Black Crowes Vs Maxim

As an aspiring journalist, it would be rather weird if I didn't comment on the ongoing Black Crowes Vs Maxim row over a review of the former's latest album, even though the latter only heard one song. Unfortunately I haven't read the review because it's the US edition of Maxim.

The problem is though, this sort of thing isn't new. I remember a couple of weeks ago whilst reading the NME to find that The Feeling's new album got given a 2/10. The very brief review then told me that the record label didn't send the publication a copy, hence the low score.

Different bands will take these kind of things in different ways. One review is not usually the only opinion of a record and there will be other media publications that will think differently. Even with The Feeling. I would imagine that most bands would shrug off these reviews quite swiftly and just carry on with life.

Morally it is wrong to review albums based on little knowledge of what it sounds like, and in the case of the Black Crowes I sympathise with them hugely. But sometimes, when record labels are too scared to send a review copy to a publication for fear of getting a bad review, then doesn't that tell you all you need to know about the record in most cases?

PS - If anyone does know where I can read the review, please comment and tell me!

The Black Crowes

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Guy Hands: The saviour of EMI?

Today I had a chance to read an article on Rolling Stone's website, for some reason dated into the future (6th March 2008). It was a brief one about the plans that Guy Hands has up his sleeve for EMI. Many people were very critical of him for taking charge of a business in an industry he knows very little about and some wondered whether EMI would just collapse under his leadership.

I'm starting to think he is going to prove his doubters wrong in parts.

I think his ideas for the future of EMI make rather good business sense. When a company like EMI is losing millions upon millions of dollars then you have to cut the crap essentially. Marketing that wasn't needed HAS to be cut down. Salaries HAVE to be cut. Artists who under perform, no matter how good they are, HAVE to be let go.

However, he still has some flaws in his plan. I think the idea of continuing re-hashing former glories like The Beatles and Radiohead as plain dumb. That and I've never been keen on the idea of having corporate sponsors putting their brand on music.

I think he's headling along the right lines and if he can get rid of the plans mentioned above, then he has the potential to make EMI a formidable force in the industry once more. But it's going to take A LOT of work.

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Why a turkey should win Eurovision

Dustin The Turkey - he is Ireland's Eurovision entry for 2008 with a song called Irlande Douze Pointe. This is someone who should win Eurovision.

I hear you ask "But Max, this song is shite! Where have your musical values gone?!"

It IS shite, and that's the entire point of the song. Eurovision has ceased to become a songwriter competition for years now. Last year, a Ukranian drag queen came close to winning and for the last five years, all the UK entrants have made Scouting For Girls and The Feeling look like Pink Floyd. They've been THAT bad. That and you have the age old argument of all the baltic countries teaming up to ensure victory. That is something, for the moment anyway, that seems unavoidable.

Obviously, this has caused uproar with some people back in Ireland. Louis Walsh and Dana are the lead moaners because the entrant isn't some crooner or warbler. Ireland have done it in Eurovision for the last few years and it hasn't even been remotely close to a success. That and any oppurtunity to prove Louis Walsh wrong is one that should be taken!

Dustin does have his supporters though - the most high profile being a certain Sir Bob Gandalf:

It would be rank ‘poultryism’ should one of the greatest talents Ireland has ever produced be not allowed to represent our glorious musical heritage. "If the Eurovision Song Contest is known for anything at all, it is for the vast number of turkeys it produces each year. The fact that Dustin is a turkey should give Ireland the edge. Ireland will gobble them up.

So, if you vote for anyone at Eurovision come May, make it a vote for turkey.

And yes, I did resist the urge to choose a pun-tastic headline, but chose not to. This post has the best puns.



Lyrics to Irlande Deuze Pointe

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GIG REVIEW - The Cribs at Brixton Academy

Just to add some context, the tour The Cribs are on (well, just finished actually since last night was the end of it all) is an NME tour that is supposed to also showcase three hotly-tipped new bands. It was also a bargain - only £20 for 4 bands.

THE TING TINGS

I think it is fair to say that I had low expectations of this band before they came on. I've read some pretty scathing reviews and I thought it would be yet another two-piece band with no talent. I was partially misguided. The first three songs played, including Fruit Machine and Great DJ, at the very least threw out my low expectations. But, as they continued along their just-under-half an hour timeslot, I felt as if, whilst this punchy, hard-hitting poppy indie rock wasn't as bad as first feared, it wasn't enough to make them stand out of the crowd of similar bands.

DOES IT OFFEND YOU, YEAH?

By far the best support band of the evening. Does It Offend You, Yeah? is a dance act in band form and it works. Not only that but they got the crowd warmed up to the point where you'd even think they were headlining. The band themselves were lapping it up, especially Morgan, the guitarist/synth player, who is a Brixton boy through and through. The songs were awesome too. We Are Rockstars, Let's Make Out and Battle Royale were all favourites with the crowd and they had an impressive lighting show to back the songs up. Towards the end there was a stage invasion with all the other bands on the tour as they proceeded to destroy their guitars and keyboards. They left me impressed and eagerly anticipating their forthcoming debut album.

JOE LEAN AND THE JING JANG JONG

Why this band were placed above Does It Offend You, Yeah? dumbfounds me. They were what I predicted - a boring, uninspiring indie pop band with no great songs of note. It's also another band who place style and look over substance. Songs like Lucio Starts Fires (apparently a 'hit' in the indie circles) were below-par for me. Not only that but the crowd were pretty flat and were very underwhelmed. If they succeed this year I'll be surprised. But I just see them as another indie band with a crap band name.

THE CRIBS

The Cribs definitely did not dissapoint. They were well up for it tonight and you could see that on stage they can mix tight muscianship with bouncing energy. The crowd went bloody crazy. The no crowdsurfers rule at Brixton Academy completely and utterly broken by the hordes and the hordes who rode the waves.

Setlist wise, it was full of the best cuts from their recent album (Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever) and some older cuts from their self-titled debut and The New Fellas. Our Bovine Public and Girls Like Mystery mixed well with stuff like Mirror Kisses and Another Number. Women's Needs was a highlight, not just for Ryan's spinning around on the floor sideways whilst playing guitar ability. The Wrong Way To Be also featured a good old fashioned trashing of microphones, equipment vandalising and Ryan jumping into the crowd.

And then, Johnny Marr comes out.

Not so much a surprise, since he's done it on several tour dates but it was still an awesome way to finish off the evening. Not only that, but he did five songs with the band, including a cover of Panic by The Smiths. I'm not a massive Smiths fan but Panic is at the very least a tune. Also, Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth made an appearance...on a side screen. He was the vocal contributor to album track Be Safe and, whilst he couldn't make it there in person, he recorded a video clip especially for the tour. Just a shame that someone seeminly forgot to turn up the volume.

What was also fascinating about the whole time that Johnny was on stage was how friendly he was with the band. He and Ryan were playing each other's guitars on Moving Pictures and when he originally came on stage, Ryan just grabbed him for a matey hug. I wondered whether it was friendly enough to even consider in my mind that he is now a member of The Cribs. Then when I got home, I saw this article, which explains a lot.

The setlist:

Don't You Wanna Be Relevant?
Our Bovine Public
Girls Like Mystery
What About Us
My Life Flashed Before Me
We Can No Longer Cheat You
I've Tried Everything
Women's Needs
Men's Needs
Mirror Kissers
Another Number
The Wrong Way To Be
Panic
Moving Pictures
Hey Scenesters!
Be Safe
I'm A Realist

You can check out all of my pictures on Flickr right now!

The Cribs

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Brit predictions results & Future of Musical Chairs

In the results for my Brit predictions, I did miserably. Only 3/11 predictions were correct. Shock horror...well, not really.

I think I'm going to use this post to tell you what's happening in the next few days and the foreseeable future for Musical Chairs.

I will be out tomorrow evening to see The Cribs finish off their NME-associated headlining tour of the UK at the Brixton Academy. Expect a review of the gig on Saturday hopefully, with added pictures to boot. On Sunday I am seeing Scottish band Glasvegas play the Boileroom in Guildford, so expect a live review and even more photos up on Monday.

As for the far-off future of Musical Chairs, a design revamp is needed. Whilst this simplistic Blogger template is quite nice, I now feel like I'm at a stage where I want to make Musical Chairs stand out from the crowd. I'm currently in the stages of planning a new layout and new design and at the moment I'm a bit unsure as to whether I'm going to have a crack at it myself or whether I will allow someone else to do it for me. Either way, that's quite a while off for the time being.

Brit Awards 2008 predictions

Because nothing else has really happened today in the world of music. This is really a list of I want to win.

BEST BRITISH MALE: Jamie T - One of the best albums of last year and quantum leaps ahead of the other nominess in regards to talent (apart from maybe Richard Hawley).

BEST BRITISH FEMALE: Despite having heard not really heard much of their music, it will either be Bat For Lashes or PJ Harvey simply because they're loads better than the rest of the field.

BEST BRITISH GROUP: Arctic Monkeys I hope, but it looks like a close call.

BEST BRITISH ALBUM: OK - definitely Arctic Monkeys this time. Any other album and I will throw things.

BEST BRITISH BREAKTHROUGH: Klaxons I think but Kate Nash will probably run away with it.

BEST LIVE ACT: It has got to be Muse surely?

BEST BRITISH SINGLE: None of them. End of.

BEST INTERNATIONAL MALE: Kanye West is my tip for this one.

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEMALE: Either Feist or Bjork and I'll be happy.

BEST INTERNATIONAL GROUP: Arcade Fire should start the double with this.

BEST INTERNATIONAL ALBUM: Arcade Fire should finish the double with this.

I'll report back tomorrow with the results of how good or bad my predictions were!

Brit Awards 2008

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Muse to play Royal Albert Hall

At least that is what Matt Bellamy, the guitarist, pianist, vocalist and outright weirdo of the three-piece is saying. He's already blabbered it out to Virgin Radio and to BBC 6 Music and it looks like they will definitely be confirmed for it on Thursday. It will be a fairly unusual gig for Muse standards. It looks like it will be all-seating and the capacity of just over 5,000 is relatively small for a Muse gig.

I would absolutely love to go to this but I'm not keeping my hopes up just yet. Just because I know for a fact that the ticket rush will be crazy.

Teenage Cancer Trust 2008 Concerts

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Festival update - 13/02/08

I think with the festival line ups starting to build, it's time to have some sort of update on who is playing where. Here are some recent updates:

Download:
A few more bands were added to the bill last night. Incubus, Alter Bridge and Coheed And Cumbria are the main draws but there are also bands with names like Children Of Bodom, In Flames and Disturbed.

V Festival:
One headliner got announced last night, and that said artist is Muse. There is no confirmation on the actual dates of their headlining slots but this will be definitely be Muse's only UK gig this year. It also brings with it the possibility of some new material to be showcased.

Glastonbury:
It is now starting to look very rosy for Glastonbury. After last Friday's announcement that it will be headlined by two good bands (Kings Of Leon and The Verve) and one iffy rapper (Jay Z), Massive Attack have confirmed they will headline the Other Stage. Not only that but it is likely that they will be supported by Hot Chip. CSS, Leonard Cohen, Elbow and British Sea Power complete the line up of new additions.

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White Stripes to play London show?

Apparently so, according to Gigwise. They have spoken to 'sources' that are telling them that a band on the XL label, most likely The White Stripes, will play the Old Blue Last in Shoreditch (a very small venue) on March 3rd. If this is true, it will end up being an almost-similar affair to the surprise Radiohead show at 93 Feet East last month.

If anything develops, you'll find out here.

UPDATE: NME have said that it's not happening, though XL have said that one of its artists will be performing there on that date.

The White Stripes

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R.E.M. - Supernatural Superserious

Quite frankly, R.E.M. could have made a new album based solely on Michael Stipe doing gangster hip hop over a banjo melody and, no matter how awful it would sound, it wouldn't be a patch on the atrocious effort of Around The Sun. It's a relief then that this, the first cut from their 14th studio album titled Accelerate, blows everything from their last album out of the water. It's going to back to what R.E.M. do best - just really good alternative rock. It may not be anywhere near their best but it is nowhere near their worst.

R.E.M. website

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Palace Fires

It's another one of those bands that wear their hearts on their sleeves, but this is one I genuinly like. Palace Fires are a four-piece from the capitcal city and, yes, they make soaring melodies and create big, anthemic finishes but they have enough charm and appeal to make me interested in them. At the moment they are supporting Travis on their UK tour but they will play a headlining show at the Water Rats in London on the 19th March. Tickets can be bought here if you like the music.

Palace Fires MySpace

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Gnarls Barkley - Run

This is a song that has emerged on the Interweb and certain radio stations recently. It's not the 'official' lead single off the new album, titled The Odd Couple, but it is a taster of what the new album should sound like. Like I said yesterday with the look at the new We Are Scientists track, if you liked the previous album then you will like this a lot. This is a typical Gnarls Barkley song - just shy of three minutes, fast tempo and gospel sounding in places. The problem I have with this is that it just feels...too safe. It's almost paint-by-numbers really - a bit disappointing.

Gnarls Barkley - Run

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White Stripes sued over radio sample

The White Stripes have found themselves in hot water, after a Canadian radio DJ is suing them for an unlawful use of a radio sample. The sample in question is a ten second clip from her show at the start of Jumble, Jumble off of De Stijl, the band's second album. Dominique Payette, the DJ, is looking for a $70,000 payment for 'violation of privacy' and an injuction to block the further releases of the album.

It's the 'violation of privacy' bit that gets me though. Obviously, I'm not saying that the band should have asked for permission to use a sample. But what 'privacy' is there over a ten second clip from a public radio station? What's more, the clip isn't neccessarily a high standard of audio quality. I can never really make out what is being said.

The fact that this lawsuit is being brought up a whole eight years after De Stijl is also quite something. I reckon this whole saga is going to dissolve fairly quickly, but for the time being the band, nor their management or record label have made comment yet.

The White Stripes

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The H.A.A.R.P. Tour

Stumbled across this mini-trailer for the upcoming Muse DVD, on Play of all places, which I'm looking forward to a lot (I'm a big fan and I went to the Wembley shows). Notice the cool sort of coloring technique that's been used:


Muse

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The Music return

The Music, a band who I refered to in my album preview post last month, are playing four intimate shows in the near future. And that is all I know for the time being. The dates will go up tomorrow morning on the band's official website at 9am along with links to buy tickets (which will be priced at £10 plus booking fees). This will be the first time that audiences can expect to hear new material from the third album, and I'm tempted to go, but I think I'm gonna hold out until tomorrow morning.

The Music MySpace page

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We Are Scientists - After Hours

The new We Are Scientists single, After Hours, has recently hit the airwaves and I've now had the chance to listen to it. If you liked their last album then their's a good chance that you will like the new stuff as well judging by this song. The classic formula of good We Are Scientists songs has been tweaked slightly. There's a bit more instrumentation, with an acoustic guitar propelling the song onwards and onwards, and an organ at the very start. It also doesn't sound as...'indie', I guess, as some of the stuff from the last album. I'm tempted to say more mainstream sounding but it might be a bit harsh. The refrain though in the chorus is very radio-friendly and will probably get them a high UK chart placing alone.

Overall, it's enough to make me look forward to their second album (titled 'Brain Thrust Mastery' and out on the 3rd March).

After Hours video
We Are Scientists website

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Glasvegas halted by the loos

This is a chucklesome piece of news. I'm hoping something like this does not happen at the Boileroom later this month!

Glasvegas

Coldplay Album Update

Looks like the new Coldplay album is still a long way off from being finished. More to the point, it will not be called Prospekt, which was an album title widely speculated in the media. However, in a message on the band's official website, after the re-recording of one song and ten more mixes the new album should be done. They said it will be another month before it's finished but...ten mixes sounds like a lot of hard work for just a month. I reckon it will be a bit longer. Either way, you can probably place safe bets that the album is destined for a release in June or around that time (incidentally, three years after X&Y).

Coldplay

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