Weekly Round Up (11 May 2009)

Hello and welcome to the latest round up

Top Stories
At the expense of labouring the point and following recent claims from Joe Satriani and Cat Stevens that 'Viva La Vida' was a rip-off, Coldplay have tried to defend their innocence. Drummer Will Champion has denied that the band have ripped off any other artists in an interview with Hamptonroads.com stating that the band "haven't done anything wrong".

He added: "It's tough when people accuse you of stealing something when you know that you didn't. We accept that it's part of the territory and know it is only for some reason the successful songs that seem to be the ones that are accused of being stolen. So you go figure it out."
"There are elements of our music that I've heard in other people's music," he said, "but a very difficult thing to define. There are only eight notes in an octave and no-one owns them. There are probably about 12,000 songs that feature the exact same chord progression. I think it [plagiarism] lies on an intent to steal, which we certainly have never done and never would. "It's unfortunate but it's the way people are. That's that. We're confident we haven't done anything wrong."

Hmmm....


Meanwhile, back in download city, Spotify is apparently lining up a new premium service that will allow users who pay a monthly fee to download and keep as many tracks as they want from the music application. For around 10 quid a month you will be given access to Spotify's entire catalogue under the agreement and be able to download high quality MP3's of every available track on the service.

This scheme could be in place by the summer, for now the company is trying to keep punters happy be adding 120,000 tracks to the library, the biggest update since its launch in October.

Myspace Magic
Top of the pops on myspace this week are Alexis Blue, who have added a new track to their profile ahead of their UK tour. 'Tarred and Feathered' is, in the band's own words, "by far the most Pop song we have written (except for the new one we are currently working on)" and they are not far wrong. Catchy and lyrically solid - 'Radiohead, microwave meals and a single bed' - this band goes from strength to strength. Bass player Chris Stewart told nme-e about current activity: "We hope to record a few new demo songs soon, working with 14th Floor Records (Warner Sub-division, Wombats signed to them) at the moment which may lead on to getting signed so things are coming along pretty well".
And so they should too. I'm looking forward to being able to say 'they went to the same school as me'!

Still in the 'Pool Myspace Magic boys, Fly With Vampires have added a new track to their player. 'Puppet Master' is a real grower with quality arrangements. An extremely promising new track from a band which is just starting out, but shows great promise.



Reviews
This week's big release is Maximo Park's third album, 'Quicken The Heart', which will be fighting The Maccabees' 'Wall Of Arms' for top album of the month and, who knows, the year. Both will be reviewed very soon.


More next week. But don't miss an exclusive interview with Liverpool's The Idles later on in the week. The latest scouse band to feature on Myspace Magic is a real treat.

Cheers