Tony Talks
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Mon., Sep 12, 2011
Tony Levin talks about the forthcoming Levin Torn White album in this interview. 

Under The Influence...
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Sat., Sep 10, 2011
Phish front guy Trey Anastasio talks about improv and the influence of Crimso on his work in this Salon interview. 

Circling Grooveshark
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Fri., Sep 9, 2011
My thanks to milboro for alerting us to this article in The Guardian newspaper on how Grooveshark take a bite out of artist’s earnings. Here's some recent thoughts from RF on Grooveshark. RF's diary is also highlighted, referenced and linked to in the comments section of the Guardian's piece. Feel free to add your thoughts to the debate and discussion over there as well.

Extended Play For Copyright?
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Thu., Sep 8, 2011
My thanks to Rob for sending me this link to a news story about the extension of the 50 year copyright period.

And The Winner Is...
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Thu., Sep 8, 2011
Congratulations to Gerard Boland whose name was picked out of the fickle fedora of fate this very morning. Gerard wins himself a copy of UMA's Hymn To Undiscovered Land. He was able to tell me that it was markus Reuter who produced UMA’s first album, Civitas Soli. You can find out more about UMA on their website. Stayed tuned for another great giveaway competition.

Band Camp Report Back
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Thu., Sep 8, 2011
There's been some interesting accounts of the recent band camp held by Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Pat Mastelotto. Here's Chris Cowan's detailed recollections of the event, and another one by Jim Lange. Tony Levin has plenty of pictures and comments of the event here and here. Finally, Pat, Tony and Adrian are back together (along with Julie Slick, Tobias Ralph and Markus Reuter) on the Two of a Perfect Trio Tour later this month.

What Do Elvis & Pete Atkin Have In Common?
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Tue., Sep 6, 2011
My thanks to Iain Milne for sending me this extract from a recent newsletter by veteran singer songwriter (and much else besides), Pete Atkin.

The uncanny number of things that Elvis and I have in common has been commented on often, of course.  I say ‘often’.  Perhaps ‘never’ would be more accurate.   However, there is now this:  both he (or his estate at least) and I are pursuing SonyBMG for unpaid royalties.
         
For SonyBMG, as the inheritors of RCA Records, have a legal duty to account to me for the sales of the CD reissues of the three albums I made directly for them, viz. The Road Of Silk, Secret Drinker, and Live Libel.   This they have never done.  I mean never.  Not for the See For Miles reissues, nor for the Demon Edsel ones.   Ever.  Not only that, but they have dealt with my letters and e-mails mainly by simply ignoring them, often enough that it must be company policy, howevermuch they may protest otherwise.
         
I posted copies of my most recent letters to Michael Smith, SVP Business & Legal at SonyBMG Music UK, on the Forum.  Since then I can report that I have now received a holding acknowledgement – progress! – of the most recent one, in which I explained my intention to take legal action. Watch this space.

Hockets and hemiolias for you all

Pete

Leviathan Is Out There
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Tue., Sep 6, 2011
Stick Man Michael Bernier's album, Leviathan, is now available in CD format. Check out Michael's website for details. 

Mister Stormy's Monday Selection
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Mon., Sep 5, 2011
Mister Stormy has a vintage slice of the League Of Gentlemen for you to listen to today. 

UMA Giveaway
:: Posted by Sid Smith on Sat., Sep 3, 2011
As a little curtain-raiser to the Slow Electric project, we have a copy of UMA’s beautiful album, Hymn To Undiscovered Land (featuring Tim Bowness on the title track) to give away.

All you need to do is tell us who produced UMA’s first album, Civitas Soli. If you don’t know the answer to that question you could try looking here.

Once you’ve got the answer send it in an email marked UMA to competitions@dgmlive.com along with your postal address.

The winner will be announced on Thursday 8th September. You can hear some samples of UMA over at their Myspace site and read my review of Hymn To Undiscovered Land over on the blog. 

Slow Electric’s debut album will be released next month. The group includes Tim Bowness and Peter Chilvers, and the Estonian duo UMA (guitarist Robert Jurjendal and trumpeter Aleksei Saks), with Tony Levin providing the bass.  Find out more about the Slow Electric album here.

The band (minus Tony Levin) play Norwich Forum, Norwich Sound & Vision Festival Saturday 1st October.