| CMU Daily - on the inside 16 Jun 2003 |
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In today's CMU Daily:
• Mean Fiddler to open new venue
• BBC and sky: friends again
• Review: Cody Chesnutt - The Headphone Masterpiece
• American Spree in Hollywood
• More up Blur's sleeve
• Zwan cancel UK dates
• More 4
• More awards for Sting
• Brits honoured in Songwriter Awards
• Nitzen gets promotion at Arista
• Live Review: Jeff Klein, The Borderline, 3 Jun
• New venue in west London
• More for the 80's tour
• Dispassionate Westlife manager apologises
• Review: Dannii Minogue - Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling
• Ils to mix next Y4K
• Supergroup from hell
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CHART UPDATE
Well, following their sudden rise to success, Evanescence are holding on with a second week atop the singles chart with 'Bring Me To Life', just beating the other longstanding best seller R Kelly, still at 2 with 'Ignition'. Two new entries in the top 5 - Christina Aguilera is back with 'Fighter' at 3 and Dannii Mingoue has the infectious Madonna sampling 'Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling' at 5. Lot's of new entries this week, though only few worth mentioning - Linkin Park go in at 15 with 'Faint' while the quite frankly fantastic Thrills go in at 17 with 'Big Sur'.
Albums wise, no real surprise, Radiohead go straight in at 1 with 'Hail To The Thief', knocking Stereophonics down to 2 with 'You Gotta Go There To Come Back'. I've always had a soft spot for Ms Lennox, so we're pleased to see Annie back in the charts with 'Bare' at 3. Another new entry of note is Grandaddy's 'Sumday' at 22. There are a few 'Best Of's that might be worth your time - Paul Young at 27, the late and very great Nina Simone at 33 and a remastered version of Queen's fantastic 1986 Wembley gig at 38.
Probably the biggest news of the week albums wise is that Justin has finally fallen out of the Top 5 - 'Justified' slips down to number 10 (who is it that hasn't got his album yet?). Whether his huge success is on the wane, or if his album will see another surge when the next single hits the radio, remains to be seen.
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MEAN FIDDLER TO OPEN NEW VENUE
London's Astoria has finally fought off the threat of closure by the local Westminster City Council, who threatened to shut the popular venue after two men were shot in Nov 2001 whilst attending a So Solid Crew gig.
The Mean Fiddler have marked their victory by announcing the news that they have won a decision to uphold their Public Entertainment Licence for a new club in Picadilly.
With it's 4am license, the club will combine a cabaret club with restaurant and live music facilities on the site of and old cinema.
Vince Power, Chairman of Mean Fiddler, said: "I am delighted with the outcome of the hearing yesterday. To prevent our plans for the creation of the cabaret club in Piccadilly would have been unfortunate for the West End. I am very excited about the future of this club, which I believe will be a beneficial addition to the Mean Fiddler live music venues. Furthermore, it is great news that Westminster Council has withdrawn the appeal against the Astoria. It would have made no sense to seek the closure of this unique venue. The list of popular bands that have entertained fans there over the years speaks for itself. Mean Fiddler has every intention of continuing to provide live musical entertainment of the highest quality there for years to come."
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BBC AND SKY: FRIENDS AGAIN
Differences between the BBC and Sky have been resolved. Their long term working partnership came unstuck when the BBC proposed sending out its satellite broadcasts in an unencrypted form. This would mean that the decoding device currently administered by Sky costing the BBC millions a year would be redundant.
Sky claimed that if the BBC signals were unencrypted they could no longer control things like, making sure all the regional news got to the right areas.
With this as ammunition, Sky said that BBC channels could no longer be in the top channel spots. The BBC have said that it is abhorrent that Sky should be blackmailing large amounts of the licence fee payers money out of Auntie.
But the two broadcasters have put this friction behind them in the striking of a deal that sees the BBC paying a smaller fee to use new technology that allows the regional opt outs without traditional encryption.
These discussions have brought to Sky's attention that other terrestrial broadcasters may follow suit and unencrypt their signals, cutting Sky out of more decoding income.
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REVIEW: Cody Chesnutt - The Headphone Masterpiece (One Little Indian)
Cody Chesnutt's double debut CD not only profiles a wealth of music - 36 tracks, it showcases his songwriting, instrumental, singing and lyrical skills: raw roots guitar and gritty honesty through sweet Henrix-esque vocals. After his previous band dumped him, he recorded the whole album in his room with only a guitar and 4-track, and its low-fi edge is one of it's greatest qualities. The Roots' last 12" 'The Seed' uses refrains from Chesnutt's song by the same name, and when you here Chesnutt's organic ghetto-mystic music you'll see why. Hiphop is re-evolving: when you don't have Dre's studio, you can still make a longplayer with as much soul as a size 14. Absolutely amazing. JG
Release date: 14 Jul
Press Contact: One Little Indian IH [all]
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AMERICAN SPREE IN HOLLYWOOD
The Polyphonic Spree have just signed to Hollywood Records in America in a deal that includes a cut of any live takings. The deal may sound like the spree are conceding a lot, but founder Tim DeLaughter seems confident in his decision.
"I didn't have any hesitation about giving up touring money because I knew if we were going to continue to let our live show flourish, we needed help. The contract is structured so that the master tapes eventually come back to the group."
Chairman of Hollywood parent company, Buena Vista Music Group, Bob Cavallo, said; "We can to spread the group's message across the Disney landscape. I can use the theme parks, television, the ABC family, our theatrical division, and other areas to break this band."
DeLaughter admits that he already has plans to make a children's album for Walt Disney Records.
'The Beginning Stages of...', will be out in the US on 24 Jun, and will come with a four-track bonus disc. The spree already have a new album penciled in for next year.
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MORE UP BLUR'S SLEEVE
Blur have just announced that the B-side to their next single 'Crazy Beat' will feature a brand new song, recorded after 'Think Tank' was finished.
'The Outsider' will feature on the single, available in three formats - 7", CD and DVD - alongside 'Don't Be' which is also not on the LP.
The enhanced features include the video for 'Crazy Beat' made by 'Out of Time' director John Hardwick The DVD also features the 'Crazy Beat' video from Cmu's favourite animation and design collective Shynola.
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ZWAN CANCEL UK DATES
Zwan have cancelled all of their remaining tour dates for family reasons. List of cancelled dates:
27 Jun: Glastonbury
9 Jul: London, Brixton Academy
10 Jul: Manchester, Manchester Apollo
12 Jul: Glasgow, T in the Park
13 Jul: Dublin, Witnness Festival
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MORE 4
Mark Thompson, Channel 4's CEO has confirmed that the network will be launching a new digital channel on Freeview by the end of next year. Thompson said: "Plans for the station are still in the early stages."
Although at first the likelihood is that the channel will be a one hour time-shifted version of C4, Thompson hinted that it could be a factual-based channel showing programmes such as 'Faking It' and 'Equinox'.
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MORE AWARDS FOR STING
With another album due for Sep, Sting has been awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.
In 2002 he received a Grammy, a Golden Globe Award, an Emmy, three BMI Awards, the Ivor Novello award for international achievement, the 2002 Brit Award for outstanding contribution to British music and was inducted into the songwriters hall of fame.
It was also recognized that he had made great contributions to charity, including those regarding fund-raising for rainforests and human.
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BRITS HONOURED IN SONGWRITER AWARDS
Queen, Phil Collins and Van Morrison have been added to the Songwriters Hall of Fame with Patti LaBelle, Tony Bennett and label chief Clive Davis at the Awards last Thursday.
Brian May said: "I do think that maybe now people are looking more deeply at what we did. Yes, we were pretty flashy and we were pretty loud and at moments we seemed very outrageous, but there was a lot of honest craftsmanship that went on behind that."
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NITZEN GETS PROMOTION AT ARISTA
Joe Mama Nitzberg has been promoted to the position of senior vice president of creative services for Arista in the US.
Already Creative Director for imaging - photography, packaging, marketing, and advertising - Nitzberg will now also be in charge of the creative aspects of the Arista website, as well as overseeing DVD production.
The label said: "Joe has exhibited a willingness to take on an ever-increasing number of responsibilities in the creative and visual field at Arista. He flourishes as his areas of concentration continue to expand, and we couldn't be happier to welcome him to the senior management team of Arista."
Nitzberg arrived at Arista two years ago, having been the Creative Director at Interscope Geffen A&M.
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LIVE REVIEW: Jeff Klein, The Borderline, 3 Jun
Take one man, one acoustic guitar, and one cowboy-style checked shirt, sit back and feel yourself completely melt. Opening up with 'Everything is Alright,' Mr Klein grabs the attention of every man, woman and 'in between' in the room, silencing the constant noisy chatter and taming that beast we call the crowd.
No, he's not shouting or mincing about with a daft dance routine. He's just a ruggedly good looking man's man singing about "writing out your suicide notes since you were thirteen" and presenting you with some of the most beautiful music you will ever hear.
Joined by his three man band, and with a quick guitar change Jeff holds your hand through fourteen tracks.
The night features the very popular latest single 'Another Breakdown' and 'I'm Sorry Sweet Emily', which he ends without the mic, blowing everyone away with the strength of his voice.
On record he sounds like he's holding you and simultaneously offering a ray of hope as well as a shoulder to cry on. In person, it almost feels as if he's singing personally to you. Jeff Klein sings about being human, about being a person, about broken dreams and broken hearts ("if you break my heart, I'll break every fucking bone you have"), and this he does amazingly well. MY
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NEW VENUE IN WEST LONDON
The partnership behind West London's Cherry Jam club, Ben Watt and Alan Grant, have announced further details of their new club Neighbourhood, due to open in September.
The 500-capacity club will fill the gap left by Subterania, and looks likely to be the first major venue to open in the area for 15 years.
Grant said: "Interest in our nights at Cherry Jam far outweighs capacity, especially at weekends. Neighbourhood is the logical step; large enough to alleviate the queues, but still small enough to retain the right spirit."
Watt said: "I'm very proud of the off-peak night programme at Cherry Jam, and its low capacity makes it possible for that to continue."
Rumour has it that Neighbourhood will open with a 3-day weekend festival.
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MORE FOR THE 80'S TOUR
The eighties 'Here And Now' tour has T'Pau and Curiosity Killed the Cat join the bill. ABC, Five Star, Paul Young, Kim Wilde, Howard Jones, Heaven 17, Nick Hayward and China Crisis will all be performing.
The tour dates are as follows:
12 Dec: Sheffield Arena
13 Dec: Brighton Centre
14 Dec: Cardiff International Arena
17 Dec: Newcastle Arena
18 Dec: Manchester Evening News Arena
19 Dec: Wembley Arena
20 Dec: Birmingham NEC
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DISPASSIONATE WESTLIFE MANAGER APOLOGISES
Westlife manager Louis Walsh has apologised for saying that "the Special Olympics are little more than an ego trip for its organizers".
In an interview in Saturday's Irish Times Walsh said that the games - held in Dublin for people with learning disabilities - were "not the kind of thing you want to watch on TV".
In his apology on Sunday, he said that his comments were aimed only at public figures using the event as a public relations stunt.
The opening ceremony in Dublin this coming Saturday will include performances from U2, the Corrs, Westlife and Samantha Mumba.
Walsh said: "A lot of public figures use the Special Olympics as a great photo opportunity and a PR stunt for them, but I would never want to hurt or insult anybody and I apologise to anyone I did hurt or insult. It was never my intention to insult anybody, especially the tens of thousands of people that work on the Special Olympics behind the scenes.
Special Olympics chief executive Mary Davies said; "The remarks are an insult to all the people of Ireland. I have no idea why he ever chose to say that but I think that the people will be very dismissive of it because it was such an insult to them."
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REVIEW: Dannii Minogue -Don't Wanna Lose This Feeling (Warners/London)
With this, the fourth single from current album 'Neon Lights', the other Minogue offers us a well-timed sexy summer pop anthem. Okay, so perhaps this may be one of those tunes that sounds fantastic mainly when the sun IS shining and there IS a gorgeous summer breeze in your hair, and not quite so good when the grey clouds are rolling over. But with a ridiculously catchy remix entitled 'Don't Wanna Lose This Groove' (Yep, you've guessed it... Madonna 'Get Into The Groove' samples ahoy). MY
Release date: 9 Jun
Press Contact: London IH [all]
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ILS TO MIX NEXT Y4K
Due for release 14 Jul, Distinctive Records have announced that Ils will compile the next in the 'Y4K' series.
The label promise that the mix will be 'an untamed blend of his own productions and remixes for the likes of Roni Size, Layo & Bushwacka! and FC Kahuna'.
Ils' 'Soul Trader' LP on Brighton imprint Marine Parade was nominated for Album of the Year in the 2002 Muzik Magazine Awards.
Other installments of 'Y4K' have been compiled by Tayo and Freq Nasty.
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SUPERGROUP FROM HELL
Liam Gallagher fiancée Nicole Appleton, her sister Natalie and husband Liam Howlett (ex-Prodigy), have recorded a song as NLLN (representing their initials: see what they did there).
Nicole told the Sun that they only ever perform at the home of Prodigy star Liam. "We did a song together called 'Drop The Gun'. Liam screamed so loud we couldn't hear. We came up with the name just like Abba. But we only do gigs at Liam's house."