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January 15th looks like the day that iconic London venue The Astoria will close it’s doors for the last time.

Speculation over when the converted cinema would host its last night has grown since it was announced that legislation had been passed to make the demolition a possibility.

The Crossrail project involves a new line linking the east to the west of London, sadly the Astoria and also the Metro club around the corner needs to be demolished to make way for this.

January 15th now looks likely to be the Astoria’s final night, with control of the building being given to the authorities on the 19th.

New Year’s Eve events are still going ahead with Juicy at the Astoria and Noah And The Whale playing Astoria 2’s PUSH night.

January 15th is set to be a very sad day for London music scene.

After watching an episode of Newsnight on November 5th, Estelle has become somewhat vocal about BBC presenter Jeremy Paxman following his interview with Dizzee Rascal.

Discussions of Mr Rascal’s political ambition and patriotism prompted Estelle to accuse Paxman of treating Dizzee like an “idiot”.

A typical line of Dizzee’s patter reads: “Course I’m British, man – you know me. It doesn’t matter what colour you are. It matters what colour your heart is man, and your intentions. I think a black man, purple man, martian man could run the country, as long as he does right by the people.”

However Estelle told the New Statesman: “I was like, ‘He is taking you for an idiot right now! Did no-one brief you?’ Paxman’s not going to get away with asking me, ‘Do I think I’m British?’”

Naturally the BBC disagreed: “The topics being discussed were race, nationality and identity, and this question was a natural part of that discussion.”

Dizzee for Prime Minister.

Ever the canny investor, Irish chappy Bono is to sell the U2 stake in Live Nation for a cool $25m in a ’sweetheart stock deal’, with Madonna probably following suit in the Spring. 

Although big fans of Alexandre Burke and her classic rendition of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’, the artist we want to be Christmas No 1 is undoubtedly the comedian Peter Kay.

Or rather Peter Kay reincarnated as Geraldine McQueen, the charming transsexual who won his spoof of reality shows ‘Britain’s Got The Pop Factor’.

Not content with that programme’s single ‘The Winners Song’ getting to a very respectable No 2 in the UK pop charts, Geraldine has released ‘Once Upon a Christmas Song’ to hopefully cause a big upset in the X Factor camp this Christmas.

Delightfully cynical and a joyous antidote to all the typical Christmas mush, this is a brilliant parody of previous Christmas songs, and is truly deserved of the UK No 1 spot.

As the nations most popular comic, (no not Russell Brand), Kay already has a No 1 single with ‘The Way to Amarilo’ (accompanied by Tony Christie), the incessantly annoying song they released together in 2005. So he is no stranger to pop chart success.

There you have our tip for the Christmas No 1.

Guitar Hero, the interactive guitar wielding computer game beloved of kids and dads alike, is to release a special Metallica version of the game. In a move that will delight hard rock fans, the game will feature 28 songs by the band, and also songs from Alice in Chains, Queen and the almighty Foo Fighters.

In keeping with metal bands and their quite amazing drummers, Lars Ulrich no less, there will be a super difficult double bass drum feature unique to the game.

Speaking on their website, the band confirmed: “It’s the worst kept secret in rock ‘n’ roll but we’re here now to finally confirm that there will indeed be an all Metallica ‘Guitar Hero’ game released in the first half of 2009.”

Sadly it won’t be in time for Christmas here then, but we now know what we’ll be rocking to on our Wii’s this time next year.

The boys continue: “‘Guitar Hero Metallica’ allows you to play as us in either single instrument or band career game modes in your choice of some famous settings or new venues with in the round staging. Included are 28 Metallica songs along with a few from some of our buddies like as Alice in Chains, the Foo Fighters, Slayer, Machine Head and Queen. There is also an all new Expert+ difficulty setting featuring two bass drum kick pedals (!!!) along with all the gameplay modes from ‘Guitar Hero World Tour’.”

A full tracklisting and prevuew of the game will appear on their offical website soon.

Interesting news from Westminster where the Culture minister Andy Burnham informs that the government has changed its mind and will now allow performers to make money from their music for 70 years. Currently, performers lose the copyright to their recordings after 50 years.

“It’s only right that someone who created or contributed to something of real value gets to benefit for the full course of their life,” he told the BBC. 

This will be music to the ears of national treasures such as Sir Cliff Richard, who has campaigned for the copyright to be extended for many years. Sir Cliff’s earliest hits will go out of copyright on 1st January next year, while The Beatles’ catalogue will start to enter the public domain in 2013. Sir Paul McCartney and U2 have also let it be known they are in favour of extending the copyright.

In July, the European Union finally did something sensible and proposed that artists should receive money for the duration of their life. Which seems only fair.

Speaking to the UK Music Creators’ Conference in London, Mr Burnham said: “There is a moral case for performers benefiting from their work throughout their entire lifetime. We must ensure that any extension delivers maximum benefit to performers and musicians. That’s the test of any model as we go forward.”

The chief executive of the British Phonographic Industry, Geoff Taylor said he was “delighted” the government was looking into the extension: “Copyright stimulates investment in musical talent and encourages innovation. Thousands of recording artists, hundreds of music companies and all British music fans will benefit from a fairer copyright term.”

News reaches Redvers Towers that Blur are to reform and that Robbie Williams is hoping to rejoin Take That. Such merriment and good cheer at Christmas! You can almost hear the middle aged squeals of delight of women all over the country, whilst indie adults who should know better dust off their 90s t-shirts and practice their Mockney accents.

Isn’t it funny that artisitc differences and battered egos can be put aside when big fat cheques are waved around?

It is rumoured that Blur are being paid millions of pounds by Live Nation to reform, kicking off Blur 2.0 with a massive concert in Hyde Park in July. But surely Damon doesn’t need the cash after the massively successful Gorillaz and Monkey: Journey to the West, with his friend and animator Jamie Hewlett. Bassist Alex James has also been busy as an artisan cheese producer, journalist and Classic FM DJ. The guitarist and Albarn-tormentor Graham Coxon has had a relatively successful solo career, while the drummer Dave Rowntree has kept himself busy running for parliament!? So perhaps the persuasion of money isn’t the only reason for getting back together, perhaps they just want to remind Oasis and the Verve who really invented Britpop, while showing the Kaisers, Razorlight et al, how it should be done.

Now with regards to Take That who have enjoyed phenomenal success since they reformed in 2005, this is surely a case of Robbie realising that his solo career has no future and now has his tail firmly between his legs, begging for a job. Robbie has been quoted as saying he’d be ‘over the moon’ to rejoin the band, and has even had the Take That logo tattooed on him arm. Ahhhhh. He told The Sun: “We got together a lot in the summer. It was amazing. We’ve all matured a lot since we partied … the thing that struck me most was how much fun they’re having.” And how much money they are making is probably a factor Robbie! The Sun even goes as far as saying that the fact he has just bought a £7m house in Wiltshire confirms everything. Indeed, the prodigal son returns.

Following on from releasing albums by Prince and McFly, The Mail on Sunday, beloved of middle class housewives in Tunbridge Wells, is to launch a record label!

As if being part of one ailing industry isn’t enough, the newspaper wants to break into the long suffering music industry!

In a move that will surprise many in media circles, The Mail on Sunday will set up the label called Mail on Sunday Sounds (MOSS) with a view to breaking new talent and also having a crack at the much revered  Christmas Number One spot.

Their first act will be the ACM Gospel Choir with their first release ‘Holy Night’ available as a download. Their album, ‘Christmas with the Choir’ will follow on December 14th.

Speaking to Music Week, The Mail on Sunday editor, Peter Wright, said: “With a newspaper we are used to making decisions very quickly and turning things around very quickly. There are some wonderfully talented people in the music industry, but I think they are a bit traditional in their thinking.”

You heard it here first, the future of music is in the hands of the Mail on Sunday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘I’m in Camden Town!’ informs prematurely blotto girlfriend at 6.30pm, fresh from her Christmas party lunch in Cafe de Paris and clearly quite keen for an introduction to New Zealand dub.

Oh the joys of Yuletide, when it is perfectly acceptable to have a tactical vomit before the evening’s engagement. December is a marathon bender at the best of times, but it’s only the 5th and London is awash with credit crunch carnage to ease the pain of the imminent redundancies. There is nothing to look forward to but an out of date turkey from Aldi and the closing down sale at Woolworths.    

Still, it’s not all bad. For Fat Freddy’s Drop are in town for a two night residency at the beloved Roundhouse. But first things first and a sobering Quattro Stagioni from bustling pizza joint La Porchetta is on the menu. Great pizza and great atmosphere. I just can’t understand the huge popularity of Pizza Express in London when there is virtually always a better, independent option a few doors down.

Pizzas and tintos demolished and across the road to a virtually packed Roundhouse which is literally teeming with especially drunk Ozzies and Kiwis. It’s like the Last Chance Saloon Christmas Party.

It’s not long before FFD arrive somewhat awkwardly on stage. They look like they have gatecrashed their own party, but with 4,000 idiots looking on they soon pull themselves together and initiate the dub licks. FFD’s fearsome live reputation precedes them but this is all very very sedate, worryingly so. But then ‘Wandering Eye’ kicks in and liveliness ensues. This is what we came for.

In Joe Dukie they have the most self-effacing singer ever, not keen on taking centre stage (quite literally he is either hidden behind some form of piano, or ensconced on the far right of the stage). It is left to the trumpet player, who is either very happy or very high, to do most of the entertaining, evoking dizzying horn work with some rather silly dancing.   

It’s a set littered with feral abandon, honest emotion and reggae spanktown. It defies categorisation. I look around me and everyone is lost in the moment. Everyone except the girlfriend who is seriously flagging and looking rather pale. There is no time for sympathy as the FFD vision all becomes very clear, with a sound coming forth that is beyond description but I shall try. A roots-house-soul menage a trois, if you’ll pardon my French.

The epiphanies continue throughout the night with current single ‘The Camel’ a fitting end. Not least because I need one to carry the girlfriend home, but sadly camels are in short supply in this part of London.

And now time for the inaugural Redvers Downs Top 10 Albums of The Year 2008, the definitive answer to what has been rocking the Sussex countryside for the last 12 months.

1. Roots Manuva - Slime and Reason

Ponderous ramblings and ironic gestures are nothing new in Rodney Smith’s tumultuous Brixton world, but the musical backdrop to which the vicar’s son laments his woes is a vast, indefinable landscape of absorbing masterpieces.  

2. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

The Beach Boys will not be unhappy of this deserved comparison, with hippy beats and uplifting harmonies coming together to make this the debut of the year, from out of nowhere.

3. Sigur Ros - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust

This is a beautifully seductive album from the Icelandic bumblers. Limitless euphoric pop hooks abound in what has to be the highest form of chill out music around today.

4. Kanye West - 808s and Heartbreak

Kanye’s fourth album is like no other - the death of his mother and break up for his engagement has encouraged him to ditch hip hop for sparse electro beats. With no rapping either - preferring heavily treated vocal effects, this album really should not work but does.

5. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid

‘Grounds for Divorce’ is my favourite song of the year. Previously criminally underrated, these guys took the Mercury prize and and conquered the main stream with melodies and lyrics like no other.

6. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III

It’s been a good year for this New Orleans bad boy, self proclaimed the ‘best rapper in the world’ and all of a sudden this sort of boasting has a ring of truth about it, in an album that sees Jay Z pass over the crown to his cough syrup drinking protege.

7. The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of the Understatement

Arctic who? Alex Turner teams up with the Rascals’ Miles Kane for more sharp lyrics and pointed melodies. How many amazing songs does this boy have in him? And he’s giving Alexa Chung one. The cheeky Northern monkey.

8. Little Jackie - The Stoop

A potent soup of Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Aretha Franklin and Jimi Hendrix tingles the tastebuds in this electrifying album. This reinventionsees an effortless mix of funk, soul and hip hop bring you to the dancefloor.

9. Amadou and Mariam - Welcome to Mali

Damon Albarn takes things to a whole new level for this blind couple in their 50s from Mali. Africa, Jimmy Page riffs and French pop collide in the most exciting world music album ever.

10. Kings of Leon - Only by the Night

The perfect rock album - huge riffs with a pop sensibility, with a slight mellowing occurring in comparison to their previous three albums - they have created a set of songs that the Guns’N'Roses could only dream of.