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 (23 Mar 2009)

Hi and welcome to another week of musical wonder.

Top Stories

With U2 keeping their gobs shut this week, I've had to look elsewhere for some newsworthy items, but there's always something to write home about. George Harrison's son, Dhani, says The Beatles estate is considering bypassing iTunes and setting up a standalone download site offering the band's music. Not content with the 'Rock Band' deal set to hit the market in September or Steve Job's paultry 99 cents a download, Dhani is clearly intent on making the most of his father's talent - has he not got any of his own, we ask ourselves?

"We're losing money every day," Harrison told Blender.

"So what do you do? You have to have your own delivery system, or you have to do a good deal with Steve Jobs. But he says that a download is worth 99 cents, and we disagree."

Maybe Dhani should start doing covers of his father's work. Read on....

Will Page, Chief Economist at music royalties agency PRS, says revenue from ticket sales, performance royalties and VAT has now overtaken that from recorded music. He calculated that across all facets, the live industry was worth £904m in 2008. This overtakes recorded industry's trade value of £896m, as published in the BPI's January newsletter with the gap expected to widen in the future.

At the same conference, promoter Stuart Galbraith of Killimanjiro Live pointed out that Michael Jackson has sold 800,000 concert tickets, all major festivals have sold out and Take That are looking at seven-figure ticket sales on their current campaign.

To me, this seems a logical development in today's download society.

One band who definitely won't be adding to this trend, are The Stone Roses. Amid tabloid rumours the band were going to reunite and play a 21 gig tour this summer, Ian Brown's publicist denied any truth in the matter, telling the Daily Mail that he is instead concentrating on his next solo album at the moment.

"We know nothing about a reunion," the publicist said. "Ian is working on his new studio album which is due out later this year."

John Squire also said they same later on in the week, so best not get too excited by that whole idea.


Myspace Magic
Pittsburgh's finest, Meeting Of Important People are counting the days to the release of their self-titled debut album. They'll be one of the featured bands on nme-europe this week.

Elsewhere, there are plenty of bands uploading new tracks this week. In no particular order of preference, then:

Liverpool quartet Sky Lounge offer '7Teen', a hard-hitting track which, as they self-proclaim "...mostly draws upon catchy pop chorus and prominent dance rhythms."

Fellow Scousers, Buzz Radio, win the week's prolific prize with no less than FOUR new tracks appearing on their page. 'So Sad About Us', 'Judgement Day', 'Don't Make A Fool Out Of Me' and 'One Too Many' are easy on the ear for all pop/rockers.

Just up the M62, Mutineers most recent track, 'Hyde Road' is a real grower and well worth a listen.

Last, but not least, Loveday Fools, who hail from Scarborough also have new tracks on their page, with a demo version of 'In The Backyard' the latest to arrive. If you like well thought out melodies, you're gonna like these gents - my particular favourite is 'The Morning', although I won't tell you who I think they sound like...

Check 'em all out. It won't do you any harm!

Finally, not content with a bandbacker battle, Page 44 are also set on the Road To V. Couldn't resist giving them my vote. You should do too.

Reviews

With reviews of Starsailor and The Rakes on the horizon, this week's pick of the new stuff must surely be The Decemberists' fifth album, 'Hazards Of Love'. Following the commercial success of 'The Crane Wife' it'll be interesting to see which direction they take now.

Festival Fever
Without going into too much detail on the UK festivals, the main announcement Spain-wide this week comes from the SOS 4.8 festival. Spanish indie legends (and I don't use that term lightly), Los Planetas, won't be able to make it in the end as they're concentrating on recording their new album. However, the organisers have, so-to-speak, pulled a rabbit out of the hat by confirming Newcastle boys Maximo Park as a replacement. While Los Planetas is an unfortunate loss, Maximo Park is certainly an exciting prospect and increases the quality of the line-up. There's still a bit of uncertainty as to when they'll appear with one local paper indicating it's a straight swap while another stated they'll be on the main stage on the Friday (which balances things up a little).


That's about it then. Have a good week.


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Myspace Magic: Fare Evaders

Liverpool is monopolising the Myspace Magic section lately, but this is merely a consequence of the quality on Merseyside at present. This week nme-europe features Fare Evaders, a pop/rock quartet with more than a punch and a few things to say. Here's what they told nme-e.

NME-E: Who are you and how did you come about?
FE: We're Fare Evaders. We started as a 5-piece and all met in college just over a year ago. Funnily enough, we hadn't really spoken to each other until we formed the band. After gigging Liverpool for several months (under The Vibes), we decided it was time for a break. Before long, we were all sitting at home twiddling our thumbs with a dying urge to get gigging again. After a few discussions we decided it was just right to get back together. Returning as a four-piece with a new name and a new, more energetic musical style, Fare Evaders was born. The band is Danny Badger on lead vocals and guitar, Niall Blanchflower on guitar, Ben Davies on bass and Dean Caffery on drums.

The style certainly is energetic, you only have to listen to the two available tracks on their myspace page to appreciate that. 'Two Part Return' and 'You Know You're Wrong' are both relentless guitar driven rants.

NME-E: What are your releases to date?
FE: We haven't had any releases, or any planned for that matter! It's something that's not really a priority at the moment and our time will come eventually, just waiting for the right opportunity.

NME-E: If you could choose a band to support you, who would it be?
FE: This is a tricky one, Badger definitely wants The Beatles, but there's a slight problem in that. Niall would most likely want somebody like Bob Marley, but once again, he's a little bit dead. Ben would probs want some dirty horrible metal and Dean really doesn't mind, just as long as Mr David Grohl is there.

It definitely would be a tall order to get this line-up organised!

NME-E: What was your favourite album of 2008?
FE: It's gotta be the Last Shadow Puppet's 'Age Of The Understatement'! Considering the modern music scene, it is a work of art devised by two fantastic young musicians. Any musician should appreciate all aspects of this!

NME-E: What are your objectives/prospects for next 12 months?
FE: Whoahhh. Well we like to take things as they come, and our main goal is just to get our name out there and our music heard. We just want to be unique from the crowd as there's too many bands out there these days just wanting to follow it. Constantly improving as individuals, musicians and a band is definitely on the list. Nobody knows what the future holds, all we know is we're having a fantastic time doing what we do and we're not ready to let it stop just yet!

Well, there you go. Fare Evaders have got their ideas clear. They've already laid the foundations for a successful rise. If they meet their objectives the future could be very bright.

My sincerest thanks to Fare Evaders for taking the time to talk to nme-europe. Please check out their myspace page and have a listen to their tunes - it's the least they deserve.

Last 5 NME-E interviews:
Fly With Vampires (Liverpool, UK)
Its A Buffalo (Manchester, UK)
The Trestles (Liverpool, UK)
Metropolitans (Liverpool, UK)
The Rackets (Liverpool, UK)

Read all NME-E interviews