought a minority stake in Azoff’s Front Line management company in 2008. Ticketmaster then took control of Front Line the same year, before merging with Live Nation two years later, with Azoff rising to Chairman of the combined Live Nation/Ticketmaster business, and Dolan getting a seat on the board of the combined company.

As previously reported, Azoff departed Live Nation rather suddenly on New Years Eve, seemingly frustrated with the constraints of running a large publicly listed company, and recognising the tax benefits of a quick exit. Insiders say Dolan just wasn’t interested on sitting on a board without Azoff at the top of the table. Whether the move will also see MSG offload its stake in Live Nation, thought to be about 2% of the company overall, remains to be seen.

Billboard notes that Dolan stepping away from Live Nation will also remove any possible politics over the Los Angeles Forum, acquired by MSG last year and currently being revamped. MSG’s small stake in Live Nation doesn’t stop it from working with other promoters at its various venues, including namesake the Madison Square Garden in New York. But some reckoned Dolan’s Live Nation board role might have been particularly stressful when it came to the Los Angeles Forum working with the live giant’s rivals, the competition between Live Nation and AEG being particularly fierce in the LA market.

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