George Lamb

This man is a total tool, and yet he is nominated for a Sony Award. For anyone unsure of what these awards are, they're the Oscars of the British radio industry. I'd like to think that the awards would go out to people and stations that deserve it.

But no.

I would like to think that 6music is a station that caters for my need. Radio 1 is too mainstream and in a couple of years I will not be in their target audience age, Radio 2 is...Radio 2 and XFM has Dave Berry as a DJ. 6music not only has music that I like to listen to, it's played by people who actually know the music and know what they're talking about. George Lamb fits absolutely none of the 6music criteria.

Interviews that are poorly researched, catchphrases that are totally stupid, and, from the official petition to get him off the air, we do not wish to listen to radio that asks 'which of my friends would be in your top 5' to its guests.

I know that most radio personalities are total prats. You know, the over-enthusiastic (Zane Lowe), the over-talking up (Westwood) and the overly-annoying (Jo Whiley), but somewhere along the choppy seas of music fools, there are DJs who do demand my attention and my listening ears. DJs like Steve Lamacq, John Kennedy and, before his tragic death three and a half years ago, John Peel. George Lamb may be the person that is singled out here, but he is the frontrunner of a whole army of dumb, despeate and deluded disc jockeys.

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Universal screws Be Your Own Pet

I hate major record labels. I'm sure most of you dear readers share the same hatrid. This makes me hate them even more.

Be Your Own Pet have just put out their second album called Get Awkward. There's no hitches in the UK and European release but the American release is missing several songs. Why? Because Universal have taken issue with some of them. Universal said to the band either change the lyrics or drop the songs altogether. The band decided to drop them. The songs in question are Black Hole, Becky and Blow Yr Mind. And no, it's not because they all begin with 'b'. These are the lyrics that they deem 'violent', first from Black Hole and then from Becky:

"Ooh, baby, wanna get in a fight! / Breaking glass bottles is oh-so-fun / Let's go and kill someone! / Living in this city, I get so bored / Wanna kill myself on a telephone cord"

"I heard you talked a lot of shit about me to your new best friend / Doesn't matter anyway, cuz I've got a brand new friend, okay / Me and her, we'll kick your ass, / we'll wait with knives after class!"

Whilst they are lyrics that suggest towards a violent nature, Universal have 50 Cent, Eminem, Marilyn Manson and a few other artists on their roster that also showcase pretty explicit lyrics. The reason why those artists haven't been approached is because they're big money earners. Be Your Own Pet are not a money-earning band. So it leads me to think it's more a case of the big bully making an example of the weak and defenseless victim.

Jemima Pearl, lead singer, has been quoted of saying:

"When I found out that the songs were going to get taken off, I was just like, 'Is there anybody I can talk to?' It's like, I don't even really know who these people are. There's no one you can talk to to try to argue your case. Other than that, Universal has been great. But I guess that's just what happens when you decide to have something to do with a major label. They're going to be scared of anything that's not completely cookie cutter."

That sort of sums it all up.

I know the band aren't one to care that much. After reading a lot of media interviews with the band, they give me the impression that they're quite easy going and adopt a 'whatever happens, happens' attitude. It still pisses me off though that not only can labels like Universal boss around artists and still tell what their music should sound like, but also be incredibly elitist at the same time.

Be Your Own Pet MySpace

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Art Brut leave EMI over a single

EMI has lost a lot of artists recently. That's pretty evident. Whilst I don't think that the loss of Art Brut will be as damaging for them as the loss of Radiohead and Paul McCartney, the reasons why the band have left are most certainly interesting.

EMI decided to release a single from their second album, It's A Bit Complicated, entitled Pump Up The Volume. This was something that was done without the band's knowledge. There was even a music video 'made' for the single behind the band's back. The Eddie Argos-led group were understandably surprised and frustrated. It now looks as if the relationship between EMI and Art Brut, according to the blog post that appeared on the band's website:

Dearest Internet, it looks like our much loved adventurers just couldn’t work it out with EMI after all. That’s right, after staying up well into the night talking it over, they have both decided it best if they see other people. The spark just wasn’t there anymore. The reasons, you ask? There were many. Maybe the age difference, maybe the mounting work committments. It just looks as if they both needed some space. And hey, maybe they both need to play the field a little more before settling down. They promise to remain close friends and lunch whenever they can. Good luck to all involved!

It's hugely unlikely that the band will call it quits - they have quite a loyal following and are loved on both sides of the Atlantic. If anything, I can imagine them going back to a small indie label.

Art Brut

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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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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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Morrissey and the NME are both wrong

After a brief happy spell of three and a half years, the NME and Morrissey have once again locked horns over an interview that was published in today's issue. In the interview, which details Morrissey's views on immigration in a detailed way, the NME question his views on the subject.

This news story details the whole saga quite well.

To be honest, I have beefs with both subjects.

In regards to Morrissey, I think that some of the comments he made in that interview were very confusing. One minute he was for and then against and then back to being for and then against immigration. His mind is quite muddled on the issue. If he was a British resident, I suppose I could have a level of understanding with his comments. But he isn't.

Morrissey has spend the best part of the 90s and the first half in this decade residing in LA and then last year he moved to Rome. He has essentially been cut off, for the most part, from British politics for more than a decade. So for him to make some of the comments he made is a show of naivety on his part.

But then again, the NME telling me that his views are wrong (which is what they are essentially doing) is plain stupid. I do think Morrissey is a twat, not just for this but for other things too, but I'm sure there are other people who aren't so...politics savy I guess. Basically, it's propaganda on the NME's part to not allign with the Tories.

It's not just this feature that shows their political bias either. It's become a habit of the NME for the last few months and it does feel like propaganda now (anti-racism campaign aside, which is totally justified for the obvious reasons). I allow my friends and other people to have their own opinions - not to force feed them policies.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

True To You - a Morrissey fan website

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Johnny Borrell frustrated with US record label

Looks like Johnny Borrell has found something new to whine about – his record label. He is quoted in The Mirror newspaper to be unhappy, saying only "We pretty much had no effort whatsoever. It's been very frustrating." Ok, maybe The Mirror isn’t the best source of news information but Borrell perhaps has a good reason to be angry.

Here’s a link to a post by Lyndsey Parker in her blog on NME’s website. In it she sums up the general attitude towards Razorlight in America – there isn’t one. To me, it’s very puzzling because someone at Universal must have realised that Razorlight are doing pretty well over here at least. A number one single, two solid-selling albums, lots of radio play and a headline appearance at Razorlight (however crap that performance was) is surely enough reason to market the album?

As much as I hate Borrell’s ego sometimes, maybe, on this occasion anyway, he has a point…

Razorlight
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