| CMU Daily - on the inside Monday 4th October |
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In today's CMU Daily:
- Mark Chapman up for release
- House Of Blues cancel Capleton gigs over homophobic lyrics
- Anti-discrimination groups warn about white power CD
- Celebs protest at US terrorist watch list checks
- No quick reschedule for Babyshambles Aberdeen date
- Live Review: The Hives, Brixton Academy
- Sony dump piracy proof CDs
- RIAA target students in new anti-download lawsuits
- Joel re-marries
- Jordan on Andre's on-stage pelting trauma
- Evans agent plans Virgin Radio takeover
- Shatner preview online
- Boardroom take over at Ski Show
- Franz Ferdinand curate Frieze night
- Live Review: The Go Team At Camden Barfly
- Chart update
- Robbie interested in take that reunion
- Eminem buys Hollywood home
- Church takes family advice over raunch level
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BLATANT PLUGGING
*** PREVEW GREAT NEW MUSIC ONLINE: To preview tracks from CMU favourites !!!, Chikinki, Felix Da Housecat, Grand National and Riton online at your leisure - check www.bigtime.tv/lmn
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SAME SIX QUESTIONS: Freeform Five
How did you start out making music for a living?
I've been playing in bands since I was at school (with Nick, one of the singers, too...). Then I got into DJ'ing when I was 17 and got caught up playing at and putting on parties at university. I met a lot of DJ's and when I moved to London I just started to make records for people I'd met who were running small labels and it carried on from there. I started to work with Nick again, then Tamara joined (who I'd met at university) and finally Cabba, who I'd met at a party...
What inspired your latest album?
We wanted to concentrate on writing songs rather than making a collection of club tracks, so we took a lot of inspiration from the sounds we grew up on - Prince and P-Funk, Blondie, Depeche Mode, Pixies, Talking Heads, Stone Roses... and all that got filtered through our backgrounds in dance music.
What process do you go through in creating an album?
Well it took a couple of years, so we went through a lot... Again, it just took time to write as many songs as we could - collaborating with different people as well - then locking ourselves away and pretty much going slowly insane until it felt like it was time to stop!
Which artists influence your work?
I get excited by so many different types of music - like most people really...I can love a pop record as much as an obscure German electronic import as much as Motown. We're also influenced by film, art and writing too... it's sometimes easier to get inspired by things outside of music so that you don't end up copying other people.
What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
Just enjoy it really - there are moments of introspection and reflection too though - I think there is the depth there to reward repeated listening- you'll hear new things in tracks every time you hear them so can grow to love them like old friends...
What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
Just for people to hear the album and enjoy it really... so that they are intrigued enough to come and check us out live... so that we can keep making music that sits outside the box!
Freeform Five release Strangest Things on Ultimate Dilemma on 18 Oct.
Get your artists to answer the same six questions, and email the answers to [email protected]
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MARK CHAPMAN UP FOR RELEASE
Yoko Ono is among those opposing the release of Mark Chapman, the man who shot John Lennon, whose third parole hearing takes place next week. Ono maintains that Chapman remains a threat to the safety of her and Lennon's sons, Sean and Julian. In a letter to the parole board she says that Chapman's release would "bring back the nightmare, the chaos and the confusion once again". Nearly 2000 fans have already signed an online petition against Chapman's release, and insiders now reckon that if he is freed police will need to provide considerable protection from some of Lennon's fans who have made threats to his life (imagine all the people living life in peace and all that).
A spokeswoman for the State of New York Division of Parole this weekend confirmed that Chapman is among a number of prisoners scheduled for parole hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. He last went before a parole board in 2002 - they noted that Chapman has a "very positive" behavioural record - but stressed that progress in such a controlled and structured environment "cannot predict your community behaviour" if released.
That said, Chapman was denied parole on the grounds that it would diminish the seriousness of his crime.
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HOUSE OF BLUES CANCEL CAPLETON GIGS OVER HOMOPHOBIC LYRICS
The battle between the allegedly homophobic artists of Jamaica's dance hall scene and the gay rights movement continued last week with an announcement by America's House Of Blues group that they had cancelled two upcoming gigs featuring the artist Capleton - one at their Sunset Strip club, and another in New Orleans. Another Capleton gig in San Francisco this weekend was also called off.
House of Blues made the decision following lobbying by the LA Gay and Lesbian Center. They object to Capleton's lyrics, which include lines that suggest gay people be hanged, drowned, burned or shot. A spokesman for HoB told reporters they had cancelled the gigs "out of respect for the community", adding that before reaching any decision they had tried, unsuccessfully, to bring Capleton, LAGLC leaders and city officials together to discuss the lyrics in question.
In making this decision HoB follow the line taken by a number of venues in the UK and US who have cancelled gigs involving allegedly homophobic artists following protests from gay rights groups. Last week in London, of course, the UK's Black Music Council protested outside the MOBO Awards against the decision of the awards' organisers to withdraw nominations from artists Elephant Man and Vybz Kartel after they failed to retract past homophobic lyrics. The Black Music Council claimed the MOBOs were blocking black artists' freedom of expression.
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ANTI-DISCRIMINATION GROUPS WARN ABOUT WHITE POWER CD
Talking of discrimination, an anti-discrimination group in the US has put out a warning about a record label that is sending out a free CD to teenagers across America which seemingly advocates white supremacy ideologies.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, Panzerfaust Records hopes to promote 'white power' among the teenage market through the distribution of 100,000 free CDs called 'Project Schoolyard USA'. The company has reportedly bought numerous mailing lists of teenagers who have expressed an interest in heavy metal or skateboarding, and 5000 of the CDs, which feature tracks like 'White Supremacy', 'Hate Train Rolling' and 'Commie Scum', have already been sent out.
Abraham H. Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League told reporters last week: "Panzerfaust has intentionally designed its CDs to lure unsuspecting teens with a free giveaway that has the appearance of being just another free compilation of cutting edge music. In reality it is a thinly veiled attempt to attract kids to hateful, racist music and white power bands."
Byron Calvert, one of the men behind the record label, was open about his company's political motives. He told reporters: "Obviously there's a message behind the music, and the message is one that we're also interested in marketing as well".
Word is Panzerfaust also plans to distribute the CDs at skate parks, gun shows, flea markets and schools, as well as via their website.
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CELEBS PROTEST AT US TERRORIST WATCH LIST CHECKS
Following that incident last week when Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens) was refused entry to America on the grounds he was on a terrorist watch list, a string of celebs are due to show up at an event in New York tonight to protest at a US government move to force charities to screen all their employees to check none of them are on that said list. If charities resist the new measure they will be excluded from the Combined Federal Campaign, which helps government and military staff donate to charities of their choice.
Tonight's event is in aid of the American Civil Liberties Union who oppose the move. Robin Williams, Paul Simon, Richard Gere and Patti Smith are among those likely to attend - presumably Cat Stevens would if they'd only let him in.
Composer Philip Glass, who is producing the ACLU event, told reporters this weekend: "I need to live in an environment where there is a free exchange of ideas, not where the government is looking over my shoulder." The show will also see a documentary tribute to the late comedian Lenny Bruce, who was well known for battling censorship.
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NO QUICK RESCHEDULE FOR BABYSHAMBLES ABERDEEN DATE
Rumours that Pete Doherty's band Babyshambles would imminently reschedule their cancelled gig in Aberdeen are untrue. Word is plans to reschedule the gig at the city's Kef venue were dropped following the advice of police and management of the venue The Lemon Tree, who hosted last week's gig which, as previously reported, was cancelled at the last minute leading to angry fans staging a mini-riot outside the band's tour bus in the venue's car park. The band do hope to return to Aberdeen sometime soon, but with a hectic tour schedule pending it might take a while to get one fitted into the schedule, even if they find a venue that will have them!
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LIVE REVIEW: The Hives, Brixton Academy on 29 Sep
The Hives always stood out from the rash of definitive article bands that cropped up a few years ago, and whilst albums from the likes of The White Stripes and The Strokes are gathering dust on my shelves, the stylish Swedes are still managing to sound fresh and exciting. Their identical outfits; white jackets, black trousers, black shirts, together with singer Pelle 'Howlin' Almquist's comical expressions or indeed the fact that they all have comedy names (Dr Matt Destruction etc) give the impression that they're a cartoon band. That is until they start playing, and then it's obvious what a great rock 'n' roll band they are. Their current album 'Tyrannosaurus Hives' is full of the short sharp songs that they excel at, and one of the highlights tonight is 'Walk Idiot Walk' the first single from the album. The band as a whole are a great spectacle and Pelle is a consummate showman, throwing his mic around with great abandon and keeping up a constant stream of quips to the audience. The crowd lap it up. Previous hits 'Main Offender' and 'Hate To Say I Told You So' go down particularly well, as befits the fantastic tunes that they are. Another standout is gloriously over the top new track 'Diabolic Scheme'. Pelle reckons that we are lucky to be here tonight witnessing a band at the peak of their powers. "The magazines say we are crowd-pleasers," he says. He's right, we are lucky to be here and we are one pleased audience. JW
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SONY DUMP PIRACY PROOF CDS
Sony Music is axing those copy-protected CDs, you know, the ones that stop you burning multiple copies of tracks, and which also stop you playing your CD at all in half the CD players on the market. Sony say they are dumping the expensive piracy-proof technology because its "anti-duplication message has sunk in", and besides "only a small part of the population illegally copy CDs".
Sony's decision will be welcomed by Belgium-based consumer group Test-Achats which earlier this year said major labels should reimburse music fans who had bought piracy proof CDs that only work in certain CD systems.
Of course the news will be less well received by the IT geeks who love nothing more than hacking the piracy technology and running off multiple copies of the protected albums. No piracy proofing - where's the fun in that?
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RIAA TARGET STUDENTS IN NEW ANTI-DOWNLOAD LAWSUITS
Talking of piracy type things, the Recording Industry Association of America has confirmed they have begun legal action against 32 more people suspected of sharing large amounts of copyrighted music on the internet. All of the latest defendants access the internet via one of 26 American colleges.
The latest legal action demonstrates that, despite the growth of legitimate download platforms, the music industry is keen to maintain its hard-line stance on illegal downloading. Announcing the latest set of lawsuits RIAA president Cary Sherman told reporters: "We want music fans to enjoy music online but in a fashion that compensates everyone who worked to create that music".
The RIAA's latest legal attack follows comments made last week by Jay Berman, chairman of the International Federation for the Phonographic Industry, whose organisation announced the global music industry seemed to be in a state of commercial recovery. Despite the up turn he told reporters: "There are some signs that the world's markets are beginning to recover. However, markets continue to be hampered by the dual effects of commercial and internet piracy."
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JOEL RE-MARRIES
55 year old Billy Joel has married his third wife - 23 year old Kate Lee - in a ceremony at his Long Island home. According to the BBC Joel began dating Lee, a TV restaurant critic, last year. Alexa Ray, the singer-songwriter's teenage daughter by his second wife and former model Christie Brinkley, attended the sunset ceremony.
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JORDAN ON ANDRE'S ON-STAGE PELTING TRAUMA
Jordan has told the Sun about the trauma of watching boyfriend Pete Andre being pelted with bottles during a recent live performance. The incident happened during an open-air concert to mark the merger of Manchester's two main universities.
Jordan explains: "It was horrible. Loads of young kids had waited all afternoon to see Peter, even though it was pouring with rain. But a bunch of drunken lads seemed determined to ruin it. They'd been causing trouble all afternoon. They began chucking bottles. I was really worried for the safety of people in the crowd, Peter's two girl dancers - and, of course, scared for Peter himself."
While being pelted Andre told his audience: "All of those throwing things at me can come round the back and we can see who the bigger man is."
After the show he told reporters: "I stopped the music and asked them to quit because it was dangerous. I was worried someone was going to get hurt if I didn't say something. I went on and finished the show, though - and I'm glad I did. It was just a bunch of idiots who were drunk and aggressive. But they should have thought about all the kids who were there. It's pathetic."
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EVANS AGENT PLANS VIRGIN RADIO TAKEOVER
With his marriage apparently on the rocks, and his TV producing career somewhat faltering, perhaps Chris Evans should plan a return to his real first love - radio. Well, that career development might just become a reality following the news that the man who helped mastermind Evans' career is planning an ambitious bid to buy back Virgin Radio from the Scottish Media Group. Evans made a mint when SMG bought his Ginger Media outfit, whose main asset was the rock station originally founded by Branson's Virgin Group. But the deal turned sour when Evans spectacularly fell out with Virgin Radio management, leading to a high profile sacking and long drawn out court case.
Now show business agent Michael Foster is reportedly putting together a consortium with the intention of buying back Virgin Radio from SMG. That said, SMG maintains Virgin Radio is not for sale, plus the price Foster is reportedly willing to pay - £100 million - is somewhat less than the £140-150m the media group's city advisors would probably demand. But insiders reckon SMG investors keen to see the media group broken up might be attracted by the proposition.
Evans himself is not involved in the takeover bid - although if Foster wanted to re-launch the station getting Evans back on the air would be a good publicity coup.
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SHATNER PREVIEW ONLINE
Various radio shows have been playing William Shatner's rather fine cover version of Pulp's 'Common People' - which comes from the Ben Folds produced album 'Has Been' - out today on Epic. Well, if you're yet to hear it you can check it out, and clips from other tracks off the album, at http://www.shatnerhasbeen.com/ Our favourite is 'You'll Have Time'.
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BOARDROOM TAKE OVER AT SKI SHOW
Xfm and Metro are presenting a storming spin-off at this year's Daily Mail Ski & Snowboard Show at Olympia, Kensington (13-17 Oct). Called the Boardroom, the Xfm/Metro strand will combine beats, boarding, skiing, rail jams, Xbox games and urban sports.
Daytime that means snowboard and ski jam sessions and Xbox boarding game tournaments. Nightime you get great music - on 14 Oct there's the Dub Pistols Soundsystem, Deadly Avenger and Coldcut's ZenTV AV mashdown, meanwhile on 15 Oct you get Adam Freeland, Matt Cantor (Freestylers), MC Darrison and DJ Tim (Utah Saints/Beat Vandals). Xfm's Eddy TM will be DJing both nights.
Tickets to the whole event (daytime and night time) normally cost £11.50 but if you call the ticket hotline on 08705 90 00 90 and quote Xfm you can bag a ticket for £9.95. So get booking.
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FRANZ FERDINAND CURATE FRIEZE NIGHT
Franz Ferdinand will curate an evening at Frieze Music 2004, the music strand that runs alongside the Frieze Art Fair, the contemporary art programme that runs in 150 galleries around the world later this month. The night programmed by the Ferdinand boys will be the finale to three nights of fine music in London. Venue and line-ups for the three nights of Frieze Music as follows:
The Electrowerkz (16 Oct): Whitey (live), Jack To Jack (live), Shit & Shine (live), Riot Season DJs, 1234 Records DJs, Domino Records DJs, Eat Your Own ears DJs
The End (18 Oct): Bobby Conn (live), I Monster (live), Les Georges Leningrad (live), Richard X presents Black Melody, Cornershop DJs, Horseglue showcase featuring Beastellbeast, Rough Trade Counter Culture DJs, Trunk Records DJs
The Scala - Franz Ferdinand present The Chateau (18 Oct): The Kills, Kaiser Chiefs, Uncle John And White Lock, Franz Ferdinand (DJ Set), Soul Jazz Sound System plus guests.
More at http://www.friezeartfair.com/music_04.html
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LIVE REVIEW: The Go Team at Camden Barfly on 30 Sep
From just looking at the extensive queue inside the pub, you could tell that this was a hotly anticipated gig. And no wonder; The Go Team are currently riding a massive wave of hype and interest since their superb album 'Thunder Lightning Strike' was released. It's one of the most fascinating, and unsurpassed albums of the year, without question. The set list, of course, was derived from the album, so those already familiar with it were delighted. Those who arrived without prior knowledge were enlightened. The Go Team have often been compared by the music press to The Avalanches, and it's a fair one. They employ the same cut-and-paste and sampling techniques, whilst pilfering from every musical genre under the sun, creating an infectious, varied, and engaging sound. I've heard that the band have only performed a handful of gigs, which is staggering (I suppose the trickery involved in creating their music is difficult to replicate live). They showed no signs of nerves or lack of practice. The highlights of the set were 'Bottle Rocket' and 'Ladyflash', tracks which allow the entire band to showcase their skills and talents. Ninja, whose vocals sound like Salt 'n' Pepa at times, did her best to animate the crowd, inviting individuals to dance between songs at her approval. The rapturous applause suggested the band did indeed dazzle the crowd, and I'm not surprised by this. The Go! Team are a terrific new discovery, unafraid to take risks or follow their whims, and are as good in the flesh as they are on record. Their next date is on 7 October at The Spitz. Mark it in your diaries. KW
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CHART UPDATE
Lots of new entries in the top ten this week, though none of them (Ronan Keating, Deep Dish, Ashlee Simpson, REM) could knock Eric Prydz off the top spot. New entries of note lower down the singles chart include Big Brovaz whose track 'Yours Fatally' goes in at 15, and the Super Furry Animals, whose track 'The Man Don't Give A Fuck' goes in at 16.
Albums wise, and some chart trivia for you - apparently Joss Stone is now the youngest female solo artist to have a number one album with her new long player, 'Mind Body & Soul', going straight in at the top. Lots of new entries in the top ten - Marilyn Manson's greatest hits at 4, the Tom Jones / Jools Holland album at 5, Groove Armada's hits collection at 6 and Brian Wilson's long lost album SMiLE at 7. Lower down the albums chart and the recent high street sales have led to so many re-entries, it's hardly worth giving it a look!
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ROBBIE INTERESTED IN TAKE THAT REUNION
Given his past comments regarding a Take That reunion, perhaps hell has actually frozen over. Either way, Robbie Williams has told hit40UK that he would like to take part in one last Take That concert. In an interview with the radio show plugging his greatest hits album (out 18 Oct) he said: "There's still a little bit of me that didn't say goodbye to the fans. I'd love to see if they can still remember the old dance routines. The kindest thing Gary ever did for me was suggest I left the band sooner than I was planning on."
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EMINEM BUYS HOLLYWOOD HOME
Eminem, who once said he would never leave his home town of Detroit, has bought a £3 million house in Hollywood. The move demonstrates Slim Shady's keenness to build a career in movies, both as a producer and performer. A source told reporters this weekend: "He will never lose touch with Detroit but Eminem felt it was time to move to Hollywood. He's always staying there for work and has loads of friends in the area. The house is new and comes fully kitted out but he is employing an interior designer to personalise it to his taste."
Eminem is expected to keep his £4million home in Oakland, an upmarket part of Detroit, because his daughter Hailie lives in the city with her mother.
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CHURCH TAKES FAMILY ADVICE OVER RAUNCH LEVELS
Charlotte Church has told the papers that she won't be launching her pop career with a raunchy video so as not to upset her Nan. She told the Mirror last week: "If I do the whole tits-and-arse thing it won't be the end of the world, but I want my Nan to be able to look at my videos without squirming. Let's say I made a really sexy video like Beyonce. My Nan would be like, 'That's disgusting. What about all the 50-year-old men having a perv on you?'"
Church also revealed she turns to her mother Maria for more general style advice: "I never really know what the boundary is. I get my mother to judge things like that because she has a bit of cleavage, and she doesn't mind me doing that either. If I went up to her in a little dress with my arse cheeks hanging out she'd say, 'You look a fucking mess. Get home and change!'"
Charlotte's first pop album is due out next year.