CMU
Daily - on the inside Wednesday
2nd March
In
today's CMU Daily:
- Jacko defense say Bashir in contempt - Jacko trial update
- Tensions in 50 Cent camp leads to shooting at New York radio
station
- Lil Kim jury selected
- RIAA launch 750 more downloader lawsuits
- Pro-P2P groups unite efforts
- Single Review: The Departure - Lump In My Throat
- Creative step up the fight in MP3 player battle
- Sony announce Walkman Mobile
- Infadels in studio with Jagz
- Usher and Alicia dominate at Soul Train Awards
- Album Review: British Sea Power - Open Season
- J Lo not back with Medina
- BBC board to be axed
- Searchers drummer dies
- Buckingham Palace launches Queen's Medal For Music
- EP Review: We Will Be Pilots - This Is What You Fight For
- Keane to support U2
- Weezer gigs
- Funeral For A Friend gigs
- Green Day added to Oxegen line up
- Prince peforms surprise post-Oscars gig
- Joss signed up for Gap ads
- Evans puts his money of Edith for Celeb Fame Academy
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JACKO
DEFENSE SAY BASHIR IN CONTEMPT - JACKO TRIAL UPDATE
Fun galore over at that there Michael Jackson trial. Our old
friend Judge Rodney S Melville is currently considering whether
the trial's first witness, dreadful TV presenter Martin Bashir,
is in contempt of court after he pretty much refused to answer
ever question put to him by Jacko's defense team. Bashir's Michael
Jackson documentary, in which the singer was seen holding hands
with his accuser, pretty much initiated the lastest set of allegations
against the singer.
On
the second day of the trial yesterday Bashir reluctantly took
to the witness stand at the request of the prosecution. He confirmed
he had worked as a reporter for both the BBC and ITV and that
he had once interviewed Princess Diana. But that was pretty
much it. To most of the other questions Bashir cited a California
"shield" law that allows journalists to protect their
sources in court. Jacko's defense weren't impressed, alleging
Bashir was using the law inappropriately and was, therefore,
in contempt of court for refusing to answer their questions.
Melville confirmed he would consider those claims, adding that
journalists using the ìshieldî law to avoid questions
in court was ìa real ticklish areaî. Jacko's lawyers
plan to call Bashir back to court as part of their presentation
to the jury - though the TV presenter's lawyers are expected
to fight any such attempts to get him back on the witness stand.
Elsewhere
in yesterday's proceedings, Jacko's lawyer Thomas Mesereau concluded
his opening statement. He told the court that police found no
DNA from the accuser when they searched Jackson's bedroom at
his Neverland ranch: "The DNA isn't there because the molestation
claims are fictionî. He also implied that Jacko will take
to the witness stand himself as part of the defense's case.
At
the end of the day Jacko was asked how he felt two days into
the trial. He said he was "good", but added he was
also "angry".
Elsewhere
in Jacko news, and celebrity TV network E! is overcoming the
fact that TV cameras are not being allowed into the Jacko trial
by hiring actors who will act out the proceedings each day.
The reenactments will feature on a daily half hour show, which
will also include trial analysis by Court TV's Rikki Klieman,
barrister Shawn Chapman Holley from Johnnie Cochran's law firm
and defense attorney Howard Weitzman.
--------------------------------------------------
TENSIONS
IN 50 CENT CAMP LEADS TO SHOOTING AT NEW YORK RADIO STATION
A man associated with 50 Cent was shot in the lobby of a New
York radio station on Monday while the rapper was being interviewed
about his new album 'The Massacre'.
According
to US newspaper Newsday the shooting may have been down to tensions
within the 50 Cent camp following news the rapper is dropping
his protege, The Game, from his G:Unit possee. Fiddy's fall
out with The Game, real name Jayceon Taylor, seems to follow
an interview last weekend in which the G:Unit member talked
up Nas - one of the many rappers 50 Cent has an ongoing feud
with. Insiders say Fiddy was angered when Taylor said he would
be interested in working with Nas.
The
man who was shot on Monday was Kevin Reed, one of The Game's
associates, and reports suggest the incident occurred during
a fracas between 50 Cent and The Game's entourages. Reed, who
was shot in the upper leg, was taken to a nearby hospital but
later released.
Police
are still investigating the incident, and other reports of a
shooting later the same day at Violator Management, the company
which represents 50 Cent. Police say Reed intially claimed the
shooting had nothing to do with the hip hop world, but, they
added, they don't believe him.
--------------------------------------------------
LIL
KIM JURY SELECTED
In related news, a jury has been chosen for the trial of rapper
Lil Kim. She is accused of lying to a grand jury who were investigating
another shooting outside the same New York radio station -
this time back in 2001 shortly after Lil Kim had been giving
an interview. Kim and her friend Monique Dopwell are both accused
of lying to the grand jury investigation into that shooting
when they said that they did not know the identities of the
gun men or the motives for the crime. Her court case is expected
to begin this week.
--------------------------------------------------
RIAA
LAUNCH 750 MORE DOWNLOADER LAWSUITS
Staying in pop courts, and the Recording Industry Association
of America has kicked off another 753 lawsuits against those
naughty downloader types. Damn you naughty downloader types.
The latest set of lawsuits means the industry association has
now launched litigation against over 9000 suspected file sharers.
Which is good news for lawyers everywhere.
--------------------------------------------------
PRO-P2P
GROUPS UNITE EFFORTS
Talking of which, a large group of P2P supporters are uniting
ahead of the US Supreme Court hearing on the critical MGM v
Grokster court case which ruled that technology companies who
make P2P software cannot be held liable for any copyright violation
they enable. The major labels and movie studios want that decision
reversed, however a consortium of pro-P2P groups like the Electronic
Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge and the Distributed Computing
Industry Association are throwing their weight behind Grokster's
case, and they have artists like Chuck D and Jason Mraz on their
side. They say P2P networks are a critical promotional and distribution
tool.
The
consensus is that the labels and studios won't be successful
in this case - which is grounded in the landmark Sony
Betamax decision of old which formally distanced the makers
of technology that aids copyright violation of any liability
for that violation providing said technology has legitimate
uses.
The
next port of call for the music and movie companies will be
Congress where there is support for a change in the law that
could supercede the Sony Betamax decision, though any such move
will be lobbied against by all the electronics manufacturers
and retailers who fear any such legislation may throw liability
onto them (all of which might mean Sony Music and Sony Pictures
end up lobbying against Sony Electronics, which would be fun).
--------------------------------------------------
SINGLE
REVIEW: The Departure - Lump In My Throat (EMI/Parlophone)
So, which hot young things really are the heirs to Franz Ferdinand's
much-coveted crown? The Killers have briefly taken the mantle,
but simply don't deserve it (do we really need to get so worked
up about a band that look like The Bluetones and sound like
Shed Seven?), whilst Bloc Party are just a bunch of students
who met at London trying-too-hard club Trash, which tells you
everything you (don't) need to know about them. School reports
coming out of the North East meanwhile, read ìCould do
betterî for both The Futureheads and Maximo Park. Instead,
look to this blisteringly good third single from Northampton's
dandiest The Departure. Combining gloriously affected early
80s vocal warbling straight from a Faint record (though with
a Stella Street-style Bowie inflection about it that almost
makes it hard to take seriously at times), scratchy yet cavernous
post-punk guitars ‡ la Radio 4 that personify the word
'angular', and some strategic new romantic/goth lyrics
about ìthe freaks on the front pageî getting ìall
made upî, 'LIMT' is as good a third single you're
likely to hear and ups the expectancy levels surrounding the
group's imminent debut album considerably. A song so stuck in
1982 it's surfing the very tip of the zeitgeist but, along with
their equally glamorous, similarly-named peers (The Modern,
The Bravery), it suggests a state of rude health in the world
of foppish, skinny tie and eyeliner-adorned indie-pop. Corking
stuff, lads. MS
Release date: 4 Apr
Press contact: EMI IH [all]
--------------------------------------------------
CREATIVE
STEP UP THE FIGHT IN MP3 PLAYER BATTLE
MP3 player maker Creative is following Apple's lead and
cutting the price of its Zen Micro player. It looks likely they
will slightly undercut iPod on most of their models as part
of a campaign to take on Apple's dominance in the MP3
player space. To that end, the price changes are expected to
be backed up by a considerable marketing push.
--------------------------------------------------
SONY ANNOUNCE WALKMAN MOBILE
Sony Ericsson has launched a new digital Walkman phone and a
Bluetooth media device which will let people play music, video
and pictures from their phone via their TV or hifi.
The
new phones, which should be on the market later this year, will
come with special CD ripping software which will let consumers
transfer music to their phone. Needless to say, there is also
increased memory and battery life capacity to enable more sophisticated
media usage on the phone.
Sony
Ericsson will hope that the Walkman's heritage in the
music space will help them capture a decent share of the digital
music market. That logic, of course, has not yet worked in the
MP3 player space, where Sony's digital Walkman has failed
to take on Apple's iPod. However insiders hope the Walkman
phone will be sufficiently distinguished from the iPod -
perhaps monopolising the mobile music space while Apple continue
to dominate in the online download domain.
All
of the key mobile players are eager to enter the mobile music
space, with Nokia and Motorola also in the process of launching
combined phones and MP3 players. All the key players are expected
to make further announcements in this space at the CeBit mobile
phone convention in Germany later this month.
--------------------------------------------------
INFADELS IN STUDIO WITH JAGZ
CMU favourites The Infadels have confirmed they have teamed
up with production legend Jagz Kooner - best known for
his production work with Primal Scream and more recently with
Kasabian and The Kills - to work on their much anticipated debut
album. That will be preceded by a download only release of brand
new track 'Reality TV' and of 'Give Yourself
To Me' - the track used on 3 mobile's jellyfish
ad.
Meanwhile
some Infadel gig dates, first of all headline dates this week:
3 Mar: The Adelfi, Hull
4 Mar: Fibbers Club, York
5 Mar: The Empire, Middlesborough
10 Mar: Camden Crawl, London
And
then support dates on the Faithless tour:
22 Apr: MEN Arena, Manchester
23 Apr: Doncaster Dome, Doncaster
24 Apr: Newcastle Telewest Arena, Newcastle
26 Apr: NIA, Birmingham
28 Apr: Plymouth Pavilions, Plymouth
29 Apr: Alexander Palace, London
30 Apr: Alexander Palace, London
--------------------------------------------------
USHER
AND ALICIA DOMINATE AT SOUL TRAIN AWARDS
Another music awards event, another good day for Usher and Alicia
Keys. So nothing new there then. Yep, it was the Soul Train
Awards in America this week and Usher and Alicia led the proceedings
by taking two individual awards each, and sharing a third award
for their chart-topping duet 'My Boo'. Other artists
winning at the annual event designed to honor recording artists
in R&B, hip-hop, rap and gospel music included Destiny's
Child, Jay Z and newcomer Ciara.
Full
list of winners as follows:
R&B/Soul Single, Female: Alicia Keys - If I Ain't Got You
R&B/Soul Single, Male: Usher - Confessions Part II
R&B/Soul Single, Group, Band Or Duo: Usher And Alicia Keys
- My Boo
R&B/Soul Album, Female: Alicia Keys - The Diary Of Alicia
Keys
R&B/Soul Album, Male: Usher - Confessions
R&B/Soul Album Group, Band Or Duo: Destiny's Child - Destiny
Fulfilled
R&B/Soul Or Rap New Artist: Ciara - Goodies
R&B/Soul Or Rap Music Video: Jay-Z - 99 Problems
R&B/Soul Or Rap Dance Cut: Usher featuring Ludacris &
Lil Jon - Yeah!
Gospel Album: Israel & New Breed - Live From Another Level
--------------------------------------------------
ALBUM
REVIEW: British Sea Power - Open Season (Rough Trade)
Fauna-obsessed Brighton eccentrics British Sea Power still sound
like they should be soundtracking a John Hughes movie: their
sweepingly elegant New Wave grandeur providing a fittingly maudlin
backdrop for one of Molly Ringwald's frequent lovesick turns.
If their debut album was characterised by trenchcoat doominess
and abrasive feedback fade-outs, 'Open Season' is
a lighter, altogether more accessible record which exhibits
the same breezy romanticism as 'Absolute Beginners'-era
Bowie. A slow-burning record which is less self-consciously
epic than its predecessor, buried beneath the all-pervasive
lushness of the production are some of the bands most lovelorn
and breathlessly poignant melodies to date. DL
Release date: 21 Mar
Press contact: Cool Delta [CR, RR] Stone Immaculate [RP, NP]
anglo [RR, NR]
--------------------------------------------------
J
LO NOT BACK WITH MEDINA
According to the New York Times' gossip column Page Six,
Benny Medina hasn't resumed managing Jennifer Lopez's
music career. As previously reported, rumour had it last week
Lopez would rehire Medina's services less than two years
after she fired him. The latest word is that Lopez and Medina
did have a verbal agreement to resume their business relationship,
but when it can to signing contracts they decided it would be
an unwise move. The paper quites a source as saying: ìIt
was a handshake deal, but when it came down to signing contracts
on Friday, they decided to remain friendsî. Gossipers
are wondering whether the fact Medina manages Mariah Carey,
who has a long running feud with Lopez, was a reason for J Lo
pulling out at the last minute.
--------------------------------------------------
BBC
BOARD TO BE AXED
The BBC's board of governors is to be scrapped as part
of those proposals for the future of the Beeb due to be announced
by culture secretary Tessa Jowell later today. The general consensus
had been that the Board would not be scrapped as part of the
review, however Jowell's proposals are something of a
compromise, the board will go but its replacement won't
be as radical a departure from the current situation as had
been proposed in a recent report by Lord Burns.
Basically
a new independent trust will be appointed by the Department
for Culture, Media and Sport. Like the current board they will
be responsible for ensuring the BBC sticks to its public service
obligations - however they will not be proactively involved
in running the Corporation.
--------------------------------------------------
SEARCHERS
DRUMMER DIES
Chris Curtis, the original drummer of 1960s pop group The Searchers,
has died at the age of 63 after a long illness. Curtis was a
member of the Liverpool based beat combo from their formation
in 1960 through to 1966. The band sold millions of records in
their heyday.
Paying
tribute to Curtis, the band's original bassist Tony West
told reporters yesterday that the drummer "was the epitome
of the group itself. He contributed an awful lot to the vocals
and the harmonies - his was the distinctive high voice. He was
also a very good drummer. I will remember him as full of life
and enthusiasm. Although he left the band, he never fully left
the musical scene."
--------------------------------------------------
BUCKINGHAM
PALACE LAUNCHES QUEENS MEDAL FOR MUSIC
The royal family are putting their weight behind a new prize
designed to raise the profile of British music and to "reward
individuals who have had a major influence on the musical life
of the nation". The new Queen's Medal for Music will awarded
to a musician who has had a real impact on music in Britain.
That musician could be of any nationality, working in any genre
of music from classical to rap.
The
first award will be made on 22 Nov, the memorial day of St.
Cecilia, patron saint of music (apparantly). Commenting on the
new award, composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies who, as Master
of The Queen's Music, will chair the award committee, said the
medal was "a concrete symbol of the esteem which most of
us feel musical life in Britain deserves."
The
new award was announced as the Queen hosted a special evening
for musicians which saw hundreds of music people, from leading
rockers to community groups and school children, in attendance
at Buckingham Palace. Among the guests were Eric Clapton, Brian
May, Jimmy Page, Phil Collins, Dame Vera Lynn, Jamie Cullum
and Sir Cameron Mackintosh.
--------------------------------------------------
EP
REVIEW: We Will Be Pilots - This Is What You Fight For (Captains
of Industry)
Firstly, great name: it's not often you find young people so
confident of their calling in life. Secondly, if the recent
demise of Ikara Colt and Mclusky has left you hankering for
a fresh dose of incendiary avant-punk than you could do worse
than check out this EP from the London-based noiseniks: six
blasts of urgent, sense-assaulting emo rock which splutter and
flail spasmodically upwards on their skyward trajectory. DL
Release date: 14 Mar
Press: Captains of Industry IH [all]
--------------------------------------------------
KEANE
TO SUPPORT U2
Live news now, and Keane will support label mates U2 at four
of their upcoming Europe dates. They will play at U2 dates in
Munich, Nice, Barcelona and Lisbon in Aug.
--------------------------------------------------
WEEZER
GIGS
Elsewhere, Weezer have announced two UK dates. They will play
the Birmingham Academy on 13 Jun and Brixton Academy on 14 Jun.
Tickets go on sale on Friday.
--------------------------------------------------
FUNERAL
FOR A FRIEND GIGS
Finally in gigs news, Funeral For A Friend will play three dates
in Wales next month, dates as follows:
21
Apr: Bangor University
22 Apr: Blackwood Miner's Institute
23 Apr: Bridgend Rec
--------------------------------------------------
GREEN
DAY ADDED TO OXEGEN LINE UP
Onto festivals, and Green Day have been confirmed as headliners
of Ireland's Oxegen Festival. They join the Foo Fighters
as headliners at the festival meaning, once again, the Irish
festival will share its top acts with Scotland's T in
the Park, which takes place the same weekend.
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PRINCE
PEFORMS SURPRISE POST-OSCARS GIG
Prince performed a surprise set at a post-Oscars party on Sunday
night. The show at Prince's LA villa was seen by a very
intimate audience - only fifty odd guests were invited.
One eyewitness told the New York Post that Prince and his full
band played a set in his living room, describing the show as
ìvery select, very intimate and hands down the best."
Across
town the Scissor Sisters performed with Elton John at his annual
post-Oscars fundraiser. They performed a duet on Elton's 'The
Bitch Is Back' - and gossipers say Scissor Sisters
frontman Jake Shears' performance was so engergestic
he split his pants!
--------------------------------------------------
JOSS
SIGNED UP FOR GAP ADS
Joss Stone is the latest artist to be signed up by Gap. She
will promote the fashion retailer's autumn range. The
Sun quote the singer as saying, simply, "I'm really excited."
--------------------------------------------------
EVANS
PUTS HIS MONEY OF EDITH FOR CELEB FAME ACADEMY
Chris Evans reckons Radio 1's Edith Bowman will win Celebrity
Fame Academy, and has put a £100 bet down to that effect.
At the time Edith's odds stood at 16:1, meaning Evans
will get back £1700 if she wins (they've been cut
to 6:1 now). Evans told reporters: "Edith has a great chance,
she did fantastic on Saturday."
Then
again, Evans isn't that loyal to Bowman. He has also
put some money down on Jon Culshaw, who has odds of 50:1 to
win.
