Virgin

I’ll set the scene,  you’re casually browsing the internet, sipping on a glass of Château Margaux, downloading the new Antoine Clamaran CD - when all of a sudden the internet has come to an abrupt end. No it’s not a network problem - this is France’s attempt at cracking down on illegal internet downloading.

When a web user is caught illegally downloading material, such as music, films or anything of that nature, under a controversial new French law (Hadopi) the user will first receive an email, then a registered letter and then finally his or her internet access will be cut off.  The ban is said to range from three months to a year.

French culture minister, Christine Albanel had this to say on the subject:

“The proposed law aims to curb (without claiming to be able to stop) illegal downloading, especially of music and films, and hence support artistic creation”

Suggested fines of up to 300,000 Euros and possible imprisonment have been dramatically decreased and the more realistic penalty for home users is now likely to be upwards of £100. A rather large price to pay for your favourite album, wouldn’t you say?

Figures of the music industry are, of course, in favour of supporting the new law, most probably because CD sales have halved in the past five years and sadly the decline is almost entirely because of illegal downloads.

Almost the entire senate voted in agreement to the law last October and it is set to be going ahead January of next year.

Twelve years playing together has given Perth band Gyroscope a lot of time to grow as musicians. Guitarist Rob reflects on how they have developed.

“We’ve grown as songwriters and arrangers and as players, you know.”

Things aren’t always perfect, but Rob explains that this is all part of the process.

“If you’re serious about what you do you pick up little mistakes. It might not be noticeable, it might just be you but you pick them up and iron them out and promise yourself you won’t do them next time.”

“You learn, that’s the best thing. All your mistakes you learn from.”

And one thing they have learned is that touring is an integral part of being in a successful band.

“Coming this far, eleven or twelve years with the band we know that’s how it works.”

“Without that touring formula there’s nothing. We started as a touring band and we’ll end as a touring band. The studio and all the other stuff is kinda the fun stuff in between.”

Getting older has made it more difficult to head out on the road for long periods, but Rob maintains that it’s still a necessary part of the job.

“It gets harder with age ‘cause you get older and get more attached to home, your family and friends, but fundamentally it’s the same thing as when you started touring that first time, when you were bright eyed and bushy tailed. You really wanted to get out there and you know that you have to do it because it’s promoting the songs you’re writing.”

The band cut their teeth negotiating the vibrant music scene in Perth. The “sort of mentality where it’s very eager and keen and competitive but healthy at the same time” and an environment that pushed the band to work harder.

“There’s a whole bunch of quality bands that are gigging week in and week out over here. You don’t have an industry type that’s breathing down your neck. We tend to just go hard until we’re ready to show the rest of the country or the rest of our peers what we’re about.”

“There’s not a lot of venues. Everyone’s competing for that dream to get over east. The eastern state bands might take that a bit for granted because that’s something they can do easily. That’s essentially what it is. We know we’ve got it hard so we go harder.”

For the next couple of months Rob says Gyroscope will be busy working on new material and keeping the touring to a minimum.

“Just a few festivals here and there on the weekends but apart from that we’re doing some writing.”

“We’ve got about ten demos at the moment. That’s where we’re sitting at the moment and that’s where we’ll be for the next few months until we get in there next year and record the album.”

Any new album brings with it new ideas, but Rob is unsure how it will all sound when they’re done.

“I don’t know yet man. It’s hard to say. It’s all sounding good though, very happy with it all.”

For more info, check out http://www.myspace.com/gyroscope

Words: Dan Clarke, Interview: Mikey Carr. Musicfeeds - Spanish for awesome!

I sometimes have a hard time figuring out whether fashion or music has helped me enjoy life even more. Is it that favorite Marvin Gaye record my grandmother use to play while I was a child? Or is it that hot summer in 1997 when i got my first pair of Chuck Taylor Converse? Both have changed my life in its own way… the two landscapes always connect back to each other if you ask me.

When fashion trends are made, they are made to be followed. When music is made it is made to be played over and over again. So since I couldn’t quite figure out which one is more important to society as a whole, I took to the streets of my nation’s capital, Washington DC, and did a fun questionnaire that I made up in 10 minutes… lol.

I gave my questionnaire to 10 random people - a lawyer, a business man, a fashion student, a homeless person, a McDonald’s worker, a nurse, an artist, a hustler, a 13 year old… and my mom!

1. Q: A FREE CONCERT or a SHOPPING SPREE?

A: 60% SHOPPING, 40% CONCERT

2. Q: Burn your CD COLLECTION or burn YOUR SHOE COLLECTION?

A: 70% CD, 30% SHOES

3. Q: MICHAEL JACKSON or MICHAEL JACKSON’S GLOVE?

A: 95% GLOVE, 5% MICHAEL

4. Q: Dinner with COCO CHANEL or dinner with ELVIS?

A. 50% COCO, 50% ELVIS

5. Q: IPOD or DESIGNER BAG?

A. 97% IPOD, 3% BAG

6. Q: AMERICAN IDOL or AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL?

A. 60% AI, 40% ANTM

7. Q: GREASE or BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S?

A. 90% GREASE, 10% BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S

…………………………………………………………………………

From these results it is still hard to determine what people really care more about. Everyone is split in half.

Anyway I had so much fun walking the streets of DC doing this questionnaire…

Thank you to all the participants who I promised would remain anonymous, except my MOM :)

I think some people take life too seriously. Whenever you feel like letting go just blast this on your iPod. I’m sure you will shake all those negative vibes off. NERD knows how to make the crowd go wow and I have had the pleasure to see these guys live. When I say amazing - I mean A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Here’s s a vid of NERD playing live at the 2008 Bape Show.

SPAZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Once dubbed ‘The Badboy of the Dance Scene’ Armand Van Helden is no stranger to controversy. Renowned for having an ego the size of Mount Everest a much calmer version sat down with Eleanor Conway of music.virgin.com to discuss his gay guy in the closet tendencies, why Estelle is so right, and his obvious similarities with Johnny Rotten.

Featuring videos from New York: A Mix Odyssey Part Two compilation. Released on Southern Fried Records — www.southernfriedrecords.com —

Catch more episodes of

Eleanor Conway Presents — music.virgin.com/author/eleanorconway

Suscribe: www.youtube.com/user/elleonline

Add her: myspace.com/elleuk

Leopard Lady has only one thing to say about Camille:

Please V Festival Organisers, make sure Camille is on the line-up for next year’s shows in Australia!!! PLEASE!

Watch this and find out more about the astounding Camille through her website here.

Please Note: She is touring heavily and Camille is in Australia early 2009… let’s all pray together that V Festival has added her to the list.

Leopard Lady was struck by the new video by Empire Of The Sun which actually equals The Sleepy Jackson frontman, Luke Steele plus Nick Littlemore of Pnau and Teenager (which also features Ladyhawk, btw).

The stunning filmclip was shot in Shanghai and directed by Josh Logue. Deliciously well done!

Check the MySpace for this super duo.

Some people may have been wondering what happened to Toni Childs. And Leopard Lady was one such person. What a delight it was when Ms Childs paid a visit to LL’s hometown of Brisbane. Not only did she bring with her new songs and the great songs she is known for (Dont’ Walk Away, House of Hope, Many Rivers to Cross) but she had a funked up band with stellar and mighty musos that was a genuine treat!Toni packed the house at The Tivoli with such a devoted crowd that the atmosphere was thick with love and adoration for this remarkable woman.

So….what did happen to Toni Childs? And what has she been doing for the past 10 years?

Well, in 1997 Toni came down with Graves Disease and was forced to take a hiatus from the industry and focus on getting well. She has now recovered and has used natural, alternative treatments through which she has developed a range of beauty products called Feminine Mysteries. She has also written a book entitled Living Beauty:The Alchemy of Acceptance and started a charity organization Dream a Dolphin. And now she has released her latest and long awaited album Keep The Faith. Toni Childs is seriously a woman of substance!

A deep connection is made with her audience while she performs her heart-stretching music and she has time for her fans after the show to chat, sign stuff and have a photo taken. Many people are emotionally thankful for what Toni has brought to their lives through her music. She is sure to impact many more with her other endeavours of goodwill.

The musical favour was returned to Ms Childs when she was serenaded by an impromtu choir with her Aussie hit, I’ve Got To Go Now. Hilarious yet quite touching.

Toni Childs returns to Australia late February 2009 for a tour with Jackson Browne. Keep yourself abreast of any Toni Childs happenings by visiting her MySpace .

Leopard Lady also captured her latest single One Life from her performance at The Tivoli. Watch it now on YouTube.

A pocket full of Glaswegian charm and on the cusp of stardom with the release of their new single ‘Wendy’ and hotly tipped album ‘Friday Night Lights’ later this month. Eleanor Conway chats to lead singer, Kev about his intergalactic dreams, sharing urinals at V Festival, and meeting David Gest down a dark alley.

EC: Hey, what you up to?

KS: Sitting reading my comics. We’re in the studio recording some b sides today…

EC: How rock and roll is the session? Going on a scale of one to ten. Is it non rock and roll, or is there drinking and topless girls dancing on the mixing desk?

KS: (laughs) We’re being very well-behaved today, we’re probably 2 or 3 on the rock-o-meter, we’ll probably phone in for some topless dancers later.

I don’t know if you’ve heard of an early record producer called Kim fowley a notorious maniac, he was producing a band in Manchester from LA on the phone, they were doing it live and so he called up a local Manchester brothel and ordered a bunch of prostitutes to come round and dance in the studio so the band would play better. I don’t think our manager Francis would actually do that but you never know.

(raucous laughing)

EC: You recently played at V Festival, how did it go?

KS: We were up against The Verve and Kaiser Chiefs, I was still surprised we got a crowd it was great. People came along to see us.

My favourite part was the backstage area you go to the toilet and you’re taking a piss next to Ricky of the Kaiser Chiefs, Richard Ashcroft would walk past you to take a dump. You’re like ‘what the hell is going on here!’

EC: Let’s talk about your latest single, ‘Wendy’, I’m assuming you are not talking about a cheap mode of habitation, such as a Wendy House, so who is this girl called Wendy?

KS: She’s a mixture of various girlfriends of all the guys in the band have had over the years. She’s a Frankenstein character to be honest, bits of different people all mashed together to make Wendy as you know her.

EC: If you were to make your ultimate girl, like in the movie ‘Total Recall’, where Schwarzenegger is in the chair and he designs a perfect girl, what would be yours?

KS: I’m always getting slagged off in the band as I go for small dark haired foreign girls.

EC: One’s that can’t understand you?

KS: Yeah, it means that my general inability to communicate with human beings isn’t a problem until they master English and I master their language.

And at that point they’ll dump me.

(laughing)

EC: Wendy has been remixed by The Fratellis along with The Vaselines, I’m a househead at heart, so I don’t really get the indie remixes. What did The Fratellis mix add to the orginal?

KS: We were kind of surprised, I suppose there’s an element that if you change the chords in somebody’s song it could be see as an insult, but it also takes a lot of balls. It worked, we were like, ‘fucking hell, we never thought of that chord’.

I’m a big dance music fan myself, I love getting the remixes, the more dancey ones. It’s kind of made me think I should get myself a sampler and start writing some German minimalist techno.

EC: You’re shocking me, this is like a genre crossover, you can’t do that.

KS: (laughs) I kind of grew up listening to indie and going to hardcore dance clubs at the weekend, it’s a strange dichotomy, one day we’ll hook up with Fat Boy Slim and come out with some wild dance stuff. That would be real cool.

EC: You actually supported Paul Heaton who was in the Housemartins with Fatboy Slim earlier this year didn’t you?

Maybe that’s a subconscious connection in my head. We did a short tour a couple of months ago, he’s the nicest guy in the world. I’ve never played with a main act who has said on stage, ‘this is our new single, if you don’t like it, go and buy Attic Lights new single’. I’m in awe of Paul Heaton.

EC: I watched a short film about you guys on YouTube. Kev, you were described as enigmatic, talented, hopeless, optimistic, hyperactive, an intelligent space cadet — now which do you relate with more?

KS: Colin calls me a hopeless optimistic all the time, Tim is always loathed to sit beside me on the tour bus because I’m totally hyperactive, and end up screaming at him and poking him and tickling him, so it depends what mood you get me in.

EC: Virgin are embarking on intergalactic space adventures, Virgin Galactic, if you were to go up to space, what is the one thing you would like to do? Pee, make love, or make music?

KS: That’s very difficult, because all three would have definite appeal.

I’m not sure actually, I’d genuinely love to go to space, it would be tremendous. In case my mum encounters this interview I won’t say make love in space, and making music in space would be quite good, but being a basic infant, I’d probably want to pee in space to see what happens.

EC: I agree with you, I’d probably do the same.

I generally dislike comparing artists to people that have been before, but you’ve been described by journalists and reviewers as the Beach Boys with distorted guitars, do you see that comparison yourself?

KS: I suppose it’s an easy thing to do, there’s part of me that’s like ‘you know we’re more than that’, and every band is more than their comparisons. When we started Attic Lights the idea was, we wanted Beach Boy melodies, uplifting yet slightly melancholy songs, we want loud guitars, coz we grew up with Weezer and the Pixies and stuff like that. So aye, it doesn’t bother us too much and I’m sure people will get a handle on it and make their own minds up.

EC: It’s been said that you guys love Glasgow, and I can’t remember which band member said they would love to work for the council if the opportunity arose. How good is Glasgow, and how much fun can I have for a tenner?

KS: It kind of depends on what you want…

(Noel boisterously shouting in background)

KS: (sternly) Noel, you can’t say things like that.

Noel is being extremely rude.

Colin said he actually worked for the council, much to the amusement of everyone else.

(Shouts to band) Colin you go out more than anyone else, what can you do in Glasgow for a tenner?

(shouting– musician styleeee ) A bottle of Buckfast, take it to the park or five white Russians at Nice and Sleazy, which is a pretty cool bar.

EC: Obviously as your success grows (fingers crossed) there will be big pull towards the smoke. Have you considered moving to London?

KS: Do you know what? It’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about recently. I think previously we’d been down in London on a regular basis, we thought London was a bit too big for us. Now I’ve fallen in love with London, it’s absolutely fantastic I just love going down, the architecture is amazing, the difference between Camden and Kensington and all that. Everyone that is a real music aficionados from the States, always talk about London bands, and the UK scene. There’s definitely kudos. I guess to people in London it’s not that amazing, I just love walking around Camden it feels like a really incredible multicultural mix. I’d definitely like to live in London, London is definitely one of the great cities of the world.

EC: Just before calling you I was looking at your video for ‘Bring You Down’ which weirdly has David Gest in it….. er why?

KS: It’s not ours. It’s a long story, I’ll give you the condensed version, it’s rather bizarre. Our tour manager, John, met David Gest on a flight from London to Glasgow. They ended up getting pissed and having a party back at John’s flat, he played Gest a version of our song and then phoned us to come round. Everyone’s hammered and David Gest is like (Kev adopts American/Glaswegian accent), ‘I’d like to do a monologue over this’. So we let him put a monologue over it, and he wanted to his own video to it as well. So it’s a bit weird isn’t it?

EC: It is, because the video features the ‘Small people of Davidland’ and ‘The Chinese girls with Herpes’, so my next question is, which would you like to meet down a dark alley?

KS: I’d go for the small people, as opposed to the girls with Herpes. I’m a bit of a hypochondriac, anyone with a disease I try to stay away from.

EC: What would the people of Attic Lights land look like?

KS: Good question actually, y’know you got me stumped, if they were anything like the band they’d probably be a mixture of hyperactive or stoned or confused. Basically like five headless chickens, because that’s what the band is like, but somehow we always seem to get things done though.

EC: With a little bit of Glaswegian charm I’m sure….

KS: We always put on the charming smiles, especially for lovely journalists like yourself.

EC: Excellent. Correct answer.

And on that note….. Attic Lights release their new single ‘Wendy’, and album ‘Friday Night Lights’ on 6/10 and 13/10 respectively.

Attic Lights:

http://www.atticlights.co.uk/

http://www.myspace.com/atticlights

Words: Eleanor Conway

www.elle-online.com

www.myspace.com/elleuk

“I changed my album to November something cause I finished the album and I felt like it, I want yall to hear it as soon as possible.” - Kanye West

I woke up this morning to see this on Kanye West’s blog. My hands shook in excitement!

After originally being scheduled for a December 16th release date, hip-hop superstar Kanye West is now planning to drop his highly anticipated fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak a month early.

I’m so excited for this album and I can’t wait to give you a review on it. Me and my good friend Shade F. are going to the CD signing…

But for the meantime check out his new single Love Lockdown.

Here’s a quick update:

Conde Nast Media Group announced today the following updates regarding New York Fashion Week’s most star-studded event:

Mary J Blige joins the line up and will duet with Usher. There will be further awesome duets from Fergie and Ludacris as well as Alicia Keys and Santana…

Presenters will include Jessica Alba, Mischa Barton, Teri Hatcher, LeAnn Rhimes, Denis Leary, Sean “Diddy” Combs, 50 Cent, Sean Lennon, Irina Lazareanu, Tyra Banks, Emily Proctor, Kimora lee Simmons, Michael Kors, Francisco Costa, Tommy Hilfiger and Max Azria.

The most important part of the entire concert: a portion of the proceeds from this year’s Fashion Rocks will go towards Keep A Child Alive (KCA). KCA is working to help overcome the AIDS crisis in Africa and the developing world. Check their website for more info.

The show will be hosted by Jeremey Piven from TV show Entourage and, as well as those promised dutes, will include performances from AeroSmith, Avril Lavigne, Carrie Underwood, Chad Kroger,  Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Lopez, Maroon 5 and Martina McBride.

The concert will be at Radio City Music Hall on September 6 and will be on TV the following night on CBS.

Check back for my review on the performances!

See anna - back from the fjälls’ Flickr photostream for more Mary J Blige photos

Ladyhawke looks good on paper, a hot, multi-talented chick with camera happy appeal, wielding a highly strung guitar as the crotch level musical sword it is. Hot on the trail are a mob of followers waiting to be knighted by this mop of feline, fringed, feistiness, wrapped up with tight songs, a tight look, and a tight band - you would imagine this to be a perfect combination. However, this sweet as candy combo wasn’t enough to ignite the flame coloured walls of Koko at the Kiwi tinged Endeavour event last weekend. Firstly, the sound engineer broke every law of sound engineer/ knob twiddling school. Muddy sound and inaudible vocals were on course, only to straighten out for ‘The Checks’ set immediately after.Riding high on the success of ‘Paris is burning’ she is hot on the tip of the release of her debut solo album later this month— imaginatively entitled ‘Ladyhawke’. Named after ’80’s fantasy Rutger Hauer movie ‘Ladyhawke’, stylistically, Pip Brown looks like a cross between Stevie Nicks and Blondie. LH is no pushover, having been indoctrined into music at age eleven and mastering the same number of instruments. So with this and a crowd full of Kiwi homeboys in mind, one could not help feeling a tad dissapointed at her lack of stage presence at Koko on Saturday, she didn’t command the stage like we all wanted her to.

I’d like to use this opportunity to bring up the personal issue of having to endure ‘unknown track foreplay’, which is an annoying wait for the catchy first single at the end of the set, a condition that oddly became obsolete with Michael Stipe favourites and Ian Broudie produced headliners, ‘The Checks’, who owned the stage like an over zealous stage pimp. Stomping all over Koko’s boards, like a antipodean Jolly Green Giant– top shirt button done up all proper. They owned the venue and the crowd giving a world class, electrifying performance (they’ve toured with REM, Maximo Park, The Cribs), as well as converting (me) non Checks believers into believing they’re the best NZ band in the world.

Word.

Ladyhawke—- Check out ‘Paris s’enflamme’ - it’s Ladyhawke in French and it’s tres belle.

Words: Eleanor Conway

www.elle-online.com

www.myspace.com/elleuk

Once again I was browsing MySpace and found a VERY unique group by the name of Steed Lord. M.E.G.A, Kali, Demo and A.C. Banana$ make up the unique group from Iceland. Their sound is very electro/house/crunk/techno.
Check them out: http://www.myspace.com/steedlord

Leave feedback…

Okay, on the cusp of going off to watch my fringed up sista’ Ladeee hawk this Saturday at the marvellous Koko’s in olde Camden Tawn (of which I will talk more of on Monday) I though I would regail you of my top five gym accompanying toons (in no particular order) of the week.

5. Pin Me Down ‘Cryptic’= dancefloor meets indie wannabees……. If you like Justice’s vs Simian ‘We are your friends’, you’ll like the ‘Phones materialization remix.

Click to view

4. The Black Ghosts (Anyway you choose to give it)

A song to get down and dirty to.

Click to view

3. The Tender Box ‘Mister Sister’– Hot off their well received tour of the UK last year, these LA favourites display annoyingly catchy wordsmith ………….. ‘whooooooooo’.

The Tender on Last Call with Carson Daly

2. Imani Coppola ‘I’m A Tree’. Early promo single from ‘Little Jackie’s’ feisty frontwoman Imani Coppola.

Click to view

1. Ladyhawke - Fabulously fringed frontwoman’s debut ‘Paris is Burning’ written after a bender gone wrong, in Paris. Funnily enough.

Click to view

New single from said fringe sporter ‘Dusk Til Dawn‘ available Sept 15th. It’s not as good.

Check out Christoph!’s Flickr photostream for more Ladywhawke pics

I wanna first start off by saying thank you for all the support. Thanx treadmillin.com and lateboots.com for linking music.virgin.com! And to all my friends who stay up countless nights voting for me… I LOVE YOU!

My friends JD, Malcolm and Kyle are definitely making a name for themselves in the Maryland, D.C. and Virginia area. These young fellas not only have their own clothing line, H*E*S*B, but they also have a successful blog. Everyone knows them in the DMV. I call them the “local celebs”…lol. They are attending college, becoming young businessmen and they are always focussed and confident in everything they do.

As I was browsing MySpace I noticed that they their music taste is outstanding - from hip-hop to acoustic. Music isn’t just lyrics and a beat - it can also be fashion. I believe fashion speaks through the type of music you listen to. H*E*S*B’s inspiration comes from all different aspects of life and their designs are amazing. I only see big things in there future and I wish them nothing but success and my gratitude goes out to them for all the support that they are giving me and this website.

Check them out! www.hesb.blogspot.com

Who knows you might even be wearing there clothes one day ;-)

Is it even possible to condense the amazing spectacle that is the V Festival in to a headspinning one minute film? Small enough to take in one gulp but big enough to satisfy your craving for the sights and sounds of one of this year’s best UK music festivals. Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in Chelmsford, the planet V is blue and there’s nothing we can do… Go on - give it a try - it’s the perfect cure for that post-festival comedown. Ease it down with a glass of water or crunch it up in a spoonful of jam if it helps. Just remember, if you really love VFest you won’t spit - you’ll swallow.

“Girls Aloud are like the radio crack cocaine of the pop world” Eleanor Conway

So if you are one of the many V Festival goers that were more interested in the surreal goings on in the midst of the white stilleto clad Essex countryside than the walk through the variants of traditional British music, then look no further. Here’s my memo:

ELEANOR’S MEMO: Battle of the Girls bands - The Girls V The Babes

Quiz:

Question: Who would win in a gangsta’ street fight between Girls Aloud or The Sugababes?

Answer: No contest. Harding could remove your left ear lobe with one chop of her Topshop card.

Right, with more changes than a teenager in a Primark changing room let’s discuss the Sugababes.

Sugababes discernibly have the edgier pop repertoire and the writing credits. Fact. However, they looked somewhat lost on the JJB stage last weekend at V Festival Chelmsford, even the three dancers on the back stage, subconsciously placed to beef up the area were lacking. The Babes’ set included ‘Round Round’, ‘Hole in the Head’, and ‘Freak Like Me’. The latter two, showcased newcomer Amelle as the star she could be, before she’s barely had time to learn her lyrics (they’re written on the back of her hand should anyone ask).

Girls Aloud played the main stage on the blistering Sunday afternoon, and their set included ‘Sexy no, no, no’, ‘Call the shots’, ‘Jump’ and ‘Love Machine’ of which Harding could well have been mistaken for a blond, white Grace Jones. The rest of the motley crew were bouncing between sharps, flats and notes that didn’t make my grade nine piano test, but that didn’t dampen V’s spirits. And to be honest, watching the spread of middle aged dads gravitating towards the stage, seeing Girls Aloud live is not really about vocal prowess, as any disciple of the Stock, Aitken and Waterman clan would attest to. Although Girls Aloud procured mixed reviews from V Festival goers, they somehow always look more cohesive on stage. Whether if it’s the carefully crafted superhero identities or the skin tight leather, I’ll leave that up for you to decide. All that can be said aloud is that the girls have come a long way, since their appearances on Popstars, a time when Nicola Roberts looked positively brunette.

While the Babes have the qualitative, meaty sound, Girls Aloud are like the radio crack cocaine of the pop world. One quick hit, you’re left mouthing the name, on the hunt for another. The Sugababes always profess of their writing involvement, while Girls Aloud are unashamedly written for by pop pimp writing team, ‘Xenomania’, (a cross between a photocopier and a Peter Andre single.) However one can’t help wonder whether Girls Aloud have got it right with the magic number of five, or if the Sugababes would do better to put an ad down the Hendon job centre and hope that Mutya isn’t doing ought.

If you found this post vaguely amusing/offensive/bland/rubbish (delete as appropriate) please vote………

Your humble servant. Love, Elle xxx

Disclaimer: I have neither taken or passed my Grade nine piano exam.

If ever there was an event awash with ropey media perceptions, surely it’s the spiffy festival we call V.

Last weekend played host to my first ever V, arriving to Chelmsford expecting to dodge cartoon-sized hampers, happy-go-lucky families, tee-total teenagers, and a sickly plethora of pop, all thanks to an indie rag’s festival guide.

However, within minutes of kicking off a tent-pitching session I discovered the V crowd were a leery, cheery, beery bunch not a million miles away from some of my beloved festival crowds.

From then on it was a sure-footed leap into the arena for a live line-up apropos of today’s top notch music offerings. Next year’s diary will undoubtedly have mid-August marked with a big, red, tick-shaped V.

The weekend’s stories and encounters were appropriately caught on film, but the upcoming Reading Festival throws a proverbial spanner in the editorial works. In the meantime nurse the painful wait with this video postcard, which also delineates my V discoveries.

Do check back soon for more of this sort of thing.

“Probably the most contrived way to organise a duty free booze run ever” ELEANOR CONWAY

Ok, so V Festival was full of celebs and stars of which I’m sure my fellow VPass peeps will confirm in a global manner. But what about the real stars of the show?

Yep. The dooods paying the cash. To pay the organisers. To pay the stars.

Bring it on crowd stylee.

Please enjoy the first video installment of VPass Ambassador Campaign: ‘Eleanor Conway needs to go global… V Festival Video’. Where topics such as what would you do if provoked by a rampant Wino in it’s natural habitat?

Forget the celebs, we meet Lord Chop A Lot, Barbara Streisand, The Elephant Head Of Doom and many, many more……

If you like my style, PLEASE vote my posts http://music.virgin.com/author/EleanorConway/

Cheers

Elle x

http://www.myspace.com/elleuk/

http://www.elle-online.com/

Red is the colour of blood, danger and stopping. Neither of which was on show at this weekend’s V Festival extravaganza. After being touched by death by a certain reality star (the thought of which sends shivers through my puritanical soul) and touched by several boughts of musical genius throughout the two day trip through popular culture, I just wanted to let you know that a video of the first round of my Global VPass political campaign will be up soon. A masseev big up to all the people that promised me their votes and chipped in with insightful nuggets of the weekend. The tabloids maybe full of the Coleens and Hardings of this world but essentially the event was totally made up of you guys and would not have been the same without you…… elle x

Keep voting for me and checking music.virgin.com for my updates, as well as my myspace.com/elleuk. Word.