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This week, as I deftly combine all my usual work with a little bit of ThreeWeeks stuff, I have been attempting to listen to the mountain of CDs on my desk. To be honest, it hasn't been that successful, but I have discovered some cool new and recent music in the process.

The Big Pink's album was on rotation for much of yesterday, Trip's debut was nicely poppy, as was My Toys Like Me's (particularly the brilliant 'Sweetheart'). The Gossip's new one was okay, but I preferred Beth Ditto's contribution to Simian Mobile Disco's. Jonsi & Alex's 'Riceboy Sleeps' was beautiful, Sian Alice Group were a joy and Le Loup, Part Chimp and UUVVWWZ were certainly worth going back to for further investigation.

This barely scratched the surface of all the music I could be listening to, which leads me to the incredibly obvious conclusion that there is a hell of a lot of music out there. Back in the days when I was spending my entire student loan on records, I used to take my weekly (or was it daily?) trip down to the local independent record shop with a view to buy something. Nothing specific, just something. Which often left me standing, slightly bewildered at the sheer amount of CDs I had to choose from. And it was quite a small shop, too.

The amount of music available is still astounding. It makes me happy to know that, while we're constantly being told that the music industry is in its death throes (even though it's not), there is still a long queue of people waiting to get into it.

Anyway, those are just some of the thoughts from inside my head. What have we got in this week's CMU Weekly? Well, as you asked so nicely, there is news, some reviews, some quotes, and some tips. We've got interviews with bands like The Cribs, Sister Sledge, Marina & The Diamonds and the aforementioned Sian Alice Group. And we've also got a little joke right at the end.

For this week's competition, we've teamed up with ThreeWeeks to give you the chance to win tickets to see The Streets at this year's Edge Festival, one of the musical parts of the wider Edinburgh Festival that's going on right at this very moment.

Don't believe me? Go look for yourself.

Team CMU
 


 
 
  MARIAH'S NEW ALBUM TO CARRY ADVERTS
The artwork for Mariah Carey's new album, 'Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel', will carry adverts, it has been announced. Due for release on 15 Sep via Island Def Jam, the album will come with a specially created miniature Mariah-centric edition of Elle magazine as the CD booklet, containing adverts for Elizabeth Arden, Angel Champagne, Carmen Steffens, Le Métier de Beauté and the Bahamas Board of Tourism, as well as short articles on the singer, lyrics and the usual credits. A condensed version of the mini-magazine, minus the CD-specific elements, will be inserted into subscription copies of the October issue of Elle (published shortly after the album's release) and in the US the CD will be sold alongside Carey's new perfume, cunningly called Fragrance, at its manufacturer Elizabeth Arden's counters in WalMart stores. With ad revenues funding 100% of the booklet's printing costs, Island Def Jam are hoping that if this experiment goes well, they will be able to sell off the artwork of albums by Kanye West, Rihanna and Bon Jovi in a similar fashion. The label's chairman, Antonio 'LA' Reid told Brand Week: "My artists have substantial circulation - when you sell two million, five million, eight million, that's a lot of eyeballs. Most magazines aren't as successful as those records. A smart consumer products company that understands the value in distributing music is going to restore the vitality of our business. If we distribute music properly and if it's done tastefully, it could be a huge profit centre for all of us. That is the missing link - we need partnerships".
     
 

CHRIS BROWN'S SENTENCING DELAYED
Chris Brown was due to be sentenced on Wednesday, after pleading guilty last month to assaulting his former girlfriend Rihanna back in February. He will now receive his sentence on 27 Aug, as the judge in the case wants to give him a harder sentence that the one originally agreed in a plea deal. As previously reported, as part of a plea deal in exchange for saying he was guilty, Brown was offered a sentence of five years probation, 180 days of community service, 52 weeks of domestic violence counselling and a fine. However, Judge Patricia Snegg thinks that is too light, and wants to increase the community service to 1400 hours. She has delayed the sentencing while she awaits specific documents from the State of Virginia explaining exactly what and how much work Brown will be doing. Rihanna and her legal team, meanwhile, are backing a relaxation of the court order banning Chris Brown from coming within 50 yards of her, something which will also be decided on when Brown is sentenced. At an earlier hearing, Judge Schnegg said she would consider a less restrictive order, which would allow the pair to come into contact with each other. This has, of course, lead to rumours that the former couple are back together again, or are planning to be.

     
  BEASTIE BOY'S CANCER SURGERY A SUCCESS
Beastie Boys' Adam 'MCA' Yauch has undergone surgery to remove a tumour from the salivary gland in his throat. As previously reported, Yauch revealed that he had cancer to fans in a video statement released via the band's official website last month. As a result, Beastie Boys cancelled their upcoming tour dates and pushed back the release of their new album, 'Hot Sauce Committee Part 1'. The surgery was reportedly successful, but Yauch will still have to receive radiation treatment, which is due to begin soon. In an email to fans, the rapper said: "I'm pretty well detoxed from the anaesthesia that they pumped me up with to keep me under for all that time. That took several days to get out of my system. My neck and jaw are still pretty stiff from the surgery, but it gets better everyday. Things are moving along. The next line of treatment will be radiation. That involves blasting you with some kind of beam for a few minutes a day, five days a week, for about seven weeks".
     
 

FORMER SPACE DRUMMER DIES
Former drummer with Liverpool indie band Space Andy Parle died suddenly at the weekend, aged 42. Eyewitnesses said that Parle tripped and fell while trying to run across a road, after leaving a chip shop in Liverpool at around 11.30pm on Saturday. People nearby ran to his assistance and called paramedics, who managed to revive him, but he later died in the Royal Liverpool Hospital. Police say they are treating the death as "unexplained" but confirmed they are not investigating the possibility that Parle died in a road accident or assault. Andy Parle co-founded Space with frontman Tommy Scott and guitarist Jamie Murphy in 1993. He left the band in 1998 after they completed the recording of their second album, 'Tin Planet'. In his time with the band, he performed on most of their biggest hits, including 'Female Of The Species', 'Neighbourhood' and 'Me And You Versus The World'. A police spokesperson said they are appealing to anyone in the Park Road area around the time of Parle's death, in particular taxi drivers, for whom it is a busy route. A post mortem will be conducted to attempt to determine the cause of death.
     
 

DAVE GROHL INSPECTS HIS ALLEY
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has returned to his home town of Warren, Ohio to formally open an alley named after him. Market Street Alley was renamed Dave Grohl Alley in October last year following a campaign led by local radio DJ Fast Eddie and police sergeant Joe O'Grady. Local paper The Tribune Chronicle reported at the time that some residents were concerned about how much the move would cost the city, but the name change was passed unanimously at a vote by the local council. At a dedication ceremony held at the weekend, Grohl was also given the keys to city. He told the crowd: "I had to come. It's such a huge deal. When I was a kid, I used to love to come here. This is one of my favourite places in the world". I'm not entirely sure whether he meant the city or the alley was one of his favourite places in the world. Perhaps both. After the ceremony, Grohl played drums with local band Love Turns hate, as well as performing a number of Foo Fighters songs. In other Grohl news, he this week announced the live debut of his new supergroup with Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, Them Crooked Vultures, in Chicago this Saturday.
     
  REVIEWS
On Twitter this week, when mentioning famous musicians in a slightly sarcastic tone, I have started getting replies from their more crazed fans. Neither sarcastic or crazed are our reviewers, who have written about Echaskech and James Yorkston & The Big Eyes Family Players, plus James Lavelle's first mix CD for five years here.
     

Want more? Want daily in-depth music news? Want all this for free? Well, ha, you're in luck. Click here to subscribe to the CMU Daily.

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WIN TICKETS TO SEE THE STREETS AT EDGE FESTIVAL
Since launching as T On The Fringe in 2000, the Edge Festival injects an enviable music programme into the Edinburgh Festival each August, taking over eight venues in the city for a whole month and bussing in an astounding mix of international and home-grown talent.

Past acts to grace the Edinburgh stage at Edge include Pixies, Muse, Kanye West, Radiohead, Morrissey, Nancy Sinatra, Franz Ferdinand and Arcade Fire.

This year, the line-up includes The Streets, David Byrne, Faith No More, Calvin Harris, Amanda Palmer, Biffy Clyro, N-Dubz, Broken Records, Frightened Rabbit and more.

So, you see, the Edinburgh Festival isn't all about jugglers.

 

 

We've teamed up with our sister publication ThreeWeeks, who are valiantly covering this year's Edinburgh Festival as we speak, to give away two tickets to see The Streets' Edge show at the HMV Picturehouse in Edinburgh on 15 Aug. To be in with a chance of getting your hands on them, email competitions@unlimitedmedia.co.uk by 13 Aug.

For more information on Edge Festival, go to www.theedgefestival.com. And to find out more about ThreeWeeks and the Edinburgh Festival, head to www.threeweeks.co.uk

Look what they won...
Well done to Michael Lilley for winning last week's Chris Isaak Christmas competition in CMU Weekly!
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CDs are on the way out, I think we've all decided that now, and Radiohead's Thom Yorke can't wait to see the back of them: "I always hated CDs. Just a fucking nightmare ... There's a process of natural selection going on right now. The music business was waiting to die in its current form about twenty years ago. But then, hallelujah, the CD turned up and kept it going for a bit. But basically, it was dead"
     
 
Robbie Williams reveals his long awaited new album, 'Reality Killed The Video Star', due out in November, will feature a very brief tribute to Michael Jackson: "Michael Jackson died, then. It's all so very sad. [I] couldn't get a lyric to fit on one of the new songs, [so] when he passed away I rewrote it with him in mind. When I say 'I', I mean me and [lyricist] Don Black"
     
 
Graham Coxon is still insisting Blur will play more shows and possibly record: "We're talking about doing some more shows abroad... I'm not sure how much I can say about that, but we're definitely talking about it. I think I said [to Damon that recording a new album would] be quite good fun. That's as far as it's gone. We didn't bother really talking about it, we were just having a good time"
     
 
Calvin Harris says lazy mainstream dance producers are stopping people from discovering the good stuff: "I just wish the bigger artists weren't so lazy. It's up to them to sustain the scene they created. You've got to have these tunes to keep the underground music alive as well. Commercial dance music is a gateway for people to get into dance music they wouldn't hear on commercial radio"
     
 
Former Ordinary Boy Samuel Preston says he regrets walking off 'Never Mind The Buzzcocks' in a huff in 2007: "It was just an uncomfortable situation. I wanted the floor to swallow up and eat me, so I did the next best thing and ran away, which is terrible, because I'm really not the sort of person to walk away from confrontation, I'm normally the sort of person to talk it out"
     
 
Daniel Merriweather likes to look at porn, but it's okay, ladies; he's supporting feminism by doing so: "My guilty pleasure is porn, porn is great. People say its misogynistic, but I think people who like porn are in support of feminist movements, like myself. I am all for it, I feel like women's liberation is part of me, it's a cause I want to fight, yet I like porn. You can have the cake and eat it too"
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Radiohead release song in memory of war veteran. Radiohead have released a new song in memory of World War I veteran Harry Patch, who died last month. Entitled 'Harry Patch (In Memory Of)', the song can be downloaded from the band's website for £1, with all proceeds going to the Royal British Legion. Or you can stream it via the BBC's website - news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8184000/8184802.stm
     
 

Simian Mobile Disco. A lot of people are getting very excited about the new SMD album, which features contributions from a bevy of excellent vocalists, including Gossip's Beth Ditto, Hot Chip's Alexis Taylor and, on first single 'Audacity Of Huge', Chris Keating of Yeasayer. Particularly good are Ditto's vocals on 'Cruel Intentions', which prove her ideally suited to dance music - hypem.com/search/simian%20mobile/1/
     
  Awesome Wells. Multi instrumentalist Awesome Wells has been recording in variously bizarre locations for a couple of years, taking heed from the Matthew Herbert school of production by incorporating the sound of a china plate smashing with a Ukrainian train station at dawn and the more conventional sonance - though still relatively unconventional - of a flugelhorn - www.myspace.com/awsomewels
     
  Underworld play iPhone gig. In celebration of the release of the entire Underworld back catalogue on iTunes, the dance duo will perform the world's first free live audio-visual show beamed from Fox Theatre in Oakland straight to iPhones tonight. If you want full details, head here. While you're waiting, download this live version of 'Born Slippy' - www.magnumpr.net/media/underworld/Born_Slippy.mp3
     
 

Reverie Sound Revue. Plucked from the same scene as fellow Canadians Broken Social Scene, Reverie Sound Revue have been creating their debut record since forming in 2002, finally releasing it in June this year. Taking cue from the delicate, sometimes eerie sounds of Electrelane, the songs rarely break into a canter, and when they do the pace change is signalled by a short explosion of hi-hat - www.myspace.com/reveriesoundrevue
     
  Sunn O))) soundtrack jeans advert. 'Bow 1', a track from Sunn O)))'s 2001 album 'Flight Of The Behemoth', has been used in a new advert for Norwegian design agency and clothing company Anti-Sweden's new line of 'True Black Metal Jeans'. The jeans will also feature the occult-inspired artwork of American artist and Sunn O))) collaborator Justin Bartlett on their labels. So now you know - www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxjGPRPODyc
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  Q1 How did you start out making music?
THE CRIBS: "Out of boredom. Plain and simple. We lived in a nowhere town in the north of England, with nothing better to do really - unless you were into rugby or football, which we emphatically weren't - there were no real outlets. We had grown up listening to punk, and it seemed the message was always just about DIY - there was no excuse but to have a go at least"

Read more of The Cribs' answers
   
  Q2 What inspired your music?
SISTER SLEDGE: "We consider ourselves to be extremely musically ambitious, and have been lucky enough to have an unusual number of big hits, and are thankful for all the blessings we continue to receive. We are thankful for the many people that still appreciate our music"

Read more of Sister Sledge's answers
   
  Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
SIAN ALICE GROUP: "We're obsessed by sound and tone, and we like work fast and constantly. The writing and recording process is completely self-sufficient. Songs themselves come from many approaches, but to summarise, I'd say it's an even mix of traditional songwriting, improvisation and remixing. We mix as we record and work on a bunch of tracks at the same time. Lyrics and vocals come towards the end. Although nothing is hard and fast!"

Read more of Sian Alice Group's answers
   
  Q4 Which artists influence your work?
THE ROGUE ELEMENT: "I would say the dance supergroups of the 90s like Leftfield, Fluke, Underworld and obviously Chems/Prodigy etc. Also a lot of the rock music that I heard in my early teens like Rage Against The Machine, Soundgarden and Alice In Chains fundamentally changed my relationship with music. I remember hearing 'Bombtrack' when RATM's debut came out and something definitely clicked in me, it had an instantaneous effect that I haven't experienced since"

Read more of The Rogue Element's answers
   
  Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
ARMY NAVY: "'Hello there sir/madam, you are quite handsome/beautiful, and you must have wonderful musical taste'. It's always good to start out with a bit of flattery"

Read more of Army Navy's answers
   
  Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
MARINA & THE DIAMONDS: "I would like my album to touch people. I'm after people's hearts rather than their pockets"

Read more of Marina And The Diamonds' answers
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Customer: Waiter! Waiter! There's a Robbie Williams in my soup!

Waiter: Keep your voice down, everyone will want one!
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