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Post by Fuggle on Aug 22, 2006 20:16:34 GMT -5
What People Say I Am, That's Exactly What I'm NotDominoIn music, hype is a necessary evil. Buzz and word-of-mouth are necessary to encourage and develop bands that otherwise would pass unnoticed. At the same time, hype can spoil and ruin bands, often making musical talent irrelevant for musical success. No band better shows this dichotomy than the Arctic Monkeys. Musically, the band is a modern revelation, achieving its initial success almost entirely via the internet, playing to massive crowds who knew song lyrics by heart long before any album had been released. Yet the rise from underrated to overrated was fast, and the band has now been labeled everything from "our generation's most important band" to the best British group "since the Beatles". Let's be clear from the beginning: this is not a revolutionary, once-in-a-decade album. "What People Say I Am" is, however, a very good indie album. Though influenced by groups such as the Clash and the Smiths, the Arctic Monkeys rambunctious guitar play and strong lyrics are probably most reminiscent of the Libertines or the Kinks. While the album does not reach the peaks of its legendary influences, on tracks like "when the sun goes down", and "a certain romance", the band more than holds its own. On these, the Arctic Monkeys demonstrate what got the hype started to begin with: a slightly raw, punk-inspired sound which varies in pace yet always retains a rebellious playfulness and clear (if accented), creative lyrics. Having not yet hit twenty, the guys' writing both reflects their age and defies it. In their songs the Arctic Monkey's focus on what most 19 year old boys' focus upon: girls, the hypocrisy of the older generation, nightlife, getting in trouble, and all the various other experiences universal to teens on both sides of the ocean. Yet the commentary offered on these teenage universalities is far from juvenile. From picking up girls when it's impossible to "see through [their] fake tan", to life in towns so small, "there's only music so that there's ringtones", though rough and raw, the songwriting is always honest. Unfortunately the album features as many inconsistent tracks as great ones. At times the Monkey's sound can become muddled, leading the tracks to somewhat blur together. Occasionally the lyrics also seem ill-suited to the music behind them, likely reflecting the band's rapid rise from simple garage band to Saturday Night Live performing sensations. Overall, "What people say I am" is worth listening to. At a time when music, be it mainstream or alternative, often fails to inspire and excite, it is worth trying a band, even a heavily hyped one, that offers a little bit of both. Tom McMillan
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Post by Fuggle on Aug 22, 2006 20:23:05 GMT -5
Leave Before the Lights Come OnAug 22 2006 by Chris Brown, Liverpool Daily PostARCTIC Monkeys release one of the best songs on their biggest selling solo album. For once it actually feels like a proper song, rather than some demos lobbed together with ideas flying all over the place. The single is an ode to some dodgy behaviour while on nights out, too many drinks and waking up the next morning with a little more than a hangover. It's all very gritty and "grim up north" but the track moves with lightning pace. with a chorus that burrows into the head and then refuses to leave.
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Post by Fuggle on Aug 22, 2006 20:24:52 GMT -5
Monkeys play LondonTuesday August 22, 2006The Sheffield sensation confirmed details this morning of the low-key show, which takes place at the Forum in London on Thursday, August 24. Support on the date, which precedes their appearance at the three-day festival this weekend, comes from the Klaxons. Tickets for the show went on-sale this morning and are limited to two per person. For more information, go to www.arcticmonkeys.com. The new Arctic Monkeys single, "Leave Before The Lights Come On", was a new entry at number four in the UK singles chart on Sunday.
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Post by Fuggle on Aug 24, 2006 16:49:30 GMT -5
Leap in guitar sales as Arctic Monkeys fuel trend
By Sarah Butler and Tosin Sulaiman
SALES of guitars in the UK have risen by 18 per cent over the past year to £120 million, as the popularity of rock bands such as Franz Ferdinand and the Arctic Monkeys persuades the nation to get strumming.
The number of guitars sold has more than doubled since 1999 as City bankers hunting trophy guitars and young would-be rock stars flock to guitar shops such as those in London’s Denmark Street.
Guitar is now the most popular instrument being played by children in schools, rather than the more traditional orchestral instruments favoured ten or 20 years ago.
The market is being driven partly by falling prices, with the cheapest acoustic instrument now well within a birthday present budget at £30.
Electric guitars have seen a 25 per cent drop in price over the past two years so that a package including an amplifier can be bought for less than £200 and a basic guitar for £50.
Paul Waller, the manager of Hanks, an acoustic guitar specialist, said: “The Chinese are making a lot of stuff, but they’re making it well. That’s made some of the higher-end North American manufacturers take note and compete better.”
Mr Waller said the shop's turnover was about £1.4 million last year and the business was growing by 10 per cent each year. With more products around and more guitars being made in China, there is more choice for customers, Mr Waller said, while the internet provides more information on the instrument.
Paul McManus, chief executive of the Music Industries Association, says that the rise in guitar sales to nearly a million last year backdates to the early 1990s.
He said: “It started with bands like Oasis, which started a return to guitar bands, and that has continued year on year up to the Arctic Monkeys.”
Up to 70 per cent of customers at Rockers, a store in Denmark Street that is renowned for selling heavy-metal guitars, are in their mid teens to late twenties, says Scott Avery, its manager.
“We get a lot of young people, mostly male,” he said. “It’s the influence of bands or being in their own bands. People are fed up with Pop Idol and X Factor and all that nonsense. People are more interested in listening to real music and playing in a band and doing it for themselves.”
However, the market is also being driven by baby-boomers trying to recapture their youth.
Mr McManus said: “Over a third of the population are now over 50 and we aren’t going quietly. A whole generation is returning to the obsessions of their youth, whether it is music or getting a Harley-Davidson.”
In Regent Sounds in Denmark Street, customers come to marvel at, sample and buy Fender guitars ranging from £359 to £4,000. They tend to be popular with City bankers with more money than talent, said Clement Coulom, the manager. “They want to spend a lot of money just to have a cool guitar even though they can’t play. Only a third of our customers are good guitar players. There’s a bit of talent involved. Not everyone’s got it. I can testify.”
Guitars would never go out of fashion, Mr Coulom said. “It’s exactly like denim or black,” he said.
Highly strung
Electric guitar players in business:
Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft
Philip Williamson, chief executive of Nationwide Building Society
Ron Sandler, former chief executive of Lloyd’s of London, and author of the Sandler report on retail savings
Brian Souter, chief executive of Stagecoach
Sir Chris Evans, founder of Chiroscience and Merlin Biosciences
Numis equities analysts Mark Hughes and Andrew Saunders play guitar in their band The Trotts
The Bridgewell bankers Howard Seymour, Mark Gibbon and Andrew Walsh play guitar for the broker’s band Day Job
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Post by Fuggle on Sept 1, 2006 7:09:39 GMT -5
Monkeys rock main stage
A YEAR ago ARCTIC MONKEYS played the small Carling Tent at Reading. This time, they were the penultimate act on the main stage.
ALEX TURNER and the band were great. But I sense Monkey mania waning.
New bassist NICK O’MALLEY has changed the sound. They used to play songs straight. Now they’re going prog – giving tunes remixes.
VERDICT: 7/10
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Post by Fuggle on Sept 1, 2006 7:11:26 GMT -5
Monkeys sign off at LeedsFormer Arctic Monkeys bass player Andy Nicholson watched from backstage as the band played their final UK show of 2006. Nicholson was sacked by the band after refusing to go on their US tour earlier this year, but was invited to hang out with his former bandmates at the Leeds Festival on Sunday. The band, who hail from nearby Sheffield, thrilled a massive crowd with hits including 'Mardy Bum', 'A Certain Romance' and 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor'. Organisers estimated that the band had a bigger crowd than any other single act in the history of Leeds Festival. They were followed on the main stage by Muse, who brough the event to a close in torrential rain. However, festival-goers were warmed by a stunning set, which included 'Plug In Baby', 'Starlight' and a cover of Nina Simone's 'Feeling Good', which singer Matt Bellamy dedicated to the rain. Earlier in the day, The Streets played in front of a rainbow and Futureheads, Dirty Pretty Things and The Cribs rocked the main stage. A limited number of tickets for next year's Leeds Festival go on sale on Tuesday August 29 at 10am.
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Post by Fuggle on Sept 1, 2006 7:14:02 GMT -5
Leeds Festival 2006
The Fratellis + TV On The Radio + Arctic Monkeys + The Streets + Feeder + The Automatic + Milburn + The View + Shut Your Eyes And You'll Burst Into Flames + Flogging Molly
Sunday, 27th August 2006 Words by Dave Sugden
Day three: my, doesn't time fly? The sun's out too, which is a welcoming start to the day especially for those camped out near the Main Stage for the first of two Flogging Molly appearances. That said, we all know how the weather ended up don't we, and in hindsight we can say that Dave King really needn't have worried so much: "... you'll witness a suntanned Irishman - a rare fucking sight!"
Beauty really, the sun's shining down, the atmosphere is upbeat and the crowd is happy, many are dancing, couples are jigging and we have an hour of punk rock / traditional Irish tunes to enjoy - don't you just love the tin whistle? "Drunken Lullabies", "What's Left Of The Flag", "Selfish Man" and "Seven Deadly Sins" are the highlights for me, although I do ponder whether some of the band's more raucous songs are being saved for the cosy confines of the Lock Up Stage later in the evening. Hmmm. More than likely. Anyone?
Aren't Leeds' Shut Your Eyes And You'll Burst Into Flames fantastic? Pick any genre and they'd likely fit in somewhere: punk, dance, post-anything, rock, need I go on? Lovely jackets, even better dancing.
Having recently been caught on the wave of fan (over)enthusiasm at The View's T In The Park appearance in July, bumping a second Flogging Molly set for the Dundee four-piece seemed a natural decision to make, especially given the gloriously ramshackle mix of adolescence and gritty Libs-esque guitars on display via current single "Wasted Little DJs". Yet those predicting a riotous gig are left wanting just a touch more as The View simply fail to deliver any songs. Granted these young boys appear to be hugely talented, versatile musicians, and for getting out the ol' acoustic or belting out a vocal, then yeah ... but running off your audience's adrenaline alone only takes you so far. The View as serious songwriters? Not yet. I'll be proven wrong, they'll be huge, you'll love them (if you don't already), but I really didn't hear a strong-enough candidate for single number two. Onwards...
... we're off to the Radio One / NME Stage!
Sheffield's Milburn are immense fun and rattle off a back-of-the-van (you don't know where it came from, but you just don't care, you'll 'ave it!) full of instantly, memorable pop tunes. Guitars jangle, accents twang, audience bounce. Lovely!
The Automatic feature the loudest, mass audience participation I see all weekend when 10,000 people from front to back, left to right, hold arms aloft and ask, "Is it a monster?" If you didn't hear that over at the Main Stage I'll own up to liking Spice Girls right here, right now. No? Ha ha, I don't believe you.
Yup, it's a tremendous feeling to witness so many people adoring a song so much and singing so incredibly loudly back at its creators. Ooh, legs like jelly. Trembly.
The weekend wouldn't be the same without a spell over at the Main Stage, so with Feeder, The Streets and Arctic Monkeys playing back to back, well, what the hell, let's go for it. A quick fire round-up: Feeder do a Greatest Hits set and I love it; The Streets are a lot heavier than I anticipated, getting the audience to crouch down and jump an interesting sight, and generally, well, rocking out (although it's probably recommended just to avoid being bottled off stage); and the Arctic Monkeys, well, they conclude 2006 in style sounding just like you thought they would ("lazy writer" is probably what you're thinking right now, but on your next thought, yes that one, well that's what the Monkeys sounded like, *wink*).
Hmmm, I only catch the closing moments of "Staring At The Sun" by TV On The Radio but for what its worth it's incredible - 60 seconds of joy! I envy anyone that saw more. Although my timing appears appalling, I'm actually back at the Carling Stage for The Fratellis, who open with "Henrietta", a fun, bouncy slice of guitar pop reminiscent of those Britpop years. A party atmosphere quickly ensues as the audience respond to the Scots' indie-disco anthem with flag waving, dancing, singing. It's more of the same for the next twenty minutes until, as as with The View earlier, I conclude there's only so much you can take before you decide you want just a little bit more, y'know?
"Is this it?" a frequent thought, it ultimately forces me out into the torrential rain of an emotion-hungry, dark thunderous night...
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Post by Fuggle on Sept 1, 2006 8:33:15 GMT -5
Monkeys' starring role underlines rise to fame as Leeds Festival draws to close
Lucy Harvey
THE eighth Leeds Festival concluded last night with Sheffield's Arctic Monkeys helping to close proceedings in front of the biggest crowd in the event's history. The vast majority of the 70,000 strong crowd flocked to the main stage to see the chart-topping band perform. Their hour-long set, the last before headline act Muse, was a clear indication of their rise to fame. Last year the four-piece appeared on the second smallest stage at the same venue. It was the first time the Monkeys' newest member, Nick O'Malley, had performed in front of such a large local audience. Formerly with Sheffield band The Dodgems, O'Malley replaced former bassist Andy Nicholson who left the band earlier this year because of "fatigue". His performance was lapped up by the audience who were treated to more home-grown talent than usual. The Kaiser Chiefs led the way for Leeds bands on Saturday night, after being introduced by local DJ Chris Moyles with the help of Bolton comic Peter Kay, who made an unscheduled appearance on stage. Up-and-coming Leeds group The Pigeon Detectives also received a rapturous reception over the weekend while Little Man Tate and Bromheds Jacket were among those representing Sheffield. Organisers said they were particularly pleased to welcome US band Pearl Jam to the event at Bramham Park – the first time they had performed in Britain for six years and their first ever UK festival tour. A late downpour yesterday brought an unpleasant end to a generally fine day. The impending drenching produced an impressive rainbow which The Streets' Mike Skinner managed to incorporate into his popular set. Earlier in the day traffic caused significant problems on many routes leading to the event at Bramham Park, although buses taking revellers to and from Leeds city centre helped to alleviate some of the congestion.
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Post by Fuggle on Sept 1, 2006 8:35:44 GMT -5
CHEEKY MONKEY
Debbie Manley & Alice Walker 27 August 2006
ARCTIC Monkeys star JAMIE COOK was chucked out of the VIP bar at Reading - after trying to give his access-all-areas pass to pals.
Jamie, 19, was boozing with the rest of the band - the headline act last night - in the Carling VIP tent when he tried to get some friends in.
Our spy in the mud said: "He tried several times to throw his pass but because it was made of plastic it didn't go very far and kept landing the wrong side of the fence.
"Every time the bouncers looked at him he tried to disguise what he was doing but because he'd had a few drinks he wasn't making a very good job of it.
"It was hilarious to watch but security didn't see the funny side.
"They hauled him over and told him to get out. He left looking sheepish but after five minutes was back trying to get in again - and was told there was no way he was getting back in."
In the end the poor lad had to leave the other members of the group - ALEX TURNER, MATT HELDERS and NICK O'MALLEY - and slum it in the main guest area.
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Post by Fuggle on Sept 8, 2006 16:24:52 GMT -5
Mercury Winners Arctic Monkeys the Best of British? Think Again
By Mark Beech Sept. 7 (Bloomberg)
The judges of the U.K.'s Nationwide Mercury Prize were acclaimed Tuesday when they unexpectedly did the expected and honored the hot favorites, the Arctic Monkeys.
The Mercury judges have a history of trying to prove their ``cooler than thou'' credentials by selecting the obscure over the obvious. They played it safe -- too safe.
The Mercury aims to select the best of British or Irish music in any genre, including pop, classical and folk. The trouble is, ``Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'' (Domino) is just OK. For all the swagger of the Monkeys -- barely out of their teens -- it isn't the best album, not even the best rock album.
The men from Sheffield have good moments, such as ``I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor.'' The ``fantastic'' energy lauded by the prize doesn't excuse that other songs are dull.
The shortlist had more worthy choices. Muse's ``Black Holes and Revelations'' (Warner Bros) has greater ambition, with an opener, ``Take a Bow,'' that builds from a whisper to a guitar storm. It raises hairs on the back of the neck in the way the Monkeys don't.
Also on the shortlist was the debut by Editors, ``The Back Room'' (Kitchenware). Seriously impressive, heavy with meaning and Joy Division style bass, it's more enjoyable than you might think.
The Editors' local rivals from Birmingham, central England, the Guillemots, were listed for ``Through the Windowpane'' (Polydor). The CD fits the Mercury love for eccentricity and has a reservoir of inventiveness that extends to a 12-minute suite ``Sao Paulo,'' which sounds like Spiritualized or Yes updated for 2006.
Obscure and Overlooked
The rest of the shortlist included the obscure and the overlooked. If the judges had been looking for something off-the- wall, they might have backed, among others, Isobel Campbell's chilled ``Ballad of the Broken Seas'' (V2), Zoe Rahman's jazzy ``Melting Pot'' (Manushi), Thom Yorke's experimental ``The Eraser'' (XL) or Scritti Politti's resurgent ``White Bread, Black Beer'' (Rough Trade.)
Some even better titles weren't short listed. The debut by Kooks ``Inside In/Inside Out'' (EMI/Virgin UK) got eclipsed by all the Monkey business even though it is a better slice of Britpop.
I'd argue the shortlist should have included the Pet Shop Boys, Beautiful South, Snow Patrol, the Streets, Graham Coxon and Kate Bush.
The organizers say the prize focuses on the music, not sales or media exposure. One aim is to highlight ``albums which have escaped mainstream media attention.'' Yet the prize Web site notes that the Monkeys' CD was the U.K.'s fastest-selling debut.
Extra Sales
They hardly need publicity and don't even want the 20,000 pound ($37,860) prize, which they gave to charity. The likely extra sales are worth more, though some of the other nominees are in greater need. The Monkeys already scooped the 2006 Brit award for Best British breakthrough act.
The Mercury picked Dizzee Rascal over Coldplay in 2003; and Roni Size/ Reprazent's ``New Forms'' in 1997 over Radiohead's ``OK Computer,'' often cited in polls as among the finest rock albums. In 1999 the winner was Talvin Singh's ``OK,'' beating Blur's ``13.'' Last year, the Kaiser Chiefs and K.T. Tunstall were beaten by the New York-based Antony and the Johnsons.
Often the award has been a poisoned chalice: Pulp, Gomez, Suede and Franz Ferdinand failed to follow though on their success.
The Arctic Monkeys need to be free to develop naturally and may well record a great CD in time. So early in their careers, they do not deserve a Mercury millstone around their necks.
The CDs are priced from $16.98 in the U.S. and 9.99 pounds in the U.K.
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Post by Fuggle on Sept 8, 2006 16:27:31 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys favourites for MercurySeptember 5, 2006The Arctic Monkeys are even money favourites to scoop the Mercury Music Award on Tuesday for the best British album of the year, according to bookmakers. But the Sheffield band will have to see off strong contenders like the Guillemots and Richard Hawley, William Hill said. Editors, Muse and Sway are also on the shortlist for the annual awards, as is Thom Yorke, lead singer of Radiohead who went solo with "The Eraser". The Arctic Monkeys' "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" became the fastest-selling debut album in British chart history, with more than 360,000 copies sold in the first week. "Great songs astonishingly performed. Essential," the Mercury judging panel said of the record, which includes hits "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" and "When The Sun Goes Down". "Above all, this year's shortlist for the Nationwide Mercury Prize is about the art of the songwriter - if you want to know what life is like in Britain today, listen to the country's musicians," panel chairman Simon Frith has said. The prize has regularly courted controversy since it began in 1992. Seen as an alternative to the annual Brit awards, it has been criticised for ignoring breakthrough acts in a bid to maintain the element of surprise. In 1994, M People's "Elegant Slumming" beat competition from Blur's "Parklife", Pulp's "His'n'Hers" and The Prodigy's "Music For The Jilted Generation", to the consternation of the music press. Last year, Antony and the Johnsons won the top prize for "I Am A Bird Now". Lead singer Antony Hegarty, while born in England, has spent more than 20 years in the United States, raising questions about his eligibility for the prize.
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Post by Fuggle on Sept 8, 2006 16:30:29 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys turned away from clubsThu Sep 7 2006Alex, Jamie and Matt waltzed up to the Met Bar but got turned away by bouncers who said they looked too youngThe Arctic Monkeys may be the band of the moment, but they still can't manage to live the VIP lifestyle. The award-winning group, minus bassist Nick O'Malley were planning a night out on the tiles after winning The Mercury Prize, but got turned away from two clubs. Alex, Jamie and Matt waltzed up to London's Met Bar but got turned away by bouncers who said they looked too young. The lads had to show ID before the doormen realised their blunder and let them in. The Monkeys partied the night away with The Killers, Muse ands Jo Whiley until the early hours. Unfortunately for the baby-faced lads, this isn't the first time they have been dismissed by security. On Tuesday, the rockers couldn't even get into the Mercury Awards at Grosvenor House Hotel. They were escorted to the back door entrance rather than to red carpet.
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Post by Fuggle on Sept 12, 2006 9:45:04 GMT -5
Another old boy with Monkeys on his back
By Jim White (Filed: 11/09/2006)
According to the teenage musicologist in our household, there is only one creature in the known universe sadder than a middle-aged man expressing an enthusiasm for the Arctic Monkeys. And that, she said, as she thumbed through a Sunday supplement talking them up as the modern incarnation of Mozart, is a middle-aged man writing about how much he likes the Arctic Monkeys.
Quite where on the scale of saddery that leaves the middle-aged man writing about discovering the Arctic Monkeys some six months after everyone else has moved on to eulogising the Kooks has yet to be measured.
But the fact is, I have recently developed an affection for the Sheffield band. So much so that when they appeared on the Today programme last week following their winning of the Mercury Music Prize, I, unlike most of the listening public, who would have leapt across the room to turn the volume down, found myself singing along. Which is particularly sad on the 8.15 train.
"There's no trickery involved," one of the band explained to the Today audience. "It's just good tunes."
Good words, too. If not quite Leonard Cohen, anyone who rhymes "classic Reeboks" with "tracky bottoms tucked in socks" demonstrates a lyrical ingenuity beyond the reach of most pop performers.
Besides, by outing myself as an – albeit late – arrival on the Monkey bandwagon, I am in distinguished company. Gordon Brown recently revealed that he has the Monkeys on his iPod. Their music helps him, he said, wake up in the morning.
He needs a bit of power pop after a broken night attending to the needs of Little John and Wee Fraser and he finds that no one is better at freshening him up ahead of a day of internecine feuding – sorry, running the fifth-largest economy in the world.
Almost from the moment Mr Brown revealed his morning listening, it was scoured for significance. That's what happens with politicians' iPods; their contents are reckoned part of the armoury in building up the right image, and are thus assumed to have been carefully selected by focus group.
Though quite what George Bush's people were hoping to achieve when they revealed that his contains My Sharona by the Knack is hard to fathom.
Still, you imagine whole teams of advisers would have spent days in Notting Hill's pricier eateries preparing the contents of David Cameron's personal listening device as revealed on Desert Island Discs. Why on earth would he have claimed to listen to Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West) unless it was to demonstrate an ongoing commitment to Britain's small dairy producers?
My first thought was that the Chancellor's affection for the Monkeys was a PR concoction, dreamed up to prove that, far from being psychologically unsuitable, this was a modern, forward-looking PM-in-waiting.
My assumption was that the band was suggested by Ed Balls to give a notorious geek some hip credentials in his battle with Tony "I was in a rock band once" Blair.
And a smokescreen, too, to disguise the fact that his real choice of listening, as he stumbles bleary-eyed around Downing Street, is the Beatles' Taxman, with its many ideas for new policy initiatives: "If you drive a car, I'll tax the street / If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat / If you get too cold, I'll tax the heat / If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet."
But watching the events of the past few days unfold from my new perspective as a Monkeys aficionado, I am now not so sure.
In fact, I think the Monkeys, with their musical tales of urban disappointment and thwarted ambition, of mates who let you down and psychotic bouncers blocking the entrances of buildings that you are desperate to get into, would provide the perfect paranoid soundtrack to Mr Brown's past week.
Most of all, I can see him now, bouncing around Number 11 first thing in the morning, shouting through the walls at his neighbour the lyrics of the song When the Sun Goes Down: "What a scummy man / Just give him half a chance / I bet he'll rob you if he can / Can see it in his eyes that he's got a nasty plan."
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Post by Fuggle on Sept 12, 2006 9:48:03 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys Donate Mercury Prize Money To CharityWritten by Stereoboard.com Friday, 08 September 2006Arctic Monkeys have donated their £20,000 prize money for winning the Mercury Music Prize earlier this week to an un-named charity. The band released a joint statement, along with departed bassist Andy Nicholson, revealing the generous donation citing their reasons for giving up the money. The Sheffield band picked up the award on Tuesday night for their hugely successful debut album 'Whatever People Say I Am. That's What I'm Not'. The statement read: "We had a fantastic night and we're really chuffed with winning the award. It was unexpected but it means a lot to us as the competition was from other musicians we really respect. "We strongly believe in the ethos of the Nationwide Mercury Prize in that it is about the music and not everything else that goes with it and are therefore really flattered by the decision. "Regarding the £20,000 cheque, we are going to donate it to a worthy charity which we would prefer to keep private. We have discussed it with Andy, who played an equal part in the making of the album, and he is happy with our choice. "As for the near future, we are really looking forward to taking a break to continue writing our new album."
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Post by Fuggle on Sept 14, 2006 21:59:33 GMT -5
Arctic Monkeys Donate Prize Money2006-09-11 Story by: Alex BilligAfter being awarded the Mercury Prize last Tuesday, sales of the Arctic Monkeys' debut, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, nearly doubled in the UK's HMV music stores. Perhaps in response to their financial success, all four original band members have announced that they will be donating their prize money to an undisclosed charity. A statement from the band reads: "We had a fantastic night and we're really chuffed with winning the award. It was unexpected, but it means a lot to us, as the competition was from other musicians we really respect. "We strongly believe in the ethos of the Nationwide Mercury Prize in that it is about the music and not everything else that goes with it and are therefore really flattered by the decision. "Regarding the £20,000 cheque, we are going to donate it to a worthy charity which we would prefer to keep private. We have discussed it with [former bassist] Andy, who played an equal part in the making of the album, and he is happy with our choice. "As for the near future, we are really looking forward to taking a break to continue writing our new album."
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