CHARTattack:News Feed

Strombo Reveals Details Of New CBC Radio Show

Liisa Ladouceur — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:27:43 -0600

Do you like the music of Timber Timbre, Lamb Of God, Tom Waits and Ray Charles? Then George Stroumboulopoulos has a radio show for you.

The host of CBC TV's The Hour relaunches his Strombo Show this Sunday (Nov. 8) on CBC Radio 2. It's an ambitious project: four-hours of commercial-free music, interviews and live performance broadcast from his home's basement studio, with a focus on genre-bending song selection and listener requests.

The obvious question for a guy who heads a nightly national news show is: you have time for this?

"All I do all night during the week is lay in bed and listen to songs. I'm constantly digging around for new music," he says. "It's as important to me as anything in life. I started blogging and twittering about what I was listening to and I started a radio show on the Corus network, but as found new things and my own musical consciousness expanded I found I couldn't go as far as I wanted to."

The Strombo Show previously ran on selected (mostly rock) stations of the Corus network until Stroumboulopoulos pulled the plug this past summer. It was the head of the CBC network that approached the award-winning TV host and former MuchMusic VJ, who got his start in radio in Kelowna, B.C., to bring the idea to the national public broadcaster, convincing him there would be no holds barred.

"Corus never held me back, and my contact Dunner at CFOX was very supportive of what I was doing," says Stroumboulopoulos. "But knowing radio, I realized the majority of the listeners did not appreciate hearing hip-hop on a rock station. It was not the best place for me to be. I think you can tell a lot about a radio by its slogan, and CBC radio's slogan is 'everywhere music takes you.' That's where I belong."

Fans who know Stroumboulopoulos for his punk rock and metal tendencies and (mostly) all-black wardrobe maybe surprised he'll programme more "beautiful" music than people may expect. He also calls the show a "meeting of musical minds" and says it's as much about listeners across the country teaching him about their favourite songs as it is selecting music to present to them.

Regular features planned for The Strombo Show include a nightly Tom Waits track, entire album sides and music programmed especially for the approach of midnight — not black metal, but rather tunes to help put you to sleep. (Although, admittedly, for some of us here at CHARTattack that can be the same thing.)

"And we'll play sad songs," he says. "In fact, we'll have people come on to talk about their favourite sad songs and we'll have 'sad offs'."

How to make this divergent playlist work for CBC listeners from Nunavut to Newfoundland? By throwing away all the rules of radio programming, he says.

"I don't listen to music in radio genres and I think a lot of people are like me. I used to programme by sound, but I've changed my approach. I will programme not by sound but by feeling. The Ramones and Cat Power might not go together if you programme by genre, but there could be a connection if you make it flow by emotion. And I believe if you take people by the hand and walk 'em through the evening, they'll come with you."

Stroumboulopoulos says he's still deciding on the first track of the night, but expect it to be by either Joe Strummer or Johnny Cash. Tune in to find out when the The Strombo Show premieres Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBC Radio 2. Or try to sway him by calling the request line at 416-205-6226.

You Say Party! We Say Die! Plot U.S. Return

Sheena Lyonnais — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:12:28 -0600

You Say Party! We Say Die! are working with lawyers in hopes of returning to the United States in time to play Austin, Texas' South By Southwest Music Festival in March.

Why is this important? Well, bassist Stephen O'Shea is banned from entering the country until 2011.

"We're putting all of our hopes into that right now and trying to prove our Stephen is the super-awesome, honest fellow which he is," frontwoman Becky Ninkovic says.

In October 2006, YSP!WSD! attempted to cross the border to record and play shows in the U.S, but didn't have the proper visas. They made the mistake of leaving their show plans out, instead telling border patrol only about their recording time in L.A. Their van was searched and their itinerary was found. Meanwhile, O'Shea had been kept in a room by himself where he was interrogated for five hours.

The band had applied for visas, but they didn't go through in time. They had played shows in the U.S. earlier that year, including SXSW.

"It can be very frustrating because we've worked so hard with our lawyer to try to get it fixed and it's just such a long, grueling process and it's just too bad because Stephen is such an honest guy," Ninkovic says. "It's the one time where things went wrong and now he has to pay for it, we all have to pay for it. It's just this thing hanging over our heads."

The band's third release, XXXX, continues to hold at #1 on Canadian campus charts, with their success in the U.S. being relatively untapped. The band grew up in Abbotsford, B.C. and used to cross into the U.S. frequently since the town borders Whatcom County in Washington state.

"We didn't realize I guess just how much the security had changed since our last time crossing. It really got out of proportion due to the security being way more intense," Ninkovic says. "When they say they want you to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, don't leave anything out of that."

Until then, the band will continue to tour Canada until the end of November and will then tour Europe, the U.K., Asia and Canada again in the spring.

You can see You Say Party! We Say Die! here:

Nov. 6 Laval, QC @ Le Trac w/ Think About Life
Nov. 7 Montreal, QC @ Phonopolis Records (in-store)
Nov. 7 Montreal, QC @ Il Motore w/ Think About Life
Nov. 9 Hamilton, ON @ Dr. Disc (in-store)
Nov. 9 Hamilton, ON @ The Casbah
Nov. 11 London, ON @ Black Shire Pub w/ Think About Life
Nov. 12 Guelph, ON @ E-Bar w/ Think About Life
Nov. 13 Kingston, ON @ The Grad Club w/ Think About Life
Nov. 14 Ottawa, ON @ Babylon w/ Think About Life
Nov. 18 Windsor, ON @ Phog Lounge w/ Little Girls
Nov. 19 Montreal, QC @ M For Montreal
Nov. 20 Toronto, ON @ Criminal Records (in-store)
Nov. 20 Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre w/ Think About it and Little Girls
Nov. 21 Sudbury, ON @ The Townhouse Tavern w/ Little Girls
Nov. 25 Winnipeg, MN @ Royal Albert Arms w/ Little Girls
Nov. 26 Saskatoon, SK @ Amigos Cantina w/ Little Girls
Nov. 27 Edmonton, AB @ Megatunes (in-store)
Nov. 27 Edmonton, AB @ New City w/ Little Girls
Nov. 28 Calgary, AB @ Hi-Fi w/ Little Girls

Waking Eyes Member Preps Album From Royal Canoe Project

Kate Harper — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:00:16 -0600

Royal Canoe, perhaps better known as The Waking Eyes' Matt Peters collaborating with his friends, are preparing for the release of their first full-length record, Co-Op Mode.

No track list has been released yet, but the album features songs and collaborations written by Peters and his fellow Waking Eyes members Joey Penner, Steve Senkiw and Rusty Matyas, along with others. The Royal Canoe live band consists of Peters, Penner, Bucky Driedger and Matt Schellenberg of The Liptonians and Nods and Jicah drummer Jeff Bruce.

You can hear four Royal Canoe tunes — "Kasparov," "Me Loving Your Money," "Fabulous Mess" and "Dear June" — on the band's MySpace page.

Peters began Royal Canoe back in 2006 when he started working with Nathan Blanchard, Jo Snyder, Tom Keenan and other Winnipeg-based musicians. Most of Royal Canoe's songs are about "tragic characters" and have quirky themes (such "Kasparov," which is about the Deep Blue super-computer writing a love song to chess champion Gary Kasparov).

Peters and his friends completed Co-Op Mode awhile back but thought they'd never play it live. That changed this year when Royal Canoe began playing shows in western Canada.

You can see Royal Canoe at Toronto's Drake Hotel on Nov. 30 and the city's Horseshoe Tavern the next day.

Sam Bradley Rushed For Twilight Fans

Stephanie Joudrey — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:25:54 -0600

Sam Bradley may have gotten his name out to millions of screaming girls because of his connection to the Twilight soundtrack, but now he's ready to move forward with leagues of new fans and a brand new EP.

While he's grateful for the popularity his friendship with Twilight star Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen in the series) has gained him, it's time Bradley — whose song "Too Far Gone" is a version of Pattinson's "Never Think" that appeared on last year's Twilight soundtrack — made a name for himself.

"I'm not sick of the hype that surrounds me because I want to live up to it," he says. "I want to be heard.

"Am I getting weary of the word 'Twilight'? Sure. Am I offended when somebody asks me about it? No. I was part of it in a small way. That is my step in on a global scale and now I flip it around."

Bradley's self-titled EP came out in August and made iTunes charts in Canada and the U.K. The six songs he delivers are raw, diverse and, he admits, a little rushed. The sudden fame that came his way courtesy of Twilight may have pushed him into the studio a little prematurely.

"Although I had an audience before, this was obviously a far greater one," he says. "I was going to make an album probably two or three months later. I was ready to be heard but I maybe wasn't ready to record."

This EP was recorded in his hometown of Vancouver and in Paris, France with his former stepfather. He recorded 16 songs, though listeners can only get their grubby hands on six for now. Bradley decided after putting his hard earned money into the sessions that the other 10 songs just weren't ready for others' ears yet.

"I believed in the songs so much and I didn't feel that all of them had reached their potential," he says. "I definitely felt the need to release something. I feel like once you release something you can't really release it again... I picked six songs that displayed some diversity and showed a little light and dark as far as the subject matter and vocal performance goes."

You can check out Sam Bradley now on tour with fellow Canadian singer songwriter Justin Nozuka here:

Nov. 6 Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
Nov. 7 Annapolis, MD @ Rams Head On Stage
Nov. 10 Atlanta, GA @ Center Stage
Nov. 11 Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge
Nov. 12 Chicago, IL @ Park West
Nov. 13 Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theatre
Nov. 14 Omaha, NE @ Slowdown
Nov. 17 Boulder, CO @ The Fox Theatre
Nov. 19 Austin, TX @ Antone's
Nov. 20 Houston, TX @ Meridian
Nov. 21 Dallas, TX @ The Loft
Nov. 24 La Jolla, CA @ Porter's Pub
Nov. 25 Hermosa Beach, CA @ Saint Rocke
Nov. 27 Pomona, CA @ The Glass House
Nov. 28 Los Angeles, CA @ House of Blues
Nov. 29 San Fransico, CA @ Great American Music Hall
Dec. 1 Eugene, OR @ John Henry's
Dec. 2 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
Dec. 3 Seattle, WA @ Neumo's

Sloan's Andrew Scott + Bicycles Andrew Scott = Moby Dick

Kate Harper — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:16:26 -0600

What do you get when you take two men named Andrew Scott and put them on the same stage? A band called Moby Dick.

Sloan drummer Andrew Scott and former Bicycles member Andrew Scott will play as Moby Dick (not to be confused with Atlanta's best cover band Moby Dick, Serbian pop group Moby Dick, or Hungarian metal band Moby Dick) at Zeus' Nov. 12 show at Toronto's Rivoli. Not much else is known about the duo, so you'd best check them out if you want to hear what Andrew Scott squared sounds like.

Sloan just announced some North American dates in support of their upcoming new EP. You can see them here:

Nov. 28 Detroit, MI @ Fillmore Detroit (Winter Icebreaker)
Nov. 29 Columbus, OH @ Skully's Music Diner
Nov. 30 Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell's
Dec. 1 Vienna, VA @ Jammin' Java
Dec. 3 Cambridge, MA @ T.T. The Bear's Place
Dec. 4 Brooklyn, NY @ The Bell House
Dec. 5 Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
Dec. 6 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
Dec. 7 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
Dec. 9 Winnipeg, MB @ Pyramid Cabaret
Dec. 10 Saskatoon, SK @ Louis' Pub
Dec. 11 Calgary, AB @ The Gateway at Southern Alberta Institute Of Technology
Dec. 12 Edmonton, AB @ TBA
Dec. 15 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom

Ultra Mega's Wu-Tang Cover Album No Gimmick

Evan Dickson — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:11:42 -0600

Winnipeg is a "tough town." No, those aren't ironic quotes and J. D. Ormond isn't joking when he says that.

The lanky white frontman for Ultra Mega happens to live in the Canada's "murder capital," according to the Winnipeg Free Press [Maclean's ranks the 'Peg #3]. Given the prairie town's surprisingly violent underbelly (and some of its residents' tendencies to stab AC/DC haters), maybe it's not so ridiculous for Ultra Mega to release a short album of Wu-Tang Clan covers.

The limited release, Black Wu Jackets, is exactly what you would expect a quartet of white indie rockers covering classic gangsta rap to sound like. Twangy electric guitar takes over for classic soul samples, and Ormond's warbling nice guy vocals stand in for the gruff machismo of Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface, et al. Hearing Ol' Dirty Bastard's 1995 hit "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" reimagined as a waltz is the kind of thing that could bother a dedicated hip-hop fan.

Ultra Mega recorded Black Wu Jackets in one session. It was all done live off the floor with one take per song. Knowing that they're also planning to release a record of original material in 2010 is enough to arouse suspicion. Are Ormond and his crew are just using their Wu covers as a cheap gimmick to drum up publicity for their real album?

"Not a gimmick," says Ormond. "I'll never say a gimmick, because it's not. I like the Wu-Tang too much."

The Black Wu Jackets songs had actually been a part of Ultra Mega sets for years.

"I guess I just kind of started singing their songs along with chords and it just came out naturally. It wasn't a deliberate objective of mine to make a record," Ormond says.

As for street cred, Ultra Mega have played shows with Winnipeg rappers Birdapres and Pip Skid. These appearances received mixed reactions.

Ormond calls it "equal parts people pumping their fists and people standing there in complete disbelief."

Taking the hip-hop out of the Wu-Tang Clan is a pretty interesting experiment. Hearing the lyrics in such an opposite context with completely different delivery isn't only a fun game; it provides a photo negative image of what exactly hip-hop is — by showing clearly what it isn't.

With its hasty production and odd concept, Black Wu Jackets is not going to be anybody's "best of 2009" list. Its real value is in the way it can surprise and confuse.

Black Wu Jackets is a fascinating listen, especially for people who hate the idea of white Canadian indie rockers doing Wu Tang covers.

Here are the tracks on Black Wu Jackets:

"Knuckleheadz"
"C.R.E.A.M."
"Buiscuits"
"Da Mystery Of Chessboxin'"
"Shimmy Shimmy Ya"
"Juicy/Big Poppa"
"Labels"

Check out Ultra Mega's video for "Shimmy Shimmy Ya":

Lifehouse Ready Their Fifth Album

Kate Harper — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:47:51 -0600

Lifehouse (yes, they're still around) will release their fifth (!) studio album, Smoke & Mirrors, through Geffen Records on Dec. 8.

Singer/guitarist Jason Wade, guitarist Ben Carey, bassist Bryce Soderberg and drummer Rick Woolstenhulme worked with producer Jude Cole again on follow-up to 2007's Who We Are in Los Angeles. Their goal was to capture the band's live sound. "Had Enough" features a guest appearance from Chris Daughtry.

You can hear first single "Halfway Gone" below:

You can see Lifehouse at Phoenix, Ariz.'s Phoenix International Raceway on Nov. 14.

Here are the songs on Smoke & Mirrors:

"Smoke & Mirrors"
"Wrecking Ball"
"Had Enough" (featuring Chris Daughtry)
"Halfway Gone"
"All In"
"Here Tomorrow Gone Today"
"Central Park"
"From Where You Are"
"Crash And Burn"

The Bon, The Bibles And The Uppers

Scott Bryson — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:44:35 -0600

Boppa Do Down Records, the label that put the debut single from Toronto's The Bon on vinyl, asserts that "long players are for hippies." The Bon singer/guitarist Craig Daniels generally concurs.

"It's just so classic," he says of the vinyl single format. "It's like an archival and an art object. It's such a pure form... In a lot of ways, it harkens back to the '50s and '60s rock 'n' roll.

"I used to go and see Shadowy Men [On A Shadowy Planet] all the time and they used to put out seven-inches. I think they had three or four singles out before they made an album. I just loved those singles."

Boppa Do Down Records also deals strictly in garage and punk rock, meaning the songs on The Bon's single — "Stupid Question" and "Ancient Times" — bear little resemblance to the music formerly made by the band's membership. The group were started by Daniels and Peter Gleeson, who were both previously in Mexi-surf outfit the Tijuana Bibles.

"I think we had an idea of what we didn't want to sound like and it has taken us up until right now," Daniels recalls. "We just wanted to keep it open because for the last 20 years, there's always been a really strong slant to the bands [we were in].

"With this stuff, we decided to just take some time and experiment. Songs are [getting] a little longer and they're drawing a little bit of influence from the mid- to late-period Pretty Things — slightly psychedelic but still pretty rocking."

The Bon's aesthetic is actually a close cousin to the music Daniels was once making with The Leather Uppers. In fact, the frontman first thought this new material he was writing might be for his temporarily defunct duo.

"The best way to describe [The Leather Uppers] right now is that we're on hiatus," he says. "Greg [Tymoshenko, drummer] moved to Montreal three years ago. We still might play shows here and there if something good comes up."

Daniels is a big fan of escape-clause-laden hiatuses. Although he and Gleeson have declared the Tijuana Bibles retired, there's a chance we'll still see them gracing stages in the future.

"Never say never," says Daniels. "The Tijuana Bibles — we said that we retired instead of breaking up, because we figured we can always come out of retirement."

For now, Daniels' attention is fully on The Bon. He and Gleeson have added Bradley Reinhardt on bass and Tim Alchin on drums — creating what they hope will be a long-term lineup.

"Those [other] projects had their time and I think they'll live on," says Daniels, "but I just want to focus on this now. This is the first time I've sung lead vocals so I feel like I've finally arrived that way."

The Bon are hoping to play a few shows before the end of the year. For now, only one is on the books: Nov. 9 at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern.

Beyonce Tops MTV European Music Awards, Kanye Happy

Siobhan Ozege — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:39:01 -0600

Let's just put it out there right now: things tend to be a little different in Germany.

Things heated up in a different way than we usually see this side of the pond at Thursday (Nov. 5) night's MTV European Music Awards show.

'Most notably, there were no Kanye West problems. In fact, Beyonce was able to receive her three trophies (best female, best song "Halo" and best video for "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)"). She even was able to thank hubby Jay-Z (who won the best urban award) for "putting a ring on it" without any distractions.

The ceremony took place in Berlin this year as part of a month long celebration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Host Katy Perry rocked her own unique tribute to the German capital by wearing costumes and clothing inspired by Cabaret, which takes place in 1930s Berlin.

U2 played a special gig from the city's historic Brandenburg Gate in front of 10,000 lucky fans. The set included "Sunday Bloody Sunday," "Magnificent," and "One" — inspired by the fall of the wall. While they technically built a wall to celebrate the anniversary, their short set definitely proved their merited winning best live act.

Not to be outdone by U2 (yeah, you've got a historical event on your side... so what?), Shakira made the audience sweat by performing "Did It Again" featuring dancers wearing nothing but towels, and Tokio Hotel made their instruments burst into flames on stage. Yeah, Bono. Flames.

Here is the full list of MTV Europe Music Awards winners:

Best Video: Beyonce — "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)"
Best Female: Beyonce
Best Group: Tokio Hotel
Best European Act: maNga
Best Push Artist: Pixie Lott
Best Male: Eminem
Best New Act: Lady GaGa
Best Alternative: Placebo
Best World Stage Performance: Linkin Park
Best Song: Beyonce — "Halo"
Best Rock: Green Day
Best Urban: Jay-Z
Best Live Act: U2

Bedouin, BNL, Sam Roberts To Be Part Of Whistler Village Olympic Parties

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:28:51 -0600

There are only 100 days left until the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C. In anticipation of this, Whistler Live! has announced a series of musical acts that will perform in Whistler Village during the Games.

The acts include Barenaked Ladies, Bedouin Soundclash, Blue Rodeo, Hawksley Workman, Sam Roberts Band, Corb Lund, Jully Black, Karkwa, Milner, Animal Nation, Galactic, The Hairfarmers, La Volee D'Castors, Valerie Sadjik and Misteur Valaire.

Whistler Live! will feature what a press release calls "an outdoor network of stages, screens and performance sites" throughout Whistler Village. The locations will provide free entertainment each day from 9 a.m. and 11 p.m. during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, which will also be hosted in Vancouver and Whistler.

Programming will focus on Village Square, which will feature a stage, sound system and two giant screens. Fans will be able to watch CTV coverage of the games, while simultaneously watching artistic programming.

Whistler Live! will continue to announce more performers until the beginning of the games, with updates posted regularly at www.whistler2010.com.

Pavement Could Release Best Of Compilation

Kate Harper — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:44:30 -0600

Pavement have said fans shouldn't expect a new album to come out as part of the band's planned 2010 reunion, but a greatest hits compilation could be released.

Guitarist Scott Kannberg told NME.com the disc could include unreleased radio sessions.

"There's talk of doing a best of, with some really cool outtakes on that," Kannberg told the website. "The very first radio show that Pavement ever did has never been released. I don't think anyone's heard it, so we'll put that out there sometime."

Pavement announced they'd reunite to play a few shows at New York City's Central Park in September 2010. That's since expanded, and the group have also added Australia, New Zealand, U.K. and Spanish dates to their itinerary.

Kannberg just released a solo album as Spiral Stairs, The Real Feel.

You can see singer/guitarist Stephen Malkmus, Kannberg, keyboardist/percussionist/singer Bob Nastanovich, bassist Mark Ibold and drummer Steve West here:

March 1 Auckland, New Zealand @ Auckland Town Hall
March 4-5 Sydney, Australia @ Enmore Theatre
March 6 Meredith, Australia @ Golden Plains Festival
March 7 Adelaide, Australia @ Thebarton Theatre
March 8 Perth, Australia @ Metro City
March 10 Brisbane, Australia @ Tivoli Theatre
March 12 Melbourne, Australia @ Palace Theatre
May 11-13 London, England @ O2 Academy Brixton
May 14-16 Minehead, England @ Butlins Holiday Resort (All Tomorrow's Parties)
May 27-29 Barcelona, Spain @ Primavera Sound Festival
Sept. 21 New York, NY @ Central Park Summer Stage
Sept. 22-24 New York, NY @ Rumsey Playfield at Central Park

Beatles Songs Removed From BlueBeat

Kate Harper — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:08:37 -0600

EMI won a temporary court injunction against BlueBeat, the online music store it was suing for posting and selling Beatles tracks, which has forced the retailer to remove the songs.

BlueBeat had been selling Beatles songs for as little as 25 cents U.S. (about 27 cents Canadian) this week, but a Los Angeles judge ordered the site to remove them and stop streaming them.

EMI, which launched a copyright infringement lawsuit against BlueBeat this week, says the site was selling the songs illegally, but BlueBeat owner Hank Risan says the company was doing so legally because they had been re-recorded. He says this is effectively a copyright loophole which uses technology called "psycho-acoustic simulation." According to BBC News, Risan says BlueBeat is therefore able to sell songs that sound identical to the original recordings but are exempt from the U.S. Copyright Act.

Both EMI and BlueBeat are due in court Nov. 20, when both of their arguments will be heard.

The Beatles' music is not currently available at any digital retailers. EMI and Apple Corps, The Beatles' record label that is now owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison, are still in negotations about making The Beatles' back catalogue available digitally.

Blur Drummer Running In U.K. Election

Kate Harper — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:05:37 -0600

Blur drummer Dave Rowntree unsuccessfully ran for a Westminster City Council in London, England in 2007, and also ran for a Labour Party seat in the city in 2008, but now he's preparing for an even bigger political campaign. He'll run for the Labour Party to contest London's Cities Of London And Westminister seat in the 2010 U.K. general election.

The seat is described as a "Conservative stronghold," and Rowntree says the main issue in his campaign will be housing. He describes it as an issue that "sits at the top of a pyramid" of other problems. He also doesn't describe himself as a politician or a rock star.

"The truth is I am not a politician," Rowntree told BBC News. "No one has elected me to do anything. I am an activist, one of millions of activists up and down the country and I am campaigning in my neighbourhood for things to be better."

Rowntree became a member of the Labour Party in 2002 and began studying law in 2006. He said he was drawn to politics when he was working at a law firm in east London.

"What I discovered really shocked me," he told BBC News.

"There is still a Dickensian underclass in Britain who are drug addicts or have mental health problems and they are responsible for the bulk of petty crime in the area.

"They have absolutely no one fighting their corner apart from defence solicitors. That made me very angry. That was what made me get more involved with the Labour Party and to see what I could do to change that situation."

Rowntree is also a member of the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), which is opposed to the British government's current "three strikes and you're out" anti-piracy plan. This involves ISPs sending "warning letters" to those who illegally download material. Should the "pirate" not stop downloading, their internet is cut off.

The FAC believes piracy should be dealt with differently. According to The Guardian, they support a plan that would involve restricting users' bandwidth, which would stop illegal downloading and still allow people to have basic online access and email.

Interestingly, despite Blur frontman Damon Albarn being a very outspoken opponent of the Iraq war, Rowntree supported it.

Overall, Rowntree says he's going into politics because he doesn't want to waste the opportunity to help people.

"I am in a relatively privileged position in that I don't have to do anything to make a living," he told BBC News. "Very few people find themselves in this position and I am certainly not going to abuse it by sitting around for the next 20 years."

The current U.K. parliament will expire at midnight on May 10, which means the 2010 general election must be held on or before June 3.

Rowntree isn't the only member to embark on a different career outside the band. Bassist Alex James is now a cheese maker, whose clients include Prince Charles.

The Chart Time Tunnel: Stephin Merritt

Chris Burland — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:34:13 -0600

This week on The Chart Time Tunnel, we'll track the chart success of all of the various bands involving Stephin Merritt as a key member.

The Magnetic Fields, Merritt's main band, have released eight full-length albums from 1991's Distant Plastic Trees to 2008's Distortion.

During the week of Oct. 28 to Nov. 3 1999, The Magnetic Fields' three CD concept album 69 Love Songs rose one place to #7 from the previous week, marking the peak of its elevation on a weekly campus chart.

69 Love Songs also marked the band's debut on the campus chart. The Magnetic Fields' two subsequent releases, 2004's i and Distortion, both charted substantially. I lasted 10 weeks on the chart, peaking at #6, while Distortion lasted 11 weeks, hitting #3 in February 2008.

Merritt was also involved with The 6ths, but 1995's popular Wasps' Nests predated the weekly charts and 1999's Hyacinths and Thistles failed to reach the top 50.

Future Bible Heroes was the only other Merritt-involved project to successfully chart.

Memories Of Love, the debut release from this musical collective, hit the campus chart during 1997, peaking at #16 and remaining on the chart for 7 weeks. The band's 2002 follow-up, Eternal Youth, surfaced for two weeks, rising to #45.

On this date 10 years ago Stereolab's Cobra & Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night remained at #1 for a third consecutive week, followed by The Sadies' Pure Diamond Gold at #2 and Sloan's Between The Bridges, which rose two spots to #3. SIANspheric's Else jumped six places to grab #4, while The Folk Implosion's One Part Lullaby fell two positions to #5.

The week's highest debut went to the Insect Gods' self-titled release, which entered at #14. Choke's Foreward arrived at #15, with Selina Martin's Space Woman debuting at #25.

Other notable new entries included No Use For A Name's More Betterness! at #28, and Cinematic Orchestra's Motion at #31. Chantal Kreviazuk's Colour Moving And Still entered at #39 and Hefner's The Fidelity Wars at #45.

Taxman Causes Echo & The Bunnymen To Cancel U.S. Tour

Jason MacNeil — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:15:58 -0600

Illness or dodgy promoters are often the main cause of tour cancellations.

But British band Echo & The Bunnymen say they cancelled their upcoming U.S. tour due to Uncle Sam's tax man.

There's no word if the taxman in question was Mr. Wilson.

"It's with deepest regret that Echo & The Bunny have had to cancel their USA November tour," the band wrote on their website on Thursday (Nov. 4). "This is due to unreasonable demands been presented by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the band to enter the USA to tour.

"This is not a VISA issue as some websites have stated."

A BBC News report states that according to rules set out by the IRS, foreign bands have to pay a fee if they tour in the U.S. more than once in 30 days. Echo & The Bunnymen played a show at New York City's Mercury Lounge before officially starting the proper tour.

The band, who recently played Toronto's Queen Elizabeth Theatre and performed 1984's Ocean Rain in its entirety during some gigs, were slated to start the U.S. trek in Atlanta on Nov. 15 before a string of British dates in December.

Refunds for the shows will be made available, but the group says they will return to the U.S. in April for west and east coast jaunts.

Echo & The Bunnymen recently issued their new studio album, The Fountain, but are planning to release Live At The Royal Albert Hall later this month. The album features Ocean Rain in its entirety as well as the band's biggest hits.

British support act Hatcham Social apparently got the shaft again with this incident. The band were slated to support The Charlatans UK on their North American tour earlier this year, but that was also cancelled.

You can see Echo & The Bunnymen here:

Dec. 12 Oxford, England @ O2 Academy Oxford
Dec. 14 Newcastle Upon Tyne, England @ O2 Academy Newcastle
Dec. 15 Leeds, England @ O2 Academy Leeds
Dec. 17-19 Liverpool, England @ O2 Academy Liverpool