Ken Dodd cleared for take-off

No disrespect to the King of The Diddymen, but I'm not sure I'd feel entirely relaxed if I saw Ken Dodd's face peering out the side of a plane I was clambering aboard.

Downloadable: Stars

A spot of apparently-not-as-good-as-they-used-to-be stuff from Stars- We Don't Want Your Body for taking away from RCRDLBL.

Festival prices: "ooh, they'll have to go up, they will"

Thanks to Mark B who sent me a link to this story, which predicts a possible rise in gig prices as PRS demand more, and George Osborne pretends he has no choice but to hike VAT:

Melvin Benn, who runs the Reading, Leeds and Latitude festivals, described it as "blatant money-grabbing".

With VAT also rising by 2.5%, Mr Benn, who runs Festival Republic, said the cost of an average festival ticket would go up by about £10.

Given how the festivals Benn are involved with have been hiking prices, Benn should know a blatant money grab when he sees it.

In 2008, a ticket to Leeds cost £145.

In 2010, the same ticket cost £180.

It's strange that a man who thinks nothing of slapping an extra £35 on a ticket over two years suddenly gets outraged for his customers at the prospect of another tenner going on.

That's not say the PRS demands are entirely fair - they're talking about an increase in the percentage take they get from the ticket price:

PRS For Music's Debbie Mulloy said: "It's been over 20 years since we last reviewed this tariff and it's part of a general review of all our tariffs.

"This is one sector where there have been massive amounts of change and we felt a good review was required to make sure everything was still fair and reasonable."

The rate would not necessarily increase, she said. "There's no foregone conclusion here. It's not as simple as saying we want the rate to be higher. There are a number of things we have to assess."

As Mark B pointed out in his email:

No doubt the possibility of reducing the tariff will also be considered

The PRS is suggesting it might charge larger festivals more than smaller festivals, but doesn't entirely explain why. If you're getting 3% of ticket prices, then you already get more for a larger festival than a small one.

If the suggestion is that the percentage rate should be higher for a bigger event, the moral justification for that is far from clear. In fact, morally, you could argue that PRS get a lower percentage cut than they do from ticket sales at smaller events.

If you look at an afternoon-in-a-park type affair, the main attraction is music. If you look at Glastonbury, many people go for attractions other than the music. And if the work of the PRS members is less crucial to bringing in the punters, then surely their share of the ticket take should go down?

PRS might regret having opened this particular Pandorica.

Gordon in the morning: Axed Factor

There could be a swirling, howling black hole at the heart of The X Factor - besides the usual ones - as Gordon reports that Cheryl Cole is going to be out of action for six months. Can we have a banner headline, please?

Exclusive: Cheryl will be too sick to do X Factor

• 6 month malaria break


• Album on ice, gig axed

That seems pretty definitive.

It suddenly sounds less definitive once Gordon's cleared his throat and got going:

SERIOUSLY ill CHERYL TWEEDY may have to pull out of X Factor this year as she battles to survive the killer disease malaria, it emerged last night.

Frail Cheryl, 27, could also be forced to scrap a gig at the V Festival. And her management are ready to put the October launch of her new album on ice.

So the headline's screeching facts turn out to just be possibilities by the time the article starts - which means it appears Gordon's "exclusive" boils down to 'if she's too ill to work, she won't be able to work.'

The "battles to survive" bit in the intro is surely a more compelling thing to splash on rather than "might not play the V Festival", but - although she is pretty ill - "battles to survive" seems to be more than a little hyperbolic in itself.

Daily Mail fumes at digital switchover

The Liberal-Tory coalition's decision to carry on with the planned 2015 date of digital switch-off for analogue radio hasn't made the Daily Mail happy. In fact, the Mail has gone into full-on meltdown panic:

Around 20 per cent of all radio listening happens in cars but only 1 per cent of all cars currently have the capability to receive digital stations.

Well, yes. The idea of a switch-off date is supposed to drive take-up of digital radio. Do you need a sit down, Daily Mail? You look a little red...

Motorists will either have to replace their car radios at a cost of some £300 or buy special ‘conversion’ kits that must be attached to the windscreen, often alongside Satnavs, which could also cost more than £100.

Not alongside Satnavs, surely? That's terrible.

Naturally, you can actually pick up a proper DAB radio for half the cost cited by the Mail, and while the adaptors could cost more than a hundred quid, you'd be an idiot if you paid more than fifty.

DAB sets for the home cost from £20 for a basic radio to £200 for waterproof, rechargeable versions that can be used outside.

And, doubtless, the government will insist we buy waterproof ones - political health and safety having gone mad.

The plans will hit motorists and pensioners hardest but most ordinary homes have two or three radios – and the expense of replacing them all will mount up for everyone.

It's not entirely clear why pensioners will be hit harder than anyone else - perhaps they'll be forced to buy two radios.

There's a pretty strong case for not switching off FM, certainly not yet, but the Mail fails totally to even approach the case. (And no, Mr. Dacre, saying 'it's hard to get a DAB signal on Snowdon' isn't the case you're looking for, either.)

Nor is this:

every household will have to own either a digital radio or have a TV in the next five years.

Imagine that - every household in the country with a TV. It's a mad dream, isn't it?

Island not entirely thrilled by the new Tom Jones album

When people ask major labels 'why is it so important you survive, despite the outdated business model?', major labels often scrabble about in their notebooks for a while, before coming up with the justification that they provide vital support for their artists.

Let's join Island Record vice-president David Sharpe in the middle of an email showing some of that support in action:

"Imagine my surprise when I walked into the office this morning to hear hymns – it could have been Sunday morning. My initial pleasure came to an abrupt halt when I realised that Tom Jones was singing the hymns! I have just listened to the album in its entirety and want to know if this is some sick joke????"

Jones moved to Island last year for a reported £1.5m. Sharpe continued: "We did not invest a fortune in an established artist for him to deliver 12 tracks from the common book of prayer [sic]. Having lured him from EMI, the deal was that you would deliver a record of upbeat tracks along the lines of Sex Bomb and Mama Told Me ..."

There's some suggestion that the 'leaking' of this email might be part of a subtle campaign to promote the album. But:

The Daily Mail quotes Sharpe as saying that he stands by his email, and that he "paid for a Mercedes" and ended up with a "hearse".

I don't think any organised campaign would have come up with that - any attempt to build a viral campaign which involves an executive saying 'this record is a bit like something you'd take to a funeral' would be inept in the extreme; probably even more inept than even Island would manage.

The real question, though, is what was Sharpe thinking in the first place? He paid large sums of money for Jones to churn out more Sex Bomb style stuff - despite it having been painfully clear from the last couple of EMI albums and that toe-curling Wyclef Jean stuff that this was a mine which would not reward further working. He seems to have been convinced he was hiring a Mercedes, but he'd been bidding on a Smart car.

Lopez upsets Greek Cypriots

Jennifer Lopez has taken up an innocent-sounding and lucrative offer to play a gig in sunny Cyprus and managed to find herself caught in one of those hyper-angry European megarows that blow up over the island.

Because she's taking a big payday from the Turkish-occupied bit. The Guardian reports the almost-instant campaign against the gig:

A web campaign led by indignant Greek Cypriots to convince Lopez to change her mind has attracted thousands of signatories angry that she should even consider performing in territory that is not officially recognised by the United Nations.

"It is with dismay and shock that the people of Cyprus and especially the Greek Cypriot women in the Republic of Cyprus and elsewhere in the world heard the news that you intend to attend the inauguration of a hotel in the occupied by Turkey [sic] part of our native country," says a letter that forms the basis of the campaign.

Lopez still seems happy to turn up, though - sure, the terrible fate of the island is bad, but it's not like the Greek Cypriots are offering an equally large sum for her not to go, is it?

Despite the furore, the five-star Cratos Premium insists the event will go ahead, promising a "very special birthday party … full of surprises for Jennifer Lopez".

I suspect she's already more than a little surprised.

Gordon in the morning: George Micheal pops into Snappy Snaps

Back - I'm afraid - to Cheryl Cole's sick bed this morning, as Gordon reveals that when he told us yesterday she was suffering from exhaustion-oh-no-it's-gastroenteritis he actually meant to say malaria.

Which, just in case you don't know:

in extreme cases can KILL

Is that right, Sun doctor Carol Cooper?

MALARIA can kill

Blimey.

but Cheryl looks to be lucky. There are four forms of the bug, and in Tanzania, where she picked it up, the milder ones are most common.

I'm not sure I have any faith in a doctor who calls malaria "a bug".

What can you add to the story, Gordon?

Sources also revealed Cheryl - whose spokesman confirmed she has malaria - had secretly battled painful stomach cramps while filming the ITV talent show.

But I'd imagine that's normal for anyone working on the X Factor, the way miners used to have scabs down their spines.

In other news, George Michael has had another car crash. Jess Rogers has the details:

GEORGE MICHAEL has been arrested after his car crashed into a SHOP on the night of a gay festival, The Sun can reveal.

The troubled singer, 47, was held on suspicion of being unfit to drive after he lost control of his Range Rover and it smashed into a Snappy Snaps.

I'm not entirely sure why it happening on the night of Pride is in any way relevant, but Jess seems convinced it is:

The singer - who only last year ended a two-year ban for drug driving - was held at 3.35am on Sunday after London's Gay Pride parade.

It's almost as if Rogers is trying to suggest there's some causal link between celebrating homosexuality and not being able to drive a car, or perhaps just that simply being gay is liable to make you incapable of steering. I'm sure that wasn't the intention, though.

Prince declares internet 'over'; Google announces plans to power down

Yes, as he prepares to release his next album exclusively through the Sunday Mirror, Prince has declared the internet to be at an end:

He explains that he decided the album will be released in CD format only in the Mirror. There'll be no downloads anywhere in the world because of his ongoing battles against internet abuses.

Unlike most other rock stars, he has banned YouTube and iTunes from using any of his music and has even closed down his own official website.

He says: "The internet's completely over. I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it.

Not entirely sure iTunes gets angry when they don't get the new Prince album - it's a bit like believing that a butchers' would be annoyed if they didn't get first dibs on a hedgehog roadkill.

Prince seems to be the angry one here - why won't someone else pay me to make a record upfront? - but it's touching that he believes him not putting a record on the net constitutes an effective end to the whole business.

As if there's someone in an office block with a polished brass sign outside saying 'The Internet', sucking a thoughtful tooth and saying 'well, we managed to rub on by without The Beatles, but if we can't guarantee late-period Prince, I don't think there's much point in us going on. Timmy, you go and unplug the computer; I'll ring the naked ladies and tell them we don't need any more pictures.'

Before the internet finishes, though, Prince has a couple more thoughts:

"The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated.

The internet isn't like MTV, though, is it? That's a bit like saying, I don't know, Prince is like silent movies or something. Confusing a medium with a channel.

"Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good.

"They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you."

It's possible that Prince has made a terrible mistake and stuck his iPod headphones into his calculator. Is he worried about digital music being numbers? But then why would he be releasing CDs?

Still, let's not be too quick to rubbish Prince's grasp of what's popular and what it isn't. He is, after all, distributing his new album through the Sunday Mirror next week. Who could deny his understanding of the modern media market?

Ozzy hated The Osbournes. He is just like us after all.

Who would have guessed? Ozzy never really wanted to be cast as a clown in a reality show, and it was all Sharon's idea:

"You know what? That TV celebrity that I became, I f**king didn't like it," he said. "Sharon loves flying around the world and being a TV star. I don't. I can't stand it, because my heart is in music.

"I hated every second of it. She kept pushing me into this f**king stuff. I said, 'I tell you what, Sharon, don't even f**ing ask me, don't even go there with me in future, because I don't want to know'."

This will come as something as a surprise to anyone who saw the programme, as it didn't appear that Ozzy even knew people were making a TV show in his house, much less that he was experiencing any emotion as a result.

The interview, with Metal Hammer, doesn't quite explain why he did the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter adverts.

Justin Hawkins laughs in face of Sun reunion claims

The Sun was confidently predicting earlier that The Darkness are about to reunite. Justin Hawkins says it isn't so:

[The Sun] also suggested that the group had bonded following the birth of drummer Ed Graham's son.

However, writing on Twitter about the speculation, Hawkins joked: "I was startled to read that I've been spending time with a small child that I didn't know existed! Congrats Ed, I think...

"Neither Dan nor I were aware of a 'bitter feud' that has lasted half a decade. We've been at war for over 30 years."

He added: "Whoever paid this 'source' should really ask for their money back, because what they have bought is essentially horse s**t. If there was any truth in the Darkness reunion rumour then it wouldn't be a rumour.

"However, delighted to read that The Sun would be glad to have us back. Warmed my cockles no end!"

Surely someone at the Sun should have asked themselves if it would be possible for Mr Hawkins to keep a reunion under his hat.

Everyone's happy about 6Music. Except the Tories

It's brilliant news about 6Music, isn't it? Don't you agree, Tim Montgomerie?

Oh. Apparently not:

Disgraceful that 6 Music has been saved. When will the BBC share in the pain?

Some people suggest that Montgomerie's website, ConservativeHome, is the paid-for pipe-hole through which Lord Ashcroft pipes his thoughts. That would, of course, be confusing ConservativeHome with David Cameron.

Montgomerie's sour little moan that something which a million people enjoy is going to carry on shows a lack of any grasp of the detail here - if 6Music continues, the nine million quid which would otherwise have been saved will have to come from somewhere else in the Corporation budget - it's not like closing 6Music would mean the BBC giving back a few quid to licence fee payers.

Just wanting a network to shut because you believe the BBC should be hurt is, well, the sort of nasty, spiteful reaction that will be familiar to anyone who remembers the last Conservative government.

The BBC didn't screw up the economy. 6Music listeners didn't screw up the economy - maybe there might be the odd investment banker amongst them, but generally. George Osborne might be pursuing an ideological series of deep cuts to the State, but just because he's dead set on making the nation a more miserable place doesn't mean the BBC has to follow suit.

Still, it's not like Montgomerie doesn't know a thing or two about value for money, as a little later on he tweets:

At 62p per person per year, the Queen is excellent value for taxpayers' money http://is.gd/dg1Uk

6Music costs 17p per person per year, helps generate income for the UK creative industries, cross-subsidises bands and artists and entertains a million people a week. More importantly, it doesn't have numerous other forms of income, own large swathes of the country or require extra inputs of support in the form of police protection when it goes out. I'd argue that 6Music is excellent value for your licence pence.

But then, I'm not trying to hurt the BBC.

Breaking News: 6Music saved by BBC Trust

BBC trust order the BBC to think again on closure plans. Bad news for the Asian Network, though, as they're not minded to save that:

"The trust concludes that, as things stand, the case has not been made for the closure of 6 Music," the trust ruled. "The executive should draw up an overarching strategy for digital radio. If the director general wanted to propose a different shape for the BBC's music radio stations as part of a new strategy, the trust would consider it. The trust would consider a formal proposal for the closure of the Asian Network, although this must include a proposition for meeting the needs of the station's audience in different ways."

Gordon in the morning: Cheryl ColeTweedy flops

Gordon is styling his exclusive:

Shattered Cheryl collapses

- which is at least better than Collapsed Cheryl Shatters, because it's easier to scoop someone up than painstakingly reconstruct a person using a bag of bits and some strong glue.

So, she collapsed, you say, Gordon?

The pale singer, 27, fainted in a studio on Saturday.

Oh. Fainted. Perhaps she should try eating those KitKats she's so fond of advertising?

A doctor was rushed to the North London session and diagnosed severe exhaustion before ordering complete rest.

Well, you would be exhausted rushing round North London on a Saturday to go and see a woman who has had a bit of a swoon.

Oh... hang on, it's Cheryl who's exhausted? Oh.

Cole-Tweedy has now had the doctors sign her off The X Factor "until further notice".

Staff at the studio were stunned when the beauty arrived looking "washed-out" and "gaunt".

Yet she refused to postpone the session - insisting she would be fine despite a high temperature and nausea.

Hang about - high temperature and nausea? Those aren't actually symptoms of overwork, are they?

The star was diagnosed with severe exhaustion by a doctor who sped to the scene.

He ordered a complete rest from work and tests later showed she had a vicious gastroenteritis bug.

So she's got gastroenteritis? Sure, that wouldn't be helped by working too hard, but even if her job was sitting still listening to people sing, gastroenteritis would still knock you over.

So this story is 'woman gets gastric flu', not strictly the 'woman works too hard and falls over because Ashley Cole is evil' tale Gordon is trying to make it.

Not that this stops Smart lobbing one of his thinking pieces into the pot:

UNTIL today I thought Cheryl was handling her separation without breaking sweat.

She hasn't let her steely professionalism slip once since that halfwit footballer took leave of his senses and played away from home.

Thank God England are toss at football, eh, Gordon? Could you imagine if you were having to be nice to Ashley as we headed towards a World Cup final?

So: you thought it was all going so well. But this has changed your mind, has it?

But something had to give at some point, and this is the first real sign she isn't Superwoman.

Unless she is Superwoman and one of the current Sugababes line-up had smuggled Kryptonite into her L'Oreal.

If I've understood Gordon up to this point in his thoughts, he was convinced that everything was fine, but something had to give. Righto.

Gordon's aware that most of the country will be shrugging and finding it hard to be sympathetic:

For every reader grafting in a factory wondering what she's got to be exhausted over, it's a lot harder being the nation's favourite Geordie than it looks.

To be fair, if she's pulling double shifts being James Bolam as well, it's no surprise she's flagging.

X Factor is a big gig. The pressure is on all the time. Not just to be on her game with the acts, but looking perfect.

Won't someone pay somebody to do her make-up and pick her dresses out for her?

Then there's the touring and gigs. She doesn't just stand and sing.

She moves about the stage a bit - and let nobody fool you that opening and closing your mouth at the right point is simple.

There's the new album, recording sessions and promo. It doesn't leave much time for relaxation.

At this point, though, Gordon, your fictional factory worker might point out that Tweedy is incredibly rich, and if she chose to retire tomorrow, that would be fine, whereas a factory worker who feels it might all be a bit much has to carry on until death or retirement. Depending on what Osborne allows to come first.

The clock was ticking on the emotional turmoil timebomb. Now it has detonated she can deal with her demons properly.

That doesn't actually make any sense - 'my turmoil bomb has exploded in gastric flu, which means I can deal with my demons'.

I was out for dinner with Cheryl two weeks ago and she looked like she was burning the candle at both ends. Some time off will do her good.

You thought she was burning the candle at both ends, but - at the start of this thought piece - you said you thought she was coping well? Aren't those somewhat conflicting positions to hold simultaneously?

And if you thought you saw this coming... how come you kept quiet?

Popguns weekend: Someone You Love

Never mind the quality, enjoy the quality:

Suddenly I was part of everything
The moment I heard you saying my name
My world was aflame

All the things that I may have dreamed of
Before that day are not now important
And this is what you've meant

[This concludes The Popguns weekend]

Jedward: Not even a walking disaster area any more

We were talking earlier this week about people who hung around long after their fifteen minutes was up - people, indeed, for whom Andy Warhol had been over generous in sharing out the fame.

What a time, then, for Jedward to reappear and reveal that they can't actually stand up and perform at the same time.

Jed - or possibly Ward - managed to fall over while doing Ghostbusters and was "rushed" to hospital, says the Mail. It also says he finished the song. Not entirely sure you can be rushed anywhere if you put it off until you've finished your Ray Parker Junior cover.

Popguns weekend: Live in Brighton

Another live Popguns track, Gone - this time live on homeground, at the Brighton Free Butt. These date from a mini-reunion in 2003:



[Part of

The Kings Of Leon are only human

The Kings Of Leon don't like it when they get negative press:

Speaking to Q, the singer said: "A lot of people talked bad about my songwriting at the start, especially in America. They made us out to be a joke band and I spent the rest of my career trying to prove them wrong. I get online and I read what people are saying and if people say something negative, man, it really hurts me."

Mmm. Perhaps, you know, if you hadn't had the tiresome beards, people might have taken you a little more seriously. And if the songs had been... well, better, you might have not had so many people saying 'it's all beards covering up the lack of invention'. Perhaps.

Popguns weekend: Live in Plymouth

Thanks to Pat Walkington - who was the band bassist - there's a few chunks of live Popguns online.

Waiting For The Winter, live at The Cooperage in Plymouth:

"

Don't Smile, from the same gig:



... and Bye Bye Baby:



[Part of The Popguns weekend]

Listen with No Rock: Heartbeeps

A spot of Cheryl Cole-age for streaming over at hrtbps.com, with Fight For This Love being covered. Covered in cream and kisses.

Bookmarks - Internet stuff: Elena Kagan

Ben Sheffner combs through Elen Kagan's record to date in an attempt to calculate how she might vote on big copyright cases should she be confirmed on the Supreme Court:

Still, it's reasonable to conclude that she likely takes a broad view of fair use—not necessarily a bad thing for labels, which have cited the fair use doctrine when defending themselves against sampling claims. And the industry can't help but be concerned that, while at Harvard, she may have absorbed, at least through osmosis, the highly skeptical view of copyright that pervades academia.

The verdict that the music industry might find her having, you know, thought for a living "concerning" is both delightful and a reminder of why the record labels are beyond hope.

Dane Bowers tries what I believe is called a 'zinger'

Dane Bowers has taken a lazy pop at Victoria Beckham, his erstwhile collaborator in shame:

"I think she should stick to fashion design but she’d probably say that herself," he said. "The whole fashion thing is definitely where her future lies."

To be fair, Dane, I suspect you'd be better off trying designing jeans rather than releasing any more records.

Still, Dane is a little more generous about Beckham later on:

"She’s the first person to say that she’s no Mariah Carey but she can hold a tune. You don’t make it as far as the Spice Girls did if you can’t sing at all."

Although the presence of Mel B and Geri Halliwell in the band suggests his theory might be fundamentally flawed.

Popguns weekend: Waiting For The Winter

This is a lovely song. It's also lovely because it comes taped from Transmission. A programme of which those who lived in the North of England spoke of lovingly, which frustrated indiekids in the TVS region never got to see. Unless they found themselves in a bedsit in Leeds, and working through a pile of shaky VHS tapes.



[Part of The Popguns weekend

Trombonobit: Benny Powell

Benny Powell, trombonist with The Count Basie Orchestra has died, it was confirmed yesterday.

Powell was a member of the Basie Orchestra between 1951 and 1963, although he'd often pop back to help out on special occasions. Subsequently, he lead his own groups and got a regular gig as part of Merv Griffin's houseband. He moved into education during the 1980s; for sixteen years he had taught jazz at New York's New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music. (It does raise the question of if there's an old school teaching contemporary music somewhere in the State.)

Powell was 80. He had been having spinal surgery which appears to have led to a fatal heart attack.

Glastonbury 2011: Register now

If you haven't yet unpacked your sledge-with-wheels, or attempted to wash the paint from the amusing flag you'd made out of a bedsheet, you might not want to bother. Glastonbury 2011 is already inviting you to register.

The deep thoughts of JLS: Aston

I won't have ketchup in a posh restaurant - it's disrespectful to the chef. Now, if my mum cooks a meal, I'll try not to put ketchup on it!

Aston Merrygold only uses the HP at The Ivy.

Popguns weekend: Still A World Away

They used to get a bit stoppy when people suggested they were interesting because their drummer had been in The Wedding Present. Which is understandable, because who would want to think that the job your drummer was sacked from was the highpoint of your offering?



[Part of The Popguns weekend]

This week just gone

The most-read June stories were:

1. RIP - Stuart Cable
2. Breaking: Stuart Cable found dead
3. Michael Jackson museum ‘can’t use Michael Jackson’s name’
4. RIP: Frank Sidebottom
5. Glastonbury 2010: It was the best ever. Again.
6. AEG makes grudging, piddly payment towards costs of policing its Michael Jackson circus
7. Mick Karn - seriously ill, needs your help
8. Free mp3: Hot Hot Heat
9. News Of The World outraged that broadcasting live events requires people
10. Lloyd says ‘I told Chris Brown to cry. But that doesn’t mean I told him to cry.’

These were the releases, actually from the week before :


Stars - The Five Ghosts

Download The Five Ghosts



Cerys Matthews - Tir

Download Tir



Sleigh Bells - Treats

Download Treats



Delays - Star Tiger Star Ariel

Download Star Tiger Star Ariel



Kele - The Boxer

Download The Boxer



Boo Radleys - Giant Steps luxurious triple CD box set

Download Giant Steps



A Flock Of Seagulls - Listen

Download The Best Of...



Various - To Scratch Your Heart: Early Recordings From Istanbul

Download The Best Of...

Embed and breakfast man: Billy Bragg

This is quite special - Billy Bragg, in a hotel room, covering Joanne Newsom:



This is part of the Voice Project, which works with women in Uganda:

For over two decades war has ravaged Northern Uganda. It is Africa’s longest running conflict and it has spread to Southern Sudan and Eastern Congo. Joseph Kony’s LRA has made abducting children and forcing them to fight his chief weapon of war, even making them kill their friends and family members. Many abductees and former soldiers escape but hide in the bush, afraid to return home because of reprisals for the atrocities they were forced to commit.

The women of Northern Uganda - widows, rape survivors, and former abductees have been banding together in groups to support each other and those orphaned by the war and diseases so prevalent in the IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps. And they are singing songs. The lyrics let the former soldiers know that they are forgiven and that they should come home. The songs are passed by radio and word of mouth out into the bush, as far as the Sudan and DR Congo. And it’s working. Former LRA are returning and for the first time 24 years the region has a chance at real peace.

The Voice Project is an attempt to support these incredible women and the peace movement in Uganda, and an effort to see how far a voice can carry.

The project builds a song chain - Ugandan singers cover an artist, then that artist covers another, and they cover another and... well, you get the picture. We watch the videos, generating sponsorship and advertising revenue, and the money goes back to Uganda. That's a good thing.

Embed and breakfast man: The Popguns

Sure, Brighton is seen as a creative place, but when I was growing up there, it wasn't exactly knee-deep in local bands. There was The Groove Farm; Bobby Gillespie would commute to his drug den from the seafront; and as the Evening Argus never tired of reminding us, Annie Nightingale lived amongst us. But supporting local bands was a bit like supporting Brighton And Hove Albion - it was very unusual to find yourself cheering success at a national level.

God, when Mung Bean Jesus got picked up as a running punchline in the NME Thrills! section, it was more attention than the paper had given Brighton bands in a decade and a half.

So what could have been more exciting than a proper Brighton brand actually doing well? ("Doing well" here meaning Peel plays, small features in the pop papers, actually grinding tour duties.) Reading fanzine interviews where the group, asked to pick their favourite piece of water, chose the sea down at the end of Holland Road. Holland Road! Where my Dad bought his cars! And would return them, frequently, as was the style in you drove British Leyland vehicles. That was exciting.

And they were pretty special, too. They were The Popguns. And this is what they sounded like. This is Landslide:



Buy
Another Year, Another Address: The best of the Midnight Years
Love Junky

Popguns around the web
The official site
Popguns on Last FM

More Popguns across the weekend
Still A World Away
Waiting For The Winter
Live in Plymouth
Live in Brighton
Someone You Love

Gordon in the morning: Eliza Doshizzle

Not much going on in Bizarre this morning, so Gordon falls back on some Twilight stuff copied and pasted from elsewhere.

Robert Pattinson 'reveals' how he learned to do the American mumbling his part doesn't actually require:

TWILIGHT heart-throb Robert Pattinson has revealed he perfected his US accent for the movie series by copying his favourite rap stars.

If his American accent is anywhere near as convincing as his brooding vampire, he'll sound exactly like Morris Minor.

Pete Wentz forms a new band

Pete Wentz has pulled together a new band. He's called it Bl4ck C4rds.

With '4's for 'a's.

Really, Pete? You don't think that's a bit like drawing a flower over the dots on each of the 'I's in a name?

Lilith Fair turns out to not have a last minute surge

Back in May, Sarah McLachlan was denying that overpriced Lilith Fair tickets were about as desirable as porcupine spines in a codpiece.

"We're working our hardest to have reasonably priced tickets so it can be accessible for everyone and that people will want to come. We might get slaughtered, I don't know, but I kind of have blind faith in the fact we're putting on a really great show and we always have, and that will bring people in the end."

So, how was that faith working out?

They've axed ten dates on the tour.

Terry McBride said it was, you know, down to the economy:

"We are in the midst of one of the most challenging summer concert seasons with many tours being cancelled outright," he said.

Mmm. Perhaps it's hard for everyone, but the eye-wateringly expensive tickets and the idea of luxury seats can't have helped the Lilith Fair sell in such a market.

TSA detain YellowFever's Jennifer Moore

Jennifer Moore, singy-guitarty fifty per cent of Yellow Fever had been due to play New York tonight but got caught trying to take a knife onto a plane.

It was a chef's knife, and she's a chef when she's not in a band. So it was an oversight rather than preplanned spot of the Ian Browns. But the discovery freaked out staff at DFW enough for her to be detained, and plans of playing a gig have been replaced with 'explaining her way out of this one'.

Black Francis: The Musical

The default approach for hearing a record is being turned into a musical is to start waving swords around wildly, screeching "die, Ben Elton, die". But this one might just work, as Black Francis' Bluefinger is getting the jazz-hands and dance-routine deal.

It has the benefit of having been a concept work in the first place, as Spinner reminds us:

the album is about Dutch musician/artist Herman Brood, who took his own life in 2001, after years battling depression, drugs and alcohol

It's not really going to be a firm family favourite. But while Little Orphan Annie might not feel the cold breath of competition breathing down the back of her city-issue blouse, Bluefinger does at least offer a prospect of an interesting night out.

Trent Reznor helps out on a Facebook movie. No, it says so here.

Trent, man, I thought you were tight with the Twitter team? What are you doing writing songs for a Facebook movie?

It turns out the Facebook year zero film had a script that Reznor couldn't turn down:

"When I actually read the script and realised what he was up to, I said goodbye to that free time I had planned."

Facebook has that effect on people. As you'll know if you've ever spent time waiting for somebody to finish feeding their virtual farm animals before you can take them to dinner.

Managerobit: Bill Aucoin

Bill Aucoin, the man who not only drove Kiss to fame but was smart enough to copyright their facepainting, has died.

He hadn't been meant to be managing pomp-rock bands; he had been working in television. A series he directed on the music business led to him getting letters from a Gene Simmons, asking if he could be hooked up with people who would help his band. Aucoin decided he should be that person.

He took over in October 1973, pushing their gentle-toying-with-glam-make-up to toddler-at-the-dressing-table-when-mummy-is-distracted levels, and shaping the various members of the band into 'characters'.

Aucoin made money from his charges, although having funded the band's first proper tour with his chargecard he had invested heavily. He put the figure at something like a third of a million dollars he'd sunk into the project - although, like all things Kiss, this figure may well have been overinflated and only have one foot on the solid ground of fact.

By 1982, Kiss were weary of Aucoin's level of return on investment, and dumped him to claw back the 25% of earnings he was taking.

It's arguable that Bill Aucoin's greatest contribution to the band was his insistence that they split the income (or the 75% they had left after his cut) equally amongst all members. That the band continue operating today probably owes much to this move cutting out the development of petty jealousy over who gets what.

After Kiss, Aucoin operated mainly as a management consultant for bands.

Bill Aucoin was 66; he died from complications related to prostate cancer.

Hiphopobit: Rammellzee

Rammellzee, the New Yorker who went from spraypainting trains to inspiring a whole subculture, has died.

You can argue over whether he was an afro-futurist or gothic futurist, but you can't deny the painty fingers he left all over the street art and hip-hop worlds. There were records, performance art outbursts and manifesto-driven self mythologising interludes; he was the original gangsta duck style rapper and, more importantly, managed to get that term into the New York Times.

Rammellzee was 49; he had been ill for some time. He died Sunday in Queens.

Gordon in the morning: You're still here, are you?

Did nobody learn anything from Maureen from Driving School? Or - god help us - Jeremy Spake?

Just because someone is mildly diverting in a reality show doesn't mean that they should be invited to spread their "character" more widely. Thinly.

Sky has decided, however, that Louie Spence - imagine Chico trying to be Larry David - is too be taken from Pineapple Dance Studios and crafted into a breakout character.

And where Sky leads, The Sun dutifully follows. You almost feel sorry for Gordon Smart this morning, having to splash on a piece of nothing about a show-off showing off at The Ivy:

The Pineapple Dance Studios star caused uproar when he stripped down to his green Y-fronts in the middle of the posh Ivy Club - upstairs from the main restaurant and even more exclusive - on Wednesday night.

By a strange twist of fate - you'll never believe this - The Sun's Ally Ross just happened to be there when nothing ("it") happened. I mean, what are the odds, eh?

Darkness at 3AM: Because you're worth it

George Lamb mobbed at hair party

Really, 3AM Girls?

George Lamb's appearance at Monday night's L'Oréal Colour Trophy bash started a Facebook photo frenzy after he was ambushed by ladies waiting for the loo.

Really? This happened at the Nestle event, did it?

A source said: "It was hilarious. Staff had to walk him through the back to his car because the hysteria was building. The pictures were soon up on a dedicated Facebook page. He loved it."

Really?

Really?

Madina Lake bassist badly beaten

Horrible news from Madina Swan. Bassist Matthew Leone has been hospitalised with serious injuries after trying to help a woman being attacked in the street:

A few nights ago, Matthew walked from my apt. a block and a half down the street to meet a friend for a drink. half way there he saw a man severely beating his wife. Being the most amazing, strong, heroic and incredible person I know.. even though the guy was twice his size, Matthew intervened. He managed to subdue this guy for a second and since his wife was beat up pretty good called the cops.. as he did so the guy jumped him from behind and beat him. This guy did things I can’t even type. After words, he and his beaten wife left Matthew unconcious on the street. Matthew is in the hospital with a third of his skull removed as we wait for the swelling in his brain to go down. I’d rather not share any additional information at this time besides the fact that he acted as a hero (as he always would in any of these situations) and is paying a horrific price. Pease send all your love and good energy and vibrations to him.

It's a horrible, horrible story. Wishing Matthew all the best for his recovery.

Gordon in the morning: I Blame Gordon

I imagine that, had things been going to plan, by now I Blame Coco should be able to appear without having a giant sign "Sting's Daughter" hung round her neck.

She's still 'Sting's Daughter' as she does some singing for the other Gordon S.

She shares her insight into - prepare to stifle a yawn - being a woman in music:

"The female music world is very strong at the moment.

"FLORENCE WELCH is brilliant and then you've got Adele and Duffy coming back soon.

"Girl power can work one way or another. It's good for the industry but of course it's competition."

Girl Power? Seriously, Coco?

Who really thinks like that? "I feel like a record sung by a woman - oh, but there's four to choose from; whatever shall I do?"

You've got to worry about anyone whose approach is based on confusing gender with genre.

In other news: Lily Allen has suggested she's going to throw it all, or some of it, in again. I think this is about the fifteenth time this year she's sort-of announced some sort of retirement. Can we just get the bloody clock across to her, please?