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FRIDAY 10TH DECEMBER

When I wrote in last week's Beef Of The Week that we were probably all giving Johnny Marr's tweet about David Cameron's status as a Smiths fan too much attention, I thought we were pretty much at the end of the story. How wrong I was.

By Saturday, Morrissey was rushing to the guitarist's defence, telling Truetoyou.net: "I would like to, if I may, offer support to Johnny Marr who has spoken out to the media this week against David Cameron. To those who have expressed concern over Johnny's words in view of the fact that David Cameron has pledged immense allegiance to the music of The Smiths, I would like to try to explain why I think Johnny is right not to be flattered".

He continued: "It is true that music is a universal language - the ONLY universal language, and belongs to all, one way or another. However, with fitting grimness I must report that David Cameron hunts and shoots and kills stags - apparently for pleasure. It was not for such people that either 'Meat Is Murder' or 'The Queen is Dead' were recorded; in fact, they were made as a reaction against such violence".

Is this the first step on the way to a Smiths reunion? Could David Cameron be responsible for such a thing? Er, no, is amost certainly the answer to that. But how is Cameron taking all this? Well, with a mixture of slime and smarm, as you'd expect.

During Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, and ahead of yesterday's vote on whether to saddle future university students with even greater debts for increasingly meaningless degrees or not, McCarthy asked the Conservative leader: "The Smiths are, of course, the archetypal student band. If you win tomorrow night's vote, what songs do you think students will be listening to? 'Miserable Lie', 'I Don't Owe You Anything', or 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now'?"

Cameron shot back: "If I turned up, I probably wouldn't get 'This Charming Man', and if I went with the Foreign Secretary [William Hague], it would probably be 'William, It Was Really Nothing'". Which might have been mildly impressive if questions for the session weren't submitted in advance.

On Thursday morning, Marr got back in on the action, attempting (or perhaps not) to calm the situation, writing: "Dear Lord, please forgive me for making fun of the government. They are really nice and doth be very kind to poor people and students ... Oh, and also their fans doth have a brilliant sense of humour. Thank you. Amen".

Lucky no one noticed that over the weekend he also tweeted: "Nick Clegg, hand over your iPod..."

So, let that be the end of it. There are more important things to be talking about right now. Like the CMU Artists Of The Year, which I have been busily writing about of late. You can check out the first five here.

And, of course, this Sunday is the very important day when the Cage Against The Machine recording of John Cage's '4'33''' goes on sale. Be sure to get your digital copy in time to send it to Christmas number one. At a time when there's so much talk of arts cuts, it would be amazing to see an avant-garde piece of music top the charts, especially at Christmas, and especially one as powerful as '4'33'''. And, of course, it raises money for charity. Pre-order on iTunes now, or get more info at www.catm.co.uk.

Andy Malt
Editor, CMU

		CAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE: TOP MUSICIANS FALL SILENT And so it came to pass that over 60 musicians, on Monday afternoon, crammed into the live room at Dean Street Studios in Soho, and for four minutes and 33 seconds stood in total silence. As previously reported, the aim is to get the four and half minutes of silence to the Christmas number one spot later this month while raising money for five lesser known charities. For our full report on the recording, click here. The single is available to pre-order on iTunes now, and will go on full sale through download stores on Sunday.

		'DEAD' STARS MAKE IT BACK ONLINE AFTER $500,000 BAIL OUT Stars including Lady Gaga and Justin Timberlake are using their social network profiles again after swearing off Twitter and Facebook on World AIDS Day (1 Dec), refusing to return until fans had donated $1 million to in aid of Alicia Keys' AIDS charity Keep A Child Alive. With well over 25 million Twitter followers between them, it was thought by many that the celebs wouldn't be offline for very long, but the self-imposed exodus lasted almost a week, only coming to an end when one donor stumped up the last $500,000.

		LIMEWIRE TO CLOSE So, this is the end of an era. The LimeWire company has announced it is shutting its doors for the final time at the end of the month. Team Lime have accepted defeat after a US judge ordered them to stop distributing their file-sharing software back in October, having previously ruled the Lime Group was guilty of massive copyright infringement by making the P2P client available. The US record industry is now expected to file a damages claim for billions against LimeWire and its founder Mark Gorton.

		GERMAN TEENAGER APOLOGISES TO LADY GAGA FOR STEALING SONGS A German teenager who used Trojan horse software to steal and then sell music and other files from computers owned by pop stars, including Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Ke$ha and Kelly Clarkson, has written a letter to the former apologising for his actions. Deniz A, who also goes by the name of DJ Stolen, said he was "ashamed" of his actions, adding that he had "not really thought about the consequences" of his hacking.

		NICK CAVE INVOLVED IN CAR CRASH, NOT INJURED Nick Cave was involved in a traffic accident this week when he drove his Jaguar car into a speed camera and roadside barrier on the Hove seafront near his home. Details of what caused the crash are not known, though neither Cave nor his two sons, also in the vehicle at the time, were hurt, and no other car was involved. Sussex police confirmed they had attended he crash scene, but confirmed no arrests were made.

		BBC AND BRITS ANNOUNCE MUSIC OF THE FUTURE It's been a busy week for tipping, the BBC announced the longlist for its Sound Of 2011 poll, while the BRITs announced the shortlist for its Critics Choice award. Both are voted for by music pundits - including one Andy Malt of CMU - and aim to predict who will be popular in music in the next twelve months. Actually, it's fairly easy to spot who those people will be, which is why James Blake and Jessie J feature in both lists. But so do The Vaccines, which I can only hope is a mistake. The overall winners of both will be announced in January.

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Eugene Hütz, Gogol Bordello
Formed in New York in 1999 and named after Russian writer Nikolai Gogol, Gogol Bordello's sound quickly developed from more traditional Gypsy music to the raucous Gypsy punk sound they are now known for. Certainly it was in place by their second album, 'Multi Kontra Culti Vs Irony', in 2002, though their breakthrough success was 2005's 'Gypsy Punks Underdog World Strike'.

The band is fronted by the infectiously enthusiastic Eugene Hütz, who is responsible for the band's eclectic range of influences, picked up while living in various countries as a refugee for several years after his family was evacuated following the Chernobyl disaster. Very tall with a bushy moustache and an unmistakable voice, he is captivating both on record and at the band's energetic live shows.

Also known for his mindblowing DJ sets, we asked Hütz to put together a Powers Of Ten playlist for us. You can catch him and the rest of Gogol Bordello next week when they play two headline shows at The Forum in London on Tuesday and Wednesday to promote their 'Transcontinental Hustle' album, which was released earlier this year. Before the gigs, here's Eugene's song selection.

EUGENE HÜTZ'S TEN
01	Forro In The Dark	Nonsensical
	A great song in a style of "I went to a place, it pissed me off, so I came home and wrote about it". Original punk impulse! But in a style of Brazilian forro. You will soon see why David Byrne records with these guys.
02	The Jolly Boys	Passenger
	It's hard to make a fantastic cover of this Iggy Pop classic, and God knows plenty of people have tried. But this Jamaican crew nail it - really fresh!
03	Chico Science & Nação Zumbi	Macô
	This track effortlessly demonstrates why this Brazilian band is one of the best rock guru voices in history. Plus, I don't think Mark E Smith ever expected to be sampled in such a context.
04	Los Fabulosos Cadillacs	Matador
	Absolutely timeless South America rock song, the kind to raise the dead.
05	Manu Chao	La Vida Tombola
	Needless to say, Manu knows how to write a good song for a good cause.
06	Les Claypool	Bite Out Of Life
	Just a crazy Gypsy prog rock jam we originated with Les in his home studio. It turned out great enough for release on his last album.
07	Ustata	Male Male
	Just when you think there is no good new summer song around to bust the party, here comes Ustata from Serbia. Instant Gypsy hip-hop classic. Maximum life-loving boogie down.
08	Chico Buarque	Construçäo/Deus Lhe Pagu
	This is just too good to be true, great avant-garde melancholic heavy bossa arranged and performed by a genius.
09	Bon Iver	Skinny Love
	So good a folk song, it will be on repeat play for a month.
10	Thurston Moore	Honest James
	I've waited for 20 years for Thurston to record an acoustic album. Absurd? No fucking way! Sweetest thing ever and amazing!

Dan Le Sac on the Cage Against The Machine recording: "It was lovely to see a lot of people uncomfortable with hearing their own thoughts. All they've heard is basslines for the last ten years, and now they're going: 'Silence?! What do I do?'. But I got it once I was in there, that idea that it's not always about the noise you're making, it can be about the noise you're not making. There was something quite lovely about it"

Damon Albarn considers retiring Gorillaz: "It's been an unqualified success - bizarrely. But we always think that when we get to a point where we've achieved something that it's time to stop, don't we? We'll see how we feel in January [after the final leg of the band's world tour]. A period of reflection and sobriety [is required], I couldn't keep going at this size and pace"

Debbie Harry says she came close to being one of the victims of serial killer Ted Bundy: "This little car kept coming around and offering me a ride. I kept saying no but finally I took the ride because I couldn't get a cab. I looked down and there were no door handles. The hairs on the back of my neck just stood up. I don't know how I did it, but I got out. Afterwards I saw him on the news. Ted Bundy"

Will.i.am reveals that he suffers from tinnitus, and works on music as much as possible to block out the constant ringing in his ears: "I don't know what silence sounds like any more. Music is the only thing which eases my pain. I can't be still. Work calms me down. I can't be quiet as that's when I notice the ringing in my ears. I don't know exactly how long I've had this but it's gradually got worse"

Wyclef Jean is, er, The Haitian Beatles: "I felt that, if I ran for president, there would be too many eyes on the country for even the most corrupt to break the law. And in that aspect, I was wrong, because I got kicked out of the race before even running. Haiti is my country. The same way the Beatles are received in England - that's how Wyclef Jean is received in Haiti"

Heather Mills claims responsibility for The Beatles being on iTunes, but it's okay, she won't sue anyone over it: "iTunes? I organised it all with Steve Jobs. [But] there's no way I'm going back to court for more money. It was all settled at the time and that's it"

		Björk. Icelandic wonder Björk has written a new song for fashion designer Alexander McQueen, who committed suicide earlier this year. It soundtracks a short film made by photographer Nick Knight in memory of McQueen, 'To Lee, With Love, Nick'. The film opened the British Fashion Council Awards this week, where McQueen was also given a posthumous Outstanding Contribution award - showstudio.com/project/to_lee_with_love_nick

		Chase & Status. This week, Chase & Status have been making everyone misty eyed with their new video for 'Blind Faith', which features some archive footage of old ravers doing some old raving back in the old days. The single is released on 24 Jan, ahead of new album 'No More Idols'. You can watch the video for the single and get all nostalgic about eating drugs and then larking about in a field on YouTube now - youtu.be/TAHHW9YYpBo

		Beth Gibbons. Portishead's Beth Gibbons appears on a song on the soundtrack of a new film version of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest', directed by Julie Taymor. Gibbons appears on 'Prospera's Coda', the final track on the Elliot Goldenthal composed soundtrack, which also features contributions from School Of Seven Bells guitarist Benjamin Curtis and Helmet frontman Page Hamilton - on.fb.me/eWyIrI

		Efterklang. This week, Efterklang announced UK tour dates for next February, which will see the Danish orchestral band screen a new film they have made with director Vincent Moon, entitled 'An Island', before each live performance. The tour will also kick off with a free screening of the film at the Cube Cinema in Bristol. The trailer for the film is online now, if you fancy a taste of what to expect - anisland.cc

		MJ Hibbett. MJ Hibbett is campaigning to completely fail to get new single, 'The 29th Day Of December', to Christmas number one. "It isn't even eligable for the charts", he told CMU optimistically. He said of the accompanying stop-motion animation video: "I saw one my nine year old nephew had done, and thought, 'That looks easy, I'll do one of those!' Now I know why Wallace & Gromit films take five years to make" - mjhibbett.com/christmas

		Here We Go Magic. Indie rockers Here We Go Magic have released a new video for 'Casual', a track taken from their 'Pigeons' album. The gory video was directed by Nat Livingston Johnson and Gregory Mitnick. It required twelve gallons of blood and birth fluid from real livestock to complete the climax in which a 70 year old woman gives birth to the band's drummer, Peter Hale - youtu.be/mY4qWFa8v7Y

#47: Tommy Lee v SeaWorld
Animal rights group PETA has made effective use of celebrity letter writers in the past to varying effect. Who could forget Pink writing to the Queen to protest the use of bearskin for the hats of the Grenadier Guards? But, come on, who thought it would be a great idea to get Tommy Lee to put pen to paper?

The Motley Crue drummer this week wrote an angry letter to the president of SeaWorld in Florida, Terry Prather, condemning him for the conditions in which the marine park keeps one of its male killer whales, named Tilikum, and for the decision to "masturbate him with a cow's vagina filled with hot water" for breeding purposes. He calls on Prather to set the whale, who has killed several people while in captivity, free.

In the letter to Prather, published by TMZ, Lee wrote: "After learning about the bizarre way you breed killer whales, my friends at PETA and I are stumped about SeaWorld's announcement that no people will ever again have direct contact with Tilikum, the orca who has killed three people, including his trainer, this year. We understand that you refuse to release this frustrated whale because he is your chief sperm bank, and we know from SeaWorld's own director of safety (as well as videos on the web) that the way you get his sperm is by having someone get into the pool and masturbate him with a cow's vagina filled with hot water".

He continued: "Even during my wildest days with Motley Crue, I never could have imagined something so sick and twisted. Simply put, how can SeaWorld claim that trainers no longer have direct contact with this whale when they are jacking him off? This is about as 'direct' as it gets. I hope it doesn't take another tragic death for SeaWorld to realise it shouldn't frustrate these smart animals by keeping them in tanks".

Really? Even in your wildest days you wouldn't have thought to wank off a killer whale? Surely it must have crossed your mind once or twice, Tommy. I mean, who amongst us hasn't, when faced with the tedium of yet another night of sex and drugs, thought to themselves: 'I could be filling the detached vagina of a cow with warm water right now'?

Either way, SeaWorld seem a bit annoyed with Lee's rant, claiming there is nothing out of the ordinary with their whale breeding programme. They're also not too pleased with Lee's claims that staff are being put in danger in the process.

A spokesperson for SeaWorld told TMZ: "The process of collecting semen for [artificial insemination] doesn't differ in any meaningful way from the techniques employed in managing livestock or other species for zoological display. Contrary to the charges made by PETA and repeated in Lee's letter, our trainers do not now nor have they ever entered the water with Tilikum for this purpose. The safety of SeaWorld staff and the welfare of our animals are our highest priorities".

Still, perhaps finding it a little hard to take Tommy Lee 100% seriously, they saved most of their criticism for their more traditional sparring partners, PETA themselves: "If Mr Lee's information on Tilikum and SeaWorld's artificial insemination program for killer whales comes from PETA we're not surprised that it's wrong. PETA is as careless with facts as they are extreme in their views. Whatever his views on SeaWorld, Mr Lee would be wise to spend more time checking his facts".

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

Eddy Temple-Morris Columnist	Paul Vig Club Tipper	Julian Assange Head Of Data Protection

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