FRIDAY 30 JUNE 2017 COMPLETEMUSICUPDATE.COM
TODAY'S TOP STORY: Don't be expecting any courtroom fun in the dispute between Paul McCartney and Sony/ATV over the all important reversion right under American copyright law. They've only gone and settled. Bastards. Sensible bastards. But bastards all the same... [READ MORE]
VIGSY'S CLUB TIP: It's a drum n bass takeover at Fabric tonight, with Hospital Records and Jungle Jam going head to head, occupying a room each. In Hospital's room, heading up the bill is Spy, who will be launching his new EP, 'Alone In The Dark', with a two hour set. Jungle Jam, meanwhile, will be vying to get you through the door of their room with a live set from General Levy. [READ MORE]
 
BEEF OF THE WEEK: "Glastonbury gets political", shouted the headlines, forgetting the festival's long history of getting political. It was the "wokest Glastonbury ever", cried others, stressing just how political it had all become. "Even the police have glittered cheekbones", squealed former politician Ed Balls. Of course, the actual politician who became the centrepiece of this year's Glastonbury Festival was Jeremy Corbyn. [READ MORE]
 
LATEST CMU PODCAST: CMU's Andy Malt and Chris Cooke review key events in music and the music business from the last week, including Apple Music reportedly looking to reduce the royalties it pays the labels, US band The Slants getting American trademark law rewritten, and Morrissey's silly spat with HMV. The CMU Podcast is sponsored by 7digital. [READ MORE]
 
LATEST CMU TRENDS: Rarely a week goes by in the music business news these days without at least one catalogue acquisition. But who - other than labels and publishers - is buying music rights, and why? Are there opportunities for individual artists and songwriters? How do you even value music rights? Ahead of a Music 4.5 event exploring all these topics, CMU Trends reviews the music rights market - past, present and future. CMU Trends articles are available to premium subscribers. [READ MORE]
TOP STORIES Paul McCartney settles with Sony/ATV in reversion right dispute
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LEGAL Kylie and Kendal Jenner pull t-shirt range after legal threats from musicians
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MEDIA Ukraine faces fine over Eurovision organisation and dispute with Russia
Tony Blackburn to return to Radio 1 for station's 50th birthday
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EDUCATION & EVENTS Music 4.5 and CMU Trends put the spotlight on the value of music
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RELEASES The National announce Guilty Parties for Guilty Party
Vessels announce new album, release Flaming Lips collaboration
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GIGS & FESTIVALS Paul Thomas Saunders announces tour dates
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ONE LINERS TuneCore, St Vincent, The xx, more
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AND FINALLY... Beef Of The Week #361: Ed Balls v Radiohead
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MELODY VR - COMMUNITY MANAGER (LONDON)
MelodyVR is looking for an exceptional Community Manager to join our team, who is as passionate about music and as excited by technology as we are. We’re looking for a creative person who has a track record of coming up with fun and original content ideas for social media and beyond.

For more information and to apply click here.
   
ONCE UPON A TIME MUSIC - PRODUCTION PLANNER (LONDON)
Once Upon A Time Music (OUAT Music) works with major and independent record labels, artist management companies and artists directly to create vinyl, CDs and award winning boxsets. The Production Planner will be responsible for overseeing the production process of all musical formats from start to finish for a wide variety of music industry clients.

For more information and to apply click here.
   
DHP FAMILY - CONCERTS PROMOTIONS CO-ORDINATOR (LONDON)
As DHP Family's Concerts Promotions Co-ordinator in London, you will be creative, fast working, forward thinking, with the ability to work under pressure, both alone and as part of a team. As well as a strong marketing knowledge, you will ideally have a good grasp of the music/ents industry in London.

For more information and to apply click here.
   
NEW CITIZENS - HEAD OF MARKETING (LEEDS)
New Citizens is an established leading events company within the music, food and drink sector, based in the North of England. You’ll be responsible for driving and increasing ticket sales, brand awareness and positive association for the projects/events you’ll be working on.

For more information and to apply click here.
   
MERLIN - MEMBER SERVICES MANAGER (LONDON)
Merlin is seeking an experienced and enthusiastic Member Services Manager to assist our members in maximising the effectiveness and success of Merlin’s agreements with the digital streaming services.

For more information and to apply click here.
   
BAND ON THE WALL - ADMINISTRATION & OPERATIONS MANAGER (MANCHESTER)
Band On The Wall is recruiting a full-time Administration and Operations Manager. The Administration and Operations Manager is responsible for managing the venue’s day-to-day operations and building maintenance, as well as dealing with general administration surrounding office and facilities management and human resources.

For more information and to apply click here.
   
HELP MUSICIANS UK - MARKETING & DIGITAL OFFICER (LONDON)
Help Musicians UK, the leading independent music charity, is looking for a proactive and experienced Marketing & Digital Officer. This is an exciting opportunity to work across all areas of communications activity.

For more information and to apply click here.
   
LONDON PALLADIUM - VENUE MANAGER (LONDON)
Really Useful Theatres Group is seeking to appoint a Venue Manager for the London Palladium. The Venue Manager will have overall responsibility for the leadership of the venue and will be in charge of project managing all major and high profile events.

For more information and to apply click here.
   
LONDON PALLADIUM - EVENT OPERATIONS MANAGER (LONDON)
Really Useful Theatres Group is seeking to appoint an Event Operations Manager for the London Palladium. The Event Operations Manager will be in charge of project managing all small and medium scale productions and events at the London Palladium.

For more information and to apply click here.
   
MELODY VR - ARTIST RESEARCH ASSISTANT (LONDON)
MelodyVR's Artist Research Assistant is responsible for the compilation and distribution of all live opportunities and research on exciting new artists around the world. You will be knowledgeable and excited when it comes to the live music landscape globally, with an eye on live touring, festival/event line-ups and emerging talent.

For more information and to apply click here.
   
SECRETLY DISTRIBUTION - INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL MARKETING CO-ORDINATOR (LONDON)
Secretly Distribution seeks a full time International Digital Marketing Co-ordinator based in our London office. This experienced individual will bring knowledge and depth to our marketing efforts in a fast paced and constantly evolving digital music landscape.

For more information and to apply click here.
   
FREE TRADE AGENCY - PART-TIME BOOKKEEPER/ACCOUNTANT (LONDON)
International live music booking agency Free Trade is looking for a book-keeper/accountant to look after the company's accounts. The work will entail looking after sales ledger, purchase ledger, bank reconciliations, payroll and HMRC returns such as VAT and payroll.

For more information and to apply click here.
   
TRU THOUGHTS - PRESS & RADIO PROMOTIONS (BRIGHTON)
Tru Thoughts is looking to hire a new member of the press and radio department, to work in-house at our office in Brighton. The candidate should be confident, outgoing and organised, with a demonstrable passion for the label’s music (and a love of being by the sea).

For more information and to apply click here.
   
KILIMANJARO LIVE - PROMOTER (LONDON)
Do you eat, sleep and breathe music? New, old, cross genre, artists that should have been, guilty pleasures and everything in between? Kilimanjaro Live is looking for a new promoter to join the team here, working on everything from pub gigs to, who knows, football stadiums.

For more information and to apply click here.
   
DOMINO - FREELANCE DIGITAL PROJECT MANAGER (LONDON)
Domino is looking for a Digital Project Manager with front end experience, working across both its record label and Publishing divisions. This position is offered on a part-time, freelance basis and will be based in our offices in London.

For more information and to apply click here.
   
PRS FOR MUSIC - CONTENT EDITOR (LONDON)
Are you as passionate about music as you are about crafting great content? PRS For Music is looking for an experienced Content Editor with a flair for creating engaging print copy and rich media to play an integral role in our Creative Services team.

For more information and to apply click here.
 
RECRUIT YOUR TEAM RIGHT HERE: 020 7099 9060 or [email protected]
6 Jul 2017 CMU's Chris Cooke moderates Music 4.5 panel on value of music
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10 Jul 2017 CMU's Chris Cooke will discuss the streaming market at MMB Romania
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weekly from 25 Sep 2017 CMU Insights Seminar: The How The Music Business Works Programme
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25 Sep 2017 CMU Insights Seminar: Making Money From Music
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2 Oct 2017 CMU Insights Seminar: How Music Rights Work
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9 Oct 2017 CMU Insights Seminar: How Music Licensing Works
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16 Oct 2017 CMU Insights Seminar: The Music Rights Sector
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23 Oct 2017 CMU Insights Seminar: Merch, Live & Brands
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30 Oct 2017 CMU Insights Seminar: Building A Fanbase – Social Media Tools
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6 Nov 2017 CMU Insights Seminar: Building A Fanbase – Music Media
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13 Nov 2017 CMU Insights Seminar: Building A Fan-Orientated Business
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Paul McCartney settles with Sony/ATV in reversion right dispute
Don't be expecting any courtroom fun in the dispute between Paul McCartney and Sony/ATV over the all important reversion right under American copyright law. They've only gone and settled. Bastards. Sensible bastards. But bastards all the same.

As much previously reported, under US copyright law a songwriter who assigns their rights to a music publisher has the statutory right to terminate that assignment agreement after 35 years, or 56 years for copyrights assigned before the reversion or termination right was introduced in the late 1970s. This right only really came into effect in recent years, and everyone is still working out exactly how it works.

One big fat technicality is what happens with non-US songwriters who - say - assigned their rights to a British publisher under English law. Can those writers still reclaim the US rights in their songs? Or, more specifically, can those non-US publishing contracts interfere with the statutory right under American law, or make it impractical to employ? And if so, what specific contract terms are able to do the interfering?

As also previously reported, the test case on all this from an English law perspective is Duran Duran's legal battle with Gloucester Place Music, which is now a Sony/ATV subsidiary. In that case the publisher argues that, under its original contract with the band, they can't exercise their termination right. Sony/ATV won at first instance, but the case is still going through the motions with appeal pending.

It was because of Sony/ATV's battle with Duran Duran that Paul McCartney - who has been busy preparing to reclaim the US rights in his half of the Lennon/McCartney catalogue off the major - filed his own legal action.

The publisher hadn't actually said that it intended to interfere in his exercising of the termination right, but nor would it confirm that it wouldn't. It seemed that Sony/ATV was possibly playing for time, pending the outcome of the Duran Duran litigation.

Seeking more timely confirmation that the publisher wouldn't throw any spanners in the works as he seeks to reclaim his song rights, McCartney went to court in the US earlier this year. Sony/ATV tried to have the case dismissed, arguing that it would be wrong for the American courts to rule on this matter while the English courts were still considering the dispute with Duran Duran.

Copyright geeks were looking forward to seeing this particular reversion rights question get discussed on both sides of the Atlantic, pondering on what might happen if the US and UK courts reached different conclusions. But the McCartney dispute is now settled.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, McCartney's lawyer Michael Jacobs said in a letter to the court yesterday: "The parties have resolved this matter by entering into a confidential settlement agreement and jointly request that the court enter the enclosed proposed order dismissing the above-referenced action without prejudice".

Who doesn't like a good old fashioned 'confidential settlement agreement' when an important legal precedent is required that will affect less affluent veteran songwriters as well as the superstars.

Though, that said, whether or not an English publishing contract can indeed interfere in any one songwriter's US reversion rights may depend on the very specific wording of that contract, so it's possible we were never going to get an all embracing precedent from any of these lawsuits anyway.

Still, all eyes remain on the Duran Duran case now McCartney has officially stepped down from the fight.

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Kylie and Kendal Jenner pull t-shirt range after legal threats from musicians
Kylie and Kendal Jenner have been forced to pull a range of t-shirts featuring their own faces superimposed over classic music artwork, after it emerged that they had not licensed the images they were obscuring. The Doors and the estate of Notorious BIG both sent cease-and-desist letters to the sisters.

The two Jenners recently began selling the t-shirts via their own online store for $125 a piece. Among the other acts whose artwork they used were Tupac Shakur, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne.

It's not really clear what the thinking behind the designs was. Perhaps the idea was that the Jenners are the new guard of fame, pushing aside the old. Or maybe it was a more accurate representation of their fame, aiming to make you think: 'Why am I looking at them when I could be looking at someone with discernable talent?'

Maybe we will never know, because the t-shirts have now been withdrawn from sale, after the cease-and-desist letters began flooding in.

Having got the lawyers to fire off one such letter, Doors manager Jeff Jampol told Rolling Stone: "This is a case of people who fashion themselves as celebrities, who are famous for being well-known but don't actually do anything, trying to utilise and steal and capitalise on the legacies of those who actually did do something and created amazing art and messages. It's ironic, at least, and criminal, at worst, both morally, ethically and artistically".

Although it's not clear if Ozzy Osbourne actually went legal, Sharon Osbourne tweeted: "Girls, you haven't earned the right to put your face with musical icons. Stick to what you know... lip gloss".

Notorious BIG's mother Voletta Wallace, meanwhile, wrote in an Instagram post: "I am not sure who told Kylie Jenner and Kendall Jenner that they had the right to do this. The disrespect of these girls to not even reach out to me or anyone connected to the estate baffles me. I have no idea why they feel they can exploit the deaths of 2pac and my son Christopher to sell a t-shirt. This is disrespectful, disgusting, and exploitation at its worst".

Confirming that the rapper's estate had joined The Doors in sending a cease-and-desist, lawyer Julian K Petty told TMZ: "This is misappropriation at its finest. I'm curious to hear the justification. I'm even more curious to hear the proposed resolution".

Not sure how pleased Petty was with the response, but Kendall Jenner issued a statement on Twitter yesterday, saying: "These designs were not well thought out and we deeply apologise to anyone that has been upset and/or offended, especially to the families of the artists. We are huge fans of their music and it was not our intention to disrespect these cultural icons in any way".

In terms of a resolution, she added: "The t-shirts have been pulled from retail and all images removed. We will use this as an opportunity to learn from these mistakes and again, we are very sorry".

This is the second recent controversy involving Kendall Jenner that has resulted in something being withdrawn. In April she starred in a soft drink commercial which not only presented Pepsi as the one thing able to unite our divided society, but also appeared to be a straight-faced rip-off of a Chemical Brothers video, though with all the satire removed.

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Ukraine faces fine over Eurovision organisation and dispute with Russia
Ukraine's national broadcaster UA:PBC is facing a fine from the European Broadcasting Union relating to issues surrounding the organisation of this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Not least Russia's entrant being barred from entering the country.

As previously reported, Russia threatened to boycott this year's Eurovision after Ukraine was announced as the 2016 winner and therefore host of the 2017 competition. It looked as if Russia would go through with that threat, but right at the last minute the countyr entered a song performed by Julia Samoilova.

Ukraine then added Samoilova to its blacklist of artists who have performed in the disputed territory of Crimea since Russia took control of the region. This meant that she would be blocked from entering Ukraine, and arrested if she tried. Attempts to resolve the situation, including offering to allow Samoilova to perform from outside Ukraine via satellite, proved unsuccessful. In the end, Russia simply did not take part, carrying out that boycott after all.

Prior to all this, there had been a number of issues with the organisation of the event, which led to the entire team in charge of putting it together quitting in February. Issues with subcontractors also delayed the building of the stage.

"The EBU was pleased with the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, and commend UA:PBC, their staff, and all those who worked hard on the three live TV shows broadcast from Kiev in May", said the EBU in a statement. "The organisation of the competition, however, was subject to severe delays which created unnecessary difficulties for the production".

"Additionally, the host broadcaster failed to adequately fulfil its obligations with regards to co-operating with the EBU over the participation of the Russian artist", it went on. "As a result of this, attention was drawn away from the competition and the brand reputation of the Eurovision Song Contest was endangered".

EBU's steering committee has therefore "recommended that UA:PBC should receive a substantial fine, in line with the rules of the competition".

UA:PBC Director Zurab Alasania confirmed to Reuters that it had been ordered to pay a fine of 200,000 euros, but that the broadcaster would appeal the decision. In part because it was not actually involved in any of the decision-making that led to the dispute with Russia. Although he noted that the EBU was unlikely to get its money from anywhere else.

"Formally, it wasn't us who made the decision not to allow [Samoilova to enter the country], but I don't think that the SBU [state security force] or the government will want to take part in this", he admitted.

Ukraine is already in a tricky situation financially with the EBU though. Last week, it announced that fifteen million euros handed over to the Eurovision overseer as insurance for a successful contest had been frozen by authorities in Geneva. The money was due to be handed back after the event, but is being held for reasons unknown.

Alasania told Reuters that UA:PBC had hired lawyers in Switzerland to try to identify why the money was being held, and how to get it released.

Meanwhile, if you were wondering when the vinyl revival would peak, I think that time has come. I present as evidence the Eurovision 2017 vinyl box set.

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Tony Blackburn to return to Radio 1 for station's 50th birthday
As it continues to struggle to shift its listener demographic back to the 15-29 bracket, Radio 1 is bringing out the big guns to entice The Kids back to its FM channel. That's right, Tony Blackburn is returning to the breakfast show.

There are a number of qualifiers to that statement, though. Firstly, it'll be for one day only. Second, it's part of the celebrations to mark Radio 1's 50th anniversary. Third, it'll highlight a three day pop-up station, Radio 1 Vintage, where most of the other birthday programming will be broadcast, so as not to bother those young people too much.

Radio 1 Vintage will broadcast 50 hour-long best of shows, pulling content from the Radio 1 archive. The aim is to show how important the station has been to music since 1967, just in case you forgot. Among the presenters to have their classic shows compiled and replayed will be Annie Nightingale, John Peel, Mary Anne Hobbs, Tommy Vance, Sara Cox, Tim Westwood, Jo Whiley and Noel Fucking Edmonds.

There'll also be archive material from classic roadshows, the Live Lounge, the chart show, Newsbeat, all those great comedy shows they used to broadcast in the 90s, and some other stuff.

But what of Blackburn? Well, to kick things off on 30 Sep - 50 years to the day since Radio 1 first launched - he'll co-present the breakfast show with current host Nick Grimshaw. This will be broadcast simultaneously on Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 1 Vintage. So most listeners can spend their morning asking, "who's that bloke with the annoying voice?" The others can sit around wondering how they even got tuned in to Radio 1 Vintage in the first place.

Also that day, but broadcast only on Radio 1 Vintage and Radio 2, there will be a live recreation of the first ever show on Radio 1, seeing Tony Blackburn reprise his role as Tony Blackburn.

"Launching Radio 1 on 30 Sep 1967 is, undoubtedly, the highlight of my career", says Blackburn. "Having worked on the great pirate radio ships, Caroline and London, being the first DJ on Radio 1 I saw first hand the impact that the stations had on the British public".

Of the pre-Radio 1 days, he adds: "It is hard to imagine that there was a time when the BBC would only play 45 minutes of popular music per day and we, as teenagers, had to wait until 7pm in the evening for Radio Luxembourg to come on and play the music we wanted to hear. I owe so much to Radio 1 for my long career, to have been there at the beginning and to still be part of the BBC, it has been amazing to see how it has developed over the years to changes in technology, music, demand and, of course, its ever changing audience".

His soon-to-be-co-presenter Nick Grimshaw says of the whole 50th birthday celebration: "Radio 1 is the only station I've loyally listened to my whole life. From John Peel playing punk on night times and Sara Cox playing Missy on breakfast it was key in forming my musical education. I can't wait to celebrate 50 years with the legend that is Tony Blackburn!"

In addition to all of this, there are a couple of other things planned.

Live Lounge Month will be back in a special 50th anniversary form. This means the covers acts perform will have to be a hit from the last 50 years, limiting them to just any of the songs they probably would have picked anyway. That'll run throughout September.

Annie Nightingale will also be presenting four special documentaries looking at the first 50 years of Radio 1, themed around love, heroes, rebellion and dreams.

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Music 4.5 and CMU Trends put the spotlight on the value of music
Rarely a week goes by in the music business news these days without at least one catalogue acquisition, a deal which sees the ownership or control of a set of music rights move from one entity to another.

Often it's a major player in the music rights business growing its market share by acquiring the catalogue of an independent. But at the same time, in recent years we've seen a number of new players start bidding as well, often led by music industry veterans with the backing of a financial institution, usually private equity or a pension fund.

Meanwhile new market places are evolving where smaller rights owners - including individual artists and songwriters - can access investors other than labels and publishers, and raise money by selling a slice of their rights or royalties. But how do investors large and small put a value on music rights?

All of this will be discussed at the next Music 4.5 event called 'The Value Of Music', and ahead of that the latest CMU Trends article reviews the music rights market - past, present and future - with insights from EY's Alan Wallis, SunTrust's Charles Johnson and music industry consultant Steve Lewis.

The article also puts the spotlight on two of the new music rights market places: Royalty Exchange and LIVAMP.

"Royalty Exchange was set up to be the online marketplace for buying and selling royalties", the company's co-founder Gary Young explains. "We've worked with songwriters, producers, artists, bands, publishers and record labels. When it comes to what those folks are selling, each auction is a little different. For example, some songwriters will come to us to sell only their public performance royalties from ASCAP. Others will sell their producer royalties paid by a major record label. And some want to sell their entire catalogue and copyrights".

Meanwhile LIVAMP's Liz Zavoyskiy says: "We launched LIVAMP's artist marketplace in late 2015 because we saw a clear gap in the way the creative community financed itself. When the platform first launched, high net worth individuals looking for new, non-traditional investment opportunities were the primary investors. But over time, we've begun co-investing in deals and earlier this year joined forces with Magna Entertainment, a large NYC-based investment firm, to commit $100 million to this space over the next couple of years".

Premium CMU subscribers can read the full CMU Trends article here. The Music 4.5 event 'The Value Of Music' takes place next Thursday, 6 Jul, at the London HQ of Lewis Silkin. Info and tickets here.

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Vigsy's Club Tip: Fabriclive at Fabric
It's a drum n bass takeover at Fabric tonight, with Hospital Records and Jungle Jam going head to head, occupying a room each.

In Hospital's room, heading up the bill is Spy, who will be launching his new EP, 'Alone In The Dark', with a two hour set. Also in launch mode are Nu:Logic, marking the release of their new album, 'Somewhere Between The Light'. They'll be backed up by Shadow Child, putting in a jungle and hardcore set, LTJ Bukem, DLR and Anile, plus MCs GQ, LowQui and Visionobi.

Jungle Jam, meanwhile, will be vying to get you through the door of their room with a live set from General Levy, plus Benny Page and old school big guns Randall, Kenny Ken and Potential Badboy. Jungle Jam's resident DJs will also be in, er, residence, along with MCs the Ragga Twins, Fearless and Navigator.

Should be a massive one.

Friday 30 Jun 2017, Fabric, 77a Charterhouse Street, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 3HN, 11pm-7am, £20. More info here.

The National announce Guilty Parties for Guilty Party
The National have released a new single from their upcoming new album, 'Sleep Well Beast', titled 'Guilty Party'. They've also announced two special shows, also being put on under the name Guilty Party.

The Guilty Parties will take place on 14-15 Jul at the Basilica Hudson in the New York state city of Hudson. The collaborative shows, performed in the round, will see the band joined by Buke & Gase, Nadia Sirota, Mouse On Mars, SŌ Percussion and others. Each of the 700 people who get tickets for the shows will also be given a copy of 'Guilty Party' on seven-inch vinyl. Sounds like a right old time.

Are there more opportunities to say 'Guilty Party' in this story? Oh yes. Because there's also a video for the song, you see. What song? 'Guilty Party', of course. The director of the 'Guilty Party' video, Casey Reas says: "The video is a dream about memory and the degradation of memory; it's about distance in time and space. Time moves forward, but then backward as memory. The image of the two-faced Roman god Janus, who can look into the past and future, is the core visual language".

Watch the 'Guilty Party' video for 'Guilty Party' here.

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Vessels announce new album, release Flaming Lips collaboration
Vessels have announced that their fourth album, 'The Great Distraction', will be out on 29 Sep. The record will feature collaborations with John Grant, Django Django's Vincent Neff, Sky Larkin's Harkin, and The Flaming Lips - the latter of whom appear on new single 'Deflect The Light'.

"Working with The Flaming Lips was a highlight of this whole process", says the band's Pete Wright. "There is no facade; Wayne Coyne lives and breathes the very same eccentricity and optimism that pervades The Flaming Lips' music, and our entire correspondence start to finish has been a torrent of enthusiasm and silliness".

He added: "They latched on to the spirit of the music we sent and then amplified it a thousand times over, drenching it in their unmistakeable identity but never eclipsing ours. I am so proud of what we made together".

Listen to 'Deflect The Light', featuring The Flaming Lips, here.

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Paul Thomas Saunders announces tour dates
Paul Thomas Saunders is back, everyone. And he's going to go on tour to prove it.

The announcement of the shows follows the recent release of new single, 'Holding On For Love', his first new material since 2014. Of the song, he says: "'Holding On For Love' is about moments of stillness in an unforgiving world. It's about the voices that are left in your head when the instant gratification, endless entertainment and societal pressures are tuned out. It's about self-preservation in a decaying culture".

"After a year of trying desperately to ignore the urge to make music, I recorded 'Holding On For Love' over two days with one of my oldest friends", he continues. "I've always struggled with the value my role as a musician has to society, to the point where I decided to step away. But this track allowed me to realise music's inherent worth to me as an individual, and with it a new uninhibited and organic approach to recording".

Listen to the single here.

And gaze at the tour dates here:

4 Oct: Shrewsbury, Henry Tudor House
5 Oct: Bristol, Lantern
6 Oct: Manchester, Band On The Wall
7 Oct: Liverpool, Buyers Club
8 Oct: Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
10 Oct: Glasgow, CCA
11 Oct: Newcastle, Cluny 2
12 Oct: London, Cecil Sharp House

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TuneCore, St Vincent, The xx, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• DIY distributor TuneCore is offering acts free distribution of one single as part of a programme called the Billion Dollar Club, which is all designed to mark the fact that the company is close to having generated $1 billion in revenue for the artists it distributes to download and streaming platforms. TuneCore charges users a set fee per release and then passes on 100% of any subsequent income. Artists can get the free single distribution using the code BILLION.

• Holy shitbeetle, new St Vincent.

• The xx have put out the video for 'I Dare You', from their latest album 'I See You'.

• Mogwai have released new single, 'Party In The Dark'. It'll be available in seven-inch vinyl form on 25 Aug.

• Liars have released new track 'Cred Woes' from upcoming new album, 'TFCF', which is out on 25 Aug.

• Friends vocalist Samantha Urbani has released new solo single, 'Go Deeper'. She's going to release an EP later this year.

• Sarah P has released the video for 'Summer Prince' from her 'Who Am I' album.

• The Beermageddon festival has released a charity single to raise money for the Rock Against Child Pornography And Abuse charity. Listen and download here.

• Marking the 25th anniversary of the first Cream club night, the Creamfields festival will this year rebuild the main room of Nation, the club where it took place, and which closed down in 2015.

Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of all (or at least most) of the new music covered in CMU Daily over the last week.

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Beef Of The Week #361: Ed Balls v Radiohead
"Glastonbury gets political", shouted the headlines, forgetting the festival's long history of getting political. It was the "wokest Glastonbury ever", cried others, stressing just how political it had all become. "Even the police have glittered cheekbones", squealed former politician Ed Balls.

Of course, the actual politician who became the centrepiece of this year's Glastonbury Festival was Jeremy Corbyn. A man who, if nothing else, has given hope to a significant percentage of young people and now has to try to deliver on all that promise, despite not actually winning the General Election and despite him being much more pro-Brexit than many of his young fanbase.

But those fans are still onside for now it seems. Across the vast Glastonbury Festival site, crowds regularly broke into chants of "Oh, Jeremy Corbyn" to the tune of The White Stripes' 'Seven Nation Army'. Not least when Corbyn himself appeared on stage to deliver a little speech and introduce Run The Jewels.

As well as Corbyn, Labour was well represented at the event. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell also attended - favourite acts: Stormzy and Alison Moyet - as did Deputy Leader of the party Tom Watson, who was back a year after the collapse of the shadow cabinet forced him to leave the festival early. Thankfully this year they delayed that collapse until just after the event.

Tories were lesser spotted on site - perhaps unsurprising at an event that has an entire field devoted to leftwing politics. BBC Two's 'The Daily Politics' did manage to find a nineteen year old Conservative Party member preparing to attend. Although he admitted that he'd be keeping quiet about that once he arrived at the festival. Also, it turned out, like the majority of young people in the recent election, he didn't actually vote Conservative.

Boris Johnson apparently watched it all on TV, which is possibly as close as we got to a Tory MP 'doing Glasto'. He subsequently mounted a campaign to change the pronunciation of the festival's name during a speech attempting to mock Corbyn and co, which, as far as I can see, just further damaged the 'jolly man' veil that has long hidden the shitbag inside.

Anyway, we're not here to talk about current politicians - shitbags or otherwise - we're talking about Ed Balls - one time Labour leader contender who bowed out of politics after losing his seat in 2015. He's since made a name for himself as a dancer, of course. And keen to show off his moves, he decided to attend Glastonbury for the first time. Though it's hard to judge exactly how keen he was to go really, given he had a free ticket provided by the BBC and then reviewed the event for a Guardian article sponsored by camera maker Canon.

Whatever, he got there, and he found exactly the atmosphere described above. "As we survey the scene, with different musical beats surging and mixing and clashing from venues left and right, we hear the first 'Oh, Jeremy Corbyn' chant drift up on the wind", he wrote.

"Countless people - young and old - grabbed me over the course of the weekend to talk about how hopeful they felt about the possibility of change", he recalled. "Surprisingly, perhaps, Brexit was - in my experience at least - little mentioned. But at Glastonbury, the consensus was that austerity has run its course and Corbyn was definitely the symbol of that sentiment".

Despite all that hope swimming around Worthy Farm, Balls' own hope was almost dashed on Friday night, when he discovered he doesn't actually like Radiohead that much. Which, to be fair, was the conclusion of many at the festival and at home when the first Glastonbury headliners took to the stage.

If social media is any indication of general opinion - and I think we all know that it definitely is - the country was more deeply divided on the first headline set of the weekend than with any of the tedious political votes we've been forced into of late.

"One musical aspect the BBC coverage cannot quite capture is the revealing audience reactions to different sets", decided Balls, apparently having spent Radiohead's two hour performance moving around the audience to survey the reactions of the tens of thousands also watching. All but "the hardcore fans at the front" hated it, he concluded.

"The atmosphere for Radiohead is funereal", he said of the notoriously downbeat band's audience. "The end of each song barely acknowledged by anyone other than the hardcore fans at the front. People around us chat through the songs, openly bored at the dirge-like offerings".

Balls is clearly not a seasoned gig-goer - people talking through shows is pretty common. No fucker watches anything anymore, except for the two minutes of their favourite song that they film on their phone. So talking isn't a valid indication of lack of enjoyment, really. Also, people are welcome to leave if they don't enjoy things. There are always many other things going on at Glastonbury other than the big acts on the Pyramid Stage.

Continuing with his review, Balls said: "For anyone other than hardcore Radiohead fans, the highlight of their Friday set was when the crowd rebuffed Thom Yorke's disparaging remark about 'useless politicians' by repeating the 'Oh, Jeremy Corbyn' chant".

Clearly Ed took that slight a bit personally. And seemingly failed to spot that the crowed erupted into that chant after Yorke said the word "hope", that the band stopped their set to allow the chant to take hold, that bassist Colin Greenwood grinned and applauded the audience, and that Yorke then joined in with the chant. Albeit quietly and in a weird falsetto. But, hey, when you're trying to go around and ask that many people what they think of the show, you're going to miss a few things.

The problem for a band like Radiohead, though, is that people will go to see them at a festival because they're a big name, only to realise they only actually like two or three singles they heard a couple of decades ago. Those "hardcore fans at the front" - actually a sizeable proportion of the audience from the look of aerial shots - enjoyed it because they were expecting Radiohead to do Radiohead things. Anyone wanting or expecting two hours of 'Creep' were always going to be disappointed.

To be fair to the Balls though, a friend of mine who is a big Radiohead fan said it was the worst performance he's ever seen by them. Though, watching it at home, I thought it was an amazing show. As something of a lapsed Radiohead fan, it brought me back into the fold.

But that got me thinking about something Ed Balls said earlier. "One musical aspect the BBC coverage cannot quite capture is the revealing audience reactions to different sets". I can see how the casual observer might swing either way, but how could a Radiohead superfan on site hate the performance and me at home think that it was brilliant?

Could it be that the set just worked better on TV, where it was easier to see what was going on up there on the stage? Another observation made by Balls was that "there is a good reason why the large screens sit either side of the stage to help faraway audiences stay engaged; if you fill the feed with fuzzy, blurry, psychedelic pap, then it's no wonder you lose your audience".

Hmm, that is a bit odd, isn't it? Why not show clearly on the screens what's going on up there. A big part of the Radiohead show is just watching Jonny Greenwood tinker about with various instruments. People shouldn't be denied the sight of his lustrous hair hanging off his head like he's being attacked by a creature from a 1980s horror movie.

Maybe Ed is onto something though. Maybe the reason the screens were obscured, and the reason that someone actually watching the show live could hate it while I loved it, was that at least some of the time, we were watching different performances. The BBC was fiddling with the feed. Perhaps the Beeb's coverage of Glastonbury is the biggest example of the 'leftwing agenda' that regular BBC guest Nigel Farage seems so convinced the broadcaster is operating.

Yes, it all makes sense now. Glastonbury is probably full of Tories, all airbrushed out by the BBC. That 'Daily Politics' interview was just a red herring. Jeremy Corbyn probably never even appeared at the event, they were simply broadcasting an old speech from that period when no one thought he was worth listening to (anything from before the middle of May), so no one spotted the BBC's ruse.

The broadcaster probably got some stage school kids to chant Corbyn's name in a studio back in London and then played the audio over footage of every single performance at the festival in order to make it appear that there was widespread support for their man.

Then Radiohead come on, a band who the BBC wants to present as a high quality group of musicians on the left side of the political world. So when they start performing "dirge-like offerings", the Beeb cut in footage of other better performances, dipping back in between songs to show footage of the real audience and capture Yorke's 'banter'.

But then when Thom Yorke - ever the maverick - starts laying into all "useless politicians", including the BBC's man Corbyn, some sneaky live editing is employed to make it look like the frontman is joining in with the pro-Corbyn chants. Though that requires an intern in the satellite van to hastily fill in the vocals, resulting in that weird falsetto.

Finally everything is falling into place. Ed Balls has unwittingly uncovered the greatest conspiracy in British media since Jan Moir discovered the truth about Stephen Gately's death.

Oh my GOD, maybe Boris Johnson is actually right about pronouncing it 'Glaaaaaah-stonbury'. It wasn't the "wokest Glastonbury ever". Only now are our eyes being truly opened.

BACK TO THE TOP OF THE BULLETIN

 
ANDY MALT | Editor
Andy heads up the team, overseeing the CMU bulletins and website, coordinating features and interviews, reporting on artist and business stories, and contributing to the CMU Approved column.
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