Announcer type voice: 

Key Notes is brought to you today by the number '0', the letter 'F' and the word 'Dilemma.'  

Key Notes is in trouble. You see, somehow, your blog has found itself in the midst's of a love triangle.  Finding itself torn between its long term partner and its new love, with whom it's recently spent many sweaty, drunken nights.  Key Notes, it seems, has some tough calls to make.

Now, before Mrs. Notes gets too worried, Key Notes is referring to Manchester United and CLUAS.  On Tuesday April 29th, this blog has a long-standing commitment to review the Gemma Hayes gig in Tripod, the same night its beloved United play Barcelona for a place in the European Cup final.  Of course, it would have been easy had United been beaten last Wednesday (indeed, they probably deserved to lose) but no, the match remains on a knife edge, with the possibility of victory and a place in the Moscow showpiece tantalisingly close. 

Then there is CLUAS.  You see Key Notes is also responsible for the distribution of gig passes to CLUAS writers and has to set a good example to all the other CLUAS writers after his enforced absence.  However, the reason Key Notes faces such a dilemma is not because he HAS to review this gig, but rather because he WANTS to review it. 

Tipperary born Gemma Hayes has always troubled this blog you see.  To Key Notes, most music is love or hate, eject or repeat.  Hayes however, belongs to the pretty exclusive 'meh' club (other members include Whipping Boy and - don't tell the boss - My Bloody Valentine).  There's nothing about her that's particularly offensive nor, until recently, has there been anything to keep Key Notes coming back for more.  That's all changed though with one song - 'Out of Our Hands' - which Phantom, have played quite a bit of recently. 

There's no particular reason why, but Key Notes likes this song a lot.  That is why he is so keen to review Hayes, to give her another chance to get out of the 'meh' club.  If only it wasn't on the same night as the football?  But that's just life isn't it, we sometimes have to choose between things we love, just to appreciate them even more.  Key Notes loves United, but it looks like his love for himself music, is going to come out on top.  Looking below, it's not really hard to see why.  Besides, United will probably lose 12-0 anyway.

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Richard Wageman, a lawyer at the Beijing offices of DLA Piper sent me an interesting appraisal of a new Chinese government policy initiative. Foreign investors will be allowed to invest directly in live performing arts projects in China for the first time. That’s according to Certain Comments on the Establishment of a Rational Supply System for the Performance Market and the Promotion of the Prosperous Development of the Performance Market, a torturously titled document released by nine Chinese ministries and commissions, including the policy-setting National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Culture.

Before the Comments were issued on January 30, the Administrative Regulations on Commercial Performance (in effect since 1997) had permitted foreign investment for renovation and construction of commercial performing arts theatres and other performance venues, but prohibited participation by foreign investors in operations and management. This is good news for China’s non-state performing arts troupes, perennially starved of funds. Entertainment in China trends towards massive outdoor pop concerts, performances by state-funded troupes in large government-owned halls (like the new National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing)

With even state-run troupes often complaining of lack of funds, the new bent in policy will allow private cash and stakes in these often underused venues. Some of the thinking may be to put on more traditional Chinese forms of entertainment for tourists – Peking opera is after all a dying art form. Coming from such a wide swathe of government authorities suggests the policy will be expedited and foreign investment approved fast.

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A talk with someone who’s seen it all: Stuart Watson was vice president for MCA/Universal before going fulltime on his consultancy, SWAT Enterprises to help record labels and artists break developing country markets like China. He has helped British indie bands and Spanish flamenco troupes get gigs in China. It says something about the potential of the local industry surely when the man who is credited with helping make Britney Spears a household name decamps to China.

In a recent interview Watson told me he sees similar problems between the market here and in Latin America, another region he’s beem trying to crack: in both territories Western acts and labels are so scared by rampant piracy and free downloading that they balk at tapping the “huge” market for live music. There’s another reason why very few music companies are sending artists to China: they don’t have the live rights.

Artists’ standard modus operandi of handing recording, publishing and management rights to different parties may work in mature markets like Europe and the US but not in China, says Watson. Artists should pool their rights in one manager to leverage the best out of cost-conscious but curious China. A manager like Stuart Watson, perhaps...?

See the full article in the May issue of China International Business magazine.

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The CLUAS gaffer, in his infinite wisdom, picked the Eiffel Tower as the signature image for this blog. And with good reason - it's by far the most identifiable symbol of Paris and France. (He also did well in picking a photo that makes it seem as if the tower is located by a lake in the middle of lush green fields.)

If you've been to Paris you've surely visited it. The best way to find it is to get out of the metro at Trocadero, where the giant Palais de Chaillot hides the tower from view. Suddenly, you round the corner and there it is, across the river, immense and beautiful. After years of living here, it still takes our breath away. It's the most visited pay-to-enter site in the world.

In its early years it wasn't so loved. Guy de Maupassant hated the tower so much that every day he ate lunch in its first floor restaurant; he said that it was the only place in Paris where you couldn't see the tower. A temporary structure for the 1889 World Exhibition, the tower was almost pulled down after its original 20-year lease expired. It was saved because Radio France needed its height for the huge antenna which still tops the tower today.

Many visitors to the Eiffel Tower try to recreate the famous sequence from 'A View To A Kill' where Roger Moore chases Grace Jones up the steps. (Tourists are generally dissuaded from copying the parachute jump at the end).

The film's theme song was performed by Duran Duran (left), and they made the video on the tower, playing at being spies.

At the time, the band members were not on great terms, so it's appropriate that the video features them trying to kill each other. The promo photo (left) was apparently taken after much persuasion to make the five bandmates stand together in the same spot.

Inevitably, it ends with the band's singer smarmily introducing himself as "Bon, Simon Le Bon". He shouldn't have been so smug. Performing the song at Live Aid, with a TV audience of half the world or so, Le Bon hit the most notorious bum note in pop history.

Here's the Parisian video, then, for Duran Duran's 'A View To A Kill':

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Belfort is a city wedged into that north-eastern angle of la hexagone where France meets Germany and Switzerland.

Given its crossroads location, historically Belfort has found itself caught up in the Franco-German conflicts through the years. The infamous Maginot Line, supposedly defending the western front against a possible World War I, ran from near Belfort up to the Channel coast.

An earlier conflict, the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1, inflicted a six-month siege on the city. Unlike in the siege of Paris, the defenders of Belfort won out. Their sacrifice is commemorated by a famous statue called the Lion Of Belfort made by Frederic Bartholdi, who went on to make the slightly-more-famous Statue Of Liberty. (Paris has scaled down replicas of both works.)

Today, Belfort is renowned for two music festivals. The FIMU (Festival International de Musique Universitaire), takes place in May and features the cream of student musicians from various genres and countries.

The other festival is Eurockeenes, arguably France's top summer event in terms of size and quality. This year's edition takes place on 4-6 July - the same weekend as two other big French jamborees; the Main Square Festival in Arras and Solidays in Paris. (Your blogger will most likely be at Solidays.)

Remember how we said that Belfort was a crossroads city? Well, where in the past that attracted armies, these days the invaders are road-tripping music fans from around Europe. We hear there's usually a fair-sized Irish contingent.

The line-up for this 20th edition of Eurockeennes (left, viewed from above) is fairly impressive. Friday 4 July features Massive Attack, The Gossip, dEUS, Cat Power, Calvin Harris and Biffy Clyro, amongst others.

Saturday 5 July stars CSS, Vampire Weekend, N*E*R*D, Sebastien Tellier, Camille, The Dø (France's big contenders for 2008) and The Wombats, plus loads more.

Finally, Sunday 6 July offers you Band Of Horses, MGMT, Seasick Steve, Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, Holy Fuck, Battles, Lykke Li, Girl Talk, Babyshambles (!!!) and Gnarls Barkley. In an act of kindness by the promoters, that last night's headliners (The Offspring, Moby) are rotten enough to allow you skip out early for the last train to the next stop on your Eurorail holiday.

A day at Eurockeennes costs you €40.50 and a weekend pass is only €90. To woo would-be Belfort-goers living in Paris, there's a special all-in bus + weekend pass for €166 (the bus leaves from Place Denfort Rochereau, home of the replica of the Lion of Belfort statue). Similar deals are available from most large French cities for much the same price.

You can book your ticket online at this page on the website of French usual outlet FNAC. As for getting there from outside France, Easyjet fly to Basel/Mulhouse Airport, 70km from Belfort (i.e. 30km closer than Beauvais is to Paris).

Full details on the line-up and the getting-there are available in English and French on the Eurockeennes website.

As we mentioned above, The Dø are poised to do well outside France in 2008, building on their Eurosonic appearance earlier this year. Their debut album, 'A Mouthful', is a charming mix of radio-friendly pop and alt-folk oddness. However, singer Olivia B. Merilahti's voice is a self-consciously quirky and whiny weapon of mass irritation. Judge for yourself; here's their big hit, 'On My Shoulders':

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Concerto For Constantine (live in Whelan's, Dublin)

Review Snapshot: Concerto For Constantine rocked out a packed Whelan's. Their live show was brilliant, both musically and visually.

The Cluas Verdict? 8.5 out of 10

Full Review:
Concerto For Constantine consists of JJ72’s Mark Greaney, Idlewild’s Gavin Fox and Binzer of The Frames and Bell X1 fame. JJ72 remain one of my favourite Irish bands of all time and regard ‘I To Sky’ as one of the finest Irish records this decade. Their protracted demise frustrated and disappointed me, but I was full of excitement when I heard about Greaney’s latest project. They have been gigging since November but tonight, Binzer’s birthday, was my first experience of them.

The stage is set. Dressed in a uniform of black overcoats, jeans and boots, Gavin Fox and Mark Greaney take to the stage illuminated by flashing strobe lights. They burst straight into an electrifying set. They play straight-up self-indulgent rock, and it’s brilliant. At times it's almost a return to 90s grunge. On stage, Mark and Gavin have such a connection that one cannot help but think that these two men were born to play together. One song in and I’m thinking, “thank Christ JJ72 broke up”.

Concerto For Constantine played for just over and hour, not once lapsing into songs from their previous acts. Their visceral performance was filled with passion as Mark screamed down the microphone to a backdrop of throbbing basslines and thumping drums. The influence of The Smashing Pumpkins has always been evident throughout Mark Greaney’s career, but no more so than with Concerto For Constantine..

They ended on an instrumental number with Gavin Fox picking up an acoustic guitar. As they played, thousands of scraps of black crepe paper rained down from the ceiling. It was a bizarre and stunning visual experience. Then, they burst into one final rip roaring track. Based on tonight, this band may be one of Dublin’s brightest talents.

 Garret Cleland

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Summer's almost here, when the theoretical possibility of fine weather has bands on the back of lorries in every field, square and football pitch. In the rain. It's the festival season!

Your Paris-based blogger isn't sure if the brand-new Irish recession is going to limit your festival and travel spending power. It might even force you all in Eire to make heart-breaking sacrifices: only five drinking binges per week, no new Celtic jersey, clearing the second mortgage with the fourth credit card. Be strong.

Anyway, if you're thinking of travelling to a festival in Europe as part of your summer holidays, your blogger (like last year) will give you some ideas for outdoor music events in France. They tend to be cheap and sunny, so let's hope that continues for 2008. As soon as substantive line-ups are announced, we'll post about them.

First big event to play its hand is the Main Square Festival. It takes place in Arras, a town in the north of France near Calais, on the weekend of 4-6 July.

The location may not be as sun-kissed and exotic as regions further south, but the festival has attracted some big names. Okay, so the Radiohead show may not really be happening thanks to 'brown energy', but they'll definitely be there, headlining the Sunday night line-up that also features Sigur Ros, The Wombats and French band The Do. And more! If you didn't bother buying tickets for their Malahide show, now you can also not bother buying tickets for their French festival show. Who says globalisation is bad?

The Saturday bill is topped by Mika, born for summer festivals (and Christmas parties), with The Kooks, The Hoosiers, Digitalism and local Libertines-worshippers BB Brunes. And more!

The really impressive night of the show is the dance-flavoured Friday night. In reverse order, it stars the Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Justice, 2 Many DJs and Boys Noize. (Wait for it.) And more!

Tickets are still on sale via this page on the site of French ticket-agent FNAC, who are currently offering a three-day pass for just €95 instead of €135. The Radiohead-night costs €55 and the other two cost just €45. Camping costs an extra €7.50 and can also be booked in advance through FNAC.

So how do we get to Arras? Well, Calais is a well-known port, and the nearest big town is Lille, which is on the Eurostar line as well as the regular networks. You could fly to Paris or Brussels/Charleroi. The French rail system, SNCF, is planning to run a special train service from Lille to Arras for the festival. (As French regional trains are mostly controlled by French regional government, it's quite common to have special subsidised festival train services as support for the arts and culture).

Full details and updates are available in French on the festival's MySpace page - but you can get all your "useful informations" [sic] on the festival's English site.

That Friday night looks like great value. Here's 'DVNO' by Justice:

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Lupe Fiasco (live in Tripod, Dublin)

Review Snapshot: On the tails of his hotly received second album 'The Cool', Chicago's Lupe Fiasco hits Dublin to energetically deliver a repertoire of songs that have seen Jay Z describe him as a "breath of fresh air".

The Cluas Verdict? 6.5 out of 10

Full Review:
“I'll tell you what you should do, Dumb it down” - that's a line belted out by Lupe Fiasco from his song 'Dumb it Down' during his visit to Dublin's Tripod on Saturday night. And he's a man of his word, with a no-fuss stage set up of him, a microphone and a DJ providing backing tracks. Given the extravagant stage shows endorsed by his contemporaries Kanye West and Pharrell Williams – with whom Fiasco founded supergroup Rebel Child Soldier – the stripped down stage presence was disappointing at first sight. Having previously witnessed Kanye West's mixture of groundbreaking content with an extravagant stage show, I had hoped Lupe would attempt something to make his music come across in a more 'live' way, rather than have a DJ rehash his backing tracks. But it worked. Fiasco's interaction with the DJ and acapello rapping gave the crowd the atmosphere of a club gig, whilst giving an insight into the raw environment in which all rappers must learn their trade.

Ronan Lawlor

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A review of the album 'A Cork Wake Tale' by Chris Bathgate

Review Snapshot: The latest offering from Michigan folk artist Chris Bathgate, ‘A Cork Wake Tale’ is a decent and rewarding listen. Similarities to Sufjan Stevens can be seen, but unfortunately his talent is not as great as his contemporary.

The Cluas Verdict? 7 out of 10

Full Review: Chris Bathgate’s talent is certainly not going unnoticed in his homestate of Michigan where he won ‘Best Solo Artist’ by the Detroit Free Press. This album is his first UK release, and he has become the latest folk artist to be put on heavy rotation by BBC Radio 2.

The album opens with ‘Serpentine’. This sublime track turns out to be the highlight of the record. It’s a beautifully simple piano led ballad. Its cyclical melody sucks you in and absorbs you. While ‘Serpentine’ may be the highlight of the album, the rest does not disappoint. It is an eclectic mix of songs for a folk album.

‘Restless’ and ‘Smile Like a Fist’ see our troubadour let out his rockier side, while he is at his downbeat and melancholic best on ‘Madison House’. The use of a reverb-laden outro on ‘Last Parade on Ann St.’ and his use of horns throughout show Bathgate’s diversity. Despite the mix of sounds, this album does not lose focus.

‘A Cork Wake Tale’ is a fine album, well worth a listen. The fact that it never lives up to the brilliance showed on its opening track might detract from the album, but do not let that deter you. It is an absorbing listen that intrigues the ear on first listen, and rewards thereafter.

Garret Cleland

 To buy a new or (very reasonably priced) 2nd hand copy of this album on Amazon just click here.

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Here's a press release from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). The organisation's Asia chief Mayseey Leong put off an interview with Cluas scheduled for last week till this landmark court case was announced. The court action, she told me today, is "a last resort" attempt by the organisation to fight Internet portal Baidu, one of China's most successful corporations, which it claims has been getting fat off stolen music.

"A Chinese court has agreed to hear damages claims totalling US$9 million against the country’s dominant internet company Baidu from three record companies. The claim is the tip of the iceberg in a copyright infringement test-case that could expose the Chinese internet giant to a multi-billion dollar liability.

Baidu’s music delivery services, which are quite separate from its general search engine, “deep link” users directly to hundreds of thousands of copyright infringing music tracks. They generate substantial advertising revenue for Baidu while causing massive damage to the music industry. In April 2007 a precedent-setting ruling found Yahoo China guilty of facilitating mass copyright infringement for operating a music delivery service very similar to Baidu’s. That ruling was confirmed in December 2007 by the Beijing Higher People’s Court, the final appeals court.

The record companies’ infringement claims against Baidu are based on 127 of their own music tracks, which are just a small representative sample of the wider infringement. They seek the maximum statutory compensation under Chinese law of RMB 500,000 (US$71,000) per track. This creates total claims of RMB 63,500,000 (US$9m) but the ultimate exposure could be much greater. Baidu participates in the infringement of more than a quarter of a million tracks, which could leave the internet company faced with multi-billion dollar damages claims when further action is taken to secure maximum statutory damages on all these tracks.

China’s internet companies have so far spurned the chance to partner with the recording industry and instead are facilitating mass-scale piracy on their networks. China has great potential as a legitimate digital music market, with more broadband connections than the US and a huge music-buying demographic. However, over 99 per cent of all music online in China infringes copyright, frustrating efforts to develop a legitimate music market.

The bulk of this online music piracy is accounted for by services that are run by hugely profitable companies such as Baidu. In February, the internet search engine announced fourth quarter 2007 profits of RMB 219.8 million (US$30.6m), an increase of 79 per cent over the same quarter in 2006.

The three record companies, Universal Music Ltd, Sony BMG Music Entertainment Hong Kong Ltd and Warner Music Hong Kong Ltd, have filed their claims with the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People’s Court asking the court to order Baidu to remove all links to copyright infringing tracks to which they hold the rights.

Four record companies have also announced they will be bringing legal action against Sogou, the Chinese music delivery service operated by Sohu Inc, which also participates in mass copyright infringement. Sohu is the official sponsor of internet content service for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The companies bringing the action are Sony BMG Music Entertainment Hong Kong Ltd, Warner Music Hong Kong Ltd, Gold Label Entertainment Ltd and Universal Music Ltd. They are claiming maximum statutory damages of RMB 500,000 for 105 tracks, bringing the total claim to US$7.5 million. These claims will also be heard by the Beijing court.

John Kennedy, Chairman and Chief Executive of IFPI, which represents the recording industry worldwide, says: “Baidu is China’s largest violator of music copyrights, generating huge revenue by deliberately providing access to illegal content. The scale of what it is doing can be summed up by the fact that if the courts were to rule that Baidu should pay maximum statutory damages for all the infringing tracks available through its service it would have to pay many billions of dollars in compensation. That would be an enormous but appropriate price to pay for a company that is failing to take what are quite simple steps to respect the rights of artists and record companies and protect the content of IFPI’s members.

“The record industry wants partnership with China’s internet companies, but one that is based on respect of copyright and the law. It is totally wrong that internet giants like Baidu should build a fortune by abusing the rights of artists, songwriters and record producers.”

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