Weekly Round Up (18 May 2009)

Here's the latest batch of music news....

Top Stories

The online music site, Spotify, is planning to launch a mobile version and launch in the US.

Founder Daniel Ek spoke about what he thought the future lay in store for the product: "Portability is an important aspect, [as is] interoperability with other devices."

"That's definitely something we think is a premium product that people are willing to pay for - being able to bring the music with you or being able to have it working on your stereo."

A £9.99 subscription is currently available in the UK which blocks adverts. The US market could well see something by the end of this year or the beginning of 2010.

Meanwhile, the debate as to how to deal with illegal (or should that be alegal?) downloading on music continues. The Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) has spoken of its disapproval over a plan proposed by an alliance of creative industries in the UK to disconnect music file sharers' internet connections.

The alliance of the creative industries have called on the Government to "cut-off" repeat offenders to reduce the distribution of copyrighted material, but the response from the ISPA was that the idea was "disproportionate":

"ISPs and consumer groups consider disconnection of users to be a disproportionate response, a view that was recently supported by the european parliament."

In an attempt to offer some sort of compromise to the situation, Barbara Follet MP, minister for the creative industries, told industry executives that they were looking at a system of penalties and threats of legal action.

We'll see how this develops.

Myspace Magic

A couple of bands have added new material to their profiles over the past week. Scarborough's finest, Loveday Fools, have uploaded two new tracks - 'Terry O'Neill' and 'Come On Mate'. The former is a wistful ballad, while 'Come On Mate' is a down to earth little ditty which could be about any of our mates. This band is certainly versatile, so I seriously recommend a listen.

Liverpool's The Jacs have also added two new demos to their myspace page. This band will be featured in an nme-europe Myspace Magic article in the near future, but for now, all 60s music lovers should head straight for their page.

If you're looking for something along the lines of Editors-cum-Placebo-cum-The Cinematics you shouldn't bypass The Scholars. This Midland band, already featured on nme-e have added a couple of new tunes to their myspace profile. 'Turbulence' is my particular favourite - this band is really churning out some quality tunes and are surely one to watch.

Finally, another Midland band, Subkicks, released their debut album last week. A full feature will appear here this week, but for now have a look at their profile and sample some of their sounds.

Reviews
This week's main release is 'Journal For Plague Lovers' by the Manic Street Preachers, which has already caused a stir in with its cover. Indeed, supermarkets are refusing to display their new album cover, only stocking it in a blank slipcase because they fear that the cover image will offend.


Nicola Williamson, Sainsbury's music buyer, said: "We felt that some customers might consider this particular album cover to be inappropriate if it were prominently displayed on the shelf. As such, the album will be sold in a sleeve provided by the publisher."

However, James Dean Bradfield had other thoughts. "You can have lovely shiny buttocks and guns everywhere in the supermarket on covers of magazines and CDs," he said, "but you show a piece of art and people just freak out."

He's kind of got a point...

And finally....
Antonio Vega, 51, R.I.P.

Now, most of you will be wondering, 'who?' but Antonio Vega should go down as one of the great pop-writers in the Spanish music world. Nor he nor his band ever made the giddy heights they might have (and probably would have if they had been from the UK or the US) deserved, but Vega's lyrical and musical ability is unquestionable. His most popular song, 'La Chica De Ayer' was, in fact, covered by the Gigolo Aunts and is possibly the best way to remember him.

Myspace Magic: The Scholars

The latest band to appear in the Myspace Magic section hail from the Midlands. If groups like Editors, The Cinematics or The National take your fancy, then you will definitely like this quintet; a quick visit to their myspace page will soon make you see why. Having been in touch with them recently and on backing them on their Road to V, NME-E was ablew to chat to the lads and find out a bit more about this more than interesting bunch. Here's what they had to say:

NME-E: Who are you and how did you come about?
Sch: The Scholars spawned from the songwriting of brothers Adrian and Chris Gillet, forming the basis of vocals, bass and guitars. From the ashes of previous bands, Adam Clarke became the drummer shortly after a few songs were written. We went into the studio to produce a 10 track demo in January of 2008. We didn't really start working seriously until about April of 2008 - we soon expanded into a quintet due to the constraints of live performance. Thanks to friendships and connections Tim Mobbs became rhythm guitarist in April 2008 and Josh Herring became keyboardist in November 2008 and have gigged extensively for almost a year.

NME-E:Tell us about your releases to date?
Sch: Our initial recording in the studio is called 'Turbulence'. It is a 10 track demo to showcase what we are capable of rather than a conventional album. Saying this, the debut album is in the works as we have written more songs and the summer months will hopefully be the time to record.

NME-E: If you could choose a band/artist to support you, who would it be?
Sch: Our favourite band at the moment are The National, although we'd be more than happy to support them! We're also big fans of Scottish rock outfit The Cinematics - incredible band!

I couldn't agree more about their analysis of The Cinematics. Personally, I think the Scots are far superior to The National. 'A Strange Education' blew me a way and I strongly recommend to anyone who hasn't heard it to get a copy.

NME-E: What's your favourite album at the moment?
Sch: Some disagreement, but the general consesus is as follows: 'To Lose My Life' - White Lies 'Tonight' - Franz Ferdinand 'The Boxer' - The National

OK, will go with that, although White Lies is a bit patchy and I'd put The Cinematics ahead of The National. White Lies and Franz Ferdinand have both been reviewed on nme-e.



NME-E: Finally, what are your objectives/prospects for next 12 months?
Sch: The next 12 months will be pretty big for us. We're tweaking and finalising the songs that we are going to use for our debut album, have a gig packed summer, a battle of the bands final coming up in May, headline slots as we progress, a website on the way, recording to look forward to and a record deal would be wonderful.

On top of all that, they have the honour of entering into the NME-E hall of myspace fame!


A big thanks to The Scholars. Please give them some support and visit their myspace page. If you like their sound you can back them on the Road To V too.

Last 5 NME-E Interviews:
Meeting Of Important People (Pittsburgh, USA)
Overspill Poets (NW, UK)
Fare Evaders (Liverpool, UK)
Its A Buffalo (Manchester, UK)
The Trestles (Liverpool, UK)

Read all NME-E interviews

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.