Returning for another look at this newest of wee series on TVV, highlighting the run of singles released by The Fall on  Beggars Banquet  between 1984 and 1989. I said last time round and I will repeat it every time.....the Beggars Banquet singles are for the most part absolute classics.  The Fall you can easily dance to.  And they're all available (and have been since 1990) on one compilation CD called  458489 A Sides .  Oh and the B Sides were also brought together on one CD as well. Today it's the turn of BEG 116, originally released ...

A few weeks ago, Rapids">Grand Rapids released "Feels Like a Lifetime," the twangy, jangly, altogether unshakable A-side to the young Manhattan crew's forthcoming 7" on the Beggars Groups singles label Too Pure...

A lot of folk don't get The Fall .  I can understand why.  But this latest wee series on TVV, which looks at the run of singles they released on Beggars Banquet between 1984 and 1989, will lead to some folk dropping their prejudices. The period in question was a truly astonishing one for the band....not only did they knuckle down and have a real stab for mainstream success, but the live shows and everything else about them for a while stopped being shambolic.  This of course only upset the hardcore fans who had been around since the band ...

CMU : He told the paper: “We fear Universal’s acquisition of EMI . The mere fact that it controls 50% of the artists that media and retail want already gives them leverage other companies don’t have. [Adding EMI ‘s artists] obviously gives Universal more access, but it also gives other people less. When one party has the ability to be so dominant, it’s going to be difficult for anything outside the mainstream to come through”. He continued: “It [puts pressure] on the space on shop shelves and magazine front covers for less mainstream artists. Promotion is really the oxygen ...

you who have wandered this world and sampled its wheres i speak only silently you may not hear me over the pounding of the sea in its vessels the hawkers and sideshows the taverns by the shore full of drinkers beautiful women……? ah just behind the door…..yes…. i implore you to take a moment… the sun has dazzled your eyes these balmy climes intoxicate us it is easy to forget and drift away in some garden on a hill in some cenotaph in a lonely park in some bed in a white room the sun found sleeping in some ...

Martin Mills, founder/CEO of the Britain's Beggars Group, has been awarded the 2011 IMPALA Outstanding Contribution Award in recognition of his achievements in independent music. The Beggars Group includes labels XL Recordings, Rough Trade, Matador and 4AD and such artists as Adele, Vampire Weekend, Tyler The Creator and Radiohead. Label Love, an initiative to support labels hurt by the SonyDADC distribution centre fire in Enfield after last summer's London riots, was also recognized.

The semi-draconian piracy laws, from the ground up. Pitchfork : By the end of last week, both chambers of Congress had stepped away from the bills, leaving their fate in doubt. While it was easy to see the piracy debate in terms of us vs. them, small vs. big, or good vs. evil, the independent music community’s awkward position suggests a binary view is too simplistic. None of the labels we contacted expressed support for SOPA or PIPA . But most tended to say copyright infringement is a problem that needs to be solved—and that it demands a better solution ...

Like it or not, we live in a capitalist society, and one of the key theories behind this is that competition stimulates growth and improvement. Having a sector of the media controlled by one huge company is clearly bad for capitalism, but with Universal purchasing EMI’s recorded music division in a two billion dollar deal we’re about to see the music industry dominated by the result. Of course Universal won’t be the sole voice, but it will be absolutely huge, and able to dictate the way things, such as digital downloads, develop to an even greater extent ...

Fortune Teller is a documentary that evolves over numerous chapters. Unfortunately, it t ultimately feels like a tale of two films each film fighting with the other to have its unique voice heard. The aspect that ties the film together is Li Baicheng, a physically disabled fortune teller who is trying to maintain his lively hood in a Chinese culture where being a fortune teller is considered illegal by law. Director Xu Tong spends half of the film providing a frank look at Li Baicheng’s life and his daily struggle. The film really hits its emotional peak when Li ...

Sometimes when browsing I'll see something that I know I won't particularly like but am sure will go down well with some readers and so I will hand over some cash.  Such is the case with today's offering which I picked up for £3. It features The Merton Parkas , a band I only know of thanks to it being where Mick Talbot began his career.  You can see from the record sleeve that this was a band who firmly nailed their mast to the Mod movement which enjoyed a bit of a revival in the late 70s ...

CMU : We’ve never done a survey of the most admired music companies, but we’re pretty sure if we did the Beggars Group would be up there in the top five. Almost 35 years since its first release, it’s admired for having achieved success and scale without ever seeming to sell out, for its reputation of being a particularly artist-friendly label, and for simply for bringing so many great artists and albums to the world. Last night the artist and management community honoured the company’s founder and chairman Martin Mills by awarding him the first ever Industry ...

I would be remiss if I didn’t remind everyone about Robbie Sinclair and the Beggars Laughing show on Saturday night at Bohemia Café. Robbie, who grew up on Vancouver Island but has been living in Montreal for some time now since moving there to study music, put out a previous solo CD that I found [...]

Less than two weeks after the London Sony DADC warehouse fire that destroyed 3.25 million units of its stock, PIAS is back in business. Effective immediately, PIAS will partner with London-based Proper Music to resume distribution of the 150 labels affected, which includes Domino, Warp, One Little Indian, the Beggars Group, Matador, 4AD, Rough Trade and many others.

Montreal-based Robbie Sinclair and The Beggars Laughing take elements of folk, rock, funk, world music, and reggae, throw it in a high-speed blender, hit the “go” button, and what results is an epic sound that is at once indescribable and extraordinarily elegant all at the same time. I’ve been following Robbie Sinclair’s career for a [...]

Spiritual Beggars has issued the following statement about the band's Graspop performance and upcoming European festival appearances: "We had a blast playing Graspop this past weekend! This was our first European festival performance in many years, and the reaction was beyond great! Many thanks to all who checked out our show at Graspop! Hopefully we'll see some of you soon at the next three summer shows for the Beggars." 14.07.2011 - Lez' Art Scenique Festival - Selesat, France 22.07.2011 - Tuska Open Air - Helsinki, Finland 30.07.2011 - MetaLmorphosis Festival - Cyprus, Cyprus Footage of Spiritual Beggars performing ...