| CMU Daily - on the inside 14 Feb 2003 |
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In today's CMU Daily:
• Download battle goes to the workplace,
• Deathrow boss' parole hearing postponed,
• Asian station boss on Rajar successes,
• Music: the food of love,
• Review: Nightmares On Wax - 70s/80s,
• NME awards 2003,
• Kelly pulls out of NME after Heathrow terrorist threat,
• More popstars add names to anti-war movement,
• Canadian Brits announce nominations,
• Prodigy Liam promises new material at Miami,
• Tenacious D plan movie with Liam Lynch,
• Live Review: Antihero @ The Monarch,
• More gloom for dance mags,
• Good Charlotte respond to Coral criticism,
• Two intimate gigs announced,
• Review: Stephen Jones - Almost Cured Of Sadness,
• UK network plan two new channels,
• Geri teams up with Robbie collaborator,
• Sony Incubus feud rolls on,
• Ozzy and Jack to announce Ozzfest line up,
• Busted change song name
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Claims to fame: In 2000 Bon Jovi achieved something only previously achieved by Abba, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin and Rod Stewart – what was it?
Answer on Monday
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DOWNLOAD BATTLE GOES TO THE WORKPLACE
The Battle Against The Downloaders Stage, erm, well, we’ve lost count. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry yesterday sent leaflets to employers around the world detailing the legal and technological 'dangers' of giving employees access to the kind of online file-sharing networks that allow people to easily exchange and download illegal MP3s.
The trade bodies are turning their attention to employers after it became clear just how many people relied on the fast internet connections at work to download much of their MP3 collection. Through the leaflet the IFPI hopes to make other companies aware of this activity – warning that employees who download illegal MP3s are slowing down company computer networks as well as running the risk of downloading a virus onto their computer. The leaflet goes on to explain the copyright implications of downloading illegal MP3s and implies the record labels may take legal action against major companies who are found to be allowing the activity to go on.
Meanwhile some of the legitimate music download sites, including Listen.com and Tiscali’s download service, are launching big marketing campaigns or price slashing programmes in a bid to boost their subscription bases. Despite being quicker and more reliable (and more legal!) than the illegal music download sites, many web surfers are, perhaps unsurprisingly, not keen to opt for a legal pay-to-download service over free services like Kazaa.
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DEATHROW BOSS' PAROLE HEARING POSTPONED
Officials in California have postponed a parole board hearing to decide whether jailed rap mogul and Deathrow Records founder Marion 'Suge' Knight should go back to prison for allegedly associating with gang members. He has been in jail since 23 Dec for allegedly associated with key gang members, a violation of a past sentence for assault and federal weapons violations.
The hearing, due to take place last Tuesday, was delayed so the California Board of Prison Terms could discuss whether to honour Knight's request of having legal representation at the review. According to Californian law it is not an automatic right for people in Knight's position to have an attorney present at a probation hearing, though requests for legal representation are considered on a case by case basis.
Knight's attorney David Z Chesnoff will claim that Knight's contact with gang members occurred during social events that his client attended in his capacity as a record label boss.
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ASIAN STATION BOSS ON RAJAR SUCCESSES
The boss of a smaller Leicester based radio station targeted at the city's Asian community has been talking to the Media Guardian about his station's big success in the last set of Rajars, which saw them edge ahead of both their local BBC and commercial pop rivals in terms of overall audience share. Within the urban catchment area of Leicester, Sabras Radio has managed to edge ahead with a 17.2% share of listening, compared with GWR owned Leicester Sound's 16% share and BBC Radio Leicester's 14% share.
The stations MD and founder Don Kotak called the figures "an amazing breakthrough", admitting that a high level of interest among British Asians in the current political climate has contributed to the station's record figures. "The political situation has created more interest although we don't do a lot of news and heated discussions. We cover politics as news only, and deliberately avoid getting involved in discussions that become fragmented and allow the same few fundamentalist guys from each religion to go on about the same thing."
Kotak feels his policy of having a healthy amount of English language programming, and English music, in his schedules has helped to win members of the young Asian community who wouldn’t listen to the station if it was too 'ghettoised'.
The success in overall audience share was achieved not through having the biggest number of listeners, but through having a dedicated listener base who on average listen to twice as many hours of the station’s output every week than Leicester Sound listeners.
There was good news for the London based Asian station Sunrise Radio in the last set of Rajars too - it increased its audience share from 1.7% to 2.4%.
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MUSIC: THE FOOD OF LOVE
Here's one for your diaries. Next week the Royal Festival Hall will be staging three performances from The First Vienna Vegetable Orchestra. Basically these guys make their instruments from a selection of fresh vegetables and, as each set is completed, convert them into soup for the audience to feast upon. The instruments, including edible clarinets, flutes and 'carrot sticks', are used to create an orchestral blend of traditional African, classical European and electronic ambient oddness, and word is the results are quite tasty. Performances are at 7pm on Tuesday, and 11am and 2pm on Wednesday – tickets £6 for children, £8 for adults. More info from www.gemueseorchester.org – press info from Andy Simpson - [email protected] or 020 7921 0985
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REVIEW: Nightmares on Wax - 70s/80s (Warp)
First, it’s hugely catchy, with LSK’s fine vocals fitting in superbly with the infectious music beneath. Second, it's really rather summery, which, frankly, is more than required when you look outside and see the cold / drizzle / wind / rain / ice. Third, when you actually get round to listening to the lyrics they're incredibly nostalgic (and suitably anti-Thatcher) assuming, that is, that, like me, you are, indeed, a 70s/80s child. All in all an excellent return to form by the Nightmares on Wax boys – and good to see Mr Leigh Stephen Kenny back on the radio – his solo album on Sony label S2 creating a big buzz in college land but not doing as well as it deserved to. Blag, listen, plug. CC
Release date: 24 Feb
Press contact: Warp IH [all]
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NME AWARDS 2003
Despite being up for the most awards The Vines had to make do with winning just the one category (best single with 'Get Free') at yesterday's NME Awards, where old favourites Coldplay and Oasis dominated the day, both taking two awards each. The latter were named best UK Band and Artist of the Year, the former's 'A Rush Of Blood To The Head' being named Album of the Year in both the reader voted and NME journalist voted categories. Laim Gallagher and Chris Martin added to their respective band's successes by winning the best haircut and sexiest man awards respectively.
Elsewhere in the line up Robbie Williams took three of the negative gongs, including Villain of the Year (over Blair, Bush and Bin Laden), an accolade perfectly timed for the day Rachel Hunter told the media she was dumping the star. Poor Robbie.
Ozzy Osbourne was hero of the year, his show 'The Osbournes' was voted best TV show, '24 Hour Party People' won best film and Avril Lavigne was named sexiest woman. Reading / Leeds was named event of the year, though no indication if it was the music, or post Festival riot that caused it to be so popular.
There were two sets of awards on the night – those actually presented to the amassed celebs – and those merely announced in a press release. Presented on the night:
Best Band: The Libertines
Best Live Band: The Datsuns
Best Solo Artist: Ryan Adams
Album of the Year: Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Best UK Band: Oasis
The Fuck Me! Award for Innovation: Polyphonic Spree
Best Video: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Whatever Happened to my Rock 'n' Roll
Best Radio Show: Steve Lamacq
Best Single: The Vines - Get Free
Single of the Year: Doves - There Goes The Fear
Best International Band: The Hives
Best LP: Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Artist of the Year: Oasis
Godlike Genius: The Clash
Announced on a sheet of paper:
Hot New Band: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Best TV Show: The Osbournes
Best Film: 24 Hour Party People
Most Sexy Man: Chris Martin
Most Sexy Woman: Avril Lavigne
Villain of the Year: Robbie Williams
Hero of the Year: Ozzy Osbourne
Best Live Venue: London Astoria
Best Haircut: Liam Gallagher
Best Dressed: The Hives
Worst Album: Robbie Williams - Escapology
Worst Single: Robbie Williams - Feel
Worst Band: Nickelback
Worst Haircut: Jack Osbourne
Worst Dressed: Christina Aguilera
Best Event: Carling Reading/Leeds Festival
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KELLY PULLS OUT OF NME AFTER HEATHROW TERRORIST THREAT
Talking of the NME Awards, Kelly Osbourne started what might become something of a trend when she cancelled her appearance at the awards after seeing those tanks arrive at Heathrow. Scared her plane might be shot out of the sky as it approached the London airport she decided to stay in the US. Although no one really missed her from the NME Awards some industry insiders reckon more paranoid US stars may now call off UK trips – with Pink said to reconsidering her trip to perform at the Brits later this month and Avril Lavigne and Justin Timberlake both said to be wavering.
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MORE POPSTARS ADD NAMES TO ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT
And talking of planes being blown out of the sky, the list of musicians adding their names to the anti-war movement continues to grow. Travis, Craig David, Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Damon Albarn, Jarvis Cocker, Bob Geldof, Annie Lennox and Sting have all put their names to an anti-war petition published in the Guardian (preaching to the converted perhaps!).
The advert reads: "We add our voices to the growing and broad range of domestic and international opinion opposed to the United States proposed military action on Iraq. We believe that such a war would be both immoral and contrary to international law. It would inevitably further destabalise the situation in the Middle East. We urge the British government to withhold support for a war on Iraq and call on all who support peace and respect international law to take a similar stand."
Many of those on the petition are expected to join the half million plus protesters who will march against the war in London tomorrow, where both Damon Albarn and Ms Dynamite will speak and perform. More info about the march at www.stopthewar.org.uk.
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CANADIAN BRITS ANNOUNCE NOMINATIONS
Meanwhile, talking about awards (because we were), the nominations for the Canadian Brits were announced yesterday, with Avril Lavigne leading the field with six nominations. Needless to say fellow Canadian Celine Dion isn’t far behind with five nominations, while jazz singer/pianist Diana Krall and rockers Nickelback are up against Dion, Lavigne and Shina Twain for the audience voted favourite artist award.
Full nominations lists for this year's Juno Awards, which take place on 6 Apr, are at www.juno-awards.ca.
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PRODIGY LIAM PROMISES NEW MATERIAL AT MIAMI
Liam Howlett has confirmed he will give a sneak preview of The Prodigy's long awaited new album - 'Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned' - during his DJ set at the Winter Music Conference in Miami next month. Liam, who hasn’t Djed for years, has two sets lined up during the Miami Conference, including one alongside Goldie at the Playboy TV Party on 22 Mar.
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TENACIOUS D PLAN MOVIE WITH LIAM LYNCH
According to the Hollywood Reporter Jack Black and Kyle Gass, aka Tenacious D, will write and star in a new movie to be directed by 'whatever man' Liam Lynch. The project is being developed by New Line Cinema who are in negotiations with Ben Stiller's Red Hour Films to produce. Word is the film will tell us how the duo became the greatest band on Earth.
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LIVE REVIEW: Antihero @ The Monarch on 12 Feb
A lot can happen in nine months. It is the gestation period of a human child, and it also seems to be the gestation period for twee little Fisher-Price punksters to turn into full on rock champions. After the release of their debut single in May (a sugary punk pop affair backed with stunning B-sides) Antihero have grown up, and have come to The Monarch to give it a good shake down. Hard edged guitar riffs are paired with semi-shambolic stage antics, producing a live show that's tighter than Chad Kroeger's leather pants. A pregnant pause for re-tuning brings us to 'Disconnected' - loud and shameless, hard and fast, a perfect example of what it is to be young and fucked off with the world. You can only wonder what's going to happen in the next nine months. FC
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MORE GLOOM FOR DANCE MAGS
Oh how things come round in circles. Just a few years after we saw the rock magazines go into decline while the dance mags boomed, the reverse is now true. After Ministry axed their flagship dance mag last year (supposedly to allow a revamp, though no news on a replacement), both EMAP's main dance title Mixmag and IPC's Musik are seeing a decline in readership. Mixmag has lost a third of its readers (though the latest figures were going to be significantly lower after it materialised EMAP had included copies of the mag distributed for free in past sales figures) while Muzik saw a 11% decline in its readership.
Meanwhile rock titles aimed at older record buyers continued to boom. IPC's movie and music title Uncut saw an increase of 25% in its readership. EMAP’s Q’s readership was up 12% (despite them too having to knock free distribution off their sales figures). Nostalgia rock title Mojo also saw an albeit slight rise in readership.
As for the big two rock titles aiming at the younger market, IPC’s NME is still struggling to close the gap on the ever successful Kerrang! – the former selling 73,338 copies a week, the latter 84,173.
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GOOD CHARLOTTE RESPOND TO CORAL CRITICISM
Brit nominees The Coral have attempted to start a new rock rivalry by describing fellow pop rockers Good Charlotte (whose 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous' entered the chart last week after much radio play) as being a "boy band with spikes".
Responding to Radio 1 the Good Charlotte boys have said: "The funny thing is we'd never even heard of The Coral. We came over to London and someone says, 'This band, The Coral, they said that you guys are O-Town with spikey hair'. It's kinda cheap to take a crack like that at a band who you've never met. They can say whatever they want - we're not going to talk shit back about them. It was pretty stupid."
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TWO INTIMATE GIGS ANNOUNCED
Two intimate gigs worth looking out for. Firstly the next Carling Homecoming event will see Primal Scream play at The Garage in hometown Glasgow on 11 Apr. The 500 tickets for the event can be won at www.carlinglive.com.
Meanwhile, Badly Drawn Boy has announced he will play a one-off acoustic show at the Comedy Store, Manchester on 9 Mar. Billed as BDB’s only Manchester show this year he will be supported by James Yorkston and the Athletes, and Aidan Smith. Tickets, limited to two per person, need to be bought directly from his label – send a cheque (£15 per ticket) made payable to Twisted Nerve Records to 4th Floor, 50 Newton Street, Manchester.
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REVIEW: Stephen Jones - Almost Cured of Sadness (Sanctuary)
This is not an appealing album to look at. The front cover is a skull in a bag. Nice. But apparently it's from the Mexican Day of the Dead, so is happy. Opener ‘Keys to the Brain’ is almost Sabres of Paradise, crunching beats and bass, with Jones’ weird high-pitched vocals over the top. The overall effect is extremely sinister, as is the rest of the album, building up to the climactic ‘My Girlfriend Killed Jesus’ which, for those of you with eclectic tastes, resembles something from Alice Cooper’s 1975 masterwork ‘Welcome to my Nightmare’ before stopping, then reappearing as ‘I Can Sing a Rainbow’. In between, a disturbing happy-sad danse macabre plays out for your listening pleasure, played out in lounge-trance style, a series of Ween lullabies about drawing doors in sick, and hippies in a sty... Lovely. MB
Release date: 3 Mar
Press contact: Excess Press [all]
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UK NETWORK PLAN TWO NEW CHANNELS
The UKTV network, the cable channels co-owned by Flextech and the BBC, are considering launching two new channels - UK Nature and UK Comedy - their programme content pretty self-evident.
A comedy channel would be an interesting addition because last year the network axed its Play UK channel which combined music and comedy programming. At the time Flextech argued there was too much crossover between the comedy programming on Play UK, and the comedy screened on the network’s flagship channel UK Gold. However some thought the timing of the station's axing was convenient – Play UK was positioned as a 'youth station' at launch and was axed as the BBC started its plans to launch its youth station BBC 3.
Play UK was somewhat unique within the UKTV network for the amount of original programming it aired (most of the UK channels rely on BBC archive for its programming). Whether original shows would be commissioned for UK Comedy, or if the classic comedy strands of the UK Gold schedules would just be shifted onto the new channel, remains to be seen.
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GERI TEAMS UP WITH ROBBIE COLLABORATOR
Geri Halliwell has apparently nabbed the former songwriting partner of old flame Robbie Williams as she starts work on her next album. Guy Chambers is reported to have written two tracks with Geri: a dance track called 'Superstar' and an untitled ballad.
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SONY INCUBUS FEUD ROLLS ON
The Sony / Incubus feud is developing well. As reported on Monday the band are hoping to get out of their contract with Sony label Epic – claiming they have fulfilled all their obligations to the label even though they have only recorded three of the seven albums included in the original contract signed seven years ago. The band's management are relying on an LA law which says entertainment companies can only hold artists to a seven year exclusivity deal.
In response to the band's legal action in LA, Sony have launched a legal campaign in New York asking the courts to force the band to deliver those seven albums as per the original contract claiming they could lose tens of millions of dollars if the band are allowed to drop out of their obligations.
In response fans of the band have started a 'Free Incubus' campaign – selling 'Free Incubus' t-shirts via www.cafeshops.com/incublue.
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OZZY AND JACK TO ANNOUNCE OZZFEST LINE UP
Things come round so quickly each year. Ozzy and Jack Osbourne will front a press conference at their Beverley Hills home next Tuesday to announce the line-up for this summer's Ozzfest. Press are asked to report to the Beverly Hills Hotel at 11.45 am where they will be shuttle bused to the Osbourne home.
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BUSTED CHANGE SONG NAME
CMU’s favourite boy band of the moment Busted have changed the name of their next single out of respect for the recent space shuttle tragedy. The track was originally titled 'Crash And Burn' but now goes by the name 'But You Said No'.
No news on whether any bands will change their names, or song titles, if and when we go to war with Iraq. During the last Gulf War Massive Attack temporarily dropped the Attack bit of their name. That said, given 3D’s huge support for the anti-war campaign, he’ll probably change their name to Massive Unprovoked And Frankly Illegal Attack. See you on the march.
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Answer to Thursday's pop quiz:
Claims to fame: What record did the singles chart on 15 April 2000 achieve (it had something to do with the top six)?
It was the first time ever that all of the top six were new entries: with new entries from Craig David, Sweet Female Attitude, Richard Ashcroft, Steps, the Bloodhound Gang and Lock ‘n’ Load.