Bands performing live at this week's Brit Awards can expect to see an explosion in their album sales, it was revealed today.

Research has shown that acts that perform live can sell a massive 270 percent more albums in the two weeks after the awards. The 2006 bash, to be held on Wednesday, will see artists such as Coldplay, James Blunt, Gorillaz and Kaiser Chiefs play.

The sales date collated by Tesco over the last three years show that last year's British Female Solo Artist winner Joss Stone experienced a 270% rise in sales. Keane's album sales rose by 190%, Franz Ferdinand's by 160% and the Scissor Sisters by 116% in the fortnight after the awards.

Even artists who did not win awards but performed live, such as Snow Patrol and Natasha Bedingfield, enjoyed a significant uplift in sales. Tesco spokesman Jonathan Church said: "Being nominated for a Brit award is a fantastic achievement, but these figures show that the real money-makers from the evening are those acts that appear live as they experience a massive increase in album sales directly after the event. Our sales show that we Brits love these live performances enough to go out and purchase the albums."

He said the figures "bode well" for bands playing live this year.

Source: http://www.lse.co.uk

Best Songs Of 2005:

Hung Up by Madonna

Wake Up by Arcade Fire

Takk by SigurRos

B.Y.O.B. by System Of A Down

Out of Control by 50 Cent and Mobb Deep

Best Moment of 2005 For You?

Playing three nights at Earls Court in London.

Chris said: "I know it's going to sound a bit cliched, but it's just so nice to have made it back home and have everybody coming out to listen to us. There's a feeling like we absolutely love going out travelling somewhere, but the best is to go home and play for family and know that they still accept us."

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Wednesday night I dutifully tuned in to (most of) the Grammy Awards in my yearly attempt to understand that crazy music the kids are dancing to these days. Well, I don't think I'm going to run out and buy How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (I'd rather not know how to do that, actually...) However, I have come up with an excellent idea for future Grammy broadcasts... more on that later. First, a few observations:

I think I like Madonna's Farrah Fawcett hairdo and Jane Fonda Workout-ish wardrobe she's got going right now. But please, lose that computer animated backup band (The Monkeez, or Gorillaz, or whatever... yucky.)

Stevie Wonder -- give up on the "I'm blind" jokes... not funny, not cute, not cool. And here's a tip: don't ask the audience to sing along with you when it's a song nobody knows the lyrics to.

Hey, Coldplay -- that was a great song... about 25 years ago, and it was called "Computer Love" by Kraftwerk. This is the much-hyped Coldplay? Really...? yikes...

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It has been an emotional few years for Gwyneth Paltrow. Her producer father Bruce died suddenly in 2002, she married Coldplay star Chris Martin in 2003, then gave birth to baby Apple in May 2004. But, while still grieving over the father to whom she’d been devoted, Gwyneth took on the role of a daughter whose dad, played by Anthony Hopkins, is slowly dying, in her new film Proof.

Here, Gwyneth, 33 - who is expecting her second baby later this year - tells The Ticket about her life as a working mum and saying goodbye to her dad.

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Meanwhile, Gwyneth Paltrow wants her daughter to be a artist or a scientist when she grows up. The oscar winner doubts twenty one month-old Apple will want to be an actress or a singer like her dad, Coldplay's Chris Martin. Gwyneth claims she wouldn't be surprised if her children decide to stay as far away from the industry as possible.

Here we go again: A young four-piece rock band has sprung seemingly unbidden from some nowhere English town, grabbed its native land by the lapels and is poised to invade these shores.

This time they're called the Arctic Monkeys, a brashly thrilling outfit in the mold of recent angular punk imports such as the Kaiser Chiefs and the Futureheads. Their debut album, "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not," already a huge seller in the United Kingdom, will be released here Feb. 21 on Domino Recording Co., which helped propel trans-Atlantic Scots rockers Franz Ferdinand.

Are the Monkeys really this good? Are they, so to speak, the next Coldplay-Oasis-Beatles?Two of the band's singles, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and "When the Sun Goes Down," already have topped the British charts. And tastemaker U.K. magazine the New Musical Express recently fingered "Whatever" as the fifth-best British album of all time. (Admittedly, the list skews young: The Stone Roses take top honors, and a Beatles album doesn't appear until No. 9.)

More than 40 years after Ed Sullivan raised the curtain on rock's first British invasion, it's worth examining how the U.K. hype machine works: Who initiates the buzz? Who feeds it? Why are we Yanks nearly always so ready to lap it up?

And -- this is a question the Arctic Monkeys are no doubt asking themselves -- does the U.K.'s talent at hyping young bands run the risk of setting them up for a fall before they've ever had a chance to reach their full potential?

Gennaro Castaldo, the London-based spokesman for a retail company, HMV Records, that has a particular interest in seeing bands like the Arctic Monkeys do well, says, "The problem with hype is that it can lead to what I call 'the Emperor's New Clothes Syndrome,' where everybody falls over themselves to talk up an album or song but loses sight of the real substance that lies behind it.

"The danger," he adds, "is that expectations can grow massively, which in turn can create huge pressures to deliver a follow-up album that is not only critically acclaimed but also commercially successful."

Hype, for better or worse, is the lingua franca of British media, says Gareth Grundy, deputy editor of the NME. "I think it's more a byproduct of the sheer number of bands in the U.K. and the level of competition between them. It's more like survival of the fittest -- although, granted, this doesn't guarantee that the winner is always as good as the Arctic Monkeys."

Does it even matter in the game of hype?

"The reason everybody is hyping a particular band isn't necessarily to do with quality," observes HMV's Mr. Castaldo. "Newspapers are desperate for fresh stories; retailers want to sell more CDs or downloads; and fans just want to be cool and into the next big thing."

Many of those next-big-thing seekers, of course, may be American, especially when music trends here seem flat, as in the Matchbox 20-dominated late-'90s. "There are occasional periods when the U.S. music scene may, for a short time at least, lack some degree of creative energy," says Mr. Castaldo, "which may make it more open to outside influences. Inevitably, these tend to come from the U.K., which has always enjoyed a shared musical heritage."

On a nuts-and-bolts level, U.K. music hype starts with cutting-edge disc jockeys such as Zane Lowe and Steve Lamacq, both with the popular BBC station Radio 1, putting a band in rotation and singing their praises. Mr. Lowe's alma mater, London-based XFM radio, also figures as an early tastemaker. Then magazines such as NME, Q and Mojo pick up the torch. An appearance at the annual Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England, too, can help boost a band's profile.

U.K. music hype isn't limited to specialty press: Fleet Street tabloid newspapers such as the Daily Mirror, the Daily Star and the Sun all play a role in championing young British bands. "The week the album came out here, there were Arctic Monkeys stories everywhere," says Mr. Grundy, "from the evening news on TV to the Sun."

In one important respect, such a frothy media environment speaks well of the Brits. Radio stations program for markets far less segmented than they are here, and the average U.K. fan seems more open to breakout bands that don't boast MTV airplay or major-label support.

Britons are "force-fed tons of new music constantly," says Bill Spieler, a co-owner of and DJ at the District nightclub DC 9. "You have a better chance to be heard on the radio because they burn through so much music."

Marshall Thompson, who owns Northwest's District Line, a modern English fashion boutique, where sartorial trends commingle with the music industry, says, "They have incredible radio stations that are more receptive to unsigned bands. They're really interested in pushing new bands, much more than in the U.S."

These new bands need not be homegrown. American acts from Jimi Hendrix to the Strokes and the White Stripes have enjoyed a kind of gravitational slingshot effect by working the British music scene and returning home more popular than ever.

The build-buzz-in-Britain formula worked more recently for New York's Scissor Sisters and Las Vegas' the Killers, and, according to both Mr. Thompson and Mr. Spieler, it stands to pay off for We Are Scientists, a Brooklyn-based indie-rock trio that is a well-kept secret here but a hot touring commodity in Europe.

The Arctic Monkeys, meanwhile, are about to find out if we buy the hype.

Says the NME's Mr. Grundy: "It's a terrific album but so specifically English I think it's possible the band could remain a cult, like the Smiths.

"That would be a shame."

The Arctic Monkeys' debut album "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" is, as advertised, a grabby listen. Opening track "The View From the Afternoon" kicks off with a doomsday guitar riff and then glides effortlessly into a danceable groove.

Frontman Alex Turner's voice is slurry and thickly accented and urgently evocative. He and lead guitarist Jamie Cook play like inspired amateurs, avoiding predictable chord changes and easy post-punk imitations.

Still, at this point it would be a stretch to say any of these songs are qualitatively better than, say, the Kaiser Chiefs' "I Predict a Riot" or Franz Ferdinand's "This Fire."

Source: http://washingtontimes.com

Commentary on the Grammys: Bruce Springsteen was awesome. It was cool to see Sly, but the blond mohawk should be part of the family of banned.

Chris Martin's ability to duckwalk would've impressed an Airborne instructor at Fort Benning, Ga., even if the Coldplay frontman's singing didn't.

Keith Urban may have taken over for Vince Gill as the finest axman in country music, but I'd still cheerfully fork over $2 of my own money to watch a three-way faceoff that includes Brad Paisley. More? OK, U2 owns everything, so they should start doing stuff for free. Or, as I like to call it, pro Bono.

Mariah Carey won three awards, one for each inch of her body covered by fabric. And finally, the most interesting thing of all: 108 Grammys were awarded and the most common water-cooler topic Thursday was... Teri Hatcher's sheer heart-attack-inducing dress. What does that say about music in this country?

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The cast for the forthcoming biopic movie about Joy Division's Ian Curtis has been confirmed.

The film, "Control", is based on "Touching From A Distance", the 1995 book by Deborah Curtis, Ian's wife.

It was today announced that Sam Riley, a relative unknown, will play the part of Curtis, while German actress Alexandra Maria Lara will star as his lover Annik Honore. The movie is directed by renowned music photographer and promo direcor Anton Corbijn, who is famed for his work with U2, Nirvana and Coldplay amongst many others.

According to the NME, New Order will record a handful of new tracks for the film and also re-record a selection of Joy Division songs.

Source: http://uk.news.launch.yahoo.com

Chris Martin

Title: The Nice Storm

Tagline: Don’t get mad, get even-tempered.

The Pitch: Chris Martin [Macaulay Culkin] has it all - successful band, a beautiful wife [Kirsten Dunst], a baby named after a fruit and he’s even been voted the World’s Sexiest Vegetarian by PETA. if that isn’t enough, what is? Oliver Stone’s nine-hour epic strikes at the heart of what drives this remarkable man, whether it be campaigning for Fair Trade, drawing on his hand in felt-tip, combing his hair forward or having lengthy phone conversation about the inherent corruption of the miliatry-industrtial complex with Bono [Colin Farrell].

The rest of the band - Jon Bloke, Will Whatsisname and Guy Who? - are ably portrayed by some actors.

Source: Q Magazine

[Thanks Coldplay_Steph & Nettie]

Next week, the music industry will gather to pay homage to Paul Weller as he receives a Lifetime Achievement award at the Brits.

Hailed as the voice of a generation, the former frontman of The Jam is one musician who can rightfully claim to have made an "outstanding contribution" to music.

Bands, from Oasis to the Ordinary Boys, have cited Weller as a legend while The Jam's influence is obvious on groups like the Kaiser Chiefs. Band of the moment, Arctic Monkeys, have also been compared to Weller's Woking trio.Lyrically, the songs coming from Arctic Monkeys aren't a world away from those produced by The Jam - like Weller, Alex Turner has been hailed as a wonderboy wordsmith for his gritty take on the British way of life.

But long before he was ripping up the industry with wry observations about hookers, bouncers and unrequited lust, Weller was writing politicised lyrics that defined a generation of angry young men.

Just check out these lyrics: "A smash of glass and the rumble of boots/An electric train and a ripped up phone booth/Paint splattered walls and the cry of a tom cat/Lights going out and a kick in the balls" (That's Entertainment).

Or this: "I first felt a fist, and then a kick/I could now smell their breath/They smelt of pubs and Wormwood Scrubs/And too many right wing meetings" (Down In The Tube Station At Midnight).

While Arctic Monkeys can claim a social conscience too, their lyrics tend to be more humorous; perhaps even, dare I say, more infantile.

In Riot Van, taken off the band's massive debut album, Turner taunts: "Have you been drinking son, you don't look old enough to me/I'm sorry officer, is there a certain age you're supposed to be?".

Or: "And I'm so tense, never tenser/Could it all go a bit Frank Spencer?", from the track You Probably Couldn't See For the Lights But You Were Staring Straight At Me.

Cheeky, yes, but not quite on a par with one of Weller's finest lines, taken from the single When You're Young: "And you find out life isn't like that/It's so hard to understand/Why the world is your oyster but your future's a clam".

Even Arctic Monkeys have rubbished some of their own lyrics. Turner was recently quoted as saying their No 1 smash I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor was "s**t". He added: "I scraped the bottom of the barrel. I'd hate to be just known for that song because it's a bit crap."

There's no denying that Arctic Monkeys have produced some very clever lyrics, particularly for a band so young, but let's not forget Weller was a mere teenager when he penned the tracks on In The City and This Is The Modern World.

The release of the album All Mod Cons in 1978 saw a remarkable maturity in Weller's writing on songs like To Be Someone: "And there's no more swimming in a guitar-shaped pool/No more reporters at my beck and call/No more cocaine, it's only ground chalk/No more taxis now we'll have to walk." He was 20.

Over the years, the UK has produced hundreds of impressive songwriters - Morrissey, Van Morrison and Mark E Smith to name but a few.

Coldplay's Chris Martin has been hailed as an eminent lyricist and his band named (by some) the greatest in the world. But while he's undoubtedly written a few good tunes, his self-indulgent posturing gets boring after a while.

"Lights go out and I can't be saved/Tides that I've tried to swim against/You've put me down upon my knees/Oh I beg, I beg and plead" is all a bit too navel-gazing.

No, you'll never see Martin coming up trumps with lyrics like these: "Rows and rows of disused milk floats/stand dying in the dairy yard/And a hundred lonely housewives clutch empty milk bottles to their hearts" (Town Called Malice).

Pure poetry.

The Brit Awards can be seen on ITV1 at 8pm on Thursday, February 16.

Source: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Early signs of a glorious Ashcroft comeback are apparent. A sell-out UK tour in the pipeline, a fabulous Live 8 reception and performance, and mass praise from heavy-weights such as Coldplay seem set to help connect him back on the fast-track to success.

Keys to the World is evidence that Ashcroft has managed to re-enter the zones of his song-writing brilliance the world woke up to with Urban Hymns. Pilot single, Break the Night With Colour, has re-introduced the charts to his mellow late-nineties sound, and although perhaps unfashionable, is a breath of fresh air. But it is the album’s title track which is the initial favourite to steal the show: spine-tingling vocals, caressingly delicate guitar licks laid on top of a thumping merge of rhythmic and bass-line grooves with an Unfinished Symphony-esque female vocal loop.

Built around these two (arguably Keys’ most poignant moments) is a collection of beautifully arranged acoustic and string ballads. Why Do Lover’s is a sheer emotionally uplifting love song exposing Ashcroft’s softer side perhaps, yet still boasts his raw and enriching rock and roll vocals, not dissimilar to Mick Jagger, who’s likeness pops up occasionally throughout.

Still, Ashcroft dares not to stray too far from his comfort zone, however his attention to detail has to be admired. He himself admits due to negative critical feedback of his works since The Verve’s demise, he became disillusioned with the industry. Keys To The World should serve as an appropriately rewarding return to form.

Source: http://www.cdtimes.co.uk

Richard Boote, owner and managing director of Strongroom recording studios today announces the purchase of AIR Studios, the world class recording facilities established and chaired by legendary Beatles producer Sir George Martin, from Chrysalis Group PLC and Pioneer GB Limited.

Artists who have recently recorded in AIR's music studios include Coldplay, U2, Robbie Williams, Blackeyed Peas, George Michael and Sir Paul McCartney.

Sir George Martin established AIR Studios in Central London in 1969, relocating to Lyndhurst Hall in 1991. He is perhaps most famous for signing The Beatles to EMI and producing every record they made until they disbanded in 1970.The multi-million pound purchase of the AIR Studios premises, a converted Victorian church in Hampstead, London, England, is backed by Lloyds TSB Corporate.

Sir George Martin CBE, founder and chairman of AIR Studios, says: "AIR Studios has been in existence for nearly forty years, during which time we've recorded some of the finest artists in the world and most of the memorable film scores. What I love about AIR is that as well as being a great studio it has a well deserved reputation for friendliness and efficiency. People who record here always want to come back. I am very happy that we are now associated with Strongroom, a company that shares our ideals and our dedication to recording high quality music. I am confident that Richard will continue to promote and develop AIR as a world-class recording facility."

Richard Boote, owner and managing director of Strongroom, says: "I believe that bringing Strongroom and Air together will not only ensure the survival of two of the greatest recording facilities in Europe, but also enhance the offerings of both studios. Clients will benefit from an expanded and more varied pool of technological knowledge and experience, a wider choice of studios and access to a much broader range of state of the art audio and video post-production facilities."

Richard plans to keep both businesses running as they exist today, maintaining their structures, identities and areas of specialisation. In the longer term clients of both studios - in industries ranging from music, film, broadcast and advertising to games and new media - will benefit from an even richer offering of music and post-production services at a broader range of price points. For example, AIR's post clients will have access to packages including Strongroom's Off-Line and On-Line HD video post facilities (enabling the group to offer a complete service of video post, audio post and sound track production) whilst Strongroom's clients will be able to use AIR's matchless Lyndhurst Hall studio for orchestral and large scale acoustic recordings.

Recent film scores recorded at AIR studios include: Batman Begins, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Pride and Prejudice (for which Mario Marianelli's score has just been nominated for an Oscar). Forthcoming films include The Da Vinci Code and the next Dreamworks animation Over The Hedge.

Richard Boote set up Strongroom, a complex of recording studios and post production facilities in Shoreditch, East London, in 1984. Artists such as Feeder, The Prodigy, Sugababes, Goldfrapp, The Kaiser Chiefs, Kasabian, The Thrills and Razorlight have recently recorded and mixed at Strongroom.

Source: http://biz.yahoo.com

I never thought I'd say it — as a diehard crank who will rant and rail about nasty tickets who push ahead in movie queues, frosty boutique bimbos, and sullen baristas — but Coldplay's Chris Martin is too nice.

Exhibit one: Late in the band's show at Oakland Arena on Jan. 31, Martin thanked the makers of his pants. The designers, who call themselves — get this — the Nice Collective, were in the audience, and they apparently rated a shout-out — along with the Guerilla News Network, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, and Jonathan Ive, who designed the iPod. OK, iPods — who isn't grateful someone designed a musical delivery system that's smaller and easier to misplace than a Walkman — but ... pants?Pants did seem to be getting a leg up on the zeitgeist last week when Bay Area band Pants Pants Pants e-mailed me to announce they'd scored more than 100,000 downloads for their recent extremely nerdy but somehow fascinating music video, a shot-by-shot re-creation of Full House's opening credits. And I had been thinking about Martin's trousers (and not in the way you think) before he piped up. Midset, amid the soothing, symphonic rock of "The Scientist," I started wondering how those pants actually remained in place. How could he roll around onstage, dragging guitarist Jonny Buckland down beside him so they resembled two dying beetles, and then crawl along the floor up front as if in hot pursuit of a rambunctious toddler named Apple — all while avoiding the dread plumber's crack?

Anyway, Martin answered my question. Those nice tailors at Nice Collective make some goddamn nice pants for nice rock stars, who are also nice to their longtime fans who saw 'em way back when at the Fillmore, before they became a "fucking enormous rock band — or soft rock band," as Martin endearingly put it.

Never mind that their set seemed nearly identical to the one they played at Shoreline Amphitheatre last August, sans Martin's chatter about loving San Francisco. Even the angst-free acoustic rendition of June and Johnny's "Ring of Fire" remained — a version that my companion described last year as "the worst Johnny Cash cover I ever heard."

I was a bit sad that I missed Fiona Apple's opening turn. Still, one could just sit — marveling at the sheer number of Caucasians in one arena (the two blonds in front of me spent most of the concert taking smudgy phone pictures of the stage and sending them, one by one, to everyone in their address books) — and imagine the quality of backstage chatter.

APPLE: Hi, Chris. God, I'm depressed. I'm at the top of all these critics' best-of-2005 lists. If only those old creeps bought records.

MARTIN: I wish I could be so fucking depressed! Maybe my lyrics would improve. Just turn that frown upside down, Fiona. Don't you know Apples are my favorite fruit?

APPLE: Hey, you stepped on my granny-apple-doll wood-carvings!

MARTIN: Have you ever tried piyoga for that bad attitude?

APPLE: I hate you.

I stand by my review of X&Y last year: The trouble with Coldplay is that, despite the calming, balanced, almost Enya-esque beauty of their music, they're so denuded of danger, risk, grit, rebellion, and sexuality (apart from Martin's ADD-style hip-thrusts behind his piano) that they threaten to become the musical equivalent of St. John's wort.

So what is at play with Coldplay? What drives the music, the vision, and, oh, those much-maligned words?

I believe it's yoga, and Martin's ashtanga teacher Anthony Carlisi can confirm. Shortly after Coldplay's Shoreline date, I tracked down Carlisi via e-mail and asked him if he believed the practice leads to good music and, really, decent rock 'n' roll — which most would probably associate with unhealthy and downright antisocial antics like rolling around in broken glass and doing lines of coke off speaker cabinets.

He replied: "Absolutely !!!!!!!!!!! (sic) In fact I just saw Chris in Phoenix before the concert there. He has been practicing now for several years. I visit and teach him and Gwyneth when I am in London. He was telling me that he loves how it has enhanced everything he does. His energy was electric at the concert................Great Show!!!!!!!!!!!!"

See? It's not rock, after all, but yoga. All of which probably explains Martin's greatest feat at the Oakland appearance: bending over backward while playing keyboards and touching the ground with the top of his noggin. Brings a whole new meaning to the lyric "rush of blood to the head."

Source: http://www.sfbg.com

Apple on Tuesday announced the iTunes Music Store Billion Songs Countdown, a thank you offering to its music fans in 21 countries around the globe that have combined to purchase nearly one billion songs from the iTunes Music Store.

As the company marks its way to the one billion, the iTunes shopper who download every 100,000th song will receive a prize package featuring a black 4GB iPod nano and a $100 iTunes Music Card, the company said.

One lucky grand-prize winner who downloads the billionth song from the iTunes Music Store will receive a 20-inch iMac, ten 60GB iPods (5 white/5 black), and a $10,000 iTunes Music Card to jumpstart their digital music collection. In addition, Apple will also create a full-ride scholarship in the name of the grand-prize winner to a world-renowned music school. "Just think: You could help launch the careers of an entire generation of musicians," Apple wrote on its Web site. An official set of contets rules was also published.

Apple kicked-off a similar promotion last July in anticipation of the 500 millionth song sold through the iTunes service. The grand-prize winner of that promotion was awarded 10 iPods of their choice to share with family and friends, an iTunes gift card for 10,000 songs and an all-expenses paid trip for four to see Coldplay on their world tour.

John Mayer says his next Columbia album, "Continuum," won't have the "pop sweetness" of current radio hits. "It's a really tricky thing making music that can appeal to everybody without certain ingredients that have proven themselves as being very effective in appealing to people," he says.

On his 2005 album "Try" with the John Mayer Trio, the singer/songwriter shifted gears from pop music to blues. Mayer said he hopes to continue that trend with his upcoming third solo album, promising no "pop music tricks."

"I'm not trying to write my best Coldplay song the way I've tried before," he says. "Instead I am writing what I am most prepared for writing, which is a blues or soul approach to a pop song. Hoping that in 20 years it lasts and it doesn't date itself."Mayer's earlier work had more of what he calls "pop sweetness" -- like his hit, "Your Body is Wonderland." He hopes a blues approach will keep his music timeless.

"Blues never gets dated," the guitarist says. "You listen to Huey Lewis and the News and it might be the only thing that stands out from the '80s that's still really enjoyable and not a relic."

"Try" debuted at No. 34 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 228,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Its predecessor, 2003's "Heavier Things," has shifted 2.63 million units.

Source: http://www.billboard.com

“Don’t touch it!”

“Well, I wasn’t going to touch it. I was just pointing at it.”

“Well…don’t point! It can’t be played.”

So goes a famous scene from This Is Spinal Tap, the satirical 1984 “rockumentary” of “one of England’s loudest bands,” in which lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) tours his collection with filmmaker Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner). While Tufnel’s overzealousness may come across as a bit extreme, it’s not hard to imagine in a profession populated by lightning-fingered prima donnas whose guitars are integral to their success.

Like a jackhammer to a catcalling road worker, a guitar is much more than a mere instrument to a rock ‘n’ roller. “For a lot of people, getting on stage is a prospect that stirs up the nerves. So having something to hide behind lowers the anxiety,” says Warren Zanes, formerly of 1980s band The Del Fuegos and now vice president of education at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. “A guitar is an extension of the hands–not too dissimilar from what a conductor has with a baton. That’s such a significant service that, once you’ve shared that transforming experience on stage, you can’t help but develop a personal relationship with your guitar.”

If you’re planning on tuning in to the 48th Annual Grammy Awards on Wednesday, Feb. 8, you’ll see plenty of such personal relationships, as rock ‘n’ roll heavyweights, including Coldplay, Maroon 5, Bruce Springsteen and assorted members of Aerosmith, are among the luminaries scheduled to take the stage. When they do, keep an eye on their guitars, because what they’re playing will be as key to their performances as how well they play.Even as popular music remains splintered between disparate genres, guitars couldn’t be hotter. Retail sales of electric guitars ran to $538 million on 1.68 million units sold in 2004 (the most recent year for which figures are available), according to the music-industry publication, The Music Trades. Those numbers are up 10% and 43%, respectively, from 2003. Throw in acoustic guitars, which rang up $483 million on 1.61 million units sold the same year, and the instrument’s sway is even more impressive. “Guitars are the single biggest product category in the music business,” says Brian Majeski, editor of The Music Trades. “If you add in related accessories, like mics and recording equipment, you come to $1.7 billion in sales in 2004.”

Just how important are guitars to the rock ‘n’ roll image? “Incredibly important,” says Michael Molenda, editor in chief of Guitar Player magazine. “When rock ‘n’ roll was young in the 1950s and ’60s, performers gravitated to whatever they could borrow or afford. But when the music hit its stride, just the fact that guys like Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Richie Blackmore held certain guitars made them iconic.”

By the 1970s, Molenda notes, guitar buyers were shopping for “the look” and “the vibe.” Then came the 1980s, when Eddie Van Halen changed everything by piecing together his own guitar–from paint job to pickups. “At that point, many rockers moved away from classic Gibsons and Fenders to manufacturers like Kramer and Jackson, with their spiky head stocks and whammy bars.”

In the 1990s, grunge rocker Kurt Cobain’s unusual choice of a Fender Jaguar inspired legions of garage bands to outfit themselves with instruments from guitar makers like Schecter and ESP, which were as far from their fathers’ guitars as they could get. “Now it has come full circle, and we’re getting back to kids wanting to emulate what happened in the ’60s and ’70s,” says Molenda. “They like the look and feel of the iconic Gibson Les Pauls and Fender Stratocasters again, even as they create their own images with tattoos and multiple piercings.”

Of course, just because you own a white Stratocaster doesn’t mean you’re going to jam like Jimi Hendrix–even if you string it in reverse and play it left-handed. “There’s an old adage that a lot of the talent comes through the fingers,” adds Molenda. “A guitarist is going to sound like himself whether he’s playing on his own equipment or on yours.”

Still, you can go a long way toward emulating your favorite rockers and creating your own sounds, provided you have the money and the know-how to do it.

Guitar makers offer a mind-boggling arrays of instruments, from off-the-shelf “standard” issues to “signature” models signed off on by various rock ‘n’ roll notables, such as Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood’s Signature ESP-400, which lists for $1,399, or contemporary pop star and sizzeling guitarist, John Mayer’s Signature Stratocaster that lists for $1999.

Then there are the “custom” models, which are graced not only with artists’ imprimaturs, but with the same dings, scratches and dents as the original guitars. For instance, Fender’s Rory Gallagher Tribute Stratocaster–named for the late, great Irish rocker–which lists for $3,929, is “very distressed,” says Morgan Ringwald, vice president of public relations for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based guitar maker Fender. “It looks like a beat-up old guitar, but it’s an exact replica of his most famous guitar.” Or take the 100 limited-edition custom Jeff Beck Tribute Esquires, which sell for $15,000 each: Fender introduced the guitars in January at the International Music Products Association’s annual NAMM Show in Los Angeles, and they sold out to dealers in 45 minutes.

Beyond replication, anybody with a Phillips-head screwdriver and basic soldering knowledge can go a long way toward creating distinct guitar sounds. Most instruments sold off-the-rack come with the most rudimentary features. Pickups–those electromagnetic devices beneath the strings that convert vibrations into amplified sound–can be upgraded and reconfigured. Standard strings can also be upgraded based on quality and weight, with heavier strings offering a more sensuous tone. Myriad effects–from echos and wah-wahs to distortion and attack delays–can be added. Amplifiers can be switched and combined for different sound qualities. And even the cables between guitars and amps can be adjusted, as longer cable-length generally translates into better sound quality.

You’ll be sounding like Springsteen, Page, Beck, Berry, Allman, Hendrix, Harrison, Dale, Diddley, Townsend, Santana, Frusciante, Richards, Van Halen or Anastasio in no time. But not like Tom Morello, lead guitarist for Grammy-nominated rockers Audioslave, whose intricate guitar customizations are legendary. “He’s a sonic alchemist,” notes Guitar Player’s Molenda. “If you’re trying to sound like Morello, good luck.”

To start you on your way to rock stardom, we’ve identified–with the generous assistance of Michael Molenda and his crew at Guitar Player–a selection of ten primo guitars used by the current crop of Grammy-nominated rock stars. Given that the Grammy’s have eight different categories for rock, metal and “alternative” artists, as well as Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year, there were plenty of rock stars to choose from. (We’ve supplied prices where applicable.) Just remember, from aging dinosaurs to up-and-comers, they’re all talented in their own rock ‘n’ roll way.

Source: http://www.forbes.com

Slated by some critics as a joke band after their first album of retro-rock, The Darkness stormed into Belfast's Odyssey Arena to prove that the fun is back in the rock.

While contemporaries Coldplay prefer the understated approach, Justin Hawkins' crew fly right over-the-top and right over the top of the crowd - literally.

Opener Loving Arms saw the ever outrageous Hawkins being hefted aloft atop a pair of massively over-sized breasts; before returning to the stage to launch into the first single off their new album, One Way Ticket to Hell And Back.The entire album was played during the set, amid pyrotechnics, flame throwers and an audacious stage set, which included horns draping the drum kit, a mock church organ, and a lighting rig which included five massive pitchforks.

Hawkins was at ease in front of the audience, comfortably involving everyone in singalongs while managing not to sound too cheesy.

However, this had the air of a band warming up for the rest of their European tour, and Hawkins pointed out that despite a sizeable Sunday night crowd at the Odyssey, it was the lowest selling gig of their UK tour.

That only served to fire the enthusiasm of the fans as the band paraded hits, led chants and teased the audience with snatches of eighties favourites before rolling out new tracks like Hazel Eyes and Dinner Lady Arms and singles such as Love on the Rocks and Growing on You.

Finishing off the set playing a guitar solo while on ropes above the heads of the crowd was a perfect example of how The Darkness have moulded great pop rock and showmanship.

Special guests on the tour The Ark opened, followed by former film star Juliette Lewis and her band The Licks.

Source: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk

The work is hardly finished in the wake of hurricane Katrina.

New Orleans is just beginning the rebuild process and when everyone has moved on to current events, Michael Stipe teams up with Chris Martin (Coldplay) to splash cold water in our faces to drive us back to reality.

Stipe decided to cover the anthemic ballad "In The Sun" as his premiere awareness method. When it came time to recruit talent to work with him, Chris Martin was first in line on a celebrity filled roster.

"In The Sun" will be remade and released on a 6 track EP early next week. The version featuring Chris Martin will be premiering on this Sunday's episode of "Grey's Anatomy" and will be available for download exclusively through iTUNES the following day (FEB. 5th at 1 PM EST.)

"In The Sun" is aimed at reminding the public of the continued sufferings of Katrina's victims, and with Stipe and Martin at the helm, that wont be difficult.

Source: http://top40-charts.com

Yes, the halftime show has grown to the point of having critics.

“From giant puppets to rousing tributes to Sept. 11, from Phil Collins to Paul McCartney, the halftime show remains as stodgy as an episode of ‘The Price is Right,’” says Robert Thompson, a Syracuse University professor and past president of the International Popular Culture Association. “Even Janet Jackson’s performance, though it caused much hand wringing, was just another pop star trotted onto the field.”

Maybe, but hundreds of millions are watching worldwide, which makes it good business for the performers. Just about every artist since 1993 has seen big jumps in record sales the following week. “It happens every year,” says Geoff Mayfield, the charts editor for Billboard magazine. “The year Michael Jackson was on, he was on a mission to resurrect his album, and that was one of the planks in his effort.”

Coldplay performed on the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” show after the 2003 game and still got a 27 percent boost.Josh Groban, who performed before the game in 2004, saw a 209 percent increase in album sales, Mayfield says. Kid Rock, who performed at halftime the same year, saw his most recent album gain a 70 percent jolt in sales and jump from No. 23 to No. 9 on the Billboard charts. The Dixie Chicks did the National Anthem in 2003 and watched their record jump from No. 4 to No. 1.

Which may be why some are upset that the Stones are headlining instead of some of the local Motown legends. As a result of the criticism, the NFL has added some 11th-hour Motown acts. Aretha Franklin (a Detroit native), Aaron Neville and Dr. John are triple-teaming the anthem. Another Detroit native, Stevie Wonder, will perform before the game, as will Joss Stone and John Legend.

“It’s big exposure,” says Steeg, who in 1988 oversaw a production featuring the Rockettes and 88 grand pianos rolled onto the field. “(Pete) Rozelle thought from the very beginning it had to be the biggest and grandest of them all. And it is.”

Source: http://www.contracostatimes.com

I know I'm going to like Christian O'Connell. "You don't have to sit in with us," he says to the PR man at Virgin Radio's headquarters in Soho (I immediately warm to anyone who doesn't need the security of a publicist). "I promise I won't say anything bad."

"Yeah, get out," I say, emboldened by O'Connell's jokey banter. He does.

O'Connell, Virgin's new breakfast show presenter, is the man being talked about in radio circles as the new Chris Evans. Yesterday it was announced that since he left the breakfast show on London indie station Xfm, more than 20 per cent of his listeners have left the station as well, according to Rajar figures.

He has won a clutch of Sony awards and, according to one poll last year, is the fourth most powerful person in radio. He was even the man who put Coldplay's Chris Martin on hold - because Angelina Jolie had called his show at the same time to take part in a competition. Not bad for a 32-yearold who, at Xfm, had a relatively minuscule 399,000 listeners (Chris Moyles on Radio 1's breakfast show pulls in 6.6 million).The reason for his success? "I think a lot of breakfast radio is stale and formulaic," he says. "It's pretty boring. It's people just talking amongst themselves, they don't have a lot of connection with their listeners." What does he think of Chris Moyles on Radio 1? "I think it [his show] has run out of steam." Johnny Vaughan? "I think Capital have a tough time ahead of them."

O'Connell takes a swig from his can of full-fat Coke (I've never met a man less in need of sugar or caffeine). Would it be too mean to say he has a good face for radio? (His forays into television - he did a Chris Evans-backed live daily show on Five - haven't been particularly successful.) He is extremely likeable. He talks a lot and is funny; cocky but not arrogant, always armed with self-deprecation.

Talking about Virgin's publicity campaign, he remarks: "We drove past one of those 30ft high posters [of me]. It scared the hell out of me and I almost crashed the car. My 18-monthold daughter stared at it and said 'Dada'. But then she also saw a picture of David Hasselhoff [a particular idol of O'Connell's] and said 'Dada'. I thought: 'Keep the dream alive,' so I said, 'Yes, that's dada.'"

His Xfm shows were said to have a "touch of genius" about them. Mostly, they were just funny. He was ordained as a priest over the internet so he could perform a marriage between his producer Roque and his girlfriend, then he broadcast Roque's vasectomy live.

His "Bounty Hunter" competition - where listeners were encouraged to approach celebrities on the street and get them to call the show - was a huge success; he has transferred it to Virgin as "Who's Calling Christian?". Since it started last week, celebrities as diverse as Jon Bon Jovi, Sir Patrick Moore and Katie Melua have called in.

Virgin had tried to poach him before but he'd always turned them down. What changed his mind (apart from his undisclosed but surely massive new salary - his rival on Capital Johnny Vaughan is rumoured to be on a £1.5 million deal)? "I needed a new challenge," he says.

I pinpoint it to the moment he confessed, on air, to utter outrage, that his wife Sarah had bought a Volvo. "Xfm is meant to be new and young," he says. "That's when I thought, 'I'm not right here.' And I've just taken up golf. Lots of my friends are like, 'You are a sad man.' So I play on my own."

He left Xfm in October and spent his two months' gardening leave at home with Sarah, a former lawyer, and their daughter Ruby, in Kingston. He enjoyed it, he says, but "I got very restless, and my wife was fed up with having me at home, trying to make her laugh with crap jokes.

"It was nice doing important things in life like going to the tip, which made me feel very manly. In fact, I might make an outside live broadcast from the tip. I'm going to write that down." He writes "The Tip Show" on a scrap of paper in front of him, underscored with a big, bold arrow.

His daughter kept him in his early morning routine ("She gets up about half-five so I haven't had any lieins") and he has loved the time he's had to spend with her. "For years I wasn't sure if I wanted to be a dad. My wife was broody so I bought her a dog, but that didn't help so I bought her another. I thought, 'We're going to be surrounded by dogs soon.' But the moment Ruby was born I was suckered. I absolutely love being a dad. I'm going to miss not being there in the morning. When she's in her cot and starts chattering to herself, it's like birdsong, it's the best sound in the world."

He doesn't sound like he was much help before Ruby arrived though. For five weeks before she was born, he used his wife's home birthing pool as a hot tub ("We had to put it in the front room. I would get in it in the evenings, pour myself a beer and watch TV. It was brilliant") and when his wife went into hospital, he says he made her so angry by reading the newspaper in the delivery room and eating all the sandwiches he'd brought for them that she went into labour. He laughs when he says this but he's not joking. He says he's "in talks" with his wife about having another child.

O'Connell grew up in Winchester with his younger sister. His parents, he says, have "proper jobs" (his father works for a landscaping company and his mother is a nurse). He admits he does feel a certain amount of guilt when he goes home and sees how hard his mother works, when his job "is just having a laugh on the radio".

He wasn't always a show-off. "I was actually quite quiet as a kid," he says. "Then, at secondary school, there were a couple of funny kids in my class and I started to muck around with them and I realised how much power you could have by making people laugh."

At college, O'Connell did six months of hospital radio but was sacked for playing a punk record - supposedly a request from a 79-year-old patient called Elsie - then stopping it halfway through, saying: "I'm sorry but Elsie has just passed away and no longer wants to listen to that." A month later, he was sacked from his college radio station for reading out a letter he had made up from a teacher explaining his crush on one of the students.

He went to Nottingham Trent University "because in the brochure, it said the ratio of women to men was six to one. I thought: 'Fantastic, this is going to be an orgy for three years.' I really struggled to find those six women who were allocated to me."

O'Connell had started doing stand-up comedy while still a student ("Well, I was standing up, but it wasn't comedy") and continued to do it by night when he moved to London and took a sales job. "It was going nowhere," he says. "The defining moment was at a manky pub in Camden. The compere was called The Cot Death Kid. There were six people in the pub, three of whom worked there. The others were alcoholics who had probably been there since the pub opened in the Seventies. Two of them had a fight during my act. I was stood there on a milk crate talking to myself."

By then, he had met Sarah through mutual friends and she encouraged him to take a sales job at a radio station. At a work party, O'Connell got drunk, approached the head of the station and persuaded him to let him audition for a DJ job in Bournemouth. He got it.

His success has been steady - before he landed the Xfm job, he did a stint on a radio station in Liverpool - but he says it's his wife who keeps his feet on the ground. "She was a big kick up the arse, she still is. She's my most honest and harsh critic."

He is obviously very happily married (it's been seven years) but doesn't he ever wish he was single and living a rock 'n' roll DJ life in London? "It is weird sometimes when girls are extra friendly to you. But I remember what it was like before I did this. When I was at university the girls weren't there. I was incredibly lucky to meet my wife and she's been the big thing that's helped get me this far so I owe her a lot. We don't live in town so I'm not really in the media circle. If I was single and living in London - oh my word."

Virgin's PR comes to collect O'Connell. "I promise I didn't say Dr Fox [Magic's breakfast presenter] has a fat arse," he says and grins.

The Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show is on Virgin Radio, weekdays from 6am.

Source: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk

Edinburgh'S biggest nightclub has sparked a row by planning to give itself a name similar to one of its main rivals.

The former Revolution nightclub on Lothian Road has unveiled plans to reopen as a club called Liquid, to the annoyance of the operators of the Liquid Room on Victoria Street. The troubled nightspot had been re-launched as a live music venue - Gig- in October, but this is understood to have flopped, despite hopes it would attract high-profile acts.

Now the club's owner, Luminar Leisure, has suddenly closed the premises and says it is not due to reopen until the summer as commercial dance club Liquid after a £2 million overhaul. Liquid is a chain of clubs throughout the UK, and the outlet is completely unrelated to the 800-capacity Liquid Room, one of the city's best-known music venues, which has hosted acts such as the Smashing Pumpkins, Coldplay, Moby, Stereophonics and Travis since opening in 1997.

When Primal Scream scooped the first ever Mercury Music Prize with their groundbreaking debut, Screamadelica, way back in 1992, they unwittingly set a precedent.

Not by famously managing to lose the awarded 20 grand cheque before they even left the building. No, because Bobby Gillespie's Creation-singed crew beat major label heavyweights like U2 by making what the judges considered to be the best album of the year. In hindsight, this was a sign of things to come - since then, the Mercury Prize and independent labels have gone together like gig venues and sticky floors.

The Nationwide Mercury Prize celebrates the wealth and breadth of British music. Every year, the panel of judges selects a shortlist of the year's best records before picking a winner at a televised bash. All UK and Irish-born artists are eligible - the only stipulation is that the albums must be entered by a label. However, it matters not a jot whether that label has an annual turnover equivalent to that of a small South American country or operates out of Grandma's spare room, which explains how humble self-released folkies like last year's Seth Lakeman can find themselves rubbing shoulders on the esteemed shortlist with major label megastars like Coldplay.The Mercury offers the chance for the upstart Davids of the music industry to compete alongside its bloated Goliaths. And a quick perusal of the shortlists reveals that these plucky independents have, more often than not, proven themselves to be successful contenders.

In recent years, independent signed artists have consistently outnumbered their major label counterparts on the critically selective shortlist (eight out of 2005's 12 albums were on indies). Moreover, the last three Prize winners - last year's Rough Trade-signed Antony & The Johnsons, Domino's Franz Ferdinand in 2004 and XL's Dizzee Rascal in 2003 - have all hailed from independents.

But these labels don't owe their success to any favouritism or tokenism on the Mercury Prize's part. "We treat all artists and labels equally," insists Nationwide Mercury Prize Director, Kevin Milburn.

And, having sat on the judging panel the last two years, I can vouch for the fact that all artists - regardless of their genre or label - genuinely do earn their coveted spot on the shortlist through merit. The 200 CDs submitted every year arrive at the judges' doors bundled in boxes, in no particular order, without any of the usual breathless PR bumph. Then we have to listen to each and every one of them and pick our 20 favourites from which we compile the shortlist. Within that bumper batch of records is a incredible range of music: from glitchy electronica to gospel, bare-bones alt-folk to eclectic world fusions. Dozens of these hail from independent labels. And unlike the acts on the major labels, there are always some records among the smallest independents' offerings that I've never even heard of before.

Existing on the fringes of pop/rock/whatever and free from any commercial sheen, there's no question of hearing these bands on the radio or buying them in your high street record store. Indeed, their label probably only exists to put out a few hundred copies of one album. In truth, listening to some of these records, you can understand why you've not heard of them - they are, frankly, awful.

But, often, listening to these unknown artists is the most rewarding part of being a Mercury judge (and, no, there's no payment). Having these CDs arrive is a wonderful and unique way to discover new music. And those obscure albums can, and do, end up in my final list. Because, clichéd as it may sound, the Mercury Prize really is all about the music.

"The great thing about the Mercury Prize is that it's based on creative not commercial criteria," says Beggars Group boss Martin Mills whose label XL brought us one of last year's nominees, MIA.

By considering just the music, the prize places the independent and major labels on a level playing field where advertising budgets, record sales and chart success don't matter. For the cash-strapped independent, this is very handy indeed. Particularly as they have that impressive habit of winning the prize.

So why is that? The simple reason would seem to be that independents have a very different raison d'être to the majors. They exist to take chances and sign more innovative and adventurous acts - the kind of acts that always stand a good chance of making it onto the Mercury's shortlist. Majors, says Warp Records' Steve Beckett, are ultimately responsible to their shareholders who, naturally, care more about their dividends than any artistic rewards.

"We at independents have the luxury of releasing music we love and then seeing how we can reach the public with it. Not the other way around. If we took some of our releases to a major they would probably think there was a technical fault on the demo."

But if they took them to the Mercury judges - who, as critics and radio professionals, are always likely to look favourably on music that challenges them - they might just find themselves nominated. And if they are, the rewards are immediate.

"The Mercury Prize gives an independent artist a profile they might otherwise never have," explains Domino's Bart McDonagh. Just being on the shortlist raises an artist's profile overnight and hitherto unknowns can - and do - cross over to the mainstream.

From the moment the papers announce the shortlist, right up to the prime time TV coverage on the night of the awards, the Mercury Prize places artists in the spotlight for eight attention grabbing weeks. It led to Seth Lakeman's experimental folk debut, Kitty Jay - released on his own label because no one else would release it - becoming the biggest selling folk record of the year.

Of course, actually winning the Prize can have an even more dramatic effect: "After Antony & The Johnson won, we had orders for 40,000 records the next morning," says Rough Trade founder Geoff Travis. "The Mercury Prize does nothing but good for independent labels." As well as creating a launchpad to mainstream success, making the shortlist is also an important vote of confidence. Says Beggars' Martin Mills, "The Mercury Prize is an acknowledgement that what you're doing has real artistic value."

Seth Lakeman says that being shortlisted for the prize really boosted his confidence as an artist, but it's not just the musicians who feel this critical stamp of approval. "It made us feel like we're part of the music business," says Matt Jacob who founded Memphis Industries with his brother Ollie in 1998. "Normally it feels like we're doing a hobby in our parents' garden shed - which, effectively, we are."

So the Mercury, it seems, loves independents as much as the independents love the Mercury. And the impact of that is equally relevant to independent and major labels alike. Because, by continuing to recognise innovative music - and, crucially, by bringing it that wider attention - it encourages more of the same. And for that we're all winners.

Source: http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk

What can one make of Domino records, the unassuming home to two of Britain's most exciting groups, Franz Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys?

If Franz were celebrated for bringing a level of artistry and intelligent design to pop music (all of it based on the formulation "music for girls to dance to") Arctic Monkeys are a bona fide phenomenon.

A week after the release of their first album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, Billboard magazine was reporting that it had sold more than 120,000 copies on its first day of release, and that demand in the first week of issue was likely to exceed the supply - 350,000 copies.

These numbers make it the biggest selling debut album in history. Definitely Maybe by Oasis sold 55,854 in its first week, while Coldplay's Parachutes managed 70,000.Even Franz Ferdinand, whose first album was released on a high tide of public enthusiasm, managed only 75,457 copies, when their album emerged in February 2004 to give Domino its first No 1. Only Hear'Say's Popstars can compare - with 306,631 copies sold - and it had the advantage of months of free marketing on a television talent contest. "It's been a word-of-mouth phenomenon that none of us have really seen in music," the Domino founder Laurence Bell told Billboard. "I'm not sure there's anything we can compare it to. It's completely unprecedented."

The Monkeys' success is remarkable, but has not emerged from a vacuum. Bell compared the young Sheffield group to "the Who fronted by Mike Skinner" (the English rapper The Streets, whose songs are like extracts from the scripts of Shameless), but there is an obvious debt to the Libertines, who developed a scratchy version of English rock which joined the dots between The Kinks and The Clash. The Libertines' Pete Doherty and Carl Barat attempted to promote the idea of a band and its followers being united in a gang. Their vision was less a business, and more a social club. Concerts were convened in pubs and advertised on internet bulletin-boards - all outside the traditional music business.

The internet is implicated in the rise of Arctic Monkeys too, though this may have been a product of innocent enthusiasm rather than design. The group's early demos found their way onto downloading sites, and established their reputation before they had a label or a manager. Bell has commented that the web has changed the relationship between bands and record companies. "They are not so desperate for the record company to magic up the audience," he said. "They come with an audience."

Even so, Domino makes an unlikely hit factory. Founded in the South London flat of Bell and his partner Jacqui Rice in 1993, it began as a showcase for American post-grunge acts such as Sebadoh, and singer-songwriters such as Will Oldham and Bill Callahan. By the time of the label's 10th anniversary celebrations in 2003, it would have been easy to interpret as ironic Bell's announcement that the label was about to enter a "Motown-influenced phase" with "a few more hits". He told the internet magazine Incendiary: "We've just signed a band called Franz Ferdinand from Glasgow; I think they're going to do really well. They're like a sort of pop rock/early Josef K art-school band. They've got great songs and they're very colourful and fresh, so I've got high hopes for them."

A year later, after Franz had won the Mercury Music Prize, Bell explained how he had discovered the group in Glasgow. "There was a feeling that just totally came off Franz. What struck me about them was that the guitarist was wearing a cape, the drummer was wearing a 1930s' sailor's outfit and they were very striking. The first five rows were full of girls jigging around and everybody looked interesting. They were very hip people, but they had no pretension whatsoever and weren't afraid to have fun. The look in their eye made you just want to join in."

Stephen McRobbie, whose group The Pastels record for Domino, and who runs the splinter label Geographic Music with Bell, suggests that Domino's success can be credited to the family feeling engendered between Bell and his acts. "Most of what Domino is comes down to Laurence, and he is a person with a fantastically optimistic, bright outlook. He communicates this tremendous sense of enthusiasm. The groups on the label love Laurence and love Domino. For instance, Franz Ferdinand on their bass drum always have a Domino logo. It's not that common for groups to be publicising their record label like that."

McRobbie also suggests that the music industry has become less predictable in recent months. "It's very difficult for major labels to understand what's going on, and they never really understood the whole downloading phenomenon. Things have gone really out of control, and it has suited labels that are smaller and can react much quicker."

There are obvious parallels between Domino and Alan McGee's Creation Records, an independent that enjoyed phenomenal success with Oasis and - to a lesser degree - Primal Scream. The notion of a label run by a visionary maverick stretches back further, to Glasgow's Postcard (hosted by Alan Horne) or Edinburgh's Fast Product, run by Bob Last, which gave the world the Human League and the Gang of Four.

With the Arctic Monkeys success, Domino moves into a new phase, with new temptations. "It's been funny to see him on News 24 waving his arms around," says McRobbie. Previously, when the label enjoyed unexpected success - when Elliott Smith's songs appeared on the soundtrack to Good Will Hunting, for example - Bell talked about the dangers of expanding too quickly, and then having to lay off staff as normality returned.

Meanwhile, the response of the more conventional music business is to imitate - so we may confidently expect bands to be clumsily marketed via advance downloading - and when that fails, for it to wave the cheque-book.

Source: http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk

Celebrities have it all when it comes to living in this material world: beauty, fame and money. However, there are those who choose to use success for a greater good, and those who live their lives solely to lavish themselves in extravagance.

Although celebrities don’t have the authority to do anything about poverty or social injustice, they have ways of reaching people, like myself, who would normally be unaware.

It all began when a friend asked me if I wanted to sign up to go to the Coldplay concert for free.For free? How?

“It’s part of their Make Trade Fair campaign. You volunteer at the concert, and you get in for free. Fair trade,” she said.

It seemed simple enough to me, so I decided to let another friend in on this cool deal. His reaction was simply to laugh at me. Apparently, the Make Trade Fair campaign isn’t about getting into concerts for free.

So I did what anyone would do when feeling outsmarted; I Googled “make trade fair coldplay” and found myself on the Oxfam America Web site, an organization that is dedicated to “change global practices and policies that keep people in poverty.”

I kept reading.

In 2002, Chris Martin of the band Coldplay, traveled with Oxfam to the Dominican Republic and Haiti. There, he discovered that unfair trade rules in these rice-growing areas left farmers unemployed and flocking to the slums of the cities to look for jobs, all due to the absence of restrictions on importation of goods, which amounted to a surplus of rice that, oddly enough, was grown by farmers in the United States.

Why are farmers in the United States exporting rice in Haiti when local farmers have the capacity to grow their own rice? The British rock star also questioned these practices and got involved by talking about it during interviews, wearing the campaign T-shirt and promoting the campaign at his concerts. As a result, his advocacy reaches a young concert-going music-loving audience that would be otherwise oblivious.

Martin is not alone in his efforts as a celebrity.

Everyone knows about Bono’s advocacy in the fight against AIDS and poverty around the world. He is the front man for U2, the band that many hail as the last great rock band.

Yet his efforts differentiate his band from other rock stars in the past, such as, oh, I don’t know, members of Motley Crüe, Kiss or Guns and Roses. While I am not discounting their contribution to the music industry, no one can deny the fact that they are known for their sexual escapades and excessive drug indulgences.

I can think of several other celebrities to add to my blacklist of wasted stardom, such as Paris Hilton and J. Lo, and I could go on and on with this list, but I have more reading that I’d like to do on the Oxfam Web site before the free Coldplay concert I will be attending this weekend.

But I’d like to mention that I also have a gray list for people who do a lot of charity work, but for one reason or another, have essentially cancelled out some or all of their good deeds with a bad deed.

Who are the occupants of this list? Oprah for James Frey, who conned us all, and Angelina Jolie, the horrible home wrecker.

Source: here

Nobody wants to get old. Unfortunately I have reached the ripe old age of 23 and, already, I can feel its effect. Namely, there is a lot of new music out there that I just don’t get.

Not because I can’t, but because I just don’t want to. I am, of course, talking about emo music. Emo music is what people in the business refer to as their “bread and butter.” I, however, refer to it as what it should be called — “Wuss-core.”

I am not, however, quick to judge. I have felt some of the same fire growing up as a Goth club kid since I was 14 years old. I remember a lot of snickers and pointing, but hey, I looked damn good. At least all the Goth music I listened too had some backbone to it. If somebody mocked me, I’d at least threaten to set them on fire instead of not doing anything about it.

I used to have a friend that argued that there was no difference between Goths and emo kids. At first this scared me, but then I realized that my friend was a huge Coldplay and Blur fan so I stopped worrying.

Read the full article here

There was a time, not so long ago, when Green Day weren't seen as daring punk-rock provocateurs. As recently as 2003, they were pretty much considered done, washed-up.

Then they dropped American Idiot on us.

"I turned to Billie Joe and told him, 'This is your Coldplay song. It's like nothing you've ever made before,' " Cavallo laughed. "I loved it from the first day I heard it. Just the nature of it and the tempo and the way he sang the opening part. When I heard Billie Joe sing, 'I walk these empty streets,' I knew it was going to be a smash."

Read the full article here