Weekly Round Up (27 Apr 2009)

Hello everybody and welcome to another round up.

Top Stories
Seems like everybody is talking about money (or lack of) and downloading these days, so nme-e is going to jump on the bandwagon again....

Last week, Sir 'Poor' McCartney was mouthing off about illegal downloads and now we now why. The poor soul's personal fortune has dropped by 60 million pounds to a mere 400 million!!!!!!! No wonder he's talking about taking the bus. Meanwhile Dhani Harrison, who just a month ago complained that he was "losing money everyday" must be in a real state now that his personal fortune is down to 140 million. Now, I'm not going to be the one to condone or not downloading, but I hereby propose that the whole world downloads George Harrison's discography. If the money isn't going to George the God direct, why should it go to Dhani the Devil and not stay in our pockets?

At least someone with a bit of clout has offered a different perspective. Gary Lightbody, he of Snow Patrol, has spoken out in defence of the founders of The Pirate Bay, who as you now were jailed for a year a fined 2.4million pound for copyright offences on their page just a week ago.

In an interview with The Big Issue Scotland he said he thought they had been treated harshly, saying the sentences were "over the top".

"They shouldn’t have been jailed. A year in jail for someone doing that is crazy. The punishment doesn't fit the crime."
He also added that, unlike some musicians, he was not opposed to file-sharing.

"I'm not anti-filesharing at all. This is the modern way. This is what we've brought on ourselves and you have to live in the society you created. Music is available to everyone if they know how to get and I say, 'Fucking go for it'.

Before he got arrested, he also added that he paid for all his own music. Mind, could make for an interesting even in June when Snow Patrol support U2 in Barcelona, given Bono's recent statement about downloads killing the industry. Watch this space.

Incidentally, The Pirate Bay boys are still planning their appeal.

Myspace Magic
A few uploaded tunes to comment on this week, some new, some a blast from the past. Seattle based The Constabulary have uploaded a new track to their profile. If you like a bit of post-punk, check out 'Just A Memory', confirming The Constabulary as the west coast's answer to Interpol.

First timers on nme-europe (but not the last), BenSem from Wales have also added a new track to their profile. With a recently released album and a nomination at the Exposure Music Awards, BenSem could be ones to watch. A full interview will appear here soon.

Finally, Murcian veterans Los Marañones have added a couple of tracks from their legendary discography to the myspace profile. If you're not familiar with Señor Bañón and co, check out any of the tracks available, although 'Las Manzanas Del Mal' or 'A Miles De Años Luz' typify the musical and lyrical quality of this band.



Album Reviews
As promised last week, So Shush will be under the microscope in the next couple of days. Been having a listen to Gomez too and think I've unexpectedly come across another little find in the name of Hatcham Social. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs is also a decent listen (but not enough to merit a full review!)


Festival Fever
Murcia finally takes centre stage this week as it plays host to the SOS 4.8 festival over the bank holiday weekend. Friday and Saturday will see some of the best acts around (Duffy excepted) grace our presence during what promises to be a high-charged two days.



Just in case anyone's interested in my humble point of view, here's what I'd take in on the Friday (a father of two couldn't go both days!) and what I WILL be doing Saturday:

Friday 1st:
Warm up with a few beers for the Maximo Park set (21.00, main stage); avoid Duffy like the plague with Those Dancing Days and the start of the Spanish Editors, Catpeople on stage 2 and then back to Babyshambles, The Prodigy and Boys Noise. Friday is pretty simple really.

Saturday 2nd (my day):
This is a much tougher affair, mainly as The Wombats coincide with Underworld (still angry about that). Anyway, going to get into the spirit with Spiritualized, followed by Keane (as long as they don't play anything from 'Perfect Symmetry') and a spot of Murcian locals Second - who, incidentally are inviting fans to choose which tracks from their back catalogue they'd like to hear played during the gig - and then The Wombats (who get my vote over Underworld). A mad dash over to see the encore of Born Slippy and then back to Ladyhawke until I drop!

Don't miss..... The Prodigy on Friday. The Wombats on Saturday (and, if you're new to Spain, Second - they won't disappoint you!).

You can customise your timetable here.

Think that's about it. More next week!

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Weekly Round Up (20 Apr 2009)

Hello everybody. After a slightly longer than expected Easter break, NME-Europe is back and firing on all cylinders. Down to business, then.....

Top Stories
Quite possibly the biggest music-related story of the past few days has been the outcome of the court case in which the four people behind the file-sharing website The Pirate Bay were found guilty of copyright infringement and handed one-year prison sentences, as well as being ordered to pay £2.4 million damages to various record labels.


Despite the verdict, the culprits remained defiant, as the following statement testifies; "Nothing will happen to TPB [The Pirate Bay], us personally or file-sharing whatsoever. This is just a theatre for the media."

The four are expected to appeal against the decision.

One of the first to offer an opinion on the subject has been Sir Paul McCartney. He believes the verdict was "fair", telling BBC Newsbeat that he believed that music should be paid for.

"If you get on a bus you've got to pay. And I think it's fair, you should pay your ticket."

He also suggested that file-sharing websites like The Pirate Bay were harmful to young bands.

"The problem is you get a lot of young bands coming up and some of them aren't going to last forever. So if they have a massive hit, that's going to pay their mortgage forever. They're going to feed the children on that and if they don't get that money, if they don't see that money, I think it's a bit of a pity."

More fuel to the fire.... Any young bands got anything to say, as all we seem to hear on this subject comes from the bigger bands speaking in the name of the poor and needy. Macca's reference to the bus fare is all well and good, but I'm sure if the transport companies tried to charge 5 or 6 times the real value of a ticket in order to boost profits, a few more commuters might jump the queue as well.

Downloads and court cases seem to be the flavour of the week, so here goes a bit more...

Psychedlic rockers, Pink Floyd, are suing their record label, EMI, over royalty payments, claiming that they have miscalculated royalties owed to them through sales of their back catalogue.



The Observer reports that the amount the band are seeking has not been disclosed. However, if we take into consideration that they signed to the label in 1967 and since enjoyed enormous record sales, which have only been outstripped by The Beatles in the past 25 years, it's a safe bet they're in for a nice wad.

Finally, Coldplay have gone to court to discount claims that they copied the music for their song 'Viva La Vida', after Joe Satriani had claimed that they used his music for the track on their last album.

Satriani is saying they used “substantial, original portions" of 'If I Could Fly', whilst Coldplay's lawyer retorted that the similarities between their song and Satriani’s 2004 song were not enough to pay the artist damages on the basis that the latter "lacked originality". Chris Martin had already stated that any similarity was a mere coincidence.

NME-E will be releasing it's debut single, 'Blue', next week. Any similarities to Coldplay's hit 'Yellow' are purely coincidential....

Myspace Magic
Plenty of new music being uploaded this week, so I've selected three to follow (no disrespect to the rest).

Malta's finest The Does have uploaded a new track to their profile. 'My Better Side' is a cross between Bloc Party and The Police. Have a listen, they'll be featured here soon.


Scousers The Grande have been particularly prolific lately with no fewer than 8 tracks being uploaded to their myspace page. Anyone who likes a bit of americana/rock (with a tinge of The La's) should give these guys a chance.


Last but not least a special mention to So Shush, whose second album, 'Wistful Wanders', became available to download today on the usual pages. I was lucky enough to get an interview with them recently, which will be posted this week. They even sent me a preview of the new release which has been played to death on the iPhone over the past few weeks. If the whole album is as good as the four tracks I've heard, this could be one of the indie releases of 2009. Decide for yourselves before you buy, there's a few tracks on their myspace profile to whet your appetite.

Reviews
The have been almost too many releases in the past two weeks to keep track of, so I'm just going focus on two, maybe three. Apart from the aforementioned 'Wistful Wanders' by So Shush, I also owe a review to Doves' 'Kingdom Of Rust' and, if there's time, 'It's Blitz!' by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.


Festival Fever

The countdown to the Murcian festival SOS 4.8 is well under way, with the two-day festival just two weeks away. The organisers have at last posted details of play times, which can be downloaded straight from their page (link here).


My initial reaction is that it's disappointing to see Underworld clash with The Wombats for most of their sets, but it's still gonna be one hell of a 48 hour bash!


Well, that's me out of ideas. Remind me NOT to take such a long break next time. It's taken me ages to get back on track! More next week.

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Weekly Round Up (06 Apr 2009)

Welcome to this week's insight into the top music events.

Top Stories
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr performed together at a New York charity show in aid of the David Lynch Foundation on Saturday night (April 4), their first time together in seven years.

McCartney played a handful of Beatles tunes as well as some from his solo career, paying a touching tribute to the John Lennon, before playing 'Here Today', a song he wrote for him. He also dedicated the classic 'Blackbird' to new US President Barack Obama.

After playing his set he introduced "Billy Shears" (Starr's pseudonym on 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band') and the pair performed 'With a Little Help from My Friends'.

This was the first joint appearance from the two remaining moptops since they performed at the George Harrison memorial gig in 2002.


Harrison is himself set to receive a star on the renowned Hollywood Walk of Fame later this month. Harrison's wife, Olivia, and son, Dhani, will be present to accept the honour on his behalf.

Elsewhere, new(ish) online music service Spotify has thrown down the gauntlet to iTunes by signing a deal with online provider 7digital to offer a paid download service. Users will be able to access songs from its six-million track catalogue.

The new service will initially be available to users in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, with further European countries to be included in the near future.

This move appears to have been made after Spotify found that far fewer people than expected were signing up for paid premium accounts on the service.

Mark Mulligan, technology analyst at Forrester Research, explained the reasons behind the strategy: "It [Spotify] went into this thinking it was going to be a premium subscription business," he said. "The problem is what's proven to be the successful part is the free bit."
Premium Spotify subscriptions cost £9.99 per month in the UK, and give users an advert-free service. However, most users are happy to stick with the free version, as the adverts tend not to interfere too much with listening time.

Myspace Magic
Before I make mention of a couple of group developments, I would like to thank Liverpool Bands Friends for giving nme-europe a mention on their myspace page this week.

The man behind the project, Tony, told us a little about the project. "There's just me and I'm just a punter that's interested in the music of Liverpool. I do hope that the page acts as a bulletin board where you can hear some bands, find out about gigs and support up and coming bands."

Naturally, nme-europe gives the page its full support and recommends you all have a look. It's a great portal for Liverpool bands to get some exposure. I know I'll be a regular from now on. Check it out for yourselves here.

Still in Liverpool, indie boys, Strawhouses, are counting down the days to the release of their new single 'A Good Night Out'. The launch will be celebrated with a gig at the Liverpool O2 Academy on Saturday night (11th), with support from The Daisy Riots, Subjects of the City and The Fall of Kings.

In case you're not familiar with this bunch, an exclusive interview will be available on nme-europe as from this Wednesday. In the meantime you can marvel at their music on the myspace page.


How about a couple of new tracks to have a listen to? Sheffield-based, The Breaks have uploaded 'Waste Away Girl', a five minute breeze in the park, which any indie fan will surely appreciate. The Breaks will also be featured on this page in a week or so.

Slightly further north, Newcastle to be precise, The Rigg have added a further two tracks to the five already on offer on their myspace page. 'Realisation' has particularly impressed me, I'm sure I'll not be the only one...

Finally, across the pond Dark Speakers have uploaded a rough version of their new single 'California Rhythm', which has a touch of a souped-up The Eagles about it. Give it a go.

Reviews
This week's most notable release must be Manchester boys, Doves, with 'Kingdom Of Rust'. Hot on the pod, a review will appear forthwith. In the meantime, you can check out a summary of the March reviews here.


Think that's about it.... NME-E is off on hols for the rest of the week, but has left a couple of articles on standby to keep the masses satisfied.

Cheers


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Weekly Round Up (16 Mar 2009)

Hi and welcome to another weekly round up of all things musical.

Top Stories
Little known U2 are working hard on getting some press coverage to coincide with their album release. This week Bono has been spouting off about how much he earns and told us exactly how we should feel about illegal downloading of music.

His outburst against p2p file sharers is, according to him, in defence of less well-off musicians (i.e. everyone else) and, of course, nothing to do with him maintaining the status of mega-rich rock star.

In an interview with USA Today, he said "People think people like me are overpaid and overnourished, and they're not wrong. What they're missing is, how does a songwriter get paid? It's not the place for rich rock stars to ask for more money, but somebody should fight for fellow artists, because this is madness. Music has become tap water, a utility, where for me it's a sacred thing, so I'm a little offended [by illegal downloading]."

"The music business has been thrown to the dogs legislatively," he said. "[That will change when] file-sharing of TV shows and movies becomes as easy as songs. Somebody is going to call the cops."

This statement adds fuel to the fire of file-sharing, which would surely be an interesting topic for debate on this blog. In recent months, I've heard opinions from both sides; Bono's proclamation collides head on, for example with what new-comers The Dirty Turns told me in a recent interview (which will appear in full in good time). Their spokesman, Zach, was adamant that "music shouldn't cost to hear" when explaining that the band's forthcoming release would be available on a free download.

I'm quite happy to act as a moderator if anyone wants to spark a debate.

Elsewhere, and still loosely on the download theme, two of the major players - Apple and YouTube - have enjoyed mixed fortunes this week. On the up side (for them at least) Apple has launched a new iPod shuffle, claiming it's the world's smallest music player.


The new model is around half the size of the previous shuffle, and includes a new feature that has song and band titles spoken to the listener. With a capacity of 4gb, leaving space for up to 1,000 songs, the American giants have shown they're not taking anything for granted in these troubled times.

At the other end of the scale is YouTube, who have removed all premium music videos from the UK site after a dispute with the Performing Rights Society (PRS), who are seeking a better pay deal for artists whose videos are available to watch on the video site.

With Google-owned YouTube refusing to meet the PRS's "over the top" demands, they have opted to remove the implicated files until a deal is made.

Patrick Walker, Director of YouTube's Video Partnerships explained his company's stance by stating that "We feel we are so far apart that we have to remove content while we continue to negotiate with the PRS."

The PRS, meanwhile, are a little bit cheesed off with the whole affair. Not surprising when you think that instead of increasing revenue, they have effectively bitten off the hands that feed them. As far as I see it, serves 'em right for being greedy!

Back in the real world in the midst of a myriad of album and festival line up announcements, the free bit of publicity of the week goes to The Maccabees who have revealed that second album, entitled 'Wall Of Arms', which has been produced by Markus Dravs (Bjork, Arcade Fire) will be out on May 4.

It might seem a bit strange to single out one band, but The Maccabees debut album 'Colour It In' was one of my favourites of the year. And anyway, it's my blog so I choose he, he.

Myspace Magic
I feel the urge to do some Myspace promoting this week, as some top, top bands try and move up a level. In case you didn't know, the V Festival is holding a contest called Road To V which aims to get up and coming bands a chance to play on the main stage during this year's festival. So far, scousers The Little Hydes and Metropolitans and new buddies The Scholars, from the Midlands (article to appear soon) have received the kiss of death of an nme-europe vote. It doesn't take ages to register, so why not check things out here and give people some support.

Another Brum band, Page 44 (I seriously recommend reading about how they got their name when I feature them!) are also in need of some votes, but this time on bandbacker.com

Obliging as I am, they have my vote. Now, all they need is YOU!

Releases wise, relative veterans, So Shush, let fans sample tracks from their forthcoming album, 'Wistful Wanders', over the weekend. I am lucky enough to have received some promo tracks from Ian and Carole and will offer a full article and review around the time of release, scheduled for April 20.

Last, but by no means least, Italian pop-ites, Pipers, have announced that their debut album is ready to go. All they need is a label to distribute their material. Calling all companies, have a listen to 'Sick Of You' and take it from there. With so much rubbish flying around (Lily Allen, anyone?) it would be a crime not to give these gents a chance.


And finally.....
No major reviews this week, although the new Starsailor album, 'All The Plans' has just hit my iPhone and will no doubt end up on here. I also intend to summarise all important releases on a monthly basis. Watch this space!


One thing I DO recommend you hang around for is a quality interview with Overspill Poets. Some time this week you can read and learn. I already did.

Cheers.

Read all nme-e news.

Myspace Magic: The Trestles

This week's featured Myspace Magic band takes us once more to the heart of the music world. I first came across Liverpool's The Trestles almost a year ago when I saw them supporting Amsterdam at The Cavern (I think it was bass-player Tom's first gig). Suitably impressed by their set and, coinciding with their first official release, an E.P. called 'Hard Faced Town', NME-E set about finding out a little more about the band, who were kind enough to answer my questions recently. Here's what they had to say:

NME-E: Who are you and how did you come about?
Tres: We are The Trestles, named after a lyric from Bruce Springsteen's 'Darkness On The Edge Of Town' and the author of a Socialist bible. Remember how music used to make you feel? That's why we're here...

An interesting way to come up with a name! And they have a very clear idea of what they are about.

NME-E: What are your releases to date?
Tres: 'Hard Faced Town', a four track EP, is imminent.

In fact, it is now available and once I've downloaded it there'll be a formal review. You can preview the tracks on their myspace page.

NME-E: If you could choose a band to support you, who would it be?
Tres: Damien Dempsey is a particular favourite. But we'd have to go on first - Al is usually in tears by the end of his first song.

Clearly a bunch of old romantics...

NME-E: What was your favourite album of 2008?
Tres: REM's 'Accelerate' rocked. Al loved Van Morrison's 'Keep It Simple' too and Tom was diggin' on Neil Young's 'Chrome Dreams'.

You start to get a feel for The Trestles when you see who they're "diggin'"

NME-E: What are your objectives and prospects for 2009?
Tres: To keep up our run of live gigs (Mathew Street Festival 08, MTV Liverpool Music Week, support slots with Mull Historical Society, Ian McNabb and Amsterdam were all whoppers in the past few months) and for people to hear the Hard Faced Town EP.

Well, I'm definitely gonna be one of those who hears the EP and I recommend you do the same. In fact, do it right here, right now - it's not gonna break the bank!



As per usual, my sincerest thanks to The Trestles for taking the time to talk to NME-Europe. I wish them all the best with the release and ask you all to at least check them out here.

2008 (1): The Age Of The Overstatement?

As 2008 draws to a close and everyone starts reflecting on the past 12 months, it seems approporiate to review this year's music.

Where do we begin, then? Well, to start with, in my (humble) opinion, this has been a pretty average year. The question is, why?





Perhaps the simple answer would be with another statement which could easily have been the title of this post; "The Death Of The Album", as, for me, this is the main problem in music at present. Part two of the 2008 review will focus on my choice of the top 10 albums this year and it was while I was trying to compile my list that my thesis on the decline of the album as we know it started to take shape.

On sifting through the albums which have "graced" my Itunes this year, a recurring pattern started to develop; there are VERY few albums which are truly GREAT from start to finish. Indeed, the vast majority of those pumping on my stereo have no more than two or three songs worthy of a "great" rating.

In fact, while I found it quite a simple task to find 20 or more tracks from which I could draw up a Top 10 list (that'll be part 3!), I had to review my 2008 albums on several occasions to find enough contenders to go into my Top 10 list (if things don't change in 2009, I'll be reducing it to the Top 5 - should be easier!). I almost felt like I was scraping the barrel to get past Nº6 and it's probably true (and, at the same time, depressing) to say that those outside the Top 3 would have found it difficult to get on to lists in previous years.

So, why have there been so few great albums this year?

Initially, I thought it was just a coincidence; some years will always be better than others. However, I started to notice that albums by some of the truly great bands of the past few years such as Coldplay, Bloc Party, The Killers and Kings of Leon were extremely average by their standards. Even The Cure's much awaited '4:13 Dream' (Geffen, October 2008) sounded like nothing more than a Greatest Hits album. Each of its 13 new tracks sounded like something from a previous album with a new title. Even though those tracks were pretty good - I'm sorry, but I don't think I will EVER criticise Robert Smith et al, The Cure have played too important a part in my musical life for that - I couldn't help but be disappointed by what I'd bought.

There are only two groups which I feel can be excused - R.E.M.'s 'Accelerate' (Warner Bros, April 2008) signalled the return of the best R.E.M. music since the days of 'Automatic For The People' and definitely is one of the best albums of the year (it's certainly on my list, anyway!) and Snow Patrol's "A Hundred Million Suns" (Geffen/Fiction, October 2008) maintains levels reached with 'Final Straw' and 'Eyes Open'. (By the way, for those of you thinking "What about Keane?", their 2008 release, Perfect Symmetry (Island, October 2008) was quite simply PATHETIC. If that album had been presented by a new band it would never have been recorded.


If it wasn't just a bad year by chance, what was the reason, then? The answer: downloads.
Now, before everyone starts thinking donkeys and how it's like stealing the record from the shop (we should discuss that one at a later date), I'm talking about the whole concept of downloads and, in particular, legal ones.

I don't have official statistics on this, but I'm sure that most music downloads are NOT albums, but tracks. In times of financial difficulties, why spend 15 (pounds or euros, depending on where you live) on a new release unless you're convinced it's worth the money? Logically, it's more economical to try a couple of singles first and maybe (a BIG maybe) buy the whole album later. So you get two tracks by Coldplay, 3 by Snow Patrol, another 3 or 4 by Kings of Leon and Bloc Party (but don't get any by Keane!) and, before you know it, you have the basis of a "great" album..... by four different artists!


On top of this, all the tracks are on your mp3 player, so you can select 'shuffle songs' and forget about albums forever. Simple!

Record companies aren't stupid (although they do try their best to appear to be!). Let's sell millions of tracks at 0,99, let the romantics go out and buy the album anyway and forget about the 'crisis'. Think about it. A number of international banks would have disappeared without Government intervention, but Sony, EMI and Warner Bros. will probably announce massive profits.

Groups limiting (or being told to limit) each album to one or two pieces of genius, using average, 2nd class material to make up ther numbers and keeping better stuff for the future (or at least until the crisis starts to disappear, or whatever it does)?

Anyone who shares that opinion must be a paranoid android, right?

While you think about that, I need to find the best of the average 2008 albums for positions 7-10 on my Top 10 list. The long and winding road.....