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FRIDAY 5TH FEBRUARY
So, as some of you may already know, next week is Tinnitus Awareness Week.

This is a UK-wide campaign to inform and educate people about the condition, encourage gig-goers to protect their hearing, and promote the range of free services the British Tinnitus Association provides to sufferers and their families.


 
As his first piece of work as an 'ambassador' for the BTA, DJ and presenter Eddy Temple-Morris, himself a tinnitus sufferer, will kick the week off with a very special free event in London. Dubbed 'One Tune: One Cause', Eddy has pulled together a group of more than 25 DJs and musicians, including Eddy himself, Adam F, Jon Carter, Way Out West, Lottie, Streetlife DJs, Burn The Negative, Wrongtom, Jagz Kooner, all of whom have tinnitus, who will take it in turns to play one record each to make up one complete DJ set.

Writing about his experience of tinnitus in CMU Weekly's sister bulletin the Remix Update, Eddy says: "I have a constant high-pitched tone in one or both of my ears, and it's something I carry with me always, wherever I go. I don't notice it in the day, there's too much ambient noise in London, even at night. It's when I go somewhere really quiet, in the countryside, that it really affects me. I lie down to sleep and, with the absence of planes, trains and automobiles, I realise the awful truth that I cannot hear the silence. That lovely sense of total quiet, of blissful peace, is something I will never experience again".

You can read Eddy's full piece on tinnitus, and his advice for avoiding it, in this week's Remix Update here. One Tune: One Cause takes place at Cargo in London on 8 Feb from 8pm to midnight. Entry is free, though donations to the British Tinnitus Association are welcomed.

Now, onto the matter of this week's CMU Weekly. We've got another great playlist for you to listen to (in a way that won't damage your ears, of course). This one's from NME Radio DJ Jon Hillcock, and I have to tell you that I really love it. Not that I haven't loved all the others, because I have, but anything that goes from Sepultura to Pavement to Roots Manuva is going to be a little bit special.

As well as that, we've got all the usual stuff. You know the sort of thing. News, quotes, great music. That sort of thing. Basically, it's all brilliant and you should read it all right now. Then read it again later, just to be sure you got it all. Then maybe read it again next Thursday. We'll be back on Friday with more.

Andy Malt
Editor, CMU

 


 

  BEYONCE AND SWIFT GET HIGHEST GONG COUNT AT GRAMMYS
It was Grammy weekend last weekend, those two days when the US record industry amasses on LA to dish out about 4007 awards, to the great and the good and the deserving and the very lucky and the consistently overrated. Beyonce and Taylor Swift stole the show, the former winning six gongs in total, the latter taking home four, including the coveted Album Of The Year prize. The Black Eyed Peas, Jay-Z and Kings Of Leon got three Grammys each, while Lady Gaga and Eminem each won two. Michael Jackson's eldest two children - Paris and Prince Michael - collected the posthumous lifetime achievement gong on his behalf.
     
  FINALLY, A HAITI SINGLE WE CAN ALL ENJOY
So, by now you've all heard the Simon Cowell organised 'Everybody Hurts' cover for Haiti, a song which is sort of saying to a country half flattened by a terrible earthquake "stop you're moaning, you know, we all get a bit sad sometimes". Meanwhile, with over 100 singers on it, the new version of 'We Are The World' - also in aid of Haiti - is a bit bloated. So, how about a cover of Screamin Jay Hawkins' 'I Put A Spell On You', organised by Shane MacGowan, also in aid of the post-earthquake relief effort, and featuring Nick Cave, Bobby Gillespie, Glen Matlock and Mick Jones? Yes, that sounds quite brilliant.
     
  MUSE AND STEVIE WONDER JOIN U2 AS GLASTO HEADLINERS
Speaking at The Event Production Show this week, Michael Eavis said that Muse have been booked to headline Saturday night at this year's Glastonbury Festival, while it was "probable" that Stevie Wonder will top the bill and close the show on the Sunday night. U2 have, of course, already been announced as the Friday night headliners. Meanwhile, the question of whether or not flags should be banned from the site has been thrown over to the public. Vote here.
     
  REATARD DIED OF OVERDOSE
Despite recent rumours of a homicide investigation, it seems certain cult indie musician Jay Reatard died of an accidental overdose. Memphis newspaper The Commercial Appeal quotes local medical examiner Dr Karen E Chancellor as saying the late singer's death was caused by "cocaine toxicity", with "alcohol a contributing factor". Reatard, real name Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr, died on 12 Jan aged 29.
     
  RONNIE WOOD CHECKS INTO REHAB
Ronnie Wood has checked himself into rehab, according to the Daily Mail. It's apparently his eighth stint in a rehab facility, which, providing he's kept his stamp card safe, presumably means next time it'll be free. The latest stint follows that previously reported altercation with former girlfriend Ekaterina Ivanova, which resulted in a police caution and led to the couple splitting. As previously reported, Keith Richards' recent efforts to give up alcohol were partly put down to his concerns regarding his bandmate's recent OTT boozing. So, you can tell it must have been bad.
     
  BLACK GRAPE REFORM
Shaun Ryder has announced that he is reforming Black Grape, who originally split in 1998. Featuring original members multi-instrumentalist Danny Saber and rapper Kermit amongst the new line-up, the band will play their first show together for more than twelve years on 1 Apr at the Easter edition of the Get Loaded In The Dark club night at The Coronet in London. Ryder told The NME: "It's great, it's interesting, it's part two. I've had a break and now I'm back to do it. Danny Saber and I have a great working relationship and the time is right".
     

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. Or here to access the CMU News-Blog.

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Jon Hillcock, NME Radio
Jon Hillcock is a DJ and presenter. He joined Xfm in 2003, presenting a number of shows, most notably the Saturday night 'New Noise' show, in which he unearthed the hottest up-and-coming sounds and gave many artists, including Arcade Fire and Klaxons, their first ever UK radio play. Last year he moved to NME Radio, taking 'New Noise' with him, where he continues to uncover the big bands of the future. As well as that Saturday night slot, Jon last week took over the 3pm - 7pm weekday slot on the station.

For his Powers Of Ten playlist, Jon takes us through his musical history, from the age of eight to his first Xfm show. In the process, we have learned that Sepultura goes into Pavement surprisingly well.

Says Jon: "The prospect of picking my favourite ever ten songs for a playlist doesn't even bear thinking about, so I've gone for a far more straightforward and obvious Tracks of My Years-style chronological collection of songs that have left an impact on me at some stage in my life. I really shouldn't have done it while armed with a drink".




 
JON HILLCOCK'S TEN
01 Cream Sunshine of Your Love
  Aged 8: The first riff I ever learnt on a real guitar, and probably the first thing I ever played air guitar along to in front of the mirror. I can vividly remember the first time I was taught to play an E Major chord, which magically transformed a piece of wood and strings into something that could reproduce the sound I loved on the records.
02 Aztec Camera Oblivious
  Aged 9: Reminds me of arguing with my sister in the back of my parents' car over who got to sing the main vocal line of which songs. Usually I got the boys, she got the girls (though we'd spend more time telling each other to shush). I got to sing the lead to 'Oblivious', she got the backing Ooooo's and Ahhhh's of the chorus.
03 Joe Walsh Life's Been Good
  Aged 10: I'd be watching telly with my dad, and he'd turn and give me a nod to say 'follow me'. We'd go upstairs and he'd be grinning, as he selected some of his records from the shelf and put each one on, giving me a story about each. It felt like a secret club. I first heard Pink Floyd, Thin Lizzy and The Stones this way, but 'Life's Been Good' stands out, partly because of the striking album sleeve that featured the old Eagle looking kind of drunk underwater in a pool. I particularly love the extended solo before the return to the main riff.
04 Nirvana Scentless Apprentice
  Aged 14: Though I was an enormous fan of 'Nevermind', I didn't really get into Nirvana until a year or two after it came out, having been into all the GNR-style cock rock that Kurt and co were so against (my Dad having given me a copy of 'Use Your Illusion I') at the time. I bought 'In Utero' on the day it was released at Bromley HMV (we actually got mugged by the front of the shop on the day), and it arrived just as the dark cloud of adolescence had started to descend. I'd never heard anything so visceral and angry, and I felt like I'd found my music.
05 Sepultura Roots Bloody Roots
  Aged 16: I'd left school for college where, unlike in the school sixth form, I was able to develop my own, um, unique sense of style. I wore black most days, and had a revolving wardrobe consisting of about eight or nine Metallica t-shirts. I've never been more obsessed with any band; I was in the official Metallica fanclub, spent a fortune on collectable vinyl and box sets, and saw them live many, many times. Sadly, there isn't any Metallica on Spotify (surprise, surprise), so I've gone for another track that reminds me of trekking all way up to the London Astoria for Rockscene on a Friday night.
06 Pavement Stereo
  Aged 19: Towards the end of my time at college, a friend made me a mixtape consisting solely of early Blur, Pavement and Simon And Garfunkel. At first I dismissed it out of hand, refusing to deny my metal - ahem - roots. But after repeated, hazy listening sessions, the loose aesthetic seemed to make perfect sense. I had a lot of catching up to do, thanks to two years devoted to the Church of Hetfield. I still couldn't really see what the appeal of Oasis was though, at least musically.
07 Roots Manuva Witness (One Hope)
  Aged 21: Having been away at university in the Midlands since 1998, I had missed out on the growing popularity of London's new alternative radio station Xfm. It wasn't until I came home one summer and heard that bassy, squelchy intro for the first time (playing on X in the middle of the afternoon) that I realised how exciting it was. Iain Baker's 'X-List' was the first time I'd really heard radio that delivered a string of knockout songs in a row, and I'll never forget hearing Zane Lowe giving the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' 'Bang' its initial spin, clapping and singing along. It really was a whole new world.
08 The White Stripes Black Math
  Aged 23: After uni, I was lucky enough to land a job presenting on the national in-store radio station at Virgin Megastores, VMR, which eventually led to a full time position. Mondays were the best day of the week because we got to walk around the giant store picking out every single new release in every department, in order to listen through for what we could play. Over the course of around three years working there I learnt more than I ever have about an enormous variety of music. One day a plain red vinyl promo 12" of the White Stripes' 'Elephant' turned up and I got to sit in the studio and listen to the lot extremely loud, with completely fresh ears. That was a very good day.
09 LCD Soundystem Losing My Edge
  Aged 24: One afternoon at VMR a fellow DJ - Marsha Shandur - asked if I was familiar with the work of John Kennedy at Xfm (whose new music show by now I had actually become obsessed with), and explained that he was looking for people to help out. I went on to sit in every week for a number of years, which was the best musical and radio tutelage you could ever hope for. I can remember when John first played James Murphy's hipster-baiting 'Losing My Edge', I hated it. Fortunately he had made it his X-Posure Big One, played it every night, and by the time the weekend arrived I was in awe.
10 Born Ruffians This Sentence Will Ruin/Save Your Life
  Aged 26: I covered various shows on Xfm for a while, and eventually got one to call my own - 3am - 7am at weekends. Each night I used to race through the official playlist in order to create space at the end of each hour to fill with something new that I'd been sent. I'll never forget playing 'This Sentence...' to death on that show having received it as a demo from Canada. That crashing drum and guitar intro and those Pixie-ish yelps still give me goosebumps every time, and I continue to wear three Born Ruffians t-shirts far more often than I should.
 
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Faber & Faber editor Lee Brackstone sends an open letter to Morrissey asking him to write an autobiography: "I have been trying to persuade you of the virtues and wisdom of this for some years now. It would be the fulfilment of my most pressing and persistent publishing dream to see that 'ff' sewn into the spine of your life. History demands it; destiny commands it"
     
 
She said last year that she was turning her back on the music industry for good, but it seems Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson has had a change of heart: "Guess who I just spent a week in the studio with? Would you be pleased if I said one of them was called Steve and one of them was called Duke and another was a Grammy-winning producer?" They're all members of Garbage, by the way.
     
 
Mark Ronson has revealed his new album is a radical departure from his last: "There's no covers, and no horns. It's written with some of the people that actually wrote the songs I covered on the last album and that I didn't actually even know at the time. It's quite interesting to write songs from scratch with those people, like Dave McCabe of The Zutons and Nick Hodgson of Kaiser Chiefs"
     
 
Courtney Love says she knows exactly who's behind the alleged fraud that left her nearly bankrupt: "It's like some douchelords. Four fucking douchelords who started a bank. You and I could start a bank tomorrow, it's really easy, I could show you how. I know their wives, I know their sons, I know their gay sons, I know their unhappy daughters, their miserable wives who fucking buy too many diamonds"
     
 
Pete Wentz isn't sure what the future holds for Fall Out Boy: "I don't know the future of Fall Out Boy. As far as I know, Fall Out Boy is on break. As much as I don't have a solo project, I also can't predict that I'd ever play in Fall Out Boy again. In this statement I'd like to include there is the possibility that FOB will play again without me or I will be a part of it when everyone is on the same page"
     
 
Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump is slightly more certain: "I'm not in Fall Out Boy right now... I'm really not worried about Fall Out Boy. I'm so psyched about where I'm at right now, recording this solo album. Whether we play again or not, I don't know. If we do, it will be for the right reasons. If we don't, it will also be for the right reasons. One way or another, the band will always be around"
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  Ash live on the internet. Ash performed live at their own Atomic Heart Studios in New York on Wednesday night, before conducting a Q&A session with fans. Obviously, Wednesday was a little while ago now, so you've missed it. But it's not all bad news, you can still catch the whole thing via the band's website. And you could think of a question and hope that it was one of the ones they answered - www.ash-official.com/live
     
  Free French Horn Rebellion EP. Buzzy duo French Horn Rebellion have released a free EP, featuring some rare tracks and remixes, 'What I Want (Demo Edit)', 'Up All Night (Might Five Remix)', The Quatrain and their remix of 'Tiger City' by Ancient Lover. So that's nice. The band have also just announced that they will be supporting Little Boots on her upcoming US tour - bit.ly/frenchhornep
     
  Evelyn Evelyn. Dresden Dolls frontwoman Amanda Palmer has announced the debut album from Evelyn Evelyn, her side-project with accordion player Jason Webley, which is fronted, so they say, by conjoined twins Evelyn and Evelyn Neville. Now, I'm not saying that's not all completely true, but Evelyn and Evelyn's voices do sound suspiciously like those of Palmer and Webley - www.myspace.com/evelynevelyn
     
  8bitch. Back home in Slovenia, Maya Medvesek is best known as an actress and TV presenter, over here she's becoming increasingly known as Glasgow-based producer 8Bitch, making music which she describes as "a blend of synth-funk, hip hop and techno" and her dad calls "Super Mario jazz". Both are accurate, but one sounds like more fun. Catch a whole host of tracks on her MySpace page - www.myspace.com/thisis8bitch
     
  Bo Ningen. Calling themselves "enlightenment activists", Japanese (and now London-based) psyche-rock band Bo Ningen make sounds like what you might hear if you dropped a load of acid and played albums by Black Sabbath, The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Polysics simultaneously. Though I'm not recommending that you actually try that. It could go horribly wrong. Just assume that I'm right - www.myspace.com/boningen
     
  Class Actress. Forming when New York singer-songwriter Elizabeth Harper hooked up with producer Mark Richardson, following his remix of one of her solo singles, Class Actress was completed when another producer, Scott Rosenthal, also joined. Fans of industrial synth-pop's first iterations will approve of the skittering synthetic snares and Harper's siren-like vocals - www.myspace.com/elizabethharper
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  Q1 How did you start out making music?
FAR: "Just messing around in the basement with grade school buddies. I never had this vision of doing it for my career, just starting loving it and never stopped"

Read more of Far's answers

   
  Q2 What inspired your latest EP?
TRISTRAM: "Little things that are indicative of bigger things. Bicycle theft. The joys and malfunctions of a long term relationship (in the process of coming unstuck). Old school hip hop, especially Public Enemy. All the little thoughts you have when you're sitting on a bus going nowhere. James Dean in 'Rebel Without A Cause'. Zombie films. Astral travel (from a sceptical perspective)"

Read more of Tristram's answers

   
  Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
YEASAYER: "Constant revision. We work with computers a lot, so making a track involves a lot of time throwing in effects and reworking ideas. We aim to maintain a sophisticated aesthetic whilst trying to keep it new"

Read more of Yeasayer's answers

   
  Q4 Which artists influence your work?
DJ HELL: "Kraftwerk, Can, Neu!, Brian Eno, Pink Floyd, Jean Michel Jarre, David Bowie, Depeche Mode... For newer artists, I like what Jay Haze, Michel Cleis and Guy Gerber. Gossip has been my guilty pleasure this year as well. And I can't leave out Martin Margiela and Andy Warhol here either, because I wouldn't be what I am if I wasn't letting myself be influenced by cultures other than music"

Read more of DJ Hell's answers

   
  Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
ANTI-POP CONSORTIUM: "Hopefully you'll experience a unique approach to hip hop that doesn't fit into a nice neat little box"

Read more of Anti-pop Consortium's answers

   
  Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
FRENCH HORN REBELLION: "My biggest ambition is to try as hard as I can to get it right - to express truthfully using to tools around me, to do the best I can to create something truly inspiring on multiple levels to me, to my brother, and hopefully to anyone else who may be interested"

Read more of French Horn Rebellion's answers

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#05: Taylor Swift v The Grammys, Kelly Clarkson and the children of Merseyside
Taylor Swift may have been the big winner at the Grammy Awards last Sunday, picking up six trophies in total, but her live performance at the ceremony hasn't gone down well with critics. In fact, it's gone down so badly Scott Borchetta, the CEO of Swift's record label, Big Machine Records, has spoken out to defend the singer's performance. Which just goes to show how awful it was.

Things started okay. Swift's voice sounded a little shaky, maybe not entirely in tune, but she made it through her first song without coming across too badly. Well, her performance did cause my girlfriend to shout from another room: "Who's that singing out of tune?" But reviews from people not actually watching don't count. If she'd stopped there, maybe it would have been okay.

 
The problems really started when Stevie Nicks came out to perform a cover of Fleetwood Mac's 'Rhiannon' with Taylor. It was, I'm sure, supposed to be a great meeting of country-tinged singers past and present. Actually, it was a reminder that Stevie Nicks is very good at singing, and would sound much better without someone singing off key next to her. It was awful.

But criticism like that, says Borchetta, is "just over the top". He told Associated Press that there had been a technical issue, meaning that Taylor couldn't hear herself properly, adding: "She is the voice of this generation. She speaks directly to [her fans], and they speak directly back to her. This is not 'American Idol'. This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It's not about that technically perfect performance".

That little comment got former 'American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson's back up. She responded on her blog thus: "I understand defending your artist obviously because I have done the same in the past for artists I like, including Taylor, so you might see why its upsetting to read you attacking 'American Idol' for producing simply vocalists that hit 'the high notes. Thank you for that 'Captain Obvious' sense of humour because you know what, we not only hit the high notes, you forgot to mention we generally hit the 'right' notes as well".

Ouch.

In other Taylor Swift performance news, a primary school in Merseyside cancelled a performance by lesser-known singer Taylor Bright after local paper The Liverpool Echo incorrectly announced that Swift was coming to perform to the children (the paper heard the wrong Taylor, see). Interest in the show stepped up further when it was announced to 40,000 football fans at Anfield Stadium on Saturday. The Echo has apologised and offered to make a donation to the school.

Meanwhile, the paper's music correspondent Peter Guy has compiled a list of things that have been learnt from this incident, here.

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Andy Malt
Editor
Chris Cooke
Business Editor &
Co-Publisher
Caro Moses
Co-Publisher
           
Georgina Stone
Editorial Assistant
Owen Smith
Approval Officer
Paul Vig
Club Tipper

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