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FRIDAY 27TH AUGUST

Well, that was another funny week. No, funny isn't the word. I don't even know what the word is. It started shortly after last week's Weekly went out. Reports started coming in that a man had killed himself on stage at a Swell Season gig in California. Hours later it was confirmed that, in an entirely separate turn of events, Ou Est Le Swimming Pool frontman Charles Haddon had committed suicide shortly after playing the the Pukkelpop festival in Belgium.

Add to that one pop type accused of punching his girlfriend, another convicted of sexual assault and one further death at Pukkelpop and by Monday morning you've got the most depressing edition of the CMU Daily ever. Haddon's suicide was probably the most depressing story of them all - it was an incident that was utterly devastating for all involved. Eddy Temple Morris writes about this in his CMU column this week, and expresses things far better than I could. But there is something about Haddon's death I do want to comment on: the way it was reported. And the way news stories can develop on the internet when few real facts are to hand. When the first whispers of news started coming back from Belgium on Friday afternoon, it was claimed that another member of the band, Joe Hutchinson, had died. It was also noted that during the band's set he had injured a woman in the audience when a stage dive went wrong. But once it was established that Hutchinson was still alive, this piece of information was dropped from most reports (including ours). However, on Tuesday an Australian news outlet again reported this original rumour, but with one important difference: it was now Haddon who had injured the audience member. That report also included claims that Haddon had been overheard saying that he feared he'd crippled her, and that a "furious argument" with bandmates had occurred backstage after the show. Then there was the revelation that the woman is expected to fully recover from her injuries. By Wednesday, this story had worked its way back to the UK and it was being reported widely that "new details have emerged" about Haddon's death. Now, suddenly, this footnote to the original reports was being delivered as something separate, a story in its own right, a new 'fact' that could be used to aid speculation about what had caused Haddon to take his own life. Even though the fact was very possibly wrong and the speculation definitely baseless. Worse still, the speculation was soon reported as fact. By Thursday one report distilled all this down to one sentence, telling us that the "inconsolable" Haddon cut the band's set short after the stage dive incident and then killed himself. This is something that really doesn't sit comfortably with me. I understand that it's natural to be curious about what happened, and it's natural to connect events together to create a picture of what may have occurred. That's how the human brain works. Maybe it was Charlie, not Joe, who stage dived. Maybe he was genuinely fearful that the woman he landed on was permanently injured. Maybe instead of finding out, he went and killed himself. But maybe the two events were unrelated. Maybe, by suggesting a connection, someone's more long standing pain and mental distress was completely belittled, condensing something awful down to nothing more than someone acting on a whim. I'm not saying this news shouldn't be reported. We report on rumours and speculation all the time. But if it is, such information needs to be treated very carefully. It needs to be acknowledged that the decision to end your own life is something complex and difficult for others to understand, and that rumours of events immediately before such shocking actions do not neccesarily hold all the answers. In fact they almost certainly don't. Claiming to have the story all sewn up in five days without having any of the real facts to hand helps no one. Sorry, this isn't an especially upbeat start to this week's Weekly. This week wasn't all bad, some of it was brilliant. Some of the brilliant stuff is in here, too. Go and find it. A little extra piece of brilliance is this week's playlist, which comes courtesy of Nigel Adams, co-owner of very fine indie label, Full Time Hobby. Next week there will be no CMU Weekly, we're taking a little break. We'll be back on 10 Sep, when I promise to be a whole lot less ranty. Maybe. Andy Malt Editor, CMU

		OU EST LE SWIMMING POOL FRONTMAN COMMITS SUICIDE Ou Est Le Swimming Pool frontman Charles Haddon committed suicide at the Pukkelpop festival in Belgium last week. He was 22. The news was confirmed by Eddy Temple-Morris during his Xfm show on Friday night. As rumours of Haddon's death began to fly on Twitter, Temple-Morris sent a text message to the band's Joe Hutchinson, hoping to put an end to a hoax, but received the reply: "He killed himself early this evening after playing the best gig of his life to 5000 people".

		JEAN UNABLE TO APPEAL HAITI ELECTION DECISION Wyclef Jean will not be able to appeal the decision to disqualify him from standing in the upcoming Haitian presidential election, a lawyer for the country's electoral council said this week. Speaking to Reuters, Samuel Pierre of the Haitian Electoral Council's legal department said: "When it comes to electoral matters, the electoral council is the Supreme Court, meaning there is nowhere else to go". Instead, Jean has released a song, performed in Creole, called 'Prizon Pou KEPA' (or 'Prison For The Electoral Council').

		GEORGE MICHAEL PLEADS GUILTY George Michael has pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of drugs and also to cannabis possession. Michael was arrested last month after he crashed his car into a branch of Snappy Snaps in Hampstead. In court it was apparently revealed that when police informed him that he'd crashed, the singer replied: "No I didn't. I haven't crashed into anything". It's not yet clear what sentence the singer might face, though an introduction to the concept of using taxis when high might not go amiss.

		BEZ JAILED AFTER REFUSING TO DO COMMUNITY SERVICE Former Happy Monday Bez had a not so happy Wednesday this week when he was thrown in jail for a month. According to the Press Association, when magistrate Marie Cash passed her initial sentence - community service and a fine - Bez, real name Mark Berry, said he wouldn't do it, telling her: "I'm not doing it. Bothered? I'm going to appeal and take this to a real court". Cash responded by jailing him. Oh, to be a magistrate.

		HIV SCANDAL SINGER RECEIVES SUSPENDED SENTENCE Nadja Benaissa, a member of German pop group No Angels, has been found guilty of grievous bodily harm after admitting to knowingly exposing three sexual partners to HIV, one of whom subsequently contracted the virus. She was given a two year suspended sentence, 300 hours of community service and has been order to attend regular counselling sessions.

		MADONNA OFFERED $1 BILLION VEGAS RESIDENCY Madonna is reportedly in talks with promoters to sign up to a five year residency in Las Vegas, which could earn her $1 billion. It's not clear which venue in the US city she is talking to, though it is likely to be the Caesars Palace hotel and casino. Celine Dion's five year residency at Caesars Palace, completed in 2007, reportedly drew almost three million people to see 717 performances. So successful was it, the Dion will return for another three year run in 2011.

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Nigel Adams, Full Time Hobby
Independent record label Full Time Hobby was founded in January 2004 by Nigel Adams and Wez (just Wez), both of whom had worked together at Mushroom Records but weren't keen to enter the major label system when the company was bought by Warner Music. Instead, they branched out on their own, and in the last six years have become a highly respected force in UK independent music.

Amongst their signings have been artists such as School Of Seven Bells, Tunng, The Leisure Society, and former Arab Strap man Malcolm Middleton, while the company's heavier offshoot Hassle is home to the likes of Rolo Tomassi, 65daysofstatic, Alkaline Trio and Trash Talk.

Earlier this month, Full Time Hobby released a new compilation, entitled 'Hobbyism', featuring some of the best tracks the company's diverse catalogue, including School Of Seven Bells, Tunng, Erland & The Carnival, Fujiya & Miyagi, White Denim and Micah P Hinson.

Says Nigel Adams of the label: "We are still proudly independent, bent on supporting artists that are there for the long run and plough their own individualist furrows and we are constantly excited by the new music we're hearing. We are having our best year yet with lots of new and interesting artists coming our way along with the blossoming of our long term acts".

We asked Nigel to pick ten of his favourite non-FTH tracks for this week's Powers Of Ten playlist. Listen to what he chose here.

NIGEL ADAMS' TEN
01	The Smiths	How Soon Is Now?
	The Smiths were the first band I saw live (in 1985), and the reason I went to university in Manchester, so a fairly good reason for what I'm doing now.
02	My Bloody Valentine	Cupid Come
	I can't over exaggerate the impact MBV had on me. I find it a bit hard to listen to this nowadays, as I listened almost exclusively to this when it came out, but it opened a door in my mind that I'm thankful for.
03	Tim Hardin	How Can We Hang On To A Dream?
	An incredibly beautiful song from such a troubled but talented man. This could have also been something by Nick Drake, Syd Barrett, Leonard Cohen or Tim Buckley but I finally went for this.
04	The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band	Carte Blanche
	This band summed up a lot of what was good and bad about the 60s. For the guitar wig-out and falsetto vocal alone it's worth a listen.
05	The Lemonheads	My Drug Buddy
	The quintessential Lemonheads moment and one of the best indie pop songs ever written (despite being on a major).
06	The Sea Urchins	Pristine Christine
	Shambolic and beautiful, I became instantly hypnotised by this song and developed an appalling record collector habit trying to track down the original seven-inch. James Roberts went on to create lots of other incredibly heartfelt/heartbreaking music but seemed constantly to have his finger on the self-destruct button.
07	TV On The Radio	Staring At The Sun
	Truly stopped me in my tracks when I first heard this. One band I really wish I could have worked with.
08	Funkadelic	Hit It And Quit It
	'Maggot Brain' was such a standout album and sat right in the middle of all the 60s garage and psychedelia that I came to obsess over in the late 80s.
09	Love	A House Is Not A Motel
	I still have moments when this album overwhelms me with how good it is. I can't see why it isn't prescribed on the NHS; any government worth its salt would surely sort that out.
10	American Music Club	Big Night
	Seeing Mark Eitzel play solo at the original Mean Fiddler is still one of my all time favourite gigs. AMC were a band it was easy to obsess about with the level of angst and finely penned lyrics involved.

Is Ozzy Osbourne planning to retire after one more Black Sabbath album: "We're talking and that's a good sign. We're not at war with each other. I was speaking to [drummer] Bill Ward last night. I've got to speak to the other two. I'm trying to get things done right... I would love to do a killer Black Sabbath album. It would make my life, my whole thing, round up perfectly for me"

Guy Garvey talks about the direction of the new Elbow album: "The working title of the album at the moment is 'Lippy Kids'. It's quite a nostalgic thing. I've got a thing about growing up, not needing to, but a certain period of your life when - well, kids are called 'hoodies' these days, aren't they, when they reach their teens? I remember it being an amazing, important time, so I've written a lot about that"

Now, over to Rivers Cuomo with some exciting Weezer news: "We have this really exciting idea to do a tour where we spend two nights in each city, and the first night, we play the entire 'Blue' album, and the second night, we play the entirety of 'Pinkerton'. We're just running it by promoters right now to see if there's sufficient interest to do something like that, and if they're on board, it's gonna happen"

This year's MTV VMA host Chelsea Handler says she's hoping to get Kanye West and Taylor Swift back together: "I'd like to get [West and Swift] together. We've never really seen them together since [last year's VMAs]. They were supposed to be together on 'Saturday Night Live' but then that didn't end up happening. We'll try to think of something clever to do with them, because that would be really fun"

Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson on the band's backstage demands: "I loathe all the celebrity crap - all the minders, the backstage glamour and the glitzy bollocks. We hate it all. We are all about the music. We got rid of most of our rider. We just have three loaves of white bread, some butter, a tin of tuna fish and some beers. People come backstage looking for the spread and we say: 'Go make yourself a sandwich'"

Diana Vickers warns of the kitchen appliance-based dangers of legal highs: "At festivals this summer, I've seen people passing out and people who don't know where they are or what they are doing after taking drugs. I was even around someone who thought that their friend was a fridge. Being that out of control scares me. Just because a drug is legal, you cannot assume it is safe"

		Kylie Minogue. Massive pop star type Kylie Minogue performed at a pub in Compton Martin, Somerset at the weekend. It's sort of not as impressive as it might be, as it was a surprise performance for Parlophone staff at their annual away day to say thank you for helping to get her new album, 'Aphrodite', to number one in the UK charts. But then it is actually quite impressive, even then - youtu.be/dNu5DMYgISI

		Sub Pop. Having finally caught up with the modern age and released its catalogue digitally through Amazon, Sub Pop is dropping the price of all albums to £4.99 until the end of September. The releases stretch right back to the early days of the label. As well as that, the label has put together a free 22 track compilation, entitled 'Digital Bang', which is also available through the site - amzn.to/cSLwjq

		Does It Offend You, Yeah? After two years, Does It Offend You, Yeah? are finally coming close to finishing work on their second album, 'Don't Say We Didn't Warn You'. This week they released a new track from it, called 'We Are The Dead'. Opening with acoustic guitar and voice, they drop a load of beats all over the place a minute in, the first of a number of twists and turns throughout the song - doesitoffendyou.com/wearethedead.html

		Lissie. Singer-songwriter Lissie has unveiled the video for her new single, 'Cuckoo', which sees her and her band placed at the whim of her viewers. The weather conditions in the video can be linked to those anywhere in the world simply by clicking different areas of a world map. So, you could send her the sun from a Spanish beach, or subject her to the freezing conditions of the North Pole - lissie.com/weather

		Denis Jones. Three years after his debut, 'Humdrum Virtue', Denis Jones is back with album number two, 'Red + Yellow =', which you can hear in full on his website. Although often using loops created with a bank of equipment and the occasional guest musician, the focus of the songs is Jones' distinct guitar-playing style and piercingly soulful voice, maintaining a very intimate feel, however much layering he adds - denisjones.com

		Agnes Obel. The formula for singer-songwriter Agnes Obel's songs is simple; gentle piano playing underpins her soft vocals, which build into intricate harmonies. Simple, and also effective. The title track of her new EP, 'Riverside', has a lilting, almost lullaby-like quality, the piano on the verse twinkling like sunlight on water. However, this same sound takes a darker turn on her cover of John Cale's 'Close Watch' - myspace.com/obelmusic

		Q1 How did you start out making music? REVERE: "I started out wanting to learn the piano and decided that the only piece worth playing was 'Great Balls Of Fire'. I used to sit with the sustain pedal firmly down and slamming the keys as hard as I could. My parents moved the piano into the garage where my 'vamping' would be least heard, and I continued until one of the keys gave out. This inspired me to start taking the insides of the piano out and work out how it all fit together. A few years later I heard Nirvana, along with several million other teenagers, and decided a guitar might work a little better" Read more of Revere's answers

		Q2 What inspired your latest album? SAINT SAVIOUR: "After a few years of making upbeat, loud, pumping dance music and electro-pop, I wanted to go back to my roots when I only listened to sensitive and often melancholy souls like Gladys Knight and Carole King. My voice has a really emotional quality and I wanted to strip back the layers of noise and reveal it in a more natural way. The odd synth bass and fat kick sample manages to pop in now and again though because I just can't resist, but I no longer disguise my voice under three effect units!" Read more of Saint Saviour's answers

		Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track? PERFORMANCE: "I write the lyrics and the melody. To do that I drink three cans of lager and no more. Then I do keepy ups with a football in my flat, normally for about five hours, singing ideas until my voice goes" Read more of Performance's answers

		Q4 Which artists influence your work? HAZEL MILLS: "Jefferson Airplane, The Velvet Underground, The United States Of America and other 60s psychedelic bands have had quite large influence on the new record. I'm also very into The Birthday Party, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds and Tom Waits - what I like about them is the very distinct characters that come across when they perform. I have a background in theatre and I love to see the visual or narrative side to a performance" Read more of Hazel Mills' answers

		Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time? THE SILENT YEARS: "Try to give it at least three listens before passing judgement one way or the other. I know that's nearly impossible, but it's what I'd say" Read more of The Silent Years' answers

		Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future? JAMES BLACKSHAW: "I've got a lot of touring coming up soon with Swans in the UK and Europe this autumn/winter. I've just been taking a break, so am looking forward to getting out there again. Beyond that, I really don't know. I'm certain I'll start on another album at some point next year and continue working with Current 93, but at this point, I don't want to force myself to keep working on music for the sake of it. I've got one or two ideas, but they'll need to some time to come to fruition. I'd love to do a soundtrack for a film some time, that's long been an ambition for me" Read more of James Blackshaw's answers

#33: X-Factor v Genuine singing talent
Hey, so it turns out that something on TV has been fiddled with in an attempt to make it more entertaining. How could something like this happen?

Okay, you might say this case is different. This is a singing competition. This is the 'X-Factor'. This is a search for Great Britain's next big vocal talent, and if the programme's makers are applying Auto-tune to people's voices, how are we to know who is genuinely the best singer?

Well, firstly, let's not even pretend that 'X-Factor' is a singing competition. If it was, such a large proportion of the show wouldn't be devoted to humiliating deluded people. People whose comically warped opinion of their own singing ability has already been spotted by the show's production team in the early stages of the auditions (the ones before they actually get in front of Simon and co). This whole section of the series is about laughing at idiots, with the occasional break for a sob story or an introduction to a 'possible future star'.

All of which makes it ludicrous that anyone would complain about Auto-tune software being used to make the good people sound better and the bad people sound worse. If everyone was portrayed as being as close to average as they probably are, it would make for some pretty dull television and everyone would complain that it was boring. And the last thing 'X-Factor' wants to be is boring.

Last Saturday a record 11.1 million people tuned in to watch the first episode of the new series. Some of them then accused the show of using Auto-tune. And the show's makers readily admitted it, issuing a statement saying: "The judges make their decisions at the auditions stage based on what they hear on the day, live in the arena. The footage and sound is then edited and dubbed into a finished programme, to deliver the most entertaining experience possible for viewers. When it gets to the live shows, it will be all live".

The people who spotted the vocal manipulation had not done so because they were specialists in audio production, but because it was plainly obvious. If you actually listen to the vocals that were edited on last weekend's programme, the tweaks were applied so heavy-handedly (distorting, rather than tuning), and seemingly at random, that you can't help thinking someone involved in the show wanted people to notice. Either that, or they've got someone new in to do their sound editing, and s/he's incredibly rubbish.

As a result of this, the show has been in the news all week, which is good news for the programme, its producers, its sponsors and its broadcaster ITV. 'X-Factor' traditionally keeps itself in the news by feeding stories to the tabloids about how the judges all hate each other and Louis Walsh could leave at any moment. But people are wise to that now. And anyway, simply turning up the Auto-tune a little has resulted in far more coverage than Louis' fake tantrums ever could.

The only really interesting part of this story reveals itself if you turn your attention to 'Britain's Got Talent', which is, of course, made by the same production team. The most successful thing that has ever happened on that show, or to any of its contestants (or to any contestant on a Cowell-owned franchise) is Susan Boyle's first audition in front of the celebrity panel in 2009. She went on to be one of 2009's most successful artists - worldwide - all because of that short audition peice, which became an internet phenomenon, thanks to YouTube and some high profile tweets. And this was an audition video that - rumours now has it - was very probably Auto-tuned.

But, hey, you'll have to go a long way to find a mainstream artist whose voice isn't Auto-tuned, even if just a little, these days. By manipulating contestants' voices, 'X-Factor' is just preparing us for the reality of what's to come. Really, instead of banning the software, which they claim to have now done, the show's makers should have come out this week and said: "We're going to Auto-tune the shit out of every single voice on the show from now on, because of your ridiculous high expectations. Now shut up and take it". And then found a sound engineer who could use the technology without making it quite so bleedin obvious.

Andy Malt Editor	Chris Cooke Business Editor & Co-Publisher	Caro Moses Co-Publisher

Georgina Stone Editorial Assistant	Paul Vig Club Tipper	Justin Bieber Data Protection Officer

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