Santogold name devalued

There are two Santogolds, you know. Or there were - there was Santogold, who you've probably read about. And Santo Gold, Santo Rigatuso, who was less successful but had been using the name for longer.

Santo Gold was sore about his name being used, sort of, by someone else, and had issued legal and musical challenges to the space-less Santogold. With me so far?

Well, now, Santogold has backed down, and has re-christened herself Santigold. Which is, frankly, a much worse name; it's a bit like she asked a five year-old what she should be called and got "you oughtta be called what you is, miss santy-gold" in reply.

Also, if Santo Gold believes that Santogold is too close to Santo Gold for comfort, wouldn't Santo Gold be equally close to Santigold anyway?

Still. Santogold is now Santigold, Santo Gold remains Santo Gold, and Aviva is the new name for Norwich Union. If you have any colour supplements from the last twelve months, a junior member of staff from their music desk will call at your house with stickers to change the names in your back issue.

Glastonbury Web round-up: Wellies and webcams

This is the scene from Glastonbury now - or at 10.17 this evening, anyway - as captured by the BBC webcam. They've made a widget so you can poke it wherever you like, too.

The BBC are predicting that it's going to rain heavily tomorrow; Weather.co.uk suggest rain tonight, tomorrow and on Saturday. But Gigwise found someone prepared to buck the gloomy predictions:

Michael Eavis sold a pair of wellies this evening for one hundred pounds as he told festival goers there is no need for them, we have sunshine all weekend.

His daughter, talking to the NME, was slightly less positive about the prospects, but still upbeat:

[Emily] added that the site is looking good, and based on her knowledge of the air – Eavis grew up on the farm – while she is not expecting a totally dry weekend she's confident conditions will be much better than in previous years.

"It's beautiful down here today, It's boiling hot," Eavis explained. "I'm expecting a bit of a shower at some point over the weekend but we think it will be pretty fine all weekend from knowing what it's like here."

Sponsors Q have actually put on some music:

Q's Queen's Head was rammed full this evening as Glastonbury's musical treats kicked off. As the first main stage to swing into operation at this year's event, there was a huge crowd baying for tunes with the tent packed to capacity and more than a thousand more people at the fringes trying to catch the early acts.

Glasvegas and Santogold (pictured) were among those to benefit from the huge interest in the Queen's Head and the "up for it" crowd happily tolerated the latter's slightly late appearance after getting stuck in traffic on the way to the Somerset site.

Here's a simple rule of thumb: if you're going to use a creaking with-it phrase like up for it, daddio, don't draw attention to it by putting it in quotes.

Back to Michael Eavis, finally: the first video from this year's events to hit YouTube is this, shot at the official opening:


[Part of Glastonbury 2008]

Plimsole company ups sell-out stakes

Advertising. It's tricky, isn't it? Do you accept cash from advertisers, or do you starve?

Still, at least it's possible to take the money and still retain some of your dignity. Sometimes. Though that's not what Santogold, Pharrell and Julian Casablancas have done, taking the cash and doing a wouldn't-have-happened-without-the-ad collaboration for Converse:

Geoff Cottrill, chief marketing officer for Converse, said "My Drive Thru" ties in comfortably with Converse's heritage of aligning with the independent minded. "We call them optimistic rebels," he said. "They're the core of what our brand stands for -- being an advocate and catalyst for creativity. ... We wanted these guys to come together, create a piece of music and share it with anyone who wanted it."

The independent minded who all wear the same shoes and the optimistic rebels who make a song because a multinational company pay them money. Yes, we've heard of them.

You can hear the song on stereogum but, really, we'd recommend you choose your own shoes and give it a miss.