End Of Time – Candy Apple

If DCI Gene Hunt ever busts some heads in a 1960s prequel to Life On Mars, then End Of Time will make a fitting soundtrack. It’s a raw guitar-propelled rock that throws you back 40 years in time. Like The Animals, only handier in a fight.

Lover, Killer – The Foxes

More guitar shenanigans, this time with a poppy indie lilt. Praised to high heaven by the likes of NME, London band The Foxes present Lover, Killer for your entertainment. It fits snugly into the current indie scene and wouldn’t sound out of place at this summer’s festivals.

When You Grow Old – Smoke Faries

Two girls from London who have toured the strange, grand and crumbling theatres of the UK at the personal request of Roxy Music’s Bryan Ferry. Haunting and beautiful. £10 to the first person who can pigeon hole their music*.

• Not really, as it’s a near impossibility that you’d manage to do so. It’s what is universally known in gambling circles as “a safe bet”.

We’ve tweaked the site to make it even easier to discover and share new music. For example, click on an artist name or song title and you’ll now find a series of tabs for leaving comments, as well as letting you share songs more easily with your friends.

Click on a song title and you’ll find a new feature called “Similar” that searches all the music on amazingtunes to find similar songs. It’s another great way to discover music you’ll love.

As ever, if you have any feedback we’d love to hear it - info@amazingtunes.com.

• The two companies behind computer games Rock Band and Guitar Hero (MTV Games and Acti-vision respectively) are in a battle to win the license to make the official Beatles game. The Financial Times reports that representatives from the Apple Corp. are in talks with the two companies in a move aimed at pushing the Fab Four into new media streams.

• Mark Ronson, the producer and musician, was paid a handsome £1,000,000 to perform at the 21st Birthday bash of British heiress Freya Dawson. The comfortable earner saw him net over £370 a second. “Nice work if you can get it,” as Gershwin so aptly put it.

• The Lancashire police are in trouble with the rather unforgiving PRS for playing music within the workplace without paying for the correct licenses. Steve Finnigan, Lancashire police’s Chief Constable, is accused of infringing copyright by allowing music to be played in stations nationwide, while 11 police forces have failed, or refused, to obtain licenses for music. Should the case go to court it could create a PR nightmare for the royalties collections agency as other organisations and businesses could follow suit and find cause to refuse. You can read the whole story here

Here are some tunes that have been keeping us right in the office from the start of June:

DetroitSocialClub – Sunshine People

This band crossed our path, stopped us in our tracks, nailed us to the floor, slapped our face and left us begging for more. Filled to bursting point with raw passion and soul we are certain this young act will go far.

Sniffa Dog Productions – Glass Pipes

This spacious electronica track, reminiscent of Boards of Canada or Plaid in its progressive but bold constructions and eerie soundscapes is a must listen for any electronica fan. With great production and a powerful but articulated beat it comes highly recommended.

Penfold Gate – Bowler Hat

These indie boys from Loughborough certainly have something good going on. With creative lyrics full of imagery and humour alongside a Cure-meets-Mates of State sound that has us well and truly impressed, we would hazard that their success to date - Futureheads support, a Channel 4 appearance – is just the beginning.

• The largest survey to date of music consumption and music piracy in the UK has unveiled some startling figures. Undertaken by the University of Hertfordshire, for British Music Rights, the findings suggest that, of those surveyed, a whopping 63% admitted downloading music illegally and a further 42% admitted to uploading music for others to share.

  Age is apparently a key factor with the main offenders across all areas predominantly being under the age 25.

  Some other startling results were that 95% percent of those questioned copied music in some form, whether it be CD to computer or CD/mp3 duplication, and in the average mp3 collection (of 1771 tracks) around 48% (or 842 tracks) have not been paid for. That’s £665 in iTunes language.

  See the results here

• Rolling Stones are about to end their 31-year-short relationship with EMI as the band have been rumored to be courting with Live Nation. The events promotions company turned all-encompasing, omnipresent music monolith looks set to capitalise on the lucrative touring potential of the Stones should a deal go through. It is fairly well known that the Rolling Stones don’t do too well with record sales, their success (and money) being mainly in live gigs and merchandise (suiting far more the structures in place at Live Nation) however the loss of another big name from EMIs roster may leave a sour taste in Guy Hands’ mouth.

• Sentric a web-based company from Liverpool is working to help small bands claim the money they should be owed from live performances and broadcasting. By helping bands to claim the money that they’re due from the PRS the company aims to help unsigned acts see some of the £60 million going unclaimed that the PRS holds onto every year. Visit their website or go here to learn more.

...amazingtunes.com

• Orange, the global communications service provider, have launched a new service in France that allows subscribers to freely download up to 500 tracks a month for PC and phone. With all four major labels on board (offering over 1 million tracks) the €12 a month service is considered relatively unique and novel service in that you get to keep the tracks for life, moving forward the recorded music upheaval.

• In a move that will spark interest amongst the tech’ communities, EMI – home to bands like Coldplay and Robbie Williams – have looked to bolster their internet presence with the acquisition of Cory Ondrejka. For the non-techie folk Cory Ondrejka is a co-founder of the incredibly successful online community Second Life – a virtual world that now floats its own economy with the Linden Dollar. This comes not long after Guy Hands (owner of EMI) hired Douglas Merrill who was previously one of Googles most senior executives.

• It’s difficult not to know, but for those of you that have managed to spare yourself from the media barrage, Coldplays new album Viva la Vida was released today. Predictably going straight to the top of the iTunes album charts the LP has caused a stir in the retail world as Woolworths’ download store is offering it for less than £5 – £3.02 cheaper in fact that iTunes. It’s your choice where to get it if you feel so inclined, but either way prepare yourself for the impending Coldplay fanaticism.

As this summer’s festival season moves into full swing amazingtunes found itself in amongst the sun-kissed masses last weekend, donning the shades and dancing it up at the Rockness festival following Spokes as they looked to impress the reveling crowds.

As part of our Sound08 competition held in March of this year we gave one lucky act the chance to get played on XFM and perform live at the Rockness Festival. The eventual winners Spokes last weekend took to the stage in Dores, on the shores of Loch Ness, with a point to prove. The heavily dance orientated line-up at this years event was a motion away from the more subtle and emotional guitar driven melodies of Spokes, however their departure from the intensities of the surrounding stages made them, for me, something of a stand out act.

Opening with the instrumental track ‘We Like to Dance and Steal Things’ the band built a strong foundation from which to develop, moving into tracks like ‘Sleep it off’ and ‘Young People! All Together’ with a great enthusiasm. While the quieter moments were unfortunately often offset by the traveling bass from the other stages, Spokes’ ability to command a wall of sound made the large majority of the performance a powerful experience, with strong progressions and well weighted climaxes keeping the audience enthused throughout.

While having to compete against a line-up clash that saw the band scheduled to play at the same time as DJ Yoda and the Editors, the lads and lady from Manchester held their audience with great confidence and it certainly left myself with a smile on my face. Speaking with Matthew Baty, the drummer of Spokes, after the performance he said “It was a superb experience. Playing at the same event as so many great acts was a bit of a surreal experience, but really enjoyable. After it was over we decided to make sure that next year we’ll do what it takes to be playing at plenty more festivals.” And with lots of smiles after their performance from both on and off the stage I’m sure they won’t be disappointed.

The festival itself was a great show set in some of the most idyllic scenery north of the border, and with such great weather there was always going to be enjoyment to be had. Fatboy Slim called in the Saturday night, entertaining a massive crowd in front of the main-stage with a brilliantly thought-out set after Soulwax had stunned their patient fans with a live show in the Soulwax Arena, a show that was packed full of energy – and nothing short of amazing. Mylo, donning a vintage Scotland shirt, fed the crowd with healthy doses of bass and the Mystery Jets went down with great aplomb, their single ‘Two Doors Down’ getting an excited response. Underworld reminded us of why they were so successful all those years back, whipping the audience up into a frenzy with an extended version of Born Slippy, and then, of course, there was Spokes. While obviously not commanding quite the same level of interest as Johnny Burrell et al, this relatively new act, here to prove a point and reach new ears, stood tall and left their audience with something a little different to take home with them.

...amazingtunes

Around 13million people tuned in to watch the final of Britain’s Got Talent last weekend – the largest viewing figures of 2008 to date no less – as George Sampson danced his way to success.

I must admit, I didn’t watch the final, nor have I really been following the series at all. I am relatively opposed to the spiraling number of talent show come phone-in schemes from ITV, seemingly targeted at further lining Simon Cowell’s pockets. However I was intrigued by the aftershock of the event which has seen the song that George danced to, Dancin’ in the Rain by Mint Royale, fly to the top in the midweek charts with some reports claiming it is outselling it’s nearest rival 2 to 1. What got me interested though was the fact that I know this song has been about for some time, 3 years in fact, and to date it has never really achieved any great amount of chart success until its accompaniment to the Britain’s Got Talent winning act. The key to it’s success however lies in iTunes, and it presently resides atop of the iTunes music download chart displaying the convenience for the consumer of iTunes’ presence within every broadband owning home – and what’s, more the willingness the consumer now seems to have in utilising this convenience. The rise of the song that had seemingly long since been put to the side is going to show what kind of impact the digital downloads market can have, and at what point will they start stating within the advert what song has been used in that advert so that a subsequent iTunes purchase can be made? I for one believe that tapping into this ‘whim purchase’ model of selling, through digital outlets – namely iTunes – could soon become a very possible means of generating recording sales for the industry, with cult tracks quickly reflecting their television presence through download sales. Though I do feel concerned this may herald a period of regurgitation of yesterdays tracks repositioned amongst suitable accompaniment.

Before I sign off I’d like to make mention that amazingtunes.com wish all the best to Spokes, the Sound08 winners who go out this Saturday at Rockness to play to the masses in their winners slot.

...amazingtunes.com