Levi's� Ones To Watch 5 Night Revue Line-Up Announced

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:43:00 GMT

In a short time (less than two weeks to be precise) a stellar line-up of up and coming bands will play shows for this year's Levi's� Ones To Watch 5 Night Revue. Some of the land's brightest hopes will play four shows at the ultra-trendy Hoxton Bar & Kitchen before a massive closing party at the capital's Cargo. Here's how the shows line up:

Monday 16th November: Hoxton Bar & Kitchen
Cherbourg (Andrew Davie solo) + Goldheart Assembly + Young Rebel Set

Tuesday 17th November: Hoxton Bar & Kitchen
Crystal Fighters + Violens + Wild Palms

Wednesday 18th November: Hoxton Bar & Kitchen
Marina & The Diamonds + Wolf Gang + Clock Opera

Thursday 19th November: Hoxton Bar & Kitchen
Sky Larkin + MPHO + Beth Jeans Houghton

Friday 20th November: Levi�s�OnesToWatch� 2009 Closing Party @ Cargo 83 Rivington Street
The Whip + Alex Metric (Live set) + Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs + Ezra Bang & Hot Machine + VERY special guests

Amazingly, this is the fifth year of the One To Watch series and some of last year's line-up including Metronomy, Esser, Santogold, Late of The Pier, Friendly Fires, Fight Like Apes, and Cage The Elephant have gone on to play bigger shows since alongside the likes of such other illustrious alumni as Editors, The Kooks, The View, Foals, We Are Scientists and The Pigeon Detectives.

For more information, check out the official website.

...

Akira The Dead!

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 07:51:00 GMT

Akira The Don, everyones favourite eclectic rapper, has unveiled a five minute `Shaun Of The Dead` type Zombie film to coincide with Halloween.

`I Am Not Dead (Yeah), taken from the EP of the same name, shows a freshly shorn Akira and chums battling Zombies on the streets of London and was directed by Michael Kinsella-Perks.

A party and film screening will be held at The Dogstar in Brixton, London on Halloween: Saturday, October 31st.

For more info: http://www.akirathedon.com/

...

Everybody Wants to be a DJ...

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:32:00 GMT

For over thirty years crowds have rocked to the perfect timing and dynamic dexterity of the DJ. From local kids wowing neighbourhood block parties with their bedroom experiments to gawdy, Hawaiian-shirted, mobile DJs juggling taxi arrival announcements with requests for the latest Shalamar `joint`, the DJ has successfully (for the most part anyway) kept dancefloors red hot while unleashing an array of quickhand-derived `crabs`, `flares` and `chirps` - always thinking a full three records ahead in his or her mind. Sounds fun doesn`t it?

Now, after some years in development, the latest installment to Activision`s `Hero` series allows armchair gamers to step into a virtual DJ booth as one of the world`s most recognised turntablists. Already released this Monday in the USA and on Friday, 30th October in the UK, DJ Hero is the latest in a long line of lucrative, rhythm-based console games. This time plastic guitars and drum kits have made way for a state of the art wireless controller designed to look and operate in the same way as a turntable and mixer. Just like in the massively popular precursor, Guitar Hero, players trigger beats and samples using three buttons and meticulous timing. A further effects dial, crossfader and `euphoria` button (the equivalent of Guitar Hero`s `Star Power` mode) add the extra flourishes that will mark out a prospective Grandmaster Flash from a sizzling fondue pot of Tony Blackburns. Interestingly, a new "rewind" mode can be earned allowing cyber-turntablists to replay a section fixing glitches and fine-tuning their mix.

ORIGINS
DJ Hero has taken over two years to realise from its initial conception by FreeStyleGames. Impressed, as thousands were, by the unlikely record combinations played out monthly at London`s legendary `Bastard` night at the Asylum, they approached club night organiser Mike Woods (who has achieved some fame as part of video mash-up collective Cartel Communique) to collaborate on new musical games ideas. With access to a far-reaching group of young, tech savvy producers, Woods was able to assemble a talented team from those who regularly performed at the Asylum to contribute musical ideas towards the project. One such talent is Julian Fenner, known to music circles as Jools MF.

"I wasn`t involved in the very earliest stages of the project when the prototype was in early development, at the time I was a civil servant!" he laughs. "By the time I became involved, there was a basic but playable build of the game, it was still in its infancy but the roots of what you see now were very much there. In the early stages the music was more basic, at the point I entered we started to explore how a professional sounding turntablist-style mashup could be put together and made to work in game."

"Josh and Don of Pirate Soundsystem are both full time members of the team and Poj Masta has recently joined us too although he�s been involved in some capacity for as long as me. We`ve also worked with some bootleg people on an external basis, McSleazy, Dunproofin, Agentlovelette, Lenlow and Solcofn, they helped out with mashup ideas"

"There are also many people from outside the bootleg world involved too. In the London studio we have DJ Blakey (2004 DMC champion) and a number of other producers from diverse musical backgrounds, everything from professional hip hop and drum & bass DJs/producers to Radio 1 DJs and guitar musicians. We have a great spread of musical talents or background which is essential with a project where the musical scope is so broad."

THE MUSIC
Jools: "The gameplay / DJ style, is "turntablism", i.e. lots of scratching, cuts, and trickery. The game is therefore very strongly influenced by hip hop DJing and the origins of mixing in this way but the modern Mashup / British bastard pop movement is [also] a strong influence. It�s very much about bold and interesting mixes and about genre clashes and not having any boundaries. We didn`t want to make a "hip hop" game or a "house" game, we wanted to make a music game where everything was included and where no mix was too outlandish. In a way it�s very hip hop in the original sense of the word, taking music from anywhere and everywhere and bringing it together but filtered through a 00�s �mashup� sensibility."

The "bootleg" or "mash-up" sensibility has for some time been synonymous with fun, cheekiness and the reappropriation of old favourites through sonic reinvention. It is then a perfect ingredient for a game aimed squarely at the light-hearted "party" market such as DJ Hero. A quick browse through the available mixes on the new game throw up such unlikely bedfellows as Gwen Stefani with Rick James, The Killers with Rihanna, Gorillaz with Marvin Gaye, Daft Punk with No Doubt and, you thought it`d never happen, MC Hammer with Vanilla Ice.

"It`s about joining the dots between music and being inclusive." explains Jools. "A lot of people would probably expect a DJ game to contain only a few genres or for those genres not to overlap but we threw the rule book away in the true mashup spirit of things and didn�t allow ourselves to be limited. Mashups allowed us to make the game about all music, not just dance and electronic music, you can put in really old music or stuff that would normally be quite out of place and make it work and breathe new life into it."

THE GAME
Following a similar path to Guitar Hero and other musical fame simulators, DJ Hero offers a lasting challenge in single player mode. Like its predecessor, you have to work your way up to `Superstar DJ` status through a period of hard slog. It`s not quite a case of lugging boxes of records from your clapped out Fiesta through the back door of a seedy club, nor is it providing `entertaining background music` for your neighbour`s barmitzvah, but don`t expect to be headlining your own massive beach party from the get go.

Jools: "You start off in your bedroom for the tutorial and then you get to choose from a group of vinyl covers representing challenges set around a specific DJ or type of music. Once you successfully play though a set of songs you unlock the next set of challenges. As you unlock mixes they become progressively more difficult and the completed mixes become available in �Quicklist�: a custom playlist which lists songs by difficulty and can contain up to eight tracks. The player gets a lot of choice here, you don�t have to follow one path, it�s also designed to allow the game to open up quickly and to give the player access to lots of content early on."

"The `Beginner` to `Medium` modes add new controls and `Hard` and `Expert` are about accuracy essentially so, once you�ve learnt the basic techniques, it�s about the intensity of the gameplay and how well you perform the actions. For example, the crossfader is introduced in `Medium` and in `Expert` you have to match the up and down scratches in the music, before that you have to hit the gems [the brightly coloured moving objects which signal when you need to press your buttons] by moving the platter but the direction doesn�t matter. "

"Its similar to Guitar Hero in that respect. In Guitar Hero you`re following patterns of guitar gems and in DJ Hero you`re following patterns of "DJ actions", scratches, crossfades, retriggers, samples, effects. The big difference with Guitar Hero is that you`re `playing the music` but, in DJ Hero, you`re playing the mix via the DJ`s actions. Underneath it all, its about interacting with the music in a rhythmically connected way but conceptually its very different. Being able to work in this way means we can design any gameplay we want via the remixes we create, it means level design is pretty much only limited by our imaginations and musical ability."

So there`s a lot more to it than just keeping two records in time?

"Absolutely," laughs Jools. "The player is kept on their toes! No letting the record play and digging through the crate for three mintues and sipping a beer!"

THE LICENCE ISSUE
Rhythm games often live and die by their content. A game may boast a most intuitive control system, totally immersing you in an interactive music experience but, if the user finds themself playing along to unfamiliar music created on an old Bontempi by "a friend of the programmer", the chances are it will fail. In short, licencing the music for these games is as important, if not more so, than how you actually play it. If you add hip hop egos and notoriously hard to placate major labels to the equation, you find yourself with a seemingly impossible mission ahead of you.

Jools: "The secret to the licensing success was Activision. The licensing task was monumental and unprecedented and it was down to being part of Activision and having the best licensing guys in the business involved that meant we got the songlist we wanted. I don`t know specifics of licensing but, having worked closely with the Activision guys in Santa Monica, I know what a big task it was to clear these tracks. I don`t think anything even close to this in scope and ambition had been attempted before. It�s a gaming first. Were there any that fell through the net that I wish had made the final game? Amazingly we ended up with everything we wanted, we couldn�t have asked for a better songlist."

THE STARS
One of the most impressive, yet most contentious, additions to Guitar Hero 5 was the ability to unlock and play as "avatars" of famous guitarists. This neat touch is carried into DJ Hero with a host of famous plate-spinners converted to pixels. Whether this will lead to legions of fans "upset" that purveyors of cool Daft Punk be seen spinning DJ Yoda`s beat-driven Little Richard mash-up remains to be seen.

"As well as some really cool characters invented by the art team at Freestylegames, they`ve also created avatars for Jazzy Jeff, Grandmaster Flash, DJ AM, Z Trip, DJ Shadow and Daft Punk." enthuses Jools. "All of the above DJs did mixes for the game as did Dj Yoda, The Scratch Perverts & J Period. Grandmaster Flash contributed mixes including one containing a record from his new album . Flash actually plays a very prominent role in the game, he`s the voice of the tutorial and has a really cool role in the intro movie."

A Jazzy Jeff avatar you say? If a player is unsuccessful when playing as him will they make a spectacular exit thrown through the club door a la The Fresh Prince of Bel Air?

"Haha, indeed!" laughs Jools. "I can imagine the Uncle Phil avatar right now!"

DJ Hero is released in the UK on 30th October 2009

...

Is Morrissey 'Still Ill'?

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:52:00 GMT

Morrissey has been taken to hospital after collapsing on stage with breathing difficulties.

Eyewitnesses said the 50-year-old fell to the floor during a performance of `This Charming Man` at the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon (24th Oct 2009). Two of his band`s members took him off stage and an ambulance took him to Great Western Hospital, where his condition was described as "stable".

A Great Western Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: "Just after 9pm we got a call to a 50-year-old who was reported to be suffering from respiratory problems and was unconscious. "We sent a paramedic in a double-crewed ambulance and when they arrived they found a conscious patient who was not feeling well at all.They made an initial assessment and took him to the Great Western Hospital for further assessment."

A spokesman for Swindon`s Great Western Hospital said: "Morrissey was brought in to the Accident and Emergency department this evening. He has been seen by the medical team. At this stage his condition is stable."

His tour is due to move onto its European leg next month, including gigs in the Netherlands, France, Belguim, Germany and Ireland before moving on to the United States.

...

In The City - Day One

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:14:00 GMT

Things That I Have Learned

Never, ever, loose a wire that connects your camera to your computer. If you do you will spend half a day looking for something you don�t have and another half hoping that Currys have a replacement in stock.

Somebody has misspelt Everything in the ITC logo
The lack Andrew Loog Oldham and a crippling recession means that less people are willing to attend a music convention in Manchester. Attendance appears to be down this year compared to last year. It is certainly true that big execs from the major record companies will not attend. It clearly shows the difference between new media and the old record industry. The new faces are fresher and more willing to listen to and debate about p2p, changes in copyright law and ways to make money in a new world. Older faces are more sceptical and have a protectionist edge towards the whole affair. And quite rightly so. They�re defending their livelihood and after years of screwing the people they were supposed to work for it is understandable if they are cautious about a new group of people they perceive to be just as corrupt as they are.
.

There is a lot of talk about the record industry and the BPI needing to change the way they are dealing with pirates. None of them are here to listen.

For an artist to earn the equivalent of one download sale via Spotify streamlining, their track needs to be streamed between 150-200 times.

Spotify is currently losing $10,000,000. A month.

The Pirate Party have a proposal that copyright for new material should only last for five years. It is not a popular proposal. A quick chat with Rick Falkvinge, Chair and founder of The Pirate Party, suggested that they are willing to be flexible about this and find a compromise.

Sean Adams, the founder of Drownedinsound.com has very white trainers.

Anthony Volodkin has three full time employees and a couple of people part time. He successfully runs a profitable site called Hype Machine. Hype machine make money. I repeat, they make money. Not a bad thing, but the fact that a web site making money is so rare that I thought that it needed to be repeated.

There is a new documentary coming out in the new year about Creation Records. Mark Gardener (ex-Ride) is helping to arrange a series of live events to where the film will be shown.

A former artist on Creation Records fell in love with a young Asian woman and they ran away to get married. A group of angry Asian men turned up at Creation Records demanding to know where the lovebirds were. �This is where he lives! Tell us where they are now!� The tension between staff and the invaders increased. More angry young men arrived. A fight ensued. This was the second time Noel Gallagher turned up to Creation Records office.

Steve Lamaq was in New York with Therapy? and was stumbling drunkenly out of a bar with them when they fell down in front of a limousine. Out of the car came Alan McGee, a model on either arm. �Alan. What the fuck are you doing here?�
�I�m going to Madonna�s after-show party.�
Steve wrote this up in NME with the end line, �He�s done well for himself, eh readers?�
Alan McGee had the paragraph cut out, blown up and hung in a frame behind his desk at Creation.

I Think The Following Artists Were Shite Live

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool

That is all. They were rubbish live and quickly had the crowd either leaving Night and Day or talking to each other.

They Were Blown Out Of The Sky By

The Cordelier Club

A brother/sister duo who have the perfect pop sound. Fresh and breezy, like the best of Little Boots, Florence and The Machine and Girls Aloud all rolled into one. Pity I didn`t get a photo.

The World Will Learn To Love

Egyptian Hip Hop

An average age of 17 and sound like a combination of The Horrors, The Klaxons and your new favourite band all rolled into one.

You Can Rock Out To

Cars On Fire

Big riffs. Loud guitars. Rock Action. No photo.

You Can Also Rock Out To

The Gallops

Like an instrumental combination of Late Of The Pier and Electralane, but heavier. Much, much heavier.

You Will Freak Out To

Asakusa Jinta

Punk, ska, swing, and more energy than a thousand fleas. If you get a chance, go and watch them and have fun.

The Truly Incredible New Sound Award Goes To

Tek-One

Fucking Hell. Techno beats, Nintendo-core and metal aggression done with an incredible precision. Especially impressive as there are so many changes happening in the music they sound like it�s been recorded after they�ve been awake for a week on energy drink while playing X-box and PS3 at the same time.

Great Music, Terrible Singer Award Goes To

Dieter And The Gadabouts

Fine funky music, worse singer all night

Nice Bloke Of The Year Award Goes To

John McClure

A solo acoustic set, with friendly banter and sing-a-long tunes. A reminder that he�s released one of the more underrated records of the year. Maybe all the people who downloaded it and liked it should now go out and buy it. Or stream it on Spotify 1500 times�

...

In the City 2009 - Day Three

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:11:00 GMT

Things That I have Learned

Paul Hardcastle is still around and is recording under various disguises, one of which is The Jazz Masters, a smooth jazz combo that does particularly well in America. Their first album was released for Motown, flopped, and the second album was released elsewhere. It became an RnB number one album. Motown phoned him up asking him why he hadn�t given them that album. Well, he did offer�

If you get a room filled with internet pioneers, eight out of ten of them will be wearing intentionally geeky glasses. I don�t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Joe Cohen is the founder of Seatwave, a ticket exchange site that looks better than Scarlett Mist but without the desire to prevent ticket touts (hey, the community should stop them) or selling tickets at face value only. He is a great fan of Deepak Chopra, the lifestyle/business guru brilliantly lambasted by Francis Wheen in his books and columns. In fact I blame Wheen for making me suspicious of anybody who follows Chopra. Sorry Joe�

Alex Ljung (founder of soundcloud.com) doesn`t buy cd`s, but he does enjoy collecting vinyl.

Want to get on Hype Machine? Don�t bother asking until you�ve set up your blog and regularly post stuff for at least three months. Keep posting those tracks and build your fan base. Do not post full albums. Then ask. Hype Machine link to over a thousand blogs and they can afford to be picky about who they monitor.

Funny, Hype Machine clearly links to tracks that shouldn�t be available. They should be the baddies that Sony are going out of their way to close down. And yet they don�t. Is that because Hype Machine are now closely linked to I-tunes and between 10-20,000 tracks are purchased via their site every week? It�s almost as if there is something behind the theory that if you work well with your target audience and don�t worry too much about illegal downloading you can build enough trust to make people buy your stuff anyway.

Another example. The most popular Moby track sold on I-tunes is also the one you could download for free on his website.

During the last Nine Inch Nails tour Trent Reznor sent out a tweet offering a thousand tickets for 800 dollars each where fans could have dinner with him and the band. All the money raised from these tickets would go to charity. They were sold within an hour. Trent made more money on the deluxe version of his last album than he did on his last official release via a major label. He also gave away the album for free. It�s almost as if there is something behind the theory this if you work well with�

Sean Adams is gay for Trent Reznor.

Andrew Collins can do a pretty decent Bruce Forsyth impression just by talking normally.

The last time John Niven came to In The City (back in the late nineties) he spent three days in a hotel room doing coke and refusing to go to any of the events. He did that in the company of a now important employee at Sony. I am not saying which important employee of Sony.

Pete Frame�s Rock Family Trees are back! The Family of Rock is a new organisation dedicated to expanding on Frame�s original rock family trees. The driving force behind this are the producers The Boilerhouse Boys. Expect more soon.

Here is a picture of Pete Frame sitting next to Peter Hook. Do you think they were made to sit next to each other or did they work out the pun themselves?

Peter Hook still loves Bernard Sumner. One of the proudest moments Hook ever had was when New Order snuck into a Spandue Ballet gig in Paris. Hook was watching from the side of the stage thinking �This is shit.� He then noticed water hitting Tony Hadley. He followed where the water was coming from and spotted Barney, cock in hand, pissing on the band from the rafters. He will never stop loving Bernard Sumner.

There will be a sequel to Peter Hook`s Hacienda book. It will concentrate on Joy Division. The idea is to make a trilogy of books, with the final one concentrating on New Order and beyond.

DJ Edu has one of the best shows on 1Xtra and you should really take time out to listen to it.

If you get a very earnest moderator a talk about the African music scene can be very boring. Thankfully the right panellists can prevent that from happening.

The problem with the way African music is perceived in the UK can be perfectly shown by using the example of Guy Morley and African Soul Rebels. Fair play to Guy for attempting to create a show where the cream of Africa play in the UK. But why play The Bridgewater Hall, home of the Halle Orchestra? Why not The Warehouse Project or The Apollo Theatre? You know, places where you can dance or mosh. Don�t you end up putting people off who otherwise may have enjoyed it and just get the type of people who think they are clever and superior to others? You know the type, buy vintage clothing and only shop in ethical stores. Twats. Get African rock bands to play rock gigs and leave the snobs to muse on their organic ham and shitty art exhibitions.

Under the right set of circumstances, you can�t help but like Johnny Jay (local music entrepreneur) and John Robb.

The Most Aptly Named Band Award Goes To

The Ray Summers

Brilliant Scottish group who make west-coast psychedelic tinged rock stompers that remind you of good times and the better bits of The Super Furry Animals and Idlewild all rolled into one. Singer looks a bit of a twat, but what can you do?

The �Seriously, Are Front Magazine Trying To Groom Teenage Girls?� Award Goes To

Front Magazine and The Futures

Front Magazine is a porn mag for cowards. It specialises in trying to get teenage girls to appear in their mag with less clothes on than they would wear on a average night out. For this they give the girls a relatively tiny amount of money and the hope that they will get better paid jobs later or fuck a footballer or a DJ or something. To aid them in their hunt for girls of a certain age/mentality Front sponsor nights where perfectly decent pop-metal bands play perfectly acceptable pop-metal songs to a mainly female, teenage audience. The music is fine, but isn�t the concept dangerously close to paedophilia?

The �Ah, So Not All UK Hip Hop Is Good� Award Goes To

The Real Dolls

Hm. Ah well. Maybe they�ll go pure pop and make a record as good as Junior Senior. Their DJ was good, mind�

The �I Bet They Sound Much Better On Record Than They Do Live� Award Goes To

Taxi Taxi!

Two twin sisters, harmonies, sparse instrumentation, songs. Pity they were a bit out of time with the harmonies and the whole songs bit. But I bet on a good day and in a studio they sound fantastic.

The Late Eighties Weren�t A Completely Terrible Time For Indie Award Goes To

The Dutch Uncles

They may list their influences as being Steve Reich, Talking Heads and King Crimson in the little black book you get given as a delegate, but they equally fit in with the music of The Fall and The Wedding Present. Good. The less Manchester bands that sound like Oasis or Elbow or Doves the better. Don�t get me wrong, I love Elbow and I love Doves- I just don�t want them to be the new template that all Manchester bands clone themselves upon. Give me Egyptian Hip Hop and this lot anytime. To some they may be marmite bands, but better a thousand marmite bands than one more Pizza Express band that makes you happy in their familiarity.

The So Good I Stayed For The Whole Damn Set Award Goes To

Asakusa Jintu

Just phenomenal - although fans of punkskapsychobillyhippieeastend Japanese bands may tell me that they aren�t the best in their field. If so tell me more. Their may be a video for this perfomance appearing on line very soon�

The I Can�t Be Bothered With Award Goes To

The Heartbreaks

See The Dutch Uncles rant and concentrate on Oasis. And think Northern Uproar.

The Last Photo My Camera Took Before It Died Award Goes To

Tigers That Talked

So I don�t have a better photo. Sorry. Now, given the rant I had above about Elbow clones, you may not expect me to fall in love with a band that are described in the lbb as �hints of The Cure, Elbow and Ryan Adams influenced as much by Ennio Morricone as they are the ramshackle folk of Arcade Fire.� You would be right. But they are worth more of your time and further investigation.

The �Sadly I Didn�t Get To See� Award Goes To

The Drums
The Nacional
Beatbox Fozzy
Jessica 6
Kong
Rogues
Mount Kimbie
White Sunday
Killaflaw
Your Twenties
Lost Knives

And loads of others. But I�ve heard demos and other people went to see them and so should you! Go out, support bands and enjoy them while you can. The scene is more diverse and interesting than ever, go and find it. ...

In The City 2009 - Day Two

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 01:58:00 GMT

Things That I Have Learned

Oil City is the new documentary by Julien Temple. It concentrates on pub rock, Canvey Island and the mighty Dr Feelgood. After doing the festival circuit it will go on general release at the start of 2010.

10.30 is still too early for people in the music industry. The managers are all coked up, the journalists are too pissed and the musicians don�t have their mums to wake them up.

DJ Semtex is originally from Cheetam Hill and went to Manchester Metropolitan University, back in the days when it was still Manchester Polytechnic.

He can spout trade figures for England. He recommends any British artist builds up their own following and take their time to cultivate their sound/audience. Do not get him started about N-Dubz. He respects and likes them. I kid you not.

Master Shortie likes his rock music.

Lethal Bizzle may have given up the indie sound, but expect more rockier stuff from MS in the near future. His manager was in the UK hip hop band D-influence. I almost completely forgot about them.

Emma Greengrass, head of Oasis� label Big Brother still has a job. Which seems slightly pointless, when you think about it.

Speaking of Oasis, Gered Mankowitz is a well know and respected photographer who has taken photos of everyone from The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix to Patrick Wolfe and Slade. Mojo thought it would be a good idea to get him to take a photo of Oasis similar to the ones he did for The Stones� �Between The Buttons� album. The session didn�t get to a good start when Noel burst into the room scouling at everyone, jumped onto a couch and fell asleep. Liam came in after him, shouting at everyone, walked into the make-up room and started to roll up a joint. The rest of the group tagged along with him like a gang of kids. Gered had never felt so threatened during a session in his life. This may be due to him being a soft southern wuss. Their road manager, an ex-marine who happened to know Gered from the times he used to tour with Mick �n� Keith, grabbed Noel by the back of his neck and pulled him into another room and told him in no uncertain terms to buck up. �BUT IT�S ONLY A FUCKIN� PHOTO SHOOT!� Noel replied, stating the obvious. �FUCKING WORK! HE�S A GOOD BLOKE!� was the reasoned answer. To be fair to Noel and Liam, once they realised how good Gerard made them look, they became very professional. Almost friendly�

Pat Nevin likes the label Bella Union. He was studying for a degree at Glasgow University when he left to join Chelsea. You�d never guess any of this from the his analysis on Five Sport.

Mike Smith may very well be the devil incarnate. He thinks he can draw and an exhibition of his sketches are currently available to view at a gallery in Manchester. He signed Ultrasound and Gay Dad. His hatred of file sharers may in part explain why he didn�t attend any of the first day conferences. I wouldn�t want to be in a locked room with him.

Mark Ronson self financed most of the recordings on the Version album. The original idea was to use them as part of his DJ sets and a mix album, but he was encouraged to make a full album by Mike Smith. He managed to get permission to release Stop Me from Morrissey by streaming the track to him via the web while his lawyer had a phone call with Mozzer�s lawyer. Mozzer said yes. He is in the middle of trying to make his new album, which he�s hoping will sound very different from his last album, possibly returning to his hip hop roots. He appear to enjoy looking like a lost member of The Libertines.

Trudie Bellinger was a bit concerned about whether or not she would make Pixie Lott�s first major video when she found out that there were a total of 75 treatments put forward for the gig. As Tim Pope, director of those good Cure videos, pointed out - 75 treatments tends to be an indication that nobody has faith in the product.

Virals and youtube are the future of videos. Funny, I thought that was what was already happening.

The Sound Like An Oasis-lite Trite Award of The Day Goes To

The Law.

Just wrong. I stayed for two songs and wondered if the world had moved on from 1994.

The Wonder Whatever Happened To Menswe@r Award Goes To

The Cheek.

But it�s a bit unfair. Their stylised indie-pop may reflect elements of mid-season Brit-pop but they have some decent tunes and a style to push them through. If they continue to mix it up with twinges of Roxy Music and Japan I�ll continue to want to hear more.

The It�s Bit Early To Have A Sound-like These New Puritans Award Goes To

The Neat

But damn, they are good. It�s a mixture of edgy guitars, repetition and forceful drumming that makes it different enough to demand further investigation.

The Kings Of Leon Finally Have Some Decent Competition Award Goes To

The Vanguards

One of the few bands I decided to stay for longer than I planned. I even went out of my way to get myself a copy of their single. You may be reading an interview with these lad in the future. A pop friendly rock edge that does all the things KoL use to do well, before they became all stadium. But they still have their own feel that makes it worth listening to. I want more.

The Towers Of London But Less Stupid And More Enjoyable Award Goes To

Outcry Collective

They are a walking clich�, a bunch of Surrey lads who make a punk noise somewhere between Chelsea and early Maiden. But bless �em, you can�t help but love `em. At least they are aware of how they appear, and it�s fun. Brain-dead, fun, British rock at it�s rat sewer finest.

The Teenage Girls� Introduction To Rock Award Goes To

Telegraphs

A light teen metal sound in the Kerrang! Style. Perfectly okay in it�s own right and they could do well. Loads of teenage girls at the front for their gig. Which seems a bit worrying as the night was sponsored by Front Magazine. I can�t help but think there was something wrong about that. You know, like the editor was grooming them.

The New Klaxons Award Goes To

Crystal Fighters

Rave rock played by half naked men who play drum machines, guitars and large planks of wood like they want to be Kasabian, but with a more arty sensibility. They describe themselves as �traditional Basque folk with churning beats to make raved up folktronica.� I have no idea what that means. But then again I have no idea what my description of them means either. Expect them to be in every 2010 list.

The Simply Brilliant Real Folk Group And You Should Listen To Them Now Award Goes To

Hey Negrita

Fantastic real folk blues with the power and passion to light up a room.

The I Seem To Remember Thinking They Were Okay But Have No Memory of Their Music At All Award Goes To

Life In Film

Erm, I remember liking the songs, there was something I enjoyed at the time. But now, but now� sorry. I�ll need to see them again.

Caught By Accident and Rather Enjoyed Them Award Goes To

Gloria Cycles

One song, that�s all. But is was a good song. A song for summer festivals and real lemonade. I wonder if I would prefer them to Life In Film if I heard them both again.

The Played To An Empty Room Award Goes To

Brute Chorus

Yep.

An empty room.

Fuck Camden chic.

Still, it was fun.

They ended up making a fine mess of sounds that Ten Benson would have been proud of. They are a good band and have the kind of force of self belief that the best bands have. In another universe Julien Temple would be making a documentary about them. I left when the crowd reached five. It was less special then.

...

Free Prodigy Give Away

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:20:00 GMT

The Prodigy are giving away Liam Howletts re-amped version of Invaders Must Die from their website. This free download will be available until Wednesday October 28th.
The track is taken from the 2009 Special Edition Invaders Must Die.

Download it from The Prodigy.com

You don`t have to join their mailing list or anything ..which is nice! ...

Liam Maher R.I.P.

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:32:00 GMT

A small but perfectly formed corner of the music world are today mourning the passing of Flowered Up lead singer Liam Maher. Liam`s former label Heavenly posted on their Facebook page today:

"the news has just reached us that Liam Maher singer from Flowered Up has passed away. Details at the moment are sketchy but Jeff will post tomorrow on Caught by the River [the label`s blog at www.caughtbytheriver.net] when we know more."

After some time on various stalls on Camden market, Liam rose to short-term fame in 1990 with Flowered Up`s debut single `It`s On` which went on to score a top 10 placing in the indie chart and began a series of press claims that the band were "London`s answer to the Happy Mondays". The singles `Phobia`, `Take It` and a remixed version of `It`s On` all followed with the band`s debut and only album `A Life With Brian` hitting the shops just before Christmas 1991.

However, it was the epic `Weekender` which clocked in at a chart-unfriendly twelve minutes in 1992, and its equally elaborate promo clip by director W.I.Z., that still resonates most with fans of the short-lived outfit.

The band released only one more record, the somewhat rare, reggae-influenced `Better Life`, through original label Heavenly in 1994 before splitting. Following the split, Liam battled heroin addiction for some time before going clean in 2000 following a spell in rehab.

Liam signed with Alan McGee`s Poptones in early 2001 for a new project called Greedy Soul (also featuring ex-Flowered Up keyboardist Tim Dorney who had just left Republica) but the deal fell through before anything was able to be released.

Instead Liam returned to the market stalls and was not heard from again until a reformed Flowered Up joined "the Manucunian Flowered Up" (as Happy Mondays were never referred to as) for Get Loaded in the Park on Clapham Common in August 2005. Sadly a full-on reunion tour was announced shortly after but sold rather less well than expected.

Understandably various parts of the web are filling up with links to the band`s Weekender video and, not that we`re trying to be different, we`re going with the clip from their debut single `It`s On`. `It`s On` came out at the exact time I was finding my indie feet in the summer of 1990 and remains one of my all-time favourite songs - there`s just something about the mad charm of this band that they thought pan pipes on their debut single made sense...and the video just looks so much fun.

...

Radio One Celebrates The Noughties

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:02:00 GMT

Kicking off this Monday(19th October at 9pm) Radio one are running a huge ten part series celebrating the music and culture of this decade as we approach 2010 "Every Monday night at 9 Radio 1 takes you back in time to revisit the music and the people that shaped the decade - this Monday -Zane Lowe takes you to the year 2000!" The series features the the likes of Ricky Gervais, The Kings of Leon, The Mighty Boosh, Jay Z, Goldie Lookin Chain, The Strokes, Orbital, Basement Jaxx, NME editor Conor McNicholas, Glastonbury organiser Michael Eavis, Stringer Bell/Idris Elba from The Wire, Frankie Poullain from The Darkness, The Arctic Monkeys, Chantelle, Nikki and Craig from Big Brother, Dizzee Rascal, Calvin Harris, Luke Wright, The Cheeky Girls and Lethal Bizzle Kicking off this Monday 19th October at 9pm�.ZANE LOWE takes us back to the millennium�.the year 2000�.we hear how Kylie reinvented herself by donning some gold hotpants and doing Spinning Around. Coldplay experienced a meteoric rise to fame. Eminem was THE hip-hop artist of the moment. And Big Brother launched, starting what was to become THE TV phenomenon of the decade - reality tv.

The question is does this decade really deserve `celebrating`?

Musically it (in my opinion) was a period of little innovation, a time where production values went up whilst imagination went down.This was the decade that being famous while having no discernible talent became celebrated, where a Heat review was deemed more important than that of specialist publication and where Chico had a number one!!!
Marketing became the more important than the product and `names` sold records not the song.There was certainly a case of `Emperors New Clothes`with a lot of personalities involved and any decade where the producer became more famous than the act should probably not be lauded.
This is my opinion but as someone who believes that `music died after `95` it`s probably more than a little biased ..so why not tell us what you think? The Noughties (see even the name is stupid) the best musical decade so far or the period where Muse & Coldplay were allowed the reign supreme?

For me, well, it`s like punk never happened!

...

Nirvana Live At Reading

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:18:00 GMT

Ranked as number one in Kerrang Magazine�s �100 Gigs That Shook The World� and voted as �Nirvana�s Greatest Moment� by fans in an NME poll, Nirvana�s historic August 30, 1992 headlining appearance at the UK�s Reading Festival is one of the most bootlegged concerts in the annals of rock�n�roll.

Now, fans will have an opportunity to own a copy of that entire performance.

Nirvana Live At Reading will be issued in a limited edition DVD+CD Deluxe Edition as well as DVD-only, CD-only configurations on November 2, 2009, followed by a 2 LP version on November 16, 2009.

While the show�s centerpiece was a performance of nearly the entire Nevermind tracklist, also noteworthy were early performances of three as yet unrecorded songs which wouldn�t be released until two years later on - In Utero�s All Apologies, Dumb and in its first ever public performance, tourette�s. The career-spanning setlist also reached back to the band�s 1989 Sub Pop debut album, Bleach, for Blew, About A Girl, School, Negative Creep and first single Love Buzz and even further back to the mid-�80s for Spank Thru. Other songs from the Reading set would appear in studio form on the Incesticide compilation later in the year: Aneurysm, Been A Son and Sliver. Additionally, the band played a pair of beloved covers by two bands that helped shape the formative Nirvana sound � The Money Will Roll Right In by Fang and D-7 by The Wipers.

Only 2 of the 25 performances on the DVD have ever been released before.

Track listing for DVD:

1. Breed
2. Drain You
3. Aneurysm
4. School
5. Sliver
6. In Bloom
7. Come As You Are
8. Lithium
9. About A Girl
10. tourette`s
11. Polly
12. Lounge Act
13. Smells Like Teen Spirit
14. On A Plain
15. Negative Creep
16. Been A Son
17. All Apologies
18. Blew
19. Dumb
20. Stay Away
21. Spank Thru
22. Love Buzz*
23. The Money Will Roll Right In
24. D-7
25. Territorial Pissings

...

Interview: Richard X

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:24:00 GMT

We`ve always had a soft spot for Richard X here at CDX. It matches our massive damp patch for arch 60`s inspired pop purists/archivists Saint Etienne nicely, so when we heard that the two were working together then we decided that you needed to know the full skinny. So we got Ben Goldrun to track down the elusive pop genius and get him to give us the full run down on his re-imagining of the nineties classic, `Foxbase Alpha`

Take it away boys...

Hi Richard, how are you today? What have you been up to?
I`m good thank you. I`ve just been looking at a couple of the tracks I`m doing soon with a band called "The Hundred In The Hands" who`ve just signed to Warp.

You`ve remixed one of the classic albums of the 90s, Saint Etienne`s `Foxbase Alpha` - how did you first get in touch with the band?
They`d asked me to do something around the time of "Tales From Turnpike House" but I think it clashed with M.I.A`s record or something. A few years later I was asked to remix "This Is Tomorrow" as a possible single and from that we got talking.

When did you start thinking about remixing the album?
I think it was after I`d mixed "This Is Tomorrow" but before we`d recorded "Method Of Modern Love". It may have been at one of the summer festivals last year that we were chatting about how Foxbase was the kind of album you could do something to remix wise and it`d still be in the spirit of the album and the era it came from. I think the idea of what the Mad Professor might do, like a dub version, but in a pop sense, was a parallel. It kind of turned into this idea of a "re-production" as much as a remix. We wanted to keep what was great about the original and spin new ideas out of what was there.

Were you a big Saint Etienne fan when you were younger?
Yes, Foxbase Alpha and So Tough sound tracked my move from the north down to London, so when i got down here it felt like I was nearer the world they had painted a picture off. They used to print their address on sleeves so i went and stood outside what i thought was Bob`s house as a student. He didn`t appear and I`m not sure what I was trying to achieve. I loved their Icerink label, the Golden and Oval records were my favourites. I am officially Oval`s number one fan as I wrote a letter and I was the first of 65 letters to hit their doormat.

You`ve worked with a number of recording artists, the vast majority of them female - is there a particular reason for this? Is this reflected in your record collection? It probably is just my taste, I like female vocals and electronic music. It`s kind of self perpetuating because when you`ve done a few records with female artists that`s what you`re known for and that`s what comes your way. And boys smell, of course.

Who have been your favourite artists to work with, and why?
I have to say all of them of course. I`ll mention Hannah Robinson who I write a lot with of course as we are on a similar wavelength. Maybe I should do my Top 20 artists I have worked with weighing up factors like talent, soundness of musical vision, quality of humour etc and you could publish it and I`ll never work again. My favourite type of artist to work with has a focus on what they want to do but isn`t closed minded about how we achieve that, and who isn`t too hung up with writing "The Hit Single" on the session although that`s often what we`re supposedly there to do.

What`s it been like working with Steve Mason too? People have always held him up as an example of one of modern music`s wayward geniuses... Steve is a great talent so it`s been good to work with him. I like the fact he`s into records from any genre, obviously his past records have illustrated this. Originally he got in touch about working on a Black Affair record, but that kind of changed when I heard some of the songs he`d demoed, so we started making a different kind of album. It probably doesn`t sound much like anything I`ve worked on before and it should be out early next year.

Lily Allen has come in for a lot of flack over the past few weeks over her attack on file-sharing. What are your views on this? Do you think filesharing hinders young artists, or does it provide another route outside of the traditional gigs/demo/management route to attracting attention?
Illegal filesharing disproportionately affects younger, less established groups and groups that appeal to younger fans, so that`s not good, but at the same time you can`t really argue every illegal download is a lost sale. Whether filesharing is totally to blame for what`s happening in the music industry, I`m not sure. There`s less money being made which affects the whole music eco-system, from the artists and writers and people who work on the records to the shops that sell it and the journalists that review it. As a creative tool, and for the unsigned artist, well you`ve never had it so good. It`s just for those that might go on to have careers in the industry or as an artist will find it even tougher than it has been.

What are your views on the singles chart? Do you think it is still a relevant way of measuring an artist`s success?
Yes, and the dumbest thing of recent times was the removal of Top Of The Pops from our screens just as the single had a new lease of life as downloads came in. Nostalgia for that program aside, there needs to be a focal point for the chart not just the rundown on the radio. It feels like it`s become niche and irrelevant only because it`s lost that focal point so it`s self perpetuating that it feels on a downward spiral. It is the chart of the most popular music in the UK at that point in time so surely it has social relevance whether you like what`s in the chart or not.

Does all of this have a bearing on how your music will be produced and released in the future? I`d like to do more things like the Anthonio by Annie release I did this year which was more like where i started from, doing it independently on a wing and a prayer, it felt DIY but it was a good record and I think it stands up. As a producer I can imagine working more on records where the artist rather than the label is funding things and leading the way which should be a good thing.

Do you have any plans to release another solo record? What`s next?
In the short term I`ve got to finish Steve`s record and the THITH tracks. I don`t think I`d do another X-Factor vol 2 style album, I think that morphed into what I do to this day, making singles for artists I like and trying to make things just a bit different. The plan at the time was for my second LP to be one group, I think Sweet-X was the appalling working act name! Maybe I`ll revisit that idea. That might be spurred on by my greatest frustration at what I do which is just the ridiculous amount of time it takes for things I`ve worked on to come out. One recent release I`ve produced took over 5 years to come out, it had been in and out of fashion twice but luckily hit the upward curve of trendiness.

And finally, if you could rescue one old record and one new record from a skip, what would they be and why?
What a sad image, it reminds me of when Virgin dumped a load of my stock in a skip after we parted company, rain soaking through multiple unsold copies of my precious album. Tears are welling up as i speak so for that reason I am unable to answer.

Foxbase Beta is available for pre-order now ...

Interview: TeenagersinTokyo

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:32:00 GMT

So you�re not teenagers and you�re not from Tokyo, but....if someone could wave a magic wand over you and transport you to Tokyo as teenagers would you do it?
Samantha: YES! We would totally do it. That would be so much fun! We could dress like all the amazing Harajuku kids that you see in FRUiTS Magazine as well as eat fresh Japanese food constantly. It would pretty much be a dream come true.

There seems to be an endless stream of talented bands coming out of Australia right now. Do you think it�s becoming harder to get noticed over there?
Actually, I think it�s great because it demonstrates that audiences are becoming more responsive to more younger and independent bands. It seems like in the last five years there have been more outlets for people to stream their demos or have them played on Australian radio and that people are excited to discover and support new local music. At the same time, I recently heard that some of the local venues in Sydney are facing being shut down. These are places that we as a band loved to play and used to frequent a lot as soon as we were legal enough to enter a pub, so it�s really sad that younger artists and audiences will miss out on these opportunities.

How have you found recording the album? Have there been any songs that have been particularly tricky to get down?
Overall it�s been an amazing experience. We bonded quickly with our producer David Kosten, on how to develop the songs from demos to album tracks as well as through our ridiculously crude senses of humour. Recording previously recorded tracks like `End it Tonight` has proven to be quite the challenge. As it was one of the earlier songs we ever wrote as a band, it�s been an interesting process trying to update it with a fresh approach but still maintaining the essence of the song.

What do you get up to when you have some time off? Anything outrageously exciting?
If you consider grocery shopping and doing laundry outrageously exciting then yes, we have a riot of time. Aside from that absolutely debaucherous activity, we like to enjoy the multitude of art galleries in London as the collections and exhibitions here are far more comprehensive than at home. We also don�t hate the idea of going out for a drink and a dance if the evening calls for it.

What was the last CD you bought, the last film you watched and the last book you read?
The last CD would be The XX album, which I�ve been enjoying. It�s really sweet and grows on me the more that I listen to it. The last book that I read was `The Beautiful Fall` by Alicia Drake, which chronicles the lives, loves and characters of Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld through the opulent 1970s French fashion scene. I found it quite fascinating as you get a really interesting insight into their careers and you also feel slightly hedonistic just reading it as you get a sense of living vicariously through them both.

Oddly the last movie I saw was Monster-in-law with Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez. It happened to be on TV the other night when we were having dinner and by the end of us finishing our meals, Linda and I were hooked. It�s a pretty decent Hollywood rom-com script, but the dynamic between Jane Fonda and Wanda Sykes makes it worthwhile. Also, I realised about 5 minutes in that J.Lo is like the grown up version on Hilary Duff in terms of acting mannerisms and speech phrasing. It�s uncanny.

Apart from recording your album, what�s been your highlight of the last year?
Probably moving to London and discovering where to get a decent soy latte. Nude Espresso in Spitalfields if you�re keen. Also high on the list is meeting our Manager, Sulinna. She�s the best.

A few stereotypical Aussie questions (sorry):

Beach or BBQ? BBQ. I can�t stay under the strong Australian sun for too long. I�m weak, I can�t take the heat!

Kangaroo�s or Koala�s? Koala�s are cuter and less aggressive.

Can any of you make a boomerang come back? I managed once but then made the mistake of trying to catch it....

Ha! Last year when we were touring here, we gifted Chris from our label a novelty boomerang. We went to the park to demonstrate our skills but failed miserably.

What�s your favourite part of Sydney?
I was going to write about this really beautiful heritage park/beach called Nielson Park, but I honestly have to say the food, specifically the dumplings in Chinatown. We often sit around and list off all the places we miss and Noodle King in Chinatown is always one of the first. I can�t even think about it anymore without crying. And don�t get me started about the four-cheese melt at Single Origin�

What can we expect from the album and what do you think is the best song on it?
I guess you can expect to be surprised? It�s not quite finished, there are a few more tweaks we want to make, so I don�t really know what to expect people to expect just yet. As of this moment my favourite track is `Long Walk Home`, but this is always changing as I love all the tracks equally. It�s hard to choose a favourite, they are like our kids!

Imagine its early 2010, you�ve just had a successful album launch....what comes next?
Hopefully we�ll be touring for as long as we can and as far and wide as audiences will want us. Also having a bunch of new tracks in the incubator ready for album two. And it would be nice to go home at some point to see family and friends.

...

No Tour For T

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:51:00 GMT

Jamie T has just announced that all the shows for his forthcoming tour have been postponed.

Ticket holders are being advised to keep hold of their tickets as these shows will be rescheduled and they will be advised on the new dates soon.

This also applies to his forthcoming European shows.

An official statement states:

After suffering from a bout of laryngitis on his recent Australian tour, which forced him to cancel the first 6 shows of his Kings And Queens UK tour, doctors are advising that Jamie needs more rest in order for his voice to fully recover.So it is with reluctance he is to postpone the remainder of the UK tour as well as shows in Europe. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and hope to see everyone at the re-scheduled shows.
The cancelled shows will be rescheduled at the earliest opportunity and original tickets will be valid. Refunds will be available from the point of purchase.

All UK Shows have been postponed as follows:

THU 01 BRISTOL O2 Academy
FRI 02 SOUTHAMPTON Guildhall
SAT 03 BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy
MON 05 NEWCASTLE Northumbria Uni
TUE 06 NOTTINGHAM Rock City
WED 07 NORWICH UEA
FRI 09 GLASGOW Barrowland
SAT 10 PRESTON Uni 53 Degrees
SUN 11 SHEFFIELD O2 Academy
TUE 13 MANCHESTER Academy
WED 14 LEEDS O2 Academy
THU 15 LONDON Brixton Academy

...

In The City Gets The Mark Ronson Treatment

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:01:00 GMT

In The City, Manchester`s very own international music convention and brain child of the late great Anthony H Wilson, returns again this year at The Midland Hotel on October 18th - 20th. Under the headline "Everything Else Is Just Noise�, it will be providing the usual mix of deep conversations, ranting polemics by drunk execs, suprise guest supertars, and hundreds of unsigned / up-and-coming bands to thrill your eardrums.

The key note address will probably be the meeting of minds between Mike Smith, former Radio One DJ and co-host of the Late Late Breakfast Show, and superstar producer / artist / DJ Mark Ronson.
Sorry, that should be Managing Director of Columbia records, talent spotter supreme and all round good egg Mike Smith. Among the talent he can claim to have signed up or worked with includes Supergrass, Elastica, Teenage Fanclub, Doves, The Beta Band, Avalanches, Starsailor, The Libertines, The White Stripes, Blur, Gorillaz, Scissor Sisters, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, Robbie Williams and PJ Harvey. He`s also worked with The Verve, but everyone has their cross to bare.

Ronson doesn`t need an introduction. He`s a bit of a talker and so a discussion between those two about the relationship between artists and record labels should hopefully produce as many good stories as Seymour Stein and Andrew Loog Oldham did last year.

For those of you who want less talk and more action, the city will be filled with music in every corner of every street imaginable. Among the bands we hope to catch are Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, Bicycle Theives, Crystal Fighters, The New 1920, Attack Attack, Twin Atlantic, Bear Driver, Me Vs Hero, Saving Aimee, Young Guns, Futures, Wall St Riots, Taxi! Taxi!, The Molotovs, Goldheart Assembly, Capital, The Neat and loads of others we`ll get too drunk to remember are on and then moan when we miss them.
Special nights are being run by NME, XFM, BBC Introducing, Front, Fierce Panda and Love Music Hate Racism, along with Drowned In Sound and Future Sounds. But not CDX. Maybe next year. (`Pffffft` - incredulous Ed)

Special public access wristbands are available are on sale now priced at just �20 and can be purchased from the official In The City website at www.inthecity.co.uk/wristbands We plan to be there so don`t forget to tell us who we should have seen. Or start a year-long argument about how we just don`t get your favourite band and are total scum for doing so (hello all you fans of The Foxes out there). We want to hear from you! ...

Watch: Editors New Video for 'Papilon'

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:00:00 GMT

In This Light And On This Evening`, due for release on October 12th, is the third album from Editors.

With the imminent release of `Papillon` the lead single from the album, scheduled for release the day before on October 11th, we have also been given a tantalising glimpse of the new world that Editors hope to immerse us in, full of dark beats and electronica.

Now we have been given a video that, bizarrely, consists of lots of people running through streets at night and which I expect would be illegal - so don`t try this at home kids.

...

Come Together With The Invisible

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:12:00 GMT

To celebrate the release of their �London Girl� single today (28/09) The Invisible have a brand new track to download (for free!) - a cover of The Beatles Come Together� which you can download from here Come Together - The Beatles

Dave Invisible had this to say about the cover "Covering classic tunes will always represent treacherous territory. There are versions of Come Together out there already, as I`m sure you`re aware. Ike and Tina Turner`s version trashes it (in the best possible sense) and Jacko`s version leaves much to be desired (RIP. In both instances). The obvious and, arguably, wisest artistic choice would have been to stick to the song`s bluesy template, maybe even try and accentuate it. So instead we opted to do something completely different. Though it would`ve been a lot of fun, doing a Hendrix-y/bluesy take on the tune felt somehow disrespectful and contrived. To me, The Beatles stand for experimentation and risk-taking. This is a band that stopped gigging and got busy in the studio, getting jiggy with all sorts of shizzle. So we tried to embrace that spirit. I just hope it doesn`t result in Macca putting a contract out on us"

...

Now You Can Get 'Smarts' Too - Thanks to Sky Larkin

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:07:00 GMT

Sky Larkin`s brand new freebie single `Smarts` is now here and can be downloaded, along with a re-recording of album track `Matador` and some excellent artwork from Sina Becker from the band`s website, they`ve also included lyrics to the download package, which is a nice touch.

Download Here: http://www.weareskylarkin.com/smarts/

Singer Katie Harkin had this to say about the new single: "Smarts was recorded in one day in Wales with our Golden Spike amigo John Goodmanson. It just so happened that for 24hrs our paths crossed, so we decided to use the time to reignite our musical flame. It�s certainly the loudest number we�ve created, so as a counter point we also recorded an acoustic version of Matador back home in our Yorkshire writing space; The Crypt (NB, an actual crypt). This version of Matador features upright bass, downright slinky drums and a hundred year old pump organ with pleasingly wobbly pipes. We invite you to download them for free and hope to see you at a show this autumn before we go into hibernation to write Sky Larkin 2.0."

The band begin their tour from Saturday:

September 2009
26 - Bradford, The Polish Club
27 - Derby, The Royal
29 - Bristol, Cooler
30 - London, Cargo

October 2009
2 - Tunbridge Wells, Forum
3 - Aldershot, West End Centre
5 - Aberdeen, Caf� Drummond
6 - Glasgow, Classic Grand
7 - Newcastle, Mr Lynch
10 - Manchester, Night and Day

(I`m quite reliably informed that support at the Aberdeen show will come from local heroes Copy Haho and The Marionettes).

...

Free Younghusband

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:43:00 GMT

To celebrate the release of their new E.P. Idiot Son Culturedeluxe recording artists Younghusband are to play a free launch gig at Pure Groove Records in Farringdon, London this Friday (25th Sept). Also on the bill will be Emma Lee Moss (Emmy The Great) and Younghusbands Euan Hinshelwood playing a covers set so it`ll be worth getting there early. The gig kicks off at 7.30pm.

Also Younghusband have a free acoustic demo version of new song `Paris` available from here Younghusband_Paris

...

Saint Etienne's 'Foxbase Beta' Previewing Now on MySpace

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:34:00 GMT

`Foxbase Beta`, the ingeniously-monikered completely remixed version of Saint Etienne`s landmark 1991 LP `Foxbase Alpha` by former bootlegger and occasional chart-botherer Richard X is previewed exclusively on Saint Etienne`s MySpace at the minute.

Long preview versions of the updated, yet still distinctly old-skool in attitude `Only Love Can Break Your Heart` and `Girl Vii` can be heard now along with minute-long clips of `Carnt Sleep`, `London Belongs To Me` and a digital-bass-heavy `She`s The One`.

Even the artwork is a delicious reworking of the iconic original.

Visit now: http://www.myspace.com/saintetienne ...

Los Campesinos! 'sign' new member in Cardiff

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:59:00 GMT

Los Campesinos! have proved that they have friends in high places when they took over Cardiff Football Stadium � sorry LC! Stadium, to reveal new member Kim Campesinos! Kim is taking over keyboard and vocal duties after Aleks decided to leave the band and resume her medical degree.

The band have also been busy working on a new album which is scheduled for release early next year. The first single from the forthcoming LP, `These Are Listed Buildings`, will be available on 7� vinyl and will be exclusively available to buy on their October tour. The band�s second album, `We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed` was released a mere eight months after debut `Hold on Now, Youngster` which means that this time the band have kept fans waiting for a shocking whole year to release another record!

To find out when you can welcome Kim Campesinos and grab a copy of `These Are Listed Buildings` check out the following tour dates�

October 2009
21 � Coventry Kasbah
22 � Southampton Joiners Arms
23 � Exeter Phoenix
24 � Cardiff The Gate (SWN Festival)
26 � Manchester Deaf Institute
27 � Newcastle University
28 � London Garage (SOLD OUT)
29 � Oxford Zodiac
30 � Leeds Cockpit
31 � Glasgow King Tuts
...

Grandmaster Roc Raida 1972 - 2009

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:55:00 GMT

It�s with great regret we announce the death of Anthony Williams, aka Grandmaster Roc Raida - founder member of turntablism group The X-Men (also known as The X-Ecutioners), former DMC World DJ champion and solo artist with a string of mixtapes and official albums to his name. Raida was noted as a great innovator as a DJ, a fact that was noted in by his peers and elders when Afrika Bambaataa officially passed on the title Grandmaster to him.

His family released this statement:

"Anthony Williams p/k to the world as The Legendary Grandmaster Roc Raida has passed away unexpectedly today September 19 2009. He is survived by his wife, three lovely daughters, mother and friends. Raida was recently in an mixed martial arts accident, something that he has been practicing for several years. Although he had under gone two surgeries with great success, was released to an inpatient physical therapy facility and was in great spirits the past few days. This morning he started to have complications and passed. The family asks for privacy at this time."

A number of artists in the hip hop community have passed on their condolences. Roots member ?uestlove stated on Twitter �Roc Raida was an innovative turntablist who redefined the art of scratching with his 4 man crew the X-Ecutioners�one of the dopest cats to rep the culture�, while Busta Rhymes (who Roc Raida was touring with) said �We lost another incredible life...DJ Roc Raida died 2day my personal DJ is gone.�

On his forum Z-Trip said �Always the quiet guy on tour, but when he opened his mouth he would make us all laugh. His skits on his mixtapes were priceless. He was such a funny guy with such an amazing talent, always in a good mood. He made it look easy too. I`m glad I got to know him and even happier I have some truly great memories with him on the road.�

To give you a small idea of his skills as a DJ, take a look at this Youtube clip of him winning the DMC World Championships in 1995

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Pop Stars Take Sides in the Great Filesharing Debate...

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:39:00 GMT

Lily Allen is clearly not happy about something. That makes a change...

For an artist that prides herself on engaging and communicating with her fans via blogging and social networks, Lily Allen displayed an almost shocking lack of understanding this week when she chose to attack illegal filesharers for gipping artists out of money. Fair enough, some of you may say - the jury has, and always will be out on whether downloading a track illegally directly removes food from the mouth of a performer. But dig a little deeper, and suprise suprise, this turns out to be another notable case of the music industry, and some of the people within it, failing to grasp the power of filesharing and downloading. It`s just a shame that the spokesperson in this case happens to be a musician of some influence.

Firstly - let`s discount Allen from this argument for now. This is a person that made mixtapes and dropped them into Rough Trade to be given away free of charge. Licensing and copyright aside, that puts her statements within a completely different context. It`s quite a volte face, especially seeing as this time last year she was claiming it was the record label`s fault she was skint.

The days of filesharers being seen by the media as the monsters under the bed have fortunately long-gone, and suprisingly, Allen seems to be in the minority of artists who oppose the sharing of music, which is in essence almost a form of flattery: if somebody shared one of my blogs with the masses, which I have put time and effort into, then I would be overjoyed.

The Featured Artists Coalition don`t share the major labels` view of filesharers and free music advocates as David Icke-esque cranks - they believe that the power of sharing can be harnessed by artists for the benefit of their career...

`Much online activity surrounding the sharing of music often coincides with a great deal of fan support for the artist concerned. The centrality of the artist in the new music ecology is such that the lobbying by labels to continue to try to sue or sanction music fans must be placed in a broader context of those fans� behaviour... A file-sharing fans� economic contribution to an artist�s career may focus around the purchase of merchandise and tickets to live concerts � the irreplaceable experiences which contribute to artists� success, even though this will not compensate the creators of the music and lyrics directly unless they are also performers.`

That`s a coalition that includes Billy Bragg, Scroobius Pip, Blur`s Dave Rowntree and, er, Tom Jones. So quite a diverse bunch then.

E-commerce is changing rapidly. Single-platform shop-window sites will be obsolete in a few years, along with the traditional `corner shop` business model. People no longer want to go to a site to purchase a product - they want the product brought to them, recommended to them, shared with them by people like them. They don`t want to shop online - they want to interact, they want to share, they want to experience.

It is a simple case of adapt or die for the music industry. Free music is now out there. You cannot drug the genie and put him back in his bottle, or put Pandora`s toys back in the box. Recorded music has lost much of it`s value, but the one commodity musicians have in their arsenal is the live experience. We are seeing a new business model forming that will sweep away the old, outdated model of e-commerce. Experience shopping.

Ad-funded, Google-esque file sharing services with tight, intuitive algorithms would enable labels and artists to produce, promote and earn from their music being shared and downloaded. Bundled with live ticket and merchandise sales, this could potentially level the playing field for artists worldwide, and free them from the chart-shows and sales meetings they so despise (although this may be replaced by more marketing meetings - such is life). But sadly, this revolution may take a few major labels with it, including Allen`s. Such is the rhythm of online life though, sadly...

To read more about the Featured Artist`s Coalition, click here.

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Culturedeluxe Free MP3 Roundup

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:00:00 GMT

Within a year of releasing their debut album (sure to pop up on many an end-of-year list), Brooklyn�s The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart are back with more: a full, five track EP of all-new material released 9th November 2009 on Fortuna POP! Here is a free download track taken from the EP. http://download.yousendit.com/cmczaUNLZy9Qb0pjR0E9PQ                                                                                                                                                                  In preparation for the release of their magnum opus Axe To Fall on October 19, hardcore pioneers Converge have debuted the title track from their forthcoming release on SPIN.com.
Listen to �Axe To Fall� here: http://www.spin.com/articles/download-awesome-metal-converge
Beat The World Records artist Logan Lynn is someone that you can check out.Here`s a link where you can download a free song, titled, "Feed Me to the Wolves":
http://loganlynnmusic.com/web/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/01-Feed-Me-To-The-Wolves.mp3
�Movement VI - Isorhythmic Night Dance With Intochances� is taken from Sufjan Stevens forthcoming `BQE` album, to be released on October 19th.
http://beggarspromo.com/sufjanstevens/rhythmicnightdancewithinterchanges.zip
Serge Santiago has a new exclusive mix for free on Dazed Digital, where he also talks about his and Tom Neville`s new Retro/Grade project...
http://www.dazeddigital.com/Music/article/4546/1/Serge_Santiago_London_UK                                                                                                                                               `Moda` is the taster single from the new Retro/Grade album, forthcoming 2010.
Only 500 copies are available now on vinyl and you can download the radio edit for free from http://www.rcrdlbl.com/artists/RetroGrade/track/Moda_Radio_Edit                                                          Get the first track from Vitalic`s forthcoming album, `See The Sea (Red) absolutely free!
DOWNLOAD HERE:
www.bangonpr.com/media/Vitalic/SeetheSea(Red)128.zip
The Like return and They�ve just completed work on their second album, and this week set out on tour with the Arctic Monkeys in the US as the personal request of Alex Turner.
Here�s a free download from the forthcoming album. Titled �Fair Game� it can be downloaded from either myspace.com/thelike or http://bit.ly/mRx23.

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Pavement To Reform

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:58:00 GMT

As speculated in one of our bite sized news item yesterday (Sept 16th) Domino Records have now announced that the line up of Mark Ibold, Scott "Spiral Stairs" Kannberg, Stephen Malkmus, Bob Nastanovich and Steve West are indeed reuniting for dates around the world in 2010

Following years of speculation and extremely polite answers to obligatory reunion questions, Pavement, one of the most influential band of their generation, have announced details of their first show in over a decade.
The show announced is a New York performance on September 21, 2010 at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park.

Renowned for the thrilling ride of their live shows, Pavement�s unique sense of wit, style and pop chaos ensured the band�s iconoclastic run of LPs, from Slanted & Enchanted to Terror Twilight Is the most assured canon in all of indie-rock. And set the template for pretty much everything else that�s followed.

The band, however, would like it to be known that the tour does not constitute a full-on permanent reformation.

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The Five Best Dog-Related Album Covers Of All-Time

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:29:00 GMT

With Dr Foster`s chart rundown on "permanent hiatus", or at least until popular music becomes 1% relevant again, we`re retaining the all important Top 5 element to bring you a series of spurious but ultimately excellent charts. This time, suitably impressed by a brand new entry, Andy J talks you through `The Top 5 Dog-Related Album Covers Of All-Time`.

5: Bowie; David - `Diamond Dogs`

Bowie at his wierdest, which prompted some record stores to cover the album up, and some slightly more tasteful versions to be issued, sans bollocks. Not strictly a dog, but charts surely because to have a dog on your cover, you must be an artist starting with the letter B.

4: Beastie Boys - `Some Old Bullshit`

An accurate description if ever there was, rescued by one of the shaggiest looking dogs you`ll ever see - curiously appropriate for the hip-hop trio in a genre known for having dogs on covers (see - Ludacris and of course, Snoop Dogg)

3: Blur - `Parklife`

Iconic in taking a betting shop image to the masses, and the look of determined fury in the dogs` eyes perfectly captures the spirit of a rejuvinated and resolutely rag-tag indie combo. It`s telling that later album covers would become more and more abstract as their music followed suit.

2: Beck - `Odelay`

Famously described by Garry Mullholland in his book `Fear Of Music: the 261 greatest albums since Punk and Disco` as "Random". I can think of no better description for Beck`s breakthrough album. Garry`s book is possibly one of the best bog books you`ll ever find also.

1: Weezer - `Raditude`
Well - none of us know what the album sounds like yet, but it makes a welcome difference from the usual, albeit now iconic, band shots against plain coloured backdrops on the green and blue albums. It`s a shame that Weezer presumably couldn`t get around copyright infringements by calling themselves "Beezer" for this album. (`Who knows...that particular comic folded years ago and the word remains an underused adjectivein the modern world` - Numbskulls-lovin` Ed)

The album`s out through Geffen on October 26th when you can squeal with delight at the sight of THIS in your local record shop.

(click on the dog for a bigger version which you can use as wallpaper or whatever)

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Luke Haines Double Album Tracklisting Announced

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:29:00 GMT

21st Century man about town Mr Luke Haines has just announced the track listing for his new double album which is out on the 2nd of November. Recent airings of the new material suggest that this may be his best album since `How I Learned To Love The Bootboys` - a thrilling prospect indeed.

`21st Century Man` Tracklisting
1. `Suburban Mourning`
2. `Peter Hammill`
3. `Klaus Kinski`
4. `Love Letter To London`
5. `Wot A Rotter`
6. `Our Man In Buenos Aries`
7. `Russian Futurists Black Out The Sun`
8. `English Southern Man`
9. `White Honky Afro`
10. `21st Century Man`

`Achtung Mutha` Tracklisting
1. `Achtung Intro`
2. `Mother`
3. `The Great Brain Robbery (Part 1)`
4. `Ex Teds`
5. `The Great Brain Robbery (Part 2)`
6. `Playground Dread`
7. `Greenwich Observatory`
8. `The Great Brain Robbery (Part 3)`
9. `Fag Break`

The acerbic Haines has also announced extra live dates to coincide with its release. He will be bad vibing the great British public at the following venues.

November 2009
1 - Leeds Brudenell Social Club
2 - Manchester Deaf Institute
4 - Sheffield Boardwalk
5 - Glasgow Captains Rest
6 - Newcastle The Cluny
7 - Bristol The Thekla
11 - Brighton Hanbury Club

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Old Fogies Don't Like Guitar Hero and Rock Band

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:16:00 GMT

Former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman appears not very keen the current trend of music-based computer games telling BBC: "It encourages kids not to learn, that`s the trouble."

"It makes less and less people dedicated to really get down and learn an instrument." he continued. "I think is a pity so I`m not really keen on that kind of stuff."

Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason agrees stating "It irritates me having watched my kids do it - if they spent as much time practising the guitar as learning how to press the buttons they`d be damn good by now."

However, neither seems to be considering the fact that both Guitar Hero and Rock Band (which released a Beatles edition this week) provide an instant "rock experience" for players of any level and are not being sold as replacements, merely simulations. Many expert rhythm-based gamers have come seriously unstuck when picking up an actual instrument, while many competent musicians have absolutely no gaming coordination whatsoever (hello to the former drummer of Big Beers Inc!)

Perhaps these rock dinosaurs should remember that the games are teaching basic rhythm to kids who would have little cause to pick up a guitar anyway and that some of the best music ever was created by punk acts whose dedication "to really get down and learn an instrument" stretched as far as learning that all-important third chord before jumping straight on stage.

It`s no longer the case that everyone who picks up a guitar (or tennis racquet for that matter) immediately dreams of playing ten minute solos at Wembley, some are happy with a five minute fumble in their living rooms.

Next week Grandmaster Flash complains that he can`t play his old Chic 12"s through the new DJ Hero controllers.

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T'Arctics Tour

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 07:26:00 GMT

After the success of their headlining set at this this year�s Leeds and Reading Festival and new LP �Humbug�(the band�s third studio album) entering the charts at number 1, the Arctic Monkeys have confirmed the dates of their forthcoming UK Irish tour. The band will be playing arena sized venues all over the UK and kick-off with a Friday 13th November performance at Liverpool Echo Arena.

NOVEMBER

Friday 13 Liverpool Echo Arena

Saturday 14 Sheffield Arena

Monday 16 Newcastle Metro Arena

Wednesday 18 Wembley Arena

Friday 20 Birmingham NIA

Saturday 21 Manchester MEN Arena

Sunday 22 Nottingham Trent FM Arena

Tuesday 24 Glasgow SECC

Wednesday 25 Belfast The Odyssey

Thursday 26 Dublin The O2

Tickets go on general sale on Friday 11th September � 9am

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Interview: Hans-Joachim Roedelius of Harmonia

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:54:00 GMT

In the early 1970s, Krautrock act Cluster AKA Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius moved to Forst in West Germany where they teamed up with Neu!`s Michael Rother for what was to become one of the great Krautrock acts - Harmonia. Together they released `Musik Von Harmonia` in 1974 and `Deluxe` in 1975 before disbanding to continue their separate proejcts. Fresh from leaving Roxy Music after their second album, Brian Eno soon became interested in working with them and actually joined the band for a session at Fabrik in Hamburg, however he didn`t formally make an approach until 1976 (on his way to record `Low` with David Bowie). His question �Is now a good time?� was me with answer, �Well, not exactly � we kind of broke up � but sure, as good a time as any.� and the resulting sounds were documented in `Tracks & Traces`.

However, the intention was never to make a commercial record as some kind of ambient supergroup as Roedelius explains, "[Eno] came to join us in our community-live, not to produce something with us that should possibly conquer the globe. [It was] four artists/ musicians playing and recording with a four-track recording machine, listening to each other carefully in peace and friendship with the only purpose to make nice music. There is nothing else to talk about."

The original version of `Tracks & Trace`s was not released until 1997, put together solely by Roedelius from the fragments of the session in his possession. It`s not until 2009 and, fittingly, a clear 33 1/3 years since the sessions, that material held by Rother has been pieced into three new songs for the definitive version of `Tracks & Traces` to be released on September 21st by Groenland Records.

"Those three tracks and the digital remastering might help as well to catch greater attention and justice," continues Roedelius, "But I think the ur-products beauty can be seen better now after such a long time. People now understand much better this music because they`re much more experienced and longing after such authentic stuff that had no other background and reason than friendship and respect."

With presumably a large amount of unreleased material still in their possession, you`d be forgiven for suggesting the band may yet have plans for future releases, but Roedelius does not expect there to be any. "There`re still some tracks from that session, but not enough for a whole record." he explains. "There are still some recordings from live-sessions of Harmonia. No plans yet what to do with them."

However, the group have also recently stated that this release marks the end of the Harmonia era and are keen to return to their other solo projects. "Harmonia-live doesn`t exist anymore." confirms Roedelius. "We all have so many other projects to follow that this has to be the fact.

Harmonia`s reputation was given a real shot in the arm with the 1995 publication of Julian Cope`s `Krautrocksampler`, a book describing the musician`s love for the underground music scene in Germany from 1968 and through the 1970s. A word-of-mouth classic, it led to a groundswell of interest and love for the genre, particularly among young musicians.

"It`s for sure not only Julians publication," he says, "But an interest in what Brits, Frenchs, Americans weren`t and aren`t able to produce, especially not at the field of experimental electronic music of the type of Kluster / Cluster and early Harmonia. I know that many artist / musicians like what we did and still are doing."

"Many are influenced by this type of music and the way we`re aware of what we`re doing. That`s nice, but it was never our aim to create something new. We only ever wanted to do what we liked musicwise and lifewise."

`Tracks & Traces` is released by Groenland Records on September 21st.
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