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Good afternoon. How are you? I am suddenly very hungry. Although, by the time you read this, I will have eaten, so don't worry yourself about it. I'm fine, honest. Although, if you want to post me biscuits just to be on the safe side, that would be lovely. I like Hob Nobs. I think I had something else to say to you, though. Oh yeah, weekly music bulletin. I remember. Look! It's this week's CMU Weekly! How brilliant is that? Here's your Friday afternoon dose of all that is good and important in the world of music. Those are bold claims, I know, but I stand by them. And if you don't agree, well, you only have yourself to blame. You should have sent more biscuits. It's a give and take thing, you see. And talking of giving, we have yet another fantastic competition for you to enter. This week we're giving away the new 'Motown 50' compilation, which is set for release on Monday to kick off the legendary label's 50th anniversary celebrations. The 50 tracks, spread across three discs, were all selected by the public, who were invited to vote for their favourite tracks from the label earlier in the year. The result is a tracklist that reads like a who's who of iconic American artists. Finally, I thought I'd just mention the upcoming CMU Social, which will double up as our Christmas party. We're incredibly excited about it. We'll have live performances from former Pipette Rose Elinor Dougall, who you can find answering the Same Six Questions this week, and Chris Coco's City Reverb, who we'll be chatting to in next Friday's Weekly. It all takes place at 229 on Great Portland Street on 9 Dec. For more info get over to www.myspace.com/cmusocial. I will be there and accepting biscuits from 7pm. |
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JACKSON SETTLES SHEIKH CASE OUT OF COURT Michael Jackson has reached an out of court settlement with Sheikh Abdulla Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, who accused the singer of being in breach of contract for pulling out of a joint venture business that was to release Jacko's longtime-in-development new album. The Sheikh also says he is owed money from loans he made to Jackson shortly after he was acquitted of those child abuse charges. Jackson claimed there was no business contract, and that the loans had been gifts. When the case opened last week Jacko initially tried to avoid giving testimony in the London court on grounds of ill-health, but after medical reports were submitted last week his lawyers said he would, in fact, testify, and in person. However, on Sunday night, with Jackson reportedly already on his way to the UK, it was confirmed an out of court deal had been done, so no such testimony was required. |
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BOY GEORGE IN COURT ASSAULT AND HANDCUFFING ALLEGATIONS Boy George handcuffed male escort Audun Carlsen to his bedroom wall and beat him with a metal chain, angry, it seems, because he believed the escort was somehow involved in the hacking of his laptop. Or at least that's what the prosecution claimed as the former Culture Club frontman began his fight against assault and false imprisonment charges at London's fashionable Snaresbrook Crown Court this week. George's defence lawyer showed photos taken by the singer which showed Carlsen with chains around his writes and a choker on his neck. George's counsel, Adrian Waterman, observed that the photos seem to have been willingly posed for. The escort countered that while he may have voluntarily put chains loosely around his wrists for the photo shoot, he would never have willingly allowed himself to be restrained. The case continues. |
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KANYE WEST'S COUSIN INVESTIGATED OVER DONDA'S DEATH According to reports from the US, Kanye West's cousin, Stephan Scoggins, is being investigated in connection with the death of West's mother Donda, who died back in November 2007. Scoggins, a registered nurse, was apparently caring for Ms West following plastic surgery and left her unattended to go to a baby shower, and it was whilst he was away that her condition deteriorated. Initially, it was ruled that Donda's death was "the result of complications from a cosmetic surgical procedure", but in January this conclusion was overruled, an LA coroner deciding that "multiple post-operative factors" were involved. |
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TRAVIS BARKER SUES OVER PLANE CRASH Travis Barker is suing the company who owned the Lear Jet that crashed in Columbia, South Carolina back in September, and from which he and DJ AM, aka Adam Goldstein, had a very fortunate escape. The former Blink 182 man has brought his action against the owners Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co and an aeroplane maintenance company for $25k in damages for pain and suffering, disfigurement, loss of earnings plus medical and legal expenses. Thelma Martin Still, mother of Barker's late bodyguard Charles Still, who was killed in the crash, has joined the suit. |
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GUNS N ROSES BREAK MYSPACE LISTENING RECORD As you must know by now, Guns N Roses long awaited 'Chinese Democracy' album was released this week. But that's by the by, really, because you've almost certainly already listened to it on MySpace. The band made the album available to stream in full on their page on the site on Thursday last week and promptly broke all records for the number of people listening to one band. At its peak, the page was racking up an astonishing 25 listens per second, making it the most successful music page on the site ever. Which I think means everyone in the world has listened to it twice. |
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THIS WEEK'S REVIEWS So, the CMU reviews team have been beavering away, listening to this Monday's upcoming releases. To find out what they thought of the latest records by Britney Spears, Damon & Naomi, Je Suis Animal, Joan As Police Woman, The John Henrys, Koko Von Napoo, Kromestar, Murcof, My American Heart, Ranger3, Ribbons, Will Young, just click here. |
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Want more? Want daily in-depth music news? Want all this for free? Well, ha, you're in luck. Click here to subscribe to the CMU Daily. |
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WIN MOTOWN'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY COMPILATION Next month marks the beginning of the 50th anniversary celebrations for Motown Records. The label was founded by Berry Gordy Jr in 1959 with an $800 loan from his family and went on to sign many influential artists, racking up over 180 number 1 singles along the way. The final tracklisting is an astonishing roll call of legendary American artists, featuring the likes of Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, The Jackson 5, The Commodores, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, Rick James, Martha Reeves And The Vandellas, Edwin Starr, the Four Tops, and many, many more. |
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We have four copies of this amazing compilation to give away. To be in with a chance of winning one, just email your name and address to [email protected] by 5 Dec.
You can pre-order 'Motown 50' from Amazon, here
Look what they won...
Well done to Alan Chumbley, Ralph Moore and Kayleigh Watson for winning last week's Guns N Roses competition in CMU Weekly!
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Download a new Prodigy track for free. The Prodigy have made the title track of their forthcoming album, 'Invaders Must Die', available to download for free from their website. The track will be available until next Wednesday evening. 'Invaders Must Die' is due for release on the band's own label, Take Me To The Hospital, on 2 Mar - www.theprodigy.com | |
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Unsigned Month: Akira. Akira inject something new into indie rock - Arcade Fire-style multi-part vocals, punk ferocity, metal tension-building and techno basslines all find their way into the mix somewhere. The band released an EP via small but eagle-eyed indie label Filthy Little Angels earlier this year. However, now they are living as an unsigned band. How or why this is, I can't work out - www.muzu.tv/akira or www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/tube |
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Unsigned Month: Kurran: Echoes of old country stars such of Johnny Cash and Hank Williams exist in Kurran's songs, and there's some Fleetwood Mac in there, too. However, his biggest influence, as he happily admits, are Brand New, whose (albeit louder) influence courses through the songs and, in particular, Kurran's vocal style - www.muzu.tv/kurranssecondrun or www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/tube |
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Unsigned Month: Tess And Will. Tess can really sing, Will can really play, and even their earliest home recordings sound better than the majority of demos - partly due to the maturity of their song writing. Theirs is a complex, adult acoustica, akin to Jose Gonzalez or Zero 7 - www.muzu.tv/tessandwill or www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/tube | |
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Unsigned Month: Incrediboy And The Forget Me Nots. Pianos, guitars, strings, glockenspiels, boy/girl vocals, mandolins and lapsteels all provide a back drop for stories Marjorie Weinman Sharmat would be proud of. The sound has as much in common with the folk of The Mountain Goats as contemporary giants Arcade Fire and the epic post rock elements of Explosions In The Sky - www.muzu.tv/incrediboy or www.cmumusicnetwork.co.uk/tube | |
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Jeffrey Lewis' history of Rough Trade. Rough Trade Records has just turned 30. Just in case you missed out on any of the legendary label's history, let Jeffrey Lewis bring you speedily up to speed in this short video - www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaMD0JQYkoQ |
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Q1 How did you start out making music? SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS: "Personally, we were all encouraged to do it from a very young age. As a band, we wanted to do something we had never done before, and the chemistry was perfect" |
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Q2 What inspired your latest single? SHE & HIM: "Well, I guess it was meant to express a certain romanticism of being alone and pondering all the possibilities of things that have yet to happen. Anticipation is such a nice feeling. I guess I wanted to capture that. I liked that little descending chord progression and it felt to me like sound of anticipation" |
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Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track? DAN BLACK: "Sometimes I just close my eyes and let the all the ancient forces of the universe pour down from the ether, into my puny frame, into my brain, down my nerves, into my fingers, into the mouse, down the cord, into the computer, into the software, through the plugins, out the computer, through the audio interface, out the speakers and out into the air. But mostly I just sit around, freaked out, trying to remember how the hell I wrote that last decent one" |
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Q4 Which artists influence your work? VIVIAN GIRLS: "We are super influenced by The Wipers, Nirvana, 60's girl groups, Burt Bacharach and stuff. People seem to think that we're really influenced by bands like The Jesus And Mary Chain, but even though we respect them, we're not actually influenced by anything remotely like that" |
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Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time? ROSE ELINOR DOUGALL: "I would hope for it to induce complete unadulterated ecstasy combined with a sudden, overwhelming morbid depression. And don't you dare tell me it reminds you of Kate Nash, cos I'll stab your eyes out!" |
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Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest single, and for the future? FRANKMUSIK: "I want to show people that you don't need to be in a indie band in order to be a non-contrived product of a major record label, whilst keeping most of the control over the project" |
This week, Richey Edwards. Officially presumed dead. |
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