Lionsheart & other: June 2008

Wednesday, 25 June 2008

Reverend And The Makers Star For London Club Night

Wall of Sound founder Mark Jones will host a special club night in London later this month.

The night, at the Soho Revue Bar on June 26th, will feature a host of special guests, including Reverend and the Makers frontman Jon McClure.

Jones' night is the first of five special club nights that will take place over the capital this summer.

The Hidden Depths events will run until September, with August's event featuring Chromeo.

You can win tickets for the Wall of Sound Night on Gigwise HERE.

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Tuesday, 24 June 2008

Isle of Wight festival, Seaclose Park, Newport

"They're not half paying us bad to play," says John Lydon. "But if you ain't playing along, it's not worth it," he growls with what seems like genuine petulance as the crowd remain subdued in the face of his hectoring.

These are strong words for an audience used to classy headlining sets from bands who know how to whip up a crowd - the Who, Muse, Bowie and the Rolling Stones have all played the festival in recent years. The long-term LA resident, inevitably, has plenty more to say, musing about England and raging about today's "poxy homo bands". This does at least help fill the Sex Pistols' ambitiously long Saturday set, which is ripe with drab filler. The standards, played as hard and fast as they have to be, remind you of the band's greatness, but their performance gives only the occasional pleasure.

Still, no doubt cheered by a weekend of unexpected sunshine, the audience are in a decidedly upbeat mood, giving the less-than-legendary Scouting for Girls and the Kooks' winning retro pop a hearty welcome. Iggy Pop, meanwhile, on with the Stooges a few hours before the Pistols, is everything they are not. I Wanna Be Your Dog is brilliant and savage, pop's wild-man act as compelling as ever. He trashes amps, screams, gibbers and heads again and again into the arms of the crowd, banging his head on the stage each time he returns. The Kaiser Chiefs are almost as fun, airing a few urgent new songs that nod to new wave and suggest that, while the band aren't about to abandon their Britpop blueprint, they are at least willing to evolve. When singer Ricky Wilson scales the rigging to orchestrate a predictably raucous I Predict a Riot, it is hard to think of many acts more suited to the festival circuit.

Most of the punters, however, are here for the old fellas. The Police are drawing towards the end of what Sting and co claim will be their only reunion tour, and on Sunday they mix vintage pop-reggae with more complex power trio fare, Andy Summers letting his guitar rip over Can't Stand Losing You and Stewart Copeland ferociously moving through gongs and cymbals and back to his drumkit. Every Breath You Take is a splendid focal point, prompting a mass singalong as Sting grins wolfishly from behind his greying beard.

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Lily Allen: Perez Hilton Is A Bully

Lily Allen has posted a message on her official website asking why gossip blogger Perez Hilton, who was once a fan of the British singer, has recently "launched a bit of a tirade against me", possibly putting the blame down to declining an appearance on his television show.

The gossip blogger, who is known for his often rude remarks about celebrities, has noticably stepped up his anger against Allen over the past few months with the singer addressing the issue on her blog.

"So, I'm a little upset today, Perez Hilton is a mean man," Allen writes. "I don't know what I did to piss him off but the last few months he has launched a bit of a tirade against me, I can understand why he'd write "MESS" across my head on a picture of me being carried out of an awards ceremony drunk out of my mind, but some things he say baffle me.

"He insinuated I was smoking during my pregnancy, which was not true, ask anyone who knows me, I didn't touch a cigarette or a drink for the few months that I was pregnant, he also insinuated there was something suspicious about me having a miscarriage, which is just wrong, but I'm not going to go into how painful that whole episode was."

Allen does admit to making headlines for antics other than her music saying, "If I'm honest, it's probably because part of it is true these days I am more known for being a train wreck than a musician, and it does hurt."

She adds, "I used to enjoy reading his site [but] it seems to me he has become what he hates so much a bully. He bullies young, successful females; people usually bully people they're jealous of so I'll let you come to your own conclusion on that one. Anyway, I've got nothing against Perez personally, I don't assume to know him, what I do know is though. Is that he has a HUGE crush on my old manager, who I fired with a few months ago. Maybe this is his way of getting in his good books, or maybe it's because I turned down the opportunity of going on his TV show when he asked me to, who knows?"

Hilton responded on his website by comparing Allen to a troll doll.

NEXT: Pamela Anderson And Tommy Lee Back Together

Photo courtesy of Universal.

Monday, 23 June 2008

Trance Opera

Artist: Trance Opera

   Genre(s):
Trance
   Electronic
   Dance

Discography:

The Complete Masterworks

Year: 2004
Tracks: 36

Dacapo

Year: 2001
Tracks: 11

Conquest Of Paradise Cd5

Year: 1995
Tracks: 4

Magical Classic Dreams

Year:
Tracks: 12

Coldplay stole my song, musician claims

When Andrew Hoepfner, singer and songwriter with the little-known New York band Creaky Boards, thought he spotted Coldplay's Chris Martin in the audience at one of his gigs he was flattered.

But his satisfaction turned to indignation when Hoepfner heard Viva La Vida, the title track from the British supergroup's new album.

According to Hoepfner - who has posted a video on YouTube to argue his case - the Coldplay song is a rip-off of one of his compositions titled, ironically, The Songs I Didn't Write.

In his video, Hoepfner says he wrote The Songs I Didn't Write more than a year ago and provides a video clip of Creaky Boards performing it at a music festival in New York last October as proof.

It was there that several members of the band believe they saw Martin in the audience.

"He [Martin] seemed into it," says Hoepfner in his video. "Maybe too into it!"

Coldplay have been quick to deny the allegation, claiming that Viva La Vida - a song that has gained international exposure as part of an iPod commercial - was written and demoed in March last year, six months before the contentious concert.

In any case, says a spokesman for the band, Martin was holed up in London's AIR Studios last October so he could not have been at the Creaky Boards' New York gig.

Hoepfner is unwilling to take legal action. He wishes Coldplay "all the best" and offers to collaborate with them.

"I've got two microphones in my bedroom that we can use," he says.

While the melodies of Viva La Vida and The Songs I Didn't Write seem remarkably similar, the songs' lyrics are very different.

Hoepfner's are about listening to music in his bedroom, while Coldplay's tune tackles a less introspective topic: the crusades.

*Listen to The Songs I Didn't Write here.

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The Shins To Self-Release New Album?

The Shins are considering self-releasing their fourth studio album through frontman James Mercer's Aural Apothecary label.

So far, the band have delivered three albums through Sub Pop - their last being 'Wincing the Night Away', which has sold over half a million copies since being released in 2007.

Talking to Billboard, Shins manager Ian Montone says of his band's plans: "The deal will be more of a [pressing and distribution] deal than a traditional record deal."

"That partner could very well remain Sub Pop, who have done a remarkable job with the band and have a great staff of people who really love music. It could be a digital partner with respect to other rights. All of this is being determined. The first goal is to make the record and see where that takes us."

Montone also added, "in addition to the marketing tools we have at our own disposal, team up with a label partner that will assist with additional marketing, radio, and various costs."

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Tarmvred

Artist: Tarmvred

   Genre(s):
Electronic
   Techno
   Dance

Discography:

Tintorama EP Vinyl

Year: 2005
Tracks: 4

Viva 6581

Year: 2003
Tracks: 4

Ad Noiseam Tour

Year: 2003
Tracks: 1

Unreleased Collection

Year: 2002
Tracks: 22

Subfusc

Year: 2001
Tracks: 7

Onomatopoeic

Year: 2001
Tracks: 4

Radio 1 Dj Odd After Gay Bondage Session

The Tractors

Artist: The Tractors

   Genre(s):
Country

Discography:

Fast Girl

Year: 2001
Tracks: 10

Farmers In A Changing World

Year: 1998
Tracks: 10

The Tractors

Year: 1994
Tracks: 12

Cruise & Holmes Surprise 'Hairspray' Cast

The cast of Broadway musical Hairspray got a big surprise after they finished last Friday's show - walking off stage to find Tom Cruise and his wife Katie Holmes waiting in the wings. The Hollywood couple attended the stage version of the hit show with their two-year-old daughter Suri and were granted a backstage visit afterwards to meet the actors. But the cast had not been informed of the stars' visit and were shocked to be greeted by the family after the performance. Jenifer Lewis, who plays Motormouth Maybelle in the hit show, was delighted to meet Cruise and Holmes. She tells New York Daily News, "I turned, and there was Tom Cruise saying to me, 'Oh my God, you're wonderful!' Suri was so sweet in her little velvet and taffeta dress." Cruise later sent the whole cast flowers and a large basket of candy in time for their next performance.

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