Saturday, September 01, 2012

Love Ain't Here Anymore: Whatever happened to Gary and Dave's big competiton?

Back in the days of the 2010 election campaign, Gary Barlow and David Cameron shared a stage in Nantwich to launch a major, eyecatching initiative. Political Scrapbook is wondering whatever happened to it?

It was to be the School Stars scheme, and the Tories press released the buttocks out of it:

"Nothing brings people together like music, said Cameron, speaking at a school in Nantwich. "With School Stars we’re going to see kids practising together in the corridors, forming bands, getting together in lunch-breaks to sing and dance."

The competition will use the inspirational power of music to reach as many pupils as possible with a format which will unearth talent, ability and excellence around the country.

The initiative is backed by Gary Barlow, one of the most successful British songwriters of all time as well as by commercial radio stations and major players in the music industry.


As Political Scrapbook point out, it's gone a bit quiet since then.

The assumption would be that the School Stars Scheme came to nothing, but that isn't true at all.

Dave got a photo-op with one of the-then most popular members of Take That in the run up to an election.

And Gary? Gary was rewarded for his work helping get Dave to Number 10 not just with an OBE, but also by being protected when his dodgy tax arrangements came to light.

Oh, yes, those kids who Dave was wanting to pump with self-belief might have got bugger all out of it, but that was never the point, was it?

[Thanks to Michael M]


Gordon in the morning: Things that never happened

Gordon does a spot of one-hand typing this morning, as Jade Thirwall tries an anecdote:

“I heard the rubbish lorries coming and realised I hadn’t taken me bins out, so was like ‘Oh my God.’

“I ran to the kitchen, grabbed me bin bag, ran out to the bin man and gave it to him.

“He was like ‘Oi oi!’. So I was like, ‘What?’ and I looked down and I had my thong on.

“I was just in my T-shirt and a thong.

“Full-on cheeks out and everything. I wasn’t even thinking,

“I was so embarrassed and just crept back in the house. It was awful.”
"... and then I suddenly realised this wasn't actually a thing that happened to me, it was a rejected script from the Benny Hill Show circa 1973, so that was alright then. Oh, and then this bald guy came up and so I had to keep hitting him on the head..."


Friday, August 31, 2012

Chris Brown fans as classy as Chris Brown

Back in May, Chris Brown turned up at the Billboard Awards and did a performance. Well, he opened and closed his mouth while someone else played a song behind him.

Pink snurkled about it on Twitter:

"One day if I lipsync, I hope I do it as well as him."
End result? The fans of the famously anger-heavy Brown laid in to her:
"It was a joke," Pink said. "It wasn't even meant like 'I hate Chris Brown'. Twitter brings out the best and worst people - myself included. I swear when I'm in my kitchen at 10pm at night I'm f---ing hilarious. When I read it the next day I'm like 'Hmm... maybe that didn't translate'.

With the Chris Brown thing I got death threats for days. My favorite was 'I will snatch you within an inch of your life'. I don't know how that works exactly but whatever you want..."
It's always been a mystery: what sort of person could possibly have any time for Chris Brown. Now we know...


Gordon in the morning: Robbie in a foxhole

Of course Robbie Williams has launched his own signature range of clothing. Why wouldn't he? After all, if it's good enough for Liam Gallagher:

He said: “I’ve been on the Pretty Green website and looked at their clothes and it should do really well because it’s really well put together.

“I think the difference between mine and Liam’s clothes is probably 40 to 50 years.

“This is genuine WW1 Winston Churchill stuff and I think Liam’s is more mod 1960s and maybe Nineties. There is a definite difference, you can just tell by looking at the style.

“If we can achieve what Pretty Green has achieved in what seems like a short space of time then that would be brilliant.”
By "achieving what Pretty Green has achieved", Williams is thinking mostly in terms of the successful operation to separate fools and money.

Still, the idea of basing your look on the First World War Churchill look is interesting, if nothing else. Here's a photo of Winston Churchill in 1914:
That's quite a stylish look. Love what you've done with your collars, there, Winston. You can see how that would inspire Robbie Williams. So, what does Williams' clothes line look like?
Maybe it's just me, but that seems a bit more like a half-arsed attempt to emulate the second world war rather than the first, doesn't it?

Let's not even start with the way Williams is using the word "genuine" to describe something that, er, isn't genuine.

It doesn't really look very second war like, either, though, does it? It's like Robbie has only done the merest smidge of research as to what the clothing that era was like.

Surely that can't be, though? I mean, look at the coat Williams is wearing there. That's not the sort of thing you'd just assume was a 1940s look from a slightly dodgy secondary source, is it?


Thursday, August 30, 2012

Slowdive reunion isn't a total quantum impossibility

To be fair, The Quietus isn't saying that there's going to be a Slowdive reunion, as Neil Halstead's comments to MTV Hive really go no further than saying that it's a possible thing that could happen, like the way that Malta could go to war with China, or a cat could one day become president:

“There’s a chance that we’ll get back together. No one has ever really said, ‘I never want to do it.’ We’ve never really talked about it much.”
Hold the front page: Slowdive members have never actually ruled out getting back together. I'm also guessing they haven't really talked about buying a van and going around with a talking dog either.

Hang on, I think The Quietus have just picked up on that story:
This might be a good point to mention the really interesting soundscapey-landscapey stuff that Slowdive's former drummer Simon Scott is currently doing. Pop over and have a look.


Gordon in the morning: Biting the hand

What might the world look like when the split of News Corporation's publishing and broadcasting businesses take place?

Perhaps it will be a world where The Sun doesn't spend all its time cheering on everything that happens on Sky.

It might actually look a bit like the kicking given to that awful Rihanna fashion thing over on Sky Living:

RIHANNA’S telly career has got off to a rocky start after ratings for her much-hyped new fashion series fell to just 79,000.

Thousands have turned off Styled To Rock — executively produced by the singer and featuring wannabe designers competing to create a festival outfit for her.

Fronted by Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts, it has bagged big name guests including Kanye West, Cheryl Cole and Katy Perry.

But three episodes in and it’s not rocking the ratings.

The Sky Living show started with an overnight viewing figure of just 95,000 — down on the channel’s usual audience of 153,000.

It fell to 79,000 for the second episode before perking up a bit to 110,000 for this week’s instalment on Tuesday.
That's deputy TV editor Leigh Holmwood, who doubles down the chutzpah by slapping an "exclusive" on the story.

There'll be praise for the licence fee next. Alright, maybe not that.


Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Madonna makes the Paralympic Torch look swift

Madonna upset fans in Philadelphia after turning up at 10.30 for a gig scheduled to start at 8.00. And she doesn't have a proper support act, either.

Mind you, rather than Madge turning up two hours late, it's the audience who should be chided for turning up to watch Madonna a good twenty years too late.


Mathew Street may be permanently blown out

After a weekend in which high winds closed the festival down, more grim news for the Mathew Street Festival: it's got a massive budget problem. The Liverpool Echo explains:

The ECHO can reveal that of the £800,000 cost to stage the festival, Liverpool council has half funded Mathew Street with European money since 2005.

But next year that funding – part of the package from being European Capital of Culture in 2008 – will no longer be available.

Cabinet member for leisure and tourism Cllr Wendy Simon said the council is currently reviewing its events programme including the Mathew Street Festival.

She said: "At the moment no decisions have yet been taken about Mathew Street or the events programme as a whole."
There is a suggestion that the outdoor bits be dropped, returning the event to its roots of being pubs round the area banding together to put on a bunch of shows during the days - which was the solution forced on this year's festival by the weather.

Local businesses do pretty well out of the event. But although 500 were asked to contribute this year, only 20 did so. Doesn't suggest there might be much enthusiasm from the private sector to pick up the funding gap.


Will I Am in space

The playback of that Will I Am song from Mars was quite a historic moment. Not the playing of a track from another planet so much as the breaking of the official record for Most Awkward Reactions At A Playback Ever:

I guess if you're wanting to avoid getting something overblown and pompous to capture the dignity of a key moment in mankind's journey beyond gravity, Will I Am is your go-to guy. I don't want to imply this was just a generic song that Mr Am had kicking around which he just lobbed a few space references into, but I'm given to understand there was an awkward moment when NASA asked on delivery why the file was called possible_pokeman_movie_theme.mp3.

Altogether, now, people:

I know that Mars might be far/
but baby it ain't really that far
Er... yes.


Gordon in the morning: XX xoxoxo

Aw, here's a nice story from Gordon for a change. I say "from Gordon", he's copied it out of Q Magazine, but still. The XX are really in love with pop:

OLIVER Sim from The XX wants to work with Beyonce.

He told Q magazine: “The super-pop thing that supposedly died with Michael Jackson is still there, with Beyonce.

“I saw her at Glastonbury and I may have shed a tear. Writing a song for her, that’s the dream.”
Actually - at the moment - Beyonce has eclipsed Jackson simnply by virtue of quality control.


Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Gordon in the morning: He gave a little wine

I can't decide if Gordon is trying to raise a chuckle by sounding like Alan Partridge here, or if he just naturally sounds like Alan Partridge:

THE Beastie Boys won’t ever end up with dodgy wine at their table when they go to dinner.

Mike D is an expert on the stuff these days.

He has been writing a blog on his passion – and sounds as much like TV wine critic Jilly Goolden as he does a hip-hop pioneer when he’s inteviewed nowadays.
Jilly Goolden? When you're thinking of a wine expert, she's the name that comes to mind?

Thank god it wasn't fine dining that is Mike D's area of speciality, otherwise the entire Sun reading-audience would be going "who the hell is Robert Carrier?" this morning.

It must have been a self-undercutting gag, right? In which case: well played.


Monday, August 27, 2012

Mathew Street blown off

After Creamfields sunk under the weight of the Cheshire rain, high winds have done for the Mathew Street festival.

Although all the indoor bits will still happen, the outdoor focus of the festival has been pulled:

Councillor Wendy Simon, Liverpool City Council's cabinet member for culture and tourism, said: "It's when you mix rain and heavy wind that you have got the risk of barriers broken down, street signs and the potential for flying objects.

"And when you have got a lot of people in a small place moving quickly you then risk crushing and people being trampled, and we are not prepared to risk that."
I think after some of the disasters we've seen in the last couple of years at festivals ploughing on in the face of bad weather, you'd have to agree that taking a cautious approach is sensible. But I'm still struggling to make sense of "you have got the risk of street signs".


Pussy Riot are nothing but pawns of the American government. Apparently.

There's been a lot written about Pussy Riot, but there's always room for a new angle, right?

Meet Paul Craig Roberts, who believes the band are "dupes":

My heart goes out to the three Russian women who comprise the Russian rock band, Pussy Riot. They were brutally deceived and used by the Washington-financed NGOs that have infiltrated Russia. Pussy Riot was sent on a mission that was clearly illegal under statutory law.
Should we take Paul Craig Roberts - a man whose name consists entirely of first names - seriously?

Let's check the headline on his piece to help us decide:
Pussy Riot, The Unfortunate Dupes of Amerikan Hegemony ~ Paul Craig Roberts
There's two things here - first, he appears to have signed his own headline, on an article which appears on his own website.

Secondly, he spells America with a k.

Now, just in case you've got as far as this point and gone "oh, America with a k, so he's either seventeen years old and about to graduate High School, or else he's in his thirties and about to graduate High School." But, oh, no. Here's his about page:
Dr. Roberts was awarded the Treasury Department’s Meritorious Service Award for “his outstanding contributions to the formulation of United States economic policy.”

In 1987 the French government recognized him as “the artisan of a renewal in economic science and policy after half a century of state interventionism” and inducted him into the Legion of Honor.

He is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World.
I think he might be in Men of Achievement 1974, and his area's Thomson Local listed under "Well-dressed One Person Think Tanks, wholesale and retail".

So, he has a Meritorious Service Award and was some sort of economics renewal artisan. Maybe that should balance out his sophomoric spelling of America like he's self-printing pamphlets from a cabin in the Ozarks. How do we break this tie?
The western bought-and-paid-for presstitute media will focus on Russia’s evil, not on the evil of Washington, London, and the EU puppet states who are slaughtering Muslims by the bucket-full.
Ah, he's deployed the phrase "bought-and-paid-for presstitute media". I think that helps us decide which side of the line he's on.

As we escort him across the room to stand with the bug-eyed and the shrill, though, let's return to his argument. He has some sort of point - that a focus on Pussy Riot in the media (or the "whoremedia", as he probably thinks of it) makes a nifty cover to take attention off other things:
There are so many more important issues on which media attention should be focused. There is Bradley Manning’s illegal detention and torture by the US government. Manning has already been in prison without trial for longer than Pussy Riot’s sentence!
[...]
WikiLeaks Julian Assange, accused of posting on the Internet the leaked documents, is confined to the Ecuadorean embassy in London. The British “human rights” [yes, human rights in quotation marks. It's like Littlejohn with a letterhead] regime refuses to abide by international law and allow Assange, who has been granted political asylum by Ecuador, safe passage. Everyone familiar with international law knows that asylum takes precedence over the other legal claims, especially specious ones.
Pussy Riot coverage stopping the media focusing on Assange? Oh, don't you wish it had taken out at least a couple of op-ed pieces by people churning out "it's only a little rape, and besides those women sound like they're no better than they ought to be" columns.

The trouble with Paul Craig Roberts' argument here, though, is that it's meaningless. Leaving aside the obvious point that people are quite capable of holding more than one thought at a time, his own belief in a compliant media undercuts him anyway.

If the media are all in the tank for the establishment, why would you need to organise a elaborate distraction? Wouldn't the government just call up the journahustlerists and say 'don't put Bradley Manning on the news tonight?'

But they wouldn't even need to do that - TV news can be relied on to not cover shit all by itself. We rang the TV news to find out why it sometimes doesn't find room for big stories.

- "Hello? Is that the TV news? I'm just calling to ask why sometimes you don't...
- You're through the to TV news. Sorry, but we're all busy wandering round Essex looking for a giant lion. If you wish to leave a message about some sort of government conspiracy, press 1. If you wish to report problems on the Cambridge guided busway, press 2...

He also suggests that by using Pussy Riot to make Russia look bad, it'll put pressure on Russia to support US policy on Syria at the UN. Not quite sure how that would work - "it turns out we're terrible people when confronted with a Riot Grrrl, so we better sign off on this mission to unseat a leader we're propping up."

So, his motives for the dupery don't really make any sense. But what about his evidence to back up his claims? You'll remember those:
They were brutally deceived and used by the Washington-financed NGOs that have infiltrated Russia. Pussy Riot was sent on a mission that was clearly illegal under statutory law.
What comes through quite clearly from between the lines of Roberts' writing is that, in his heart, he can't quite believe that young women might be quite capable of thinking for themselves, deciding for themselves; that they might be the authors of their own actions.
You have to admire and to appreciate the spunk of the women. But you have to bemoan their gullibility.
Heh. He said spunk.

Having patted the band on the head, he then produces his evidence that they're little more than puppets of the Washington Imperialist state:
The international attention focused on Pussy Riot, an obscure rock group which apparently has no recordings on the market, demonstrates the complicity of the Western media in US propaganda.
Ah, the joy of being an American economist, who must look to the market to validate everything. "You can't buy their records on the market, therefore they are irrelevant."

Here, by that logic, are some acts who do have recordings on the market, and thus would be allowed to protest against Putin under this strange law:
- Brown Sauce, featuring Keith Chegwin and Maggie Philbin
- Steve Brookstein
- The woman who plays Audrey in Coronation Street

Hang about, though, you don't have your artisan-economics praised by the French government without being wise to the weakness in your arguments. I think Paul Craig Roberts is about to raise the entry bar for protest from 'having something you can order in a branch of Barnes And Noble' to a test a little higher:
Pussy Riot is not the Beatles of the 1960s.
I don't think, to be fair, that he's saying you have to be a band who has achieved the longest period of sustained success through the history of rock. I think the Beatles are the only band he's head of. I bet if you look at the original version of this article, there's a note attached 'add another? Wasn't there a Rolling something?'

And if he hadn't heard of Pussy Riot, he's damn sure that nobody else had, either:
doubt that most of the young people demonstrating in favor of Pussy Riot had ever before heard of the group or have any understanding of how they are being manipulated.
"Had Pussy Riot come up as a question on Ken Bruce's Popmaster, I can say without fear of contradiction that fewer than one in one hundred contestants would have been able to answer the question correctly. I shall go further. I am absolutely rock-solid certain that they would have always, hitherto, constituted a Pointless answer should Richard have ever set 'Russian beat combos' as a category."

Yes, Paul, you're probably right. I'm not entirely sure why this is important, though. Given you're rightly supportive of Bradley Manning, am I to assume that you were totally familiar with all of his work prior to his detention? Or does this surprising 'you can be angry at a miscarriage of justice if you knew the people involved prior to their arrest' rule only apply in certain cases?

Roberts also tries to smudge the question of guilt and punishment:
By intentionally offending religious worshipers–which would be a hate crime in the US and its European, Canadian, and British puppet states–the women violated a statutory Russian law.
It's easy to take a chunk out of Pussy Riot's supporters by implying their case is that the band did nothing wrong. I don't think there's any argument that what they did was against the letter of the law - and, hey, we all know about Moscow's long-held tradition of religious tolerance. The question is how the authorities reacted to a minor bit of street theatre, and the heavy-handedness of that reaction.

But what of Paul's contention that in this British puppet-state, the band's reactions would be treated as a hate crime? Luckily, we don't have to just roll our eyes at his hysterics, but we can point to evidence that he's failed to do any research at all on this one.

You'll remember Peter Tatchell's crashing of George Carey's Easter sermon in 1998. Arguably, this was a much more significant offence to religious-worshippers, coming as it did at the centre of their religion, in front of the church's highest priest, on the holiest day of their calendar.

Did the British puppet state treat it as a hate crime?

Did it buffalo:
Mr Tatchell, 46, stands accused of "indecent behaviour in a church" under an obscure ecclesiastical law last invoked more than 30 years ago. If found guilty, he could be fined pounds 200 or face a maximum prison sentence of two months.
In the end, Tatchell was fined eighteen pounds and sixty pence. I think there might have been a gentle tutting, too.

Ah, Roberts retorts, there's all this demanding clemency, but, oh, there was leniency:
Prior to the women’s trial, Russian President Putin expressed his opinion that the women should not be harshly punished. Taking the cue from Putin, the judge gave the women, deceived and betrayed by the amerikan-financed NGOs, two years instead of seven years.
I don't know if Roberts enjoys maffia movies. But if he does, I picture him going 'they shot Lenny The Snitche's legs off instead of killing him, on account of him being family. That's generous."

The women were not waterboarded, raped, or forced to sign false confessions, all well-established practices of amerikan “justice.”
He really would. "Cheer up, you've not been raped." A job at Hallmark surely beckons if the bottom ever falls out of the one-man economic think tank business, doesn't it?


Gordon in the morning: The fame monster

Oh, can you imagine the horror of being in Little Mix?

Yes, you probably can, as it's going to be a lot like everyone else's life.

Hang on a moment, though, it apparently involves getting mobbed:

LITTLE MIX star Jesy Nelson relies on her mother to avoid being easily recognised in public.

The singer admitted it can turn into quite an ordeal when she’s mobbed by fans.

She said: “I’ve started getting my mum to call me something else instead of my name when we’re out shopping."
Really? There's a massive subset of fans who would recognise your name but not your face?

Unless, maybe, your mother calls out things like "Jesy Nelson from Little Mix - yes you do, off the X Factor, imagine The Saturdays on powersave mode - could you get me a packet of Paxo from the gravy aisle, please." Then I guess it might happen.


Coldplay is a cup until it is struck

When I saw this on the BBC News website:

... I could see that it would be a popular idea, if a little overly violent.

It turns out that isn't quite the plan. Instead, it's just one of their songs being used as part of the closing event for the 2012 Festival:
Musicians across the UK will perform Coldplay's anthemic hit Viva La Vida as part of the London 2012 Festival finale.

The band have agreed to the track being played at 2pm on Sunday 9 September during the "Bandstand Marathon".
Uh-oh. Someone at the BBC is going to be in trouble after mis-spelling "anaemic" so badly.

Oh. Apparently they did mean "anthemic".

Isn't it a bit of a dismal song - from a thematic point of view - on which to bring a festival to a close?


Sunday, August 26, 2012

STV can't tell one boyband from another

Presumably nobody at STV actually watches the X Factor, right?

[Spotted by MummyBarrow]


Creamfields watered off

This tweet says it all:


And if that isn't enough to convince you, maybe this one will:

The official statement:
"Following heavy rainfall over the last 24 hours, significant and heavy flooding is affecting the Creamfields arena near Warrington.

"No serious casualties have been reported and Cheshire Police and partner agencies are supporting event organisers in ensuring the safety and welfare of festival goers during this time.

"All customers wishing to come to the festival today are advised that the event entrances are now closed.

"No entry to the festival is permitted from this point for all ticket types and ticket-holders, further updates will follow."


Paul Ryan receives enthusiastic endorsement from the late 1990s

Remember Kid Rock? He was an answer - well, half an answer - on TV's Nick Knowles' Secret Fortune quiz last night, and to cap a magical weekend of being a cultural footnote, he's come out in support of Paul Ryan. Although, to be honest, when the pair appeared at a Michigan fundraiser, it sounded more like Ryan was endorsing Rock's run for office:

“We take pride in people’s success, we don’t resent people for being successful in this country,” Ryan said, referring to Kid Rock. “Look at this creator right here – the fruit of his labor coming from his mind, his talents. He took his path to find his happiness, and he is realizing his dreams and he is paving his way. Only in America can you do this. That is what this country is all about.”
Ah, yes. The dream of beating the crap out of someone outside a Waffle House. The dream of beating the crap out of Tommy Lee at the MTV Awards. The dream of beating the crap out of Jay Campos.

Ryan is, of course, an outspoken defender of the institution of marriage:
"Marriage is not simply a legal arrangement between individuals. The institution of marriage is an integral part of our civil society and its significance goes well beyond eligibility for benefits and similar considerations."
So how better to celebrate that than share the stage with someone primarily famous for making sex tapes and getting divorced from Pamela Anderson after five months, eh?


Pet Shop Boys deny their Lady GaGa song is totally about Lady GaGa

The Pet Shop Boys Ego Pop isn't about Lady GaGa. Of course it isn't. They say it isn't, anyway:

When asked whether the song was inspired by Lady Gaga, Tennant told Attitude: "It's not specifically about Lady Gaga, it's about the modern pop star. Pop music is very ego-driven these days. The modern pop lyric is like a diary almost. In other words, people don't imagine, they just say what it is... A lot of lines [in the song] are direct quotes from what people say in interviews. 'I am my own demographic' is a direct quote."
Hmm. It is, is it? Challenge Accepted.

Obviously, Google is already starting to silt up with Pet Shop Boys lyrics if you go searching for that phrase; and it crops up in the odd dating site profile and - amusingly - in someone else's lyrics. But the first musician using those words who crops up is Jof Owen of The Boy Least Likely To:
I like most of our songs because I kind of wrote them so that someone like me would like them. I am my own demographic. But if I had to pick just one, then there’s a song called "The Boy With Two Hearts" that I’m really proud of on the new album. We recorded all the brass parts with the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. I remember the demo was quite mournful in a really sweet way and I ended up writing relatively simple words for it. It sounds quite sad and Christmassy, and it reminds me of the theme tune to The Flumps but I don’t expect anyone else will think that.
Surely anyone who works with the Grimethorpe Colliery Band to create something like The Flumps can't be the target of Neil's ire?

Begie Adair is a musician in her 60s making music for her generation. Or, as she puts it:
“I always tell people that when it comes to marketing, I am my own demographic,” Beegie laughingly explains. “All these are tunes that I loved when I was in high school and college.”
That seems to be a fair application of the phrase, and her work surely sits outside the remit of Ego Pop?

Perhaps it's not a direct quote at all - maybe the original was "I'm my own demographic". Could Ego Pop be taking aim at, erm, Oregon busker John "skeet" Gretzinger:
I made it my business to learn a few more songs each week from the radio and the rest is history. I'm back to busking pretty much full time again at 59 and having a ball. I'm kind of semi-retired. I don't play in bands or with other musicians at all anymore. I’m too old and grouchy for a band. Too many headaches! Yikes! I couldn't take all that now. And their girlfriends will drive you nuts! Nope! Just me, by myself. I do about 350 - what you might call, classic rock songs. All covers. I don't write. Never have. But it’s cool, because I'm my own demographic! The baby boomers love me. It’s a trick. I just play what they want to hear. But it works for me.
Again, it's hard to see Neil grumbling away over that.

It's possible that the quote doesn't exist online, of course - not all human knowledge has yet been squirted onto the wires (you can't find Hayley's Cake single You Do Voodoo online, for example) - but it seems odd that Tennant would be so certain about it being a direct quote if it wasn't citeable.

More to the point, as the quotes above show, claiming to be your own demographic doesn't have to reek of ego; it can just be a simple statement to the effect that you're part of the audience you're targeting - surely something of a relief compared with men nudging fifty playing to rooms full of teenagers, yes?

Still, all this is something of a sideshow, isn't it? It's about Lady GaGa. Or Madonna. Which is the same thing.


Taxi for Mr Moyles

Windows Phone doesn't have a lot of luck, so it's nice to see Nokia falling lucky with an inadvertently appropriate bit of advertising...



This week just gone

The most-read stories so far this month:

1. The Olympics Closing Ceremony we're trying to forget
2. Tatu. They're confused. By the world.
3. Madonna cares not for Elton John's opinions
4. Jeremy Hunt suddenly worried about media plurality
5. AC/DC refuse to join iTunes, think its some sort of 'point'
6. That last Mark and Lard show in full
7. Just how hard did John Lennon have to Imagine?
8. Peter Gabriel on Pussy Riot
9. Marilyn Manson: see his face full of swears
10. Morrissey complains about large numbers of foreign people gathering in London

These were the interesting releases:


Bailterspace - Strobosphere


Download Strobosphere



Stealing Sheep - Into The Diamond Sun


Download Into The Diamond Sun



Adrian Sherwood - Survival & Resistance


Download Survival & Resistance



Bloc Party - Four


Download Four



The Darkness - Hot Cakes


Download Hot Cakes



Ariel Pink - Mature Themes


Download Mature Themes