The clock ticks, the countdown has begun and the Ruse is ready to explode.

Comfortably resting on the cusp of national acclaim, this L.A.-based quartet outfits a sound so shattering it will fracture the spine of the American music scene. Original yet familiar, structured yet erratic, the Ruse is more than just a band — it’s a phenomenon waiting to take the country by storm.

Unconfined to any specific genre or style, the group is most reminiscent of an Americanized version of U2 or Coldplay — and, much like Coldplay, the Ruse crafts a mind-numbing sound by penetrating a haunting mentality into its music. But unlike the band’s British counterparts, the Americans provoke such a state of emotional unrest in a rather elevating manner. Imagine contemplating suicide via a karaoke machine. Their sound is so deep, so introspective, yet always edging toward effervescence.

Read the full article here

The Auckland City Council is feeling rather pleased with its Build Own Operating Transfer agreement over the Vector Arena.

Construction has reportedly stopped at the arena because urgent repairs are needed on the roof. However Auckland City Council spokeswoman Jill McPherson says the BOOT agreement means the council is not affected by construction problems.

British supergroup Coldplay was tentatively booked to play at the Vector Arena in downtown Auckland in June, but said they were unlikely to play in the city unless a pre-June completion date could be confirmed.

At the Academy Awards, celebrities smile as they parade down the red carpet before a phalanx of cameras. Behind the flashbulbs, a delicate new game is under way between the stars and the vast gossip industry of TV shows, magazines and Web sites that feeds upon them.

It has always been a relationship built upon animosity and mutual need. But tensions have grown with the explosion of media running paparazzi photos of stars canoodling or emerging from shops in frumpy track suits.

Now many stars, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Jessica Simpson, are fighting back. They are hiring their own photographers to capture supposedly private rendezvous, tipping off reporters to their whereabouts and developing relationships of mutual back-scratching with editors.

When Paltrow gave birth in 2004, she knew there would be a high bounty on the first photo of her newborn daughter. A staple of the celebrity press, the actress and her husband, Chris Martin, leader of the band Coldplay, decided to take matters into their own hands and tip off a photographer they knew, Steve Sands.The result is the flowering of a genre: fake paparazzi journalism, or the staging of "unstaged" moments. It is an art form that benefits both stars and the press. Stars get to participate in the framing of their image, and magazines appear to give readers a glimpse of the real celebrity untouched by public-relations varnish.

When Paltrow gave birth in 2004, she knew there would be a high bounty on the first photo of her newborn daughter. A staple of the celebrity press, the actress and her husband, Chris Martin, leader of the band Coldplay, decided to take matters into their own hands and tip off a photographer they knew, Steve Sands.

Sands took what appeared to be surprise shots of the two emerging from the hospital in London with the baby and sold them to People for $125,000, according to a person familiar with the arrangement. Larry Hackett, managing editor of People, says he knew that Sands had been tipped off by Paltrow. But he didn't see the need to inform readers about it.

Pictures such as the one of Paltrow help the stars stay in the limelight — but on their terms. "When celebrities do this, it's a way for them to deliver news that they want delivered," says Bonnie Fuller, the editorial director of American Media Inc., which publishes Star and the National Enquirer. By strategically sating the demand for images, stars may be able to tame the paparazzi mob — although in Paltrow's case, photographers continued to stake out her home.

The current strategies hark back to the Hollywood of the 1940s and 1950s, when studios, movie stars and the press worked hand-in-hand to create and maintain screen icons for worshipful fans. Today, the coverage of the stars has exploded. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, circulation of US Weekly stood at an average of 1,662,000 in the six months ending in January of this year, up 12.7 percent from the same period a year earlier. Circulation at Bauer Publishing's InTouch climbed 15.5 percent to 1,178,000, and at Star it rose 12.3 percent to 1,460,000.

The magazines are lucrative. US Weekly sells a million copies a week on the newsstand at $3.49 apiece. The magazine turns an operating profit of $50 million a year, says a person familiar with its accounts. People, which has a circulation of 3.8 million, brings in by far the most revenue and profit of any of the 154 magazines owned by Time Inc., a division of Time Warner Inc.

Network TV programs like Access Hollywood, cable channels like E! Entertainment Television Inc. and Web sites have added to the coverage. All these outlets compete for photos documenting the daily lives of a small cast of celebrities. These stars, in turn, seek to control their images without appearing to, because doing so would ruin their mystique.

Magazines have generally played along. In 2003, Jolie tipped off US Weekly that she would appear in a park one afternoon with her adopted son, Maddox, according to two people familiar with the situation. The actress recently had divorced actor Billy Bob Thornton. These two people say US Weekly knew Jolie had green-lighted the photo, which softened her image by showing her maternal side. The magazine didn't tell readers about it.

Hackett of People says Jolie, who does not have a publicist, is among the most sophisticated manipulators of the press.

Even images that are clearly taken with a star's consent may conceal deeper ties between the star and the media. Simpson, a pop singer, had a close relationship with US Weekly, but it became contentious after the magazine broke the news that she was breaking up with husband Nick Lachey.

Simpson formed a business relationship with OK! USA, a weekly published by London-based Northern & Shell PLC that sometimes pays celebrities for access and lets them approve magazine layouts. The deal with Simpson requires the star to appear in the magazine a certain number of times in exchange for payment, according to the magazine.

In the old studio era, too, celebrities and the press were co-conspirators in crafting storylines that were often distant from reality. A famous instance was Rock Hudson, who despite being secretly gay was publicly married to Phyllis Gates.

People magazine, introduced in 1974, combined celebrity coverage with the journalistic heritage of parent Time Inc. For years People was the only publication of its kind and an essential tool for celebrities. "There was a lot more access then," says Susan Toepfer, a former deputy managing editor at People who is now editor in chief of Quick & Simple. "When I was writing about celebrities in the '70s and '80s, you could spend days with them."

But magazines soon discovered that so-called write-arounds, stories written without the cooperation of the star and using anonymous sources, were more popular.

Celebrities and their handlers began forcing reporters to sign agreements to avoid certain topics or demanding approval over writers and cover layouts.

The arrival of Fuller at US Weekly in 2002 raised the tensions even higher. She pioneered the photography-heavy coverage popular today and paid for paparazzi photos depicting the stars in an unflattering light. A recent example was the image of singer Britney Spears driving down a freeway with her baby in her lap.

The photographers' onslaught has put stars in a tough spot. If they ignore the magazines, they let such pictures define their public image. But sitting down for formulaic interviews and staged shots won't necessarily satisfy the magazines' lust for juicy stories.

The answer is manipulation so subtle it's hard to say if there's any at all. In January, when rumors swirled in the press that Jolie might be pregnant with the child of actor Brad Pitt, Jolie arranged for an employee of the charity Yele Haiti to take a picture of her with her growing belly.

Jolie then let Yele Haiti sell the picture to People, according to Hackett, the magazine's managing editor, and a representative for Pitt. A person familiar with the situation says People paid $400,000 for the picture.

By arranging the Haiti photo, Jolie reaped several benefits. She ensured the picture was flattering. In diverting the money to charity, she put a twist on a tactic used by celebrities in recent years in which they arrange to be paid for wedding or baby photos with the proceeds going to charity.

"I would probably say at least 50 percent of what you see in terms of Hollywood coverage is something that was not necessarily born organically," says Janice Min, editor in chief of US Weekly. "This is how celebrities survive."

Source: azstarnet.com

EMI has been the subject of numerous takeover rumours in recent sessions, mainly on the back of its poor performance over the past few years against a rising market. Even having the likes of Robbie Williams, Coldplay and Gorillaz on its roster has done little to cheer shareholders.

Takeover rumours did the rounds again yesterday, with more talk of a link-up with Warner Music, the recording division of the media giant Time Warner. However, dealers reported quality buyers piling into the stock as traders also speculated that Apple, the computing group that has revolutionised the music industry, maybe considering an offer for EMI. Apple's iTunes is by a long way the market leader in music downloading but does not own any content. One trader said: "Media assets are out of favour with investors and have been for a long while, but there are definite signs the cycle may be turning."

Source: Blackenterprise

"I think I mostly have an insecurity complex about myself, because I've been trying anything I can on women along the way," admits James Blunt — the heartwarming voice behind the ballady smash "You're Beautiful" — with a chuckle. "I tried a uniform at first, and then tried being a musician. Neither have worked particularly well for me. I'm sure psychologists will have something to say about that."

Blunt, whose forlorn lyrical vignettes sound a lot like David Gray songs as sung by Damien Rice, was the UK's hottest new export as 2006 began, until the Arctic Monkeys stole his thunder. Formerly an officer in the British Army's elite Household Cavalry — and more recently, Elton John's wedding singer (okay, it was just one song) — his debut album Back to Bedlam (Atlantic) was 2005's biggest hit across the pond, even managing to finally bitch-slap Coldplay out of the #1 slot. But it wasn't always like this. With no other way to fund his Bristol University engineering degree (which his sensible parents insisted upon before supporting his musical ambitions), Blunt traded out years of military service to cover his costs. After a stint in Canada, he served in Kosovo in 1999 as a reconnaissance officer with the NATO peacekeeping force. "To get an education, it was just one of those things I had to do," Blunt explains. "But to me, it never seemed that long. I thought, 'I'll get to see the world and get out in my mid-twenties and then get to do my music. ... That was probably a good thing at that stage. I wasn't ready. I didn't have the songs there. I knew I had the voice, but I didn't have the songs."

Blunt spent his downtime in Kosovo working on lyrics. "Some people took a deck of cards. Some people took a ball. I took a guitar," he says. "I had to strap it to the outside of the tank. I really wanted to put it on the inside, but you have to put the soldiers inside. There isn't enough room. I tried to strap the soldiers outside, but that just didn't work."

A few years later, those lyrics helped land Blunt a SXSW showcase that caught the attention of Linda Perry, who quickly signed him to her Atlantic Records imprint, Custard. Just recently, at Blunt's sold-out House of Blues show in LA, she boasted her investment would garner three Grammy nominations this year, and net two wins.

The bulk of Back to Bedlam's songs was composed during Blunt's final years of service, including the album's painful record of the genocide he witnessed in Kosovo, "No Bravery." "It was really just a kind of reportage of the images that we got on a daily basis out there," he says. "You look around and see these individuals who seem to be relatively intelligent and sympathetic, but when they got caught up in groups, large groups, something innately evil would take over. Their compassion as human beings would dissolve."

Produced by Tom Rothrock (Elliot Smith, Badly Drawn Boy), Back to Bedlam also features "Good, My Lover," a piano ballad that presented some issues when Blunt and Rothrock realized they didn't have any money left in their stringent budget to bring a piano into the studio. Desperate times led to desperate measures, so Blunt turned to his landlord/host at the time: Princess Leia. Yes, he just happened to be crashing at Carrie Fisher's place at the time, and yes, as luck would have it, she just happened to have a piano in ... her bathroom?

"I guess the story is famous because it happens to be a famous person's bathroom, and she kept a piano in the bathroom," Blunt reasons. "But at the time, it was a very basic decision, like, 'Oh shit, we need a piano.'"

The album's centerpiece, though, remains "You're Beautiful," a gushy anthem Blunt wrote after spotting an ex with a new boyfriend. He has no idea if she knows the song is about her, or that his heartbreak helped to make him a pop sensation. All he needed was a little life experience.

Source: East Bay Express

During the nineties, Richard Ashcroft fronted the superb Britpop group The Verve, peaking in 1997 with the release of the Beatle-esque Urban Hymns. The band split at the apex of their success and since then Ashcroft has struggled to regain his past critical and popular acclaim. Following his high profile appearance with Coldplay at the Hyde Park Live 8 concert, Ashcroft has rejoined them as their opening act while he tours in support of his third solo release, Keys To The World.

While in town for a pair of arena extravaganzas with Coldplay, Ashcroft detoured to the more intimate Webster Hall in New York City for a headlining show of his own.Taking the stage in a candy-cane colored striped shirt, Ashcroft offered a ninety-plus minute set consisting primarily of his solo material with beloved Verve tunes sprinkled throughout. The sold-out hall warmly received Ashcroft's solo material but saved their overwhelming enthusiasm for his Verve classics from Urban Hymns. In between songs, Ashcroft's excitement burst through as he spoke freely about enjoying his return to smaller halls, claiming that this is where rock and roll really lives. Not all of Ashcroft's interludes proved as informative: his rant on proceeding through American customs, which including a frisk of his infant child, rambled on without focus, failing to reach a coherent point.

After dedicating the song to his wife, Ashcroft offered an inspired "Lucky Man" but it was his seemingly spontaneous acoustic "Space And Time" that provided the evening's most stunning moment. Remaining alone on stage, Ashcroft accompanied himself on guitar providing an emotional rendition of his urban hymn creating a communal experience as the crowd came in startlingly strong on the choruses. Unfortunately, after concluding his jaw-dropping "Space And Time," Ashcroft followed it up with a rap-influenced interpretation of "Lonely Souls." Ashcroft's quirky dancing during his performance quickly replaced the image of "rock shaman" with that of a goofy "Napoleon Dynamite." Saving the best for last, Ashcroft closed the show with his crowning achievement, "Bittersweet Symphony."

The material from Keys To The World didn't disappoint but paled in comparison to Ashcroft's Verve material. Having played "Sonnet" earlier in the set made it much more pronounced that Ashcroft lifted the chorus' melody for his set closing version of "Words Just Get In The Away." Though enjoyable, "Break The Night With Colour" and "Keys To The World," standout tracks from Keys To The World failed to captivate. An intended heartfelt version of "New York" also fell flat.

Half John Lennon and half Andy Samberg, Ashcroft exudes a charismatic presence and couldn't be any more comfortable on stage. With his support dates with Coldplay concluding later this week, Ashcroft will return to England for series of solo dates, including a June appearance at the Isle of Wight Festival. Before starting his solo tour, Ashcroft will participate in England v. Germany: The Legends, a 90 minute charity soccer match alongside international athletes like soccer star Paul Gascoigne, Rugby World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio and boxer Nigel Benn. Former tennis great Boris Becker will captain the German squad. The May 3 match will take place at Madejski Stadium in Reading and ticket proceeds will go to the Red Cross and The Bobby Moore Fund.

A lawyer for Apple Computer Inc. today defended the right of the company to use the apple logo on its iTunes Music Store and in a series of TV advertisements for the Web site, despite objections from the Beatles' Apple Corps Ltd. recording label.

Apple Corps is suing Apple Computer in London's High Court, claiming that the U.S.-based computer company has broken a 1991 agreement in which each agreed not to enter into the others' field of business.

The British company, started by the Beatles in 1968, argues that Apple Computer has infringed its territory by entering into the music business, and is seeking to force Apple Computer to drop its apple logo from the iTunes Music Store and pay unspecified damages."We say that Apple Computer has been using the Apple mark in connection with musical content," said Geoffrey Vos, a lawyer for Apple Corps, as he gave his closing arguments Wednesday. "It uses those marks on its music store site at the point of sale of the music content ... it signs artists on its site in just the way a recrd company would."

Anthony Grabiner, a lawyer for Aple Computer, said today that advrtisemets featuring U2, Eminem and Coldplay were entitled to display the apple logo bcause they were prmoting the iTunes store and its downoad services and not the music itself.

"Viewers aren't ignorant peole, but ... have significant unerstanding of what pple Computer does and the object of the exercise, accepted by people watching, was to get the benefit of the download," Grabiner said during his closing arguments in the case.

Source: Various

UNTIL yesterday, nobody had even thought of redoubtable NSW Liberal Andrew Tink and glamorous Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow in the same universe, let alone in the same boudoir. But that all changed in parliament when Deputy Premier John Watkins made considerable play on reports Paltrow and husband Chris Martin, lead singer for Coldplay, had decided to call their new baby Tink as in Tinkerbell, from Peter Pan. According to Watkins it was fitting that the member for Epping, who will retire next year, should be remembered in this way. The jousting brought the popular Tink (NSW version) to his feet, insisting he had never been involved with Paltrow, nor even contributed to a sperm donor program. But he wished Tink (Paltrow/Martin version) well nevertheless.

Source: The Australian

The Orchard, the world's leading distributor and marketer of independent music, and Amp'd Mobile, the first mobile entertainment company created to bring next-gen broadband wireless services for youth and young adults, today announced at CTIA a new partnership where The Orchard will provide music and video from its 800,000-track catalogue-the largest in the world-to Amp'd Mobile's U.S. consumers. The Orchard is the first major independent distributor to provide content to Amp'd Mobile.

Amp'd U.S. subscribers will have access to mastertones, tones, and full track downloads (with dual delivery to phone and PC) from The Orchard's global music catalogue

The Orchard will provide Amp'd Mobile the best independent music from around the world, including landmark indie rock and punk from SST (Black Flag, Minutemen) and Lookout! Records (The Donnas, Ted Leo), classic hip-hop from Delicious Vinyl (Tone Loc, Young MC) and Nature Sounds (MF Doom), and much more. The Orchard catalogue also includes music from multi-platinum acts such as Green Day, Coldplay, and Ray Charles from their early years, before they were signed to major labels, and breaking bands like The Hold Steady and Art Brut.

Full press release here

MegaStar says: ‘Put the rock ’n roll back into the Brits before we die of macrobiotic boredom.’

Organisers of next year’s Brit Awards are already drawing up their wish-list for a line-up that promises to cause a bit of controversy.

After several years of Coldplay getting millions of nominations and James Blunt sipping herb tea backstage, they’ve decided things need spicing up a bit and we’re right behind them.Gone are the days when a disgruntled rock star would get trollied, grab the mic and start hurling abuse at their record label or a rival band.

Now it’s all fey singer-songwriters, getting along with each other and holding the doors open for each other because their mothers taught them that politeness costs nothing. Borrrrrrring!

Next year, plans are afoot to go back to showing the ceremony live on television. If that didn’t give it enough of an edge, the people behind the mega-budget show are thinking of inviting The Sex Pistols along.

They figure, if they dish out a lifetime achievement award to Johnny Lydon and the boys, they might be repaid with a bit of punk-style bad behaviour.

Other dust-ups at Brit Awards gone by have included Jarvis Cocker waggling his bum at Michael Jackson during his ludicrous performance of Earth Song and Chumbawumba’s Danbert Nobacon chucking a glass of water over Deputy PM John Prescott.

Now we’ve seen Lydon do a stint on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here, we know he’s still as nutty as a fruitcake. So anything could happen. We’ll be tuning in.

Source: MegaStar

A city resident who admitted he planned to sell counterfeit tickets to a rock concert at the Tweeter Center last summer pleaded guilty Monday to attempted theft by deception.

Warren admitted that he planned to sell bogus tickets for the Coldplay concert on Aug. 7, 2005. Before any sale could be made, Warren was arrested by Camden police as the result of another crime in which he was not involved.

Read more here

Never again will anyone be able to say that the UK’s top 40 singles chart is made up of just record sales.

This week the Gnarls Barkley single “Crazy” became the first track to become number one through downloads alone. The song, used in BBC ads for Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show, has been downloaded more than 31,000 times on all internet sites, a spokesman for HMV said.

Had the rule existed when Coldplay launched “Speed of Sound” that would have been the first download-only number one.Although officially launched in record stores today as a CD single, the song, which is by producer DangerMouse and hip-hop artist Cee-Lo didn’t need the help of the high street to top the charts by outselling every other song available.

Until recently download sales have not been able to be included in the chart until a physical CD has gone on sale in the UK.

The rule had been insisted on my major retailers for fear that online sales may completely remove the urge to buy in store rather than online.

However last month the rules changed, meaning that as long as a physical copy was released the following week downloads could be included in the ranking.

Roads made out of biscuits, penguins by the Thames, and Chris Martin rocking the vote for the Tories are among the tall tales carried by newspapers to mark April Fools' Day.

Chris Martin and Tory leader David Cameron lock eyes longingly across page three of The Guardian. It describes at length how the Coldplay frontman has released a version of one of their hits in a bid to persuade young people to vote Conservative.

"Talk" has been renamed "Talk to David" for the project, which apparently emerged after Martin's actress wife Gwyneth Paltrow met Cameron's other half Samantha at a yoga class.

However, the singer's clincher for supporting the Tories was learning Cameron had a wind generator on his roof: "I realised that whatever Labour said about Kyoto, you were never going to see a windmill on the roof of No 10."

Global digital music sales figures are being officially reported for the first time today as part of IFPI's (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) total world music sales statistics showing continuing growth in online and mobile music worldwide.

Record company trade revenues from digital sales globally nearly tripled in value, from $400 million to $US 1.1 billion in 2005. The total number of digital single tracks downloaded online or to mobile phones rose to 470 million units, up from 160 million in 2004. The US, Japan, UK, Germany and France are the top five digital markets. In general, countries with a greater percentage of digital sales are the strongest markets for music sales overall.

Coldplay's 'X&Y' was the top-selling album of the year with more than 8 million copies sold, followed by Mariah Carey's 'The Emancipation of Mimi' and rapper 50 Cent's 'The Massacre'. Digital sales are split roughly 50:50 between online and mobile at the global level, but there are big regional differences. In Japan and parts of continental Europe, mobile dominates the digital music market, while online sales are relatively stronger in markets such as the US, UK and Germany.

Master ringtones are currently the largest segment of the mobile market accounting for 87 per cent of mobile sales. However, new mobile formats such as full track downloads to mobile and music videos grew faster (180% increase in trade revenues) than master ringtones (120%).Most of the global online market comprises a-la-carte sales and is led by Apple's iTunes. Online a-la-carte downloads account for 86 per cent of online sales globally.

Overall recorded music sales (physical and digital) fell by three per cent in 2005. Global digital and physical sales totalled $US 21 billion in record companies' trade revenues. On a retail price basis, the global recorded music market is estimated to be worth $US 33 billion.

Singles sales (digital and physical) increased by more than 75 per cent globally in units in 2005. Singles are now largely a digital format, with digital singles (online downloads and full track downloads to mobile) accounting for three quarters of total singles sales, compared to 45 per cent in 2004.

Sales of physical formats fell by 6.7 per cent in value (record company trade revenues) and eight per cent in units. CD album sales were down six per cent in value and 3.4 per cent in units. DVD music video dropped by 4.3 per cent in value but remained flat in unit terms.

IFPI Chairman and CEO John Kennedy said: "The global music market is fast becoming a mixed economy in the way fans and consumers are buying their music. It is encouraging that the markets with the strongest digital sales are also generally the best performing markets overall. In Japan digital has already made up for the decline in physical sales, and other markets should go this way. Physical music sales declined again for a combination of reasons, including digital and physical piracy, competition from other entertainment products and the shift in consumer spending to online and mobile.

"In 2006 we expect to see continued growth online and more innovative mobile services attracting music fans into the legal digital market. All our member record companies are now aggressively licensing and marketing music in digital formats. IFPI will continue to promote this exciting new market, helping shape good copyright laws to support the market's growth and sustaining actions against music piracy."

Source: finfacts.com

A Michael Moore moment at the Junos? Now that host Pam Anderson has joined the chorus of celebs condemning the East Coast seal hunt, who knows what will happen during Sunday night's big show?

Earlier this week, Anderson joined celebs like Paul McCartney and Morrissey and spoke out against the hunt. Heck, the issue even brought Brigitte Bardot out of hiding. So, will our gal Pam use the awards to pontificate on animal rights? One can only hope.

The thought of Anderson hijacking the Juno stage is tantalizing enough to make even the odd American tune in. Who knows? Maybe she'll even toss in a tear-jerking speech about another of her favourite causes - the welfare of KFC chickens. And don't count out other Juno performers either. After all, those socially conscious lads from Coldplay have been known to back a political cause or two over the years.And Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea has already taken the opposite tack, decrying the celebrity protesters for misinforming the public. Will he chastise them on stage? It could all make for some pretty compelling viewing.

I asked the show's executive producer (Canadian Idol guru John Brunton) whether the network was nervous about celebs getting loose-lipped on the upcoming live telecast.

Savvy man, that one. Naturally, he said he doesn't expect Anderson to politicize the event. But, he couldn't resist giving me something to chew on...

"It's a live show. Who knows what people will say?" So, Juno weekend hasn't even started yet and we already have our first hint of a potential scandale... It's downright un-Juno-like! On that note, here are a few other fantasy headlines I've conjured up as I jet off to Halifax for music's big bash.

-"Stage collapses under weight of Broken Social Scene - 12 sent to hospital with injuries, remaining 34 suffer cuts, bruises"

-"New Pornographers tangle with Great Big Sea in backstage brawl: East Coast, West Coast tiff boils over during autograph session"

-"Panic across the East Coast: drug stores, salons run out of hair pomade following Idol shopping spree"

Stay tuned...

Source: brooksbulletin.com

The Junos play it safe once again, snubbing or downplaying much of Canada's exciting new musical talent

They're not fooling anyone. On Sunday, the Junos will do their little song and dance, and try to convince us that they're catching up with the times, but the list of album-of-the-year nominees says it all:

Diana Krall, Michael Buble, Nickelback, Kalan Porter and Rex Goudie.

That would be: one adult-contemporary jazz-pop princess (for a Christmas album, no less!), one Frank Sinatra wannabe, one stupendously generic and grating radio rock act, and two - count 'em, two - former Canadian Idol contestants.Ouch. Just when it looked like Canadian music was finally stepping up its game with some exciting, world-class talent, along come the Junos to remind us that we really are the hokey, jokey and painfully irrelevant nonentity to the north of the U.S.

Not that the Americans are any better. Ridiculousness reigned at this year's Grammys, as U2 swooped up every award in sight. Bono's a good guy and all, but come on.

Look to other Juno categories and the song remains the same. Celine Dion, Krall, Buble, Nickelback and Montreal pop-punk powder puffs Simple Plan battle it out for the Juno Fan Choice Award (presented, fittingly, by Doritos).

Krall, Porter, Buble, Goudie (getting the deja-vu dizzies yet?) and token Quebecois Boom Desjardins compete for artist of the year.

Barenaked Ladies (remember them?), Blue Rodeo (see Barenaked Ladies comment), Nickelback, Our Lady Peace (see Blue Rodeo and Barenaked Ladies comments) and Theory of a Deadman face off for group of the year.

Things open up ever so slightly in other categories. Desjardins, Jann Arden, Porter, Buble and Theresa Sokyrka fight for pop album of the year; and Hedley, Montrealer Jonas, Nickelback, Our Lady Peace and Theory of a Deadman are in the running for rock album of the year.

But don't kid yourself. It's going to be Nickelback, Krall and Buble all the way. Yippee-kye-yay.

As in previous years, enjoying the Junos will be a question of finding little rays of light in the darkness. In the recent past, we have cheered as an inebriated and off-key Sam Roberts bellowed his way through Brother Down, k-os dropped some funky and distinctly un-jiggy hip-hop, and Feist got a chance to show off her off-the-cuff charm on national television.

This year, Toronto indie-rockers Broken Social Scene are performing, as are reggae-pop upstarts Bedouin Soundclash, while not-so-Canadian acts Coldplay and the Black Eyed Peas add international clout and - ooh la la! - controversy.

In a surprising show of smarts, the always talent-loaded best alternative album category (this year featuring Broken Social Scene, Hot Hot Heat, Metric, Tegan and Sara and the New Pornographers) will be televised (in previous years, it was handed out off-air), as will the songwriter of the year award (Arcade Fire, Joel Plaskett, Kathleen Edwards, Neil Young and Ron Sexsmith).

Bedouin Soundclash may offer further respite by taking the televised best new group award, but if our darling Martha Wainwright wins best new artist, she'll get her prize on Saturday during the non-televised ceremony.

The televised vs. non-televised question is noteworthy, as many of the interesting categories tend to get pushed to the side. Other off-air categories include best rap, jazz, reggae, folk, country, classical and francophone album prizes, as well as the above-mentioned group and pop and rock album of the year awards.

So yes, there are glimmers of hope, but by and large, the Junos remain the big, sludge-like, corporate-bankrolled, creatively challenged, industry back-slapping event they have always been.

At least we have Pamela Anderson.

The Juno Awards, hosted by Pamela Anderson, will be broadcast Sunday at 7 p.m. on CTV-8 and CTV-12.

Source: canada.com

Bid on some pieces of music history at the Rock 'n' Roll Auction & Concert Preview Party on Wednesday night at the Pageant.

An announcement of upcoming concerts at UMB Bank Pavilion is a highlight of the annual event, at which music fans buy items autographed by some of their favorite artists. Proceeds benefit Kids Alive and Music Alive music programs at St. Cecilia Academy, Carlane Middle School Music Camp and Webster Community Music Schools.

Guitars bearing the autographs of top stars are always big sellers, with the bidding usually starting about $1,500. Signed posters are also popular, and this year's selection will feature such artists as David Bowie, 50 Cent, the Allman Brothers, Coldplay and Elvis Costello.

Read more here

Once again, production designer Pete Faragher has created a state-of-the-art set that reflects not only the geographical location of the awards broadcast but its stature as the most exciting night in Canadian music.

For the first time ever on The JUNO Awards, a standing-room-only, general admission section of the arena will see fans surrounded by 125 feet of elevated walkways leading to a central pod in the middle of the arena. "The shape of this walkway is like the waterways that lead to the ocean," said Faragher.

Also at the centre pod, Coldplay's Chris Martin will introduce Bryan Adams, who will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame during the broadcast. Adams will perform one of his biggest hits from the main stage.

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Following the news that Jennifer Aniston is to wed Vince Vaughan this summer, revelations have been exposed that the ceremony could be held at 43-acre Californian estate owned by none other than reigning queen of chat-show TV, Oprah Winfrey!

Should the couple decide to go ahead with recent plans, it will allow them to invite 500 of their personal friends and family, along with celebrity acquaintances, George Clooney, Gwyneth Paltrow and, of course, Jen’s former Friends co-stars, to name a few.

Rumor also has it that Coldplay are favorite to perform at the reception!

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The amazing success story surrounding the new Warner Bros. Records artist Daniel Powter -- who will release his self-titled debut album on April 11th -- keeps growing, thanks to the triumph of "Bad Day," the album's lead-off single. The piano-driven pop track is the best-selling single in the U.S. this week, claiming the Number One spot on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Already Certified Double Platinum by the RIAA, it is also the most digitally downloaded song on iTunes for the second week in a row, having sold 113,000 copies this week alone and 454,000 to date.

The excitement about Powter in America comes on the heels of his phenomenal year overseas, where he has already sold a total of one million albums. "Bad Day" was certified as the Number One Radio Airplay song in Europe in 2005, beating out the likes of Coldplay, U2, and James Blunt.

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UK court bites into Apple logo case

The Beatles and Apple Computer Inc faced off in court on Wednesday in a trademark dispute triggered by Apple's move into the music business through its iTunes download service.

Apple Corps Ltd, owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and the estate of George Harrison, has sued Apple Computer twice before over the companies' competing fruit logos.

He noted that the Apple Computer logo is displayed when users buy songs from the iTunes Music Store, and he showed the courtroom an Apple Computer advertisement with the band Coldplay that prominently featured the logo.The latest settlement in 1991 resulted in a $26 million payment by Apple Computer and an agreement to limit the use of the Apple trademark in the music business.

Apple Corps claims that Apple Computer's use of its trademark in advertising and software for the iTunes Music Store violates that agreement. The iTunes Music Store, integrated with the popular iPod digital music player, has sold more than 1 billion songs.

Apple Corps is seeking a judgment of liability and an injunction against Apple Computer; if it succeeds a subsequent hearing will assess damages.

"Apple Computer can go into the recorded music business in any way they want. What they cannot do is use Apple (trade)marks to do it," Apple Corps counsel Geoffrey Vos said in his opening presentation.

Source: Various

[Thanks Mimixxx]

The HFStival two-day rock concert is headed back to the Baltimore area, coming to Merriweather Post Pavilion during Memorial Day weekend.

The lineup of 60 acts is scheduled to be announced Monday for the music festival at the Columbia amphitheater, which will take place May 27-28. Tickets go on sale April 8.

Last year, the festival was held at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium and drew about 53,000 people with bands like Coldplay, Good Charlotte and the Foo Fighters."We think this is one of the best lineups the festival has ever had," said David Geller, vice president for business development for I.M.P., which manages the pavilion. "It's a real diverse lineup."

In its 17th year, the festival has become the largest musical festival on the East Coast, drawing people from around the region, said Mike Murphy, program director of radio station WHFS (105.7 FM), which puts on the festival.

To accommodate the popular festival, Merriweather is expanding its typical 20,000-person capacity to 27,500 each day. The pavilion stage will act as the main stage, and stages will also be added in the parking lot and in Symphony Woods, which surrounds the venue, said Geller.

"We are thrilled to have the event at Merriweather," Geller said. "We are big corporate fans of the event, and we are big personal fans of the music they program there. ... We feel like we have landed a big opportunity for Howard County and Columbia."

Murphy predicted that people will be "very surprised" at the lineup of bands, adding that it will cover a broad range of acts.

Robert Philips, senior vice president of CBS radio in Baltimore, hinted that the acts will include "some artists that you might have seen at the Grammys."

This year will mark the third time the Baltimore area has played host to the festival, which has typically been at Washington-area venues.

Philips said Merriweather officials were "very aggressive" about wanting the HFStival, and organizers felt the open-air venue -- which is surrounded by trees and nestled between Baltimore and Washington -- would be an ideal environment.

"We wanted to kind of bring it back home to its roots, where it's a festival-type of environment, rather than on a blacktop parking lot," Philips said. "People can't really put blankets down on blacktop."

Source: baltimoresun.com

The rock stars of the 1960s and 1970s are still outranking - and outselling - their younger rivals.

Recently Paul McCartney met a man who plays the piano in an old people's home. "I hope you don't mind," the pianist said, "but I play some of your songs and the most popular one is When I'm 64."

The truth, however, is that music hasn't been ruled by the young for years now. More than half of all CDs are bought by people over 30; Mojo, the British magazine for the greying fan, outsells NME. Even big-selling young bands settle on a sound that is reactionary (Oasis), retro (the Kaiser Chiefs) or reassuring (Coldplay).Ah yes, the sugary music-hall ditty from The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt Pepper; people either love or hate it.

"But I have to change the title," the man went on, "because 64 seems young to those people. They don't get it." So he sings "When I'm 84" instead.

McCartney sees his point: "If I were to write it now," he told the Los Angeles Times recently, "I'd probably call it When I'm 94."

McCartney will be 64 in June. He has a young band, a young producer, a young wife, a small child and youngish hair; his age shows only in his jowls, the odd creak in his voice and an air of gathering urgency, which led him to open the proceedings at last year's Live8 concert as well as close them. He still needs us, and he is not alone.

There were three new entries in last week's British album chart, all from McCartney's contemporaries: Neil Diamond, 65, Dolly Parton, just 60, and Ray Davies of the Kinks, 61. Welcome to sexagenarian rock'n'roll.

The music business still has its meteors - current media darlings the Arctic Monkeys are all under 21, and the new star of British soul, Corinne Bailey Rae, is 27. But there is a flurry of activity from the elders of the tribe. David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, 60 , is celebrating by releasing a rare solo album. Van Morrison, also 60, released his umpteenth CD this month. Joan Baez, 65, is still touring.

The Rolling Stones, pushing 250 in total, are in the middle of another world tour. Bob Dylan, 64, is forever on the road, though this may actually be an experiment to establish how badly he can maul his old songs before his fans walk out. Leonard Cohen, 71, is working on a new album. This is the man who, when he took his songs to agents in New York, was asked: "Aren't you a little old for this game?" He was 32.

B.B. King, 80, will begin his farewell tour next month. Not that farewell always means adieu. Elton John, 59, will play Britain's sports grounds this summer, possibly forgetting he first announced his retirement from live performance in 1977.

Then there's the Who. Having somehow survived the death of half their line-up, decades of dormancy and Pete Townshend's encroaching deafness, they are still big enough to headline festivals this summer. The band that hoped they would die before they got old must increasingly find their own lyrics quoted back at them: "Why don't you all just f-fade away?"

This question has many answers. Bands play on because they love it, or they're addicted to the roar of the crowd, or because it's what they do. Rock is a hybrid form, drawing on blues, country, folk and gospel: cultures that attach no stigma to seniority. It's only the final ingredient in the recipe - youth culture - that makes us surprised to find a person of 60 singing rock songs.

It used to be assumed that rock was like football or chess, offering its best players a brief blazing heyday followed by an inevitable decline. Lately, it has looked more like golf, promising 40-year careers and only a slow fade. Now it may be shifting again, to become more like writing or painting. Some stars will burn out, others will flicker, and a few will shine brighter with age.

What is the formula for rock longevity? Asked how he had managed to keep going into his 50s, Iggy Pop replied: "I'm not bald, I'm not fat and I'm not safe." Many stars manage to adhere to at least two of these criteria. Strangely few rock singers are bald (has toupee technology secretly moved on?), and those who are wear a hat, such as Morrison, or divert attention with comedy braiding arrangements, like Keith Richards.

Safety is another matter. Iggy may retain his anarchic energy, but not many grizzled survivors still have an air of danger. John Cale, 64, is perhaps an exception, having found a new lease of life playing "dirty-ass rock'n'roll", as he calls it, in sweaty clubs, almost 40 years after changing the course of rock in his capacity as the viola player with the Velvet Underground.

Craftsmanship hardly ages at all, and smarter songwriters have used it to defuse the issue of age itself. Paul Simon, 64, wrote a song baldly entitled Old, arguing that people of 50 or 60 were not old in the context of human history, a point that could have been tediously earnest in the hands of a less gifted writer. Cohen used self-deprecating wit in Tower of Song: "Now my friends have gone, and my hair is grey/I ache in the places where I used to play."

Randy Newman, 62, did it with satire, lampooning ageing rockers in a song called I'm Dead (But I Don't Know It). "I have nothing left to say," Newman gleefully yelped over dumb guitars, "but I'm going to say it anyway."

Ry Cooder, just gone 59, deliberately seeks out musicians far older than himself. "I always thought you need to find the oldest person," he said last year, "because they know the secret things that can't be described, or written down, or put in DVD form. They have the capacity to play and sing the beautiful thing that comes from the inside."

With Buena Vista Social Club, Cooder assembled musicians aged 65 to 90 for an album that was expected to sell 400,000 copies - but achieved 10 times that.

In the fight for ongoing credibility, however, the sharpest weapon is excellence. Diamond's new record, 12 Songs, sold 40,000 copies in Britain in a week, twice as many as his previous album managed in four years, even though he didn't promote it there. It was because, as nearly all the critics agreed, he had made an outstanding album: lean, glitz-free, and unflinching ("I'm too old to pretend."). It was the musical equivalent of replacing a comb-over with a crop.

The template here is Johnny Cash, who released four albums of searing honesty in the decade before his death in 2003. Cash's producer was the hip-hop entrepreneur Rick Rubin, who also produced Diamond's new album.

"They're both grown-ups, and there aren't many great albums by grown-ups," Rubin said recently. "There's no reason why great artists shouldn't make their best records when they're 50, 60, 70. In other disciplines, it would be expected." Disciplines! Rock really must have changed.

NOT FADE AWAY

Last year's list of the top-grossing tours in the US reads like a history book. Topping the list of ticket sales was The Rolling Stones, with $US162 million ($227 million). Others in the top 20 include Paul McCartney, The Eagles, Elton John, Neil Diamond, Jimmy Buffett, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Barry Manilow.

Older acts have the advantages of near-legendary status and a well-heeled baby boomer fan base. Paul McCartney charged an average of $US135 ($189) a ticket, just above the Stones' $US134.

Tickets for the Stones' upcoming shows in Sydney and Melbourne started at a reasonable $54.50, then climbed from there.

The "Diamond VIP package" option includes drinks, canapes and a ticket to the concert; it costs about $400.

The Stones play Telstra Stadium in Sydney on April 11 and Rod Laver Arena on April 13. Other baby boomer acts heading down under:

* Dusty: The Musical (Lyric Theatre, Star City, Sydney, running now through April 23) from $34.95

* Judy Collins (Sydney Opera House, April 9) from $85.40

* Jackson Browne and David Lindley (Enmore Theatre, April 11; Victorian Arts Centre, April 13) from $128

* Buddy Guy and Robert Cray (Enmore Theatre, Sydney, April 19) from $101

* Donny Osmond (Crown Casino, Melbourne, April 30) from $79.90

* Deep Purple/Status Quo (Hordern Pavillion, Sydney, May 9-10) from $125

* Foreigner (Palais Theatre, Melbourne, May 17; State Theatre, Sydney, May 19) from $89

* Split Enz (Sydney Entertainment Centre, June 8-9; Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, June 11-12) from $90.20

Source: smh.com.au

From last year's report, YMCA Valletta assisted 1283 individuals over 2005. This figure excludes the people benefiting from the EU food program. In total this amounts to over 6405 interventions with 9000 clients.

All this work by dedicated volunteers and professionals needs also some funds to operate. So if you like Coldplay Music, see you there!

Playing some of Coldplay's greatest No.1 hits this tribute band promises to be as mesmerizing as the authentic Coldplay! Ira Losco and her band will be kicking off with her energetic set from her latest incredible album 'Accident Prone'. Get your tickets now!

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The show is already in high definition. It's hosted by Pam Anderson. Now, they've added interactivity and unique dual-screen technology.

The 2006 JUNO Awards TV broadcast will be in a state-of-the-art Enhanced TV format online, host broadcaster CTV has announced. It innovative "two-screen" technology, exclusive to CTV, allows viewers to watch The JUNO Awards broadcast while simultaneously interacting with the show online.

The 2006 JUNO Awards, Canada's Music Awards, airs this Sunday, April 2 at 7 p.m. in all markets (8 p.m. AT) on CTV while the webcast will be presented online at playjunos.ctv.ca.The 2006 JUNO Awards Enhanced TV webcast offers an interactive JUNOS experience for music fans. Viewers can become part of the action by predicting who will win in each category and testing their music knowledge throughout the entire JUNO Awards broadcast with questions relating directly to what they see on CTV. Among the interactive features of The 2006 JUNO Awards Enhanced TV webcast are the "Hip-o-Meter," a method of voting for the coolest stars as they make their way down the eTalk Red Carpet; a music trivia challenge; fan and artist forums; and a "predict the winner" challenge.

A contest, with prizes courtesy of sponsor Doritos and CTV, will be held, and a winner determined in a random draw of all eligible participants. Resgistratin is required. More than 12,000 viewers played along with the CTV.ca for the Oscars when Enhanced TV was first introduced to Canadians in March, 2006, the broadcaster added.

"Since CTV began broadcasting The JUNO Awards in 2002, we have focused our efforts on making this annual celebration as fan-friendly as possible," said Susanne Boyce, CTV's President of Programming and Chair of the Media Group. "After taking the show to cities across the country and making the fans in

the stadium part of the action, we're now able to extend the fan experience online."

The 2006 JUNO Awards, Canada's Music Awards, will be broadcast in High-Definition and 5.1 Surround Sound on CTV on Sunday, April 2 from the Halifax Metro Centre in Halifax, NS.

Hosted by Pamela Anderson, the two-hour broadcast features performances by Bedouin Soundclash, Black Eyed Peas, Broken Social Scene, 2006 Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee Bryan Adams, Buck 65, Coldplay, Divine Brown, Hedley, Massari, Michael Bublé and Nickelback. Broadcast sponsors for the event are General Motors, Pantene Pro-V, Doritos, and Nice 'n Easy.

CTV began broadcasting The JUNO Awards in 2002 when it telecast the Awards from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, before taking it to Ottawa (2003), Edmonton (2004) and Winnipeg (2005). The 2007 JUNO Awards will be broadcast from Saskatoon on CTV.

CTV, Canada's largest private broadcaster, offers a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming. It has the number-one national newscast, CTV National News With Lloyd Robertson, and is the number-one choice for prime-time viewing. CTV owns 21 conventional television stations across Canada and has interests in 14 specialty channels, including the number-one Canadian specialty channel, TSN. CTV is owned by Bell Globemedia, Canada's premier multi-media company.