Sour Alba

I like to see former colleagues thrive, especially the decent ones. So it is with great pleasure that I note that Swimmer One have released a video to go with their new single. The group comprise Andrew Eaton - arts high heid yin at the dear old Hootsmon - and Hamish Brown (pictured left) - for a long time a fellow galley slave at the once good ship scotsman.com. They’re both damn good blokes and far too talented to be doing what they’re currently doing so I hope their very slick videos propels them and their soulful pop to musical world domination. Here’s the video and after you’ve watched why not buy their album Regional Variations? Just £7.99 on iTunes.

This from Popbitch:

Rumours abound that the print version of the NME is to be closed, leaving the 55-year-old music paper as a web-only operation. Time for NME.com to launch some more eye-catching stunts like their campaign to “right a historic wrong” by getting the Sex Pistols’ re-released God Save the Queen to number one. It entered the charts at… number 42.

Interesting to see if this is true. (EDIT: It seems this is NOT true. As you will see from the comment from Anna Gawan below, the Popbitch homepage is carrying a comprehensive apology for the above.) It would be a desperate measure. While the New Musical Express would lose printing and distribution costs it would also lose print ad rates, which are only - ooh- a gazillion times higher than online ones.

Having said that, what’s the future for a print publication covering the music business? Must be a bummer being a product in a struggling industry which focuses on a dying industry.