Aftershow pictures featuring Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Gwyneth Paltrow, Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z are here

Whilst industry heads have been ringing all of their contacts, eBay auctions have been inundated with bids, RWD had what they were all after, tickets to the UK music event of the year. And we ain’t talking MOBOs. Fast forward one week and the same historic venue hosted the biggest name in hip hop as he brought the UK leg of his world tour to a dynamic close.

Jay-Z was to be the first hip hop artist ever to headline a night at the world famous Royal Albert Hall since it’s opening in 1871. And last night the grade 1 listed building was shook from its very foundations to its dome peak.

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Oasis' heir apparent: British band is set on conquering North America

Tom Meighan is talking about the difficulty for British bands in breaking through in North America. I know this because that's explicitly what I asked him about. If I were going only on what's coming out of his mouth, it would be a little trickier to figure out.

"It's really hard, man," Meighan says. "Unless you're fucking Coldplay or U2 and wanna fuckin' have sex with whatever, like Bono does for world peace or whatever, it's just really so difficult."

At least, I think that's what Meighan says. Complicating matters is that he has quite possibly the world's thickest northern English accent, and that he talks extraordinarily quickly, punctuated by sudden bursts of raucous laughter. To make matters worse, he's on a very shaky cell phone -- in the rain -- in New York City. At one point, I'm pretty sure that he goes on an extensive search for an umbrella ("where's my brolly?"), but I could be wrong.Even when he's barely intelligible, however, one thing is clear: The lead singer of Kasabian absolutely loves his job.

In the grand tradition of Oasis, with whom they've toured and to whom they're often billed as heirs apparent, Kasabian arrive on North American shores with limitless quantities of bravado -- largely manifested in a willingness to slag other acts. Justin Timberlake, Meighan recently pronounced, is "a midget with whiskers who is just trying to be black." And when the Rolling Stones handed Kasabian a coveted opening spot, they were rewarded by Meighan branding them as "granddads" who "should be drinking cups of tea in their armchairs."

There is a difference, though, between Meighan and curmudgeonly Noel Gallagher -- or, for that matter, most other British acts that have ventured across the Atlantic. For most, treks across North America playing to crowds a fraction of the ones back at home are one i terminable downer -- so frustrating that they head home vowing to stay as far from this continent as possible, if the band members are even talking to each other by that point.

Wandering around New York in the rain, though, Meighan -- who insists that his volleys at other bands are only "tongue in cheek" -- is a kid in a candy shop. "I find it amazing," he enthuses. "I mean, we're starting again from the beginning. You know, Britain, we're doing brilliant. But over here, it's fresh, and you've still got a lot of f---ing work to do. And I don't give a damn about the f---ing Strokes [note for rock feud connoisseurs: He might have actually said "Stripes"], you know what I mean? We want to come here as a British band and conquer the place, you know, being British."

Being British is perhaps what Kasabian does best. Combining the druggy electro-rock of early '90s Madchester with the flair of equally druggy mid '90s Britrock, they produce a high-testosterone (and extremely druggy) hybrid to warm an anglophile's heart.

This, of course, is not entirely unusual; in one form or another, British bands have made handsome careers playing off their musical forefathers. But what's made this work for Kasabian, who celebrate yesterday's release of sophomore album Empire with a sold-out show at Toronto's Phoenix, is not so much music as attitude.

True, they've shown a knack on both their albums for writing killer singles (Club Foot and L.S.F. on their debut and Empire's title track), and their latest disc shows a welcome diversification of their sound -- including a stellar ballad in the form of British Legion. But Kasabian's real secret is that, more than most of their contemporaries, they play the role of unabashed rock stars to perfection.

Case in point is the video for Empire -- an insanely high-budget spectacle starring Meighan and his bandmates as soldiers in some sort of Napoleonic battle scene. "No band's making videos like that," he assesses. "It was in Romania. It was about 90 degrees -- I was sweating like f---. But we had a great time doing it. It was a long day, but in the end it was a little masterpiece. We all look great as well, man." Lest you think Kasabian are more confident in their looks than their music, Meighan is only too happy to correct you. "We went into the studio as more of a band than we did before, when we were sitting around looping things in a stony, hazy kinda feel," he says. "For this new record, we kind of woke up from that smoking weed kind of thing, and it's the next stage. We've left the psychedelic haze behind -- we're more champagne and Rolls Royces now."

That time, I was pretty sure that's what he said. It's quite possible he's practised that line, and well he should. If Kasabian ever turns earnest, Britrock will be a lot less fun.

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Shares in EMI Group gained as much as 7.1 percent on Wednesday following a report that Warner Music Group Corp. was preparing a new bid to buy the world's third largest music company.

The Times, citing unnamed investors, said Warner Music's Chief Executive Edgar Bronfman had targeted the group's shareholders and emphasised the benefits of a future tie-up during a visit to London earlier this month. "He is not thought to have discussed a specific future bid for EMI," the report said.

EMI's shares increased 18 pence to 270.5p in earlier trading before paring the gains to trade at 262p by 10:13 GMT (11:13 a.m. British time), a 3.8 percent rise from Tuesday's close. The company is home to artists including Robbie Williams and Coldplay, while Warner Music, the smallest of the four major music companies, is behind Madonna and Gnarls Barkley.

The Times said Bronfman was thought to have spoken to Fidelity, which holds a 7 percent stake in EMI, as well as Aberdeen Asset Management and some hedge funds.

Warner Music and EMI declined to comment.

Earlier this year Warner Music was locked in a $4.6-billion (2.4-billion-pound) takeover battle with EMI, with each company trying to buy the other, but hopes of a deal were quashed in June when a European court annulled approval of the 2004 merger of Sony Corp.'s <6758.T> Sony Music and Bertelsmann's BMG.

The ruling cast doubt on whether an EMI-Warner deal would get regulatory clearance, and the companies abandoned talks until there was more clarity from competition regulators.

The Times, however, said Bronfman was optimistic about getting approval from European officials.

AM : Do you think you’ve started something of a trend ? Other musicians have turned their hand to classical music like Elvis Costello ; Sting is about to release an album of lute music and Chris Martin from Coldplay has said that when he’s 40 he wants to go college to study classical music.

PAUL : I can sympathise with Chris Martin because when I’d written Eleanor Rigby in the 1960s I was excited by the idea that this wasn’t a band it was actually just string players. For ’Yesterday’, I had a string quartet and George Martin helped me. I’d go round to his house and I’d show him the chords and he would re-voice them for a quartet. In rock’n’roll I would play within one octave, but classical composers in the past would voice it. George would give me little tips on those sorts of things and we’d have fun moments. On ’Yesterday’ George was taking chords down from me and looking at the voicing of them and there was one little bit where I wanted a seventh and George said ’a classical composer wouldn’t do that’ and I said ’all the more reason to do it, stick it in, come on.’ We had nice little experimental moments like that. About the time of Eleanor Rigby I did have this image of myself in a kind of tweed jacket with patches on the elbows and a pencil and some manuscript paper and I thought that’s what I’ll do. That’s what I’ll do when The Beatles runs out.’

Read the full interview here

In may our children's primary school in Islington, inner north London, held a fund-raiser. This was no bingo night.

In a celebrity auction of "time and talents", Coldplay singer Chris Martin agreed to visit a family's house and play a song or two on their piano. A family paid £5000 ($A12,500) for the privilege.

The school was able to put Martin under the hammer because his business manager has a child there. So does Labour's Schools Minister, Lord Adonis, who offered a tour and cup of tea at the House of Lords. That was bought by the night's auctioneer, Tory MP and former Spectator editor Boris Johnson, also a parent at the school. His little cross-party joke cost £5000.The night provoked snorts of derision in the national press - Islington is often lampooned as the home of media types, chattering classes and so on - but it raised a whopping £43,000. It also showed the school's great divide. Half the parents have amazing cultural capital; many of the rest could not have afforded the £10 entry fee.

In Islington, "half the people are very rich and the other half are on benefits, and there's no one in between", says our neighbour, a senior executive at the borough council. He exaggerates, but not by much. It is one of the most socially diverse boroughs in Britain. And in some respects it reminds me of the inner suburbs of Melbourne.

About a quarter of Islington's population is non-white. It was well-heeled in the 19th century, declined in the 20th and began gentrifying in the 1980s. It has great disparities of wealth: mansions that hold a family of four stand near council housing estates that hold 400. Its main street, Upper Street, is choked with cafes and restaurants. It is Fitzroy on steroids.

Of course, Fitzroy's racial make-up is different and the income divide not as great. And inner London retains a sizeable white working class so the link between ethnicity and income is not neat, though they often converge. The main parallel is that about a quarter of south Fitzroy's population is in public housing. If not for that housing, real estate in inner Melbourne and Islington is now so expensive that both areas would be ethnically almost uniform and virtually all middle class.

Low-income housing exists across London, even in posh areas such as Bayswater and Chelsea. It is one of the city's most striking features. But leaving aside platitudes about the joys of diversity, does mixing do anyone any good? Does an integrated neighbourhood give people of all classes and colours a better life?

Once I would have unhesitatingly said yes. But living here, I see that however close they live to each other, the classes don't mingle. In our street, the well-off and low-income homes keep to themselves (public housing includes many single houses as well as estates). And while there is some mixing at our school, children, sadly, tend not to cross class lines.

Still, a case can be made that integration works better. Recent research suggests that both high rates of outmarriage among British Afro-Caribbeans (50 and 35 per cent for men and women respectively) and a growing propensity to live in integrated neighbourhoods, are improving rates of social mobility.

Conversely, reports identified deep-rooted segregation in the northern cities of Bradford and Oldham as the cause of race riots in 2001.

Over in Marseilles, there were almost no riots last year, while the suburbs of other French cities burned.

Marseilles is poor but unusually well integrated. It has known migration for longer than much of France. And, according to the New York Times, because it is bounded by hills that are hard to build on, low-income housing has had to be mixed into the existing city, not pushed to the fringe as it has been elsewhere in France.

These snippets alone do not make the case for integration.

Observer columnist Nick Cohen said our school's auction exposed Islington's "educational apartheid," side by side but apart. But if nothing else, the funds raised will go to an IT centre for the benefit of all students. The money is going into the state system.

At the end of primary school, though, apartheid really kicks in. Most middle-class children leave the area, for private or selective state schools. The working class is stuck in local high schools with Blackboard Jungle reputations.

Academics argue furiously about whether segregation is growing in Britain. There are certainly worrying signs, especially in Pakistani communities in the north.

Yet the picture is complicated. London is becoming one of Europe's most racially mixed cities. It was evident in the faces of the dead and of the people who mourned them after last year's bombings. That extraordinary mingling was an answer, people said, to the separateness that helps to produce terrorism.

Of course, the new diversity masks older divisions. While the global middle class of all colours mixes increasingly comfortably with itself, Islington and Fitzroy suggest that wealth - perhaps even more than race - remains the big chasm.

Research by geographer Mike Poulsen shows that Australian suburbs may be the least ethnically segregated in the West. But the wealth divide grows by the day.

One or two British cities have started school twinning programs, to mix children of different backgrounds for some activities. It is a good idea, albeit a small one.

While education remains the best hope for integration, increasingly divided school systems show how much we stand to lose.

Source: http://www.theage.com.au

Most people these days think of iPod as the coolest gadget on earth. But according to analysts digital music player is losing its sheen.

Most people these days think of iPod as the coolest gadget on earth. But according to analysts digital music player beloved of everyone from Coldplay's Chris Martin to President George Bush, is losing its sheen, writes David Smith, technology correspondent of the Guardian newspaper in his recent article.

Smith says that iPod sales are declining at an unprecedented rate and that Apple's signature pocket player with those white earphones may simply have become too common to be cool. This is a great news for Creative Technology, which recently introduced many cool MP3 players including the Creative ZEN Vision W portable video, photo and MP3 gadget.

Source: http://www.digitaljournal.com

It was always one of the more unlikely passions in politics. But Gordon Brown's famous love of Arctic Monkeys, the Sheffield band who became an overnight phenomenon, is apparently not what it seemed.

Put on the spot by a men's magazine, the Chancellor proved unable to name a single track from their debut album beyond insisting that 'they are very loud'.

And he confessed his favoured listening was actually Coldplay - the band music aficionados love to despise for their middle-of-the-road sound, described by Oasis's manager Alan McGee as 'music for bedwetters'.The Arctic Monkeys debacle represents the first real snag for the much-touted Project Gordon makeover, supposed to rebrand the Chancellor as a softer, more engaging character en route to Number 10. Along with the lilac ties and family snapshots of Brown with his two boys has even come a new warmth to colleagues: he recently telephoned a string of junior ministers in the aftermath of the coup against Blair, dishing out his phone number and inviting them to call him any time.

Among the favoured were James Purnell and Liam Byrne, both previously close to Blair, and both part of a policy review announced by Downing Street last week. 'Gordon called James and said he was delighted he was part of the review,' said a source familiar with the conversation. 'The tone was very warm, and he gave him his telephone number to use whenever he had issues he might want to discuss.'

The most startling step of all in his makeover was his interview with New Woman magazine, which earlier this summer reported the Chancellor saying that Arctic Monkeys 'really wakes you up in the mornings' and that he loves Pop Idol. Newspaper reports that he sprang out of bed listening to the band on his iPod followed. But according to an interview with this month's GQ, that was all a misunderstanding.

Asked if he really liked the band, the Chancellor responded: 'You've got to laugh, because actually I was asked did I prefer Arctic Monkeys to James Blunt (of 'You're Beautiful' fame), and I think I said I'd prefer Coldplay. But I made a joke that Arctic Monkeys would certainly wake you up in the morning. So, I mean, I've heard Arctic Monkeys and they're very loud.'

Pressed on his favourite track, the Chancellor could only say: 'Well, I mean, I have got them. But they are very loud.'

Brown does own an iPod - his wife bought it for him - but it is said to contain largely speeches, including Bob Geldof's famous four-letter tirade at Live Aid, and classical music.

The Chancellor is on more comfortable ground in an interview today with BBC1's The Politics Show, for which veteran political reporter Jon Sopel followed him to New York last week. In that he defended the special relationship but cited differences with the Bush administration over the post-war redevelopment of Iraq, adding: 'We should have done more about the economic development of Iraq. We have made our views known... I, as someone who look as at economies and looks at what might have happened, know that we could have done that better.'

Sources close to him said Brown had challenged the White House over what he saw as too much focus on rebuilding the oil industry rather than examining measures to help communities return to normal. Gordon was very critical about, "Why are we just concentrating on getting the oil supplies running? Why haven't we done this in a way that we did the economic recovery plan in Europe (after the war)?"' said one.

Brown also denied in the interview, broadcast today, that he had demanded a public endorsement as Blair's anointed successor at the height of the crisis between them, adding: 'The discussions were actually about how I wanted Tony to be able to make his own decisions in his own way.'

However he failed to condemn Tom Watson, the ex-minister personally close to him who resigned after signing a letter encouraging Tony Blair to clarify his departure date. Asked if Watson was disloyal, Brown said only: 'He probably, reflecting on it, may wish to change his mind.'

'Project Gordon' will continue next week with the launch of a book of Brown's collected speeches, plus endorsements from figures like Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan.

Source: http://politics.guardian.co.uk

Access Hollywood's Billy Bush sat down with Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow on Wednesday to talk about her new life as a mom and why she turned to the bible to name her son.

"Moses is a big name to live up to," Billy said. "Well, I think he's the man to live up to it," Gwyneth smiled. "When we were pregnant with Apple, if she was a boy, she would've been named Moses. We just always had the name."

Gwyneth shared why she and her husband of almost three years, Coldplay's Chris Martin, were set on naming their now 5-month-old son Moses long before he was ever born. "Moses to me is just such an amazing name. Plus, he was born on the holiest Sabbath of the year, which is the Saturday before Passover. And he was born at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York," she explained.

Read the full article here

Gwyneth Paltrow insists her five-month-old baby boy was destined to be named Moses after a series of striking coincidences.

The Shakespeare In Love star and her husband Chris Martin realised the iconic name could be a potentially hard one to live up to.

She explains, "I think he's the man to live up to it! When we were pregnant with (daughter) Apple if she was a boy, she would have been Moses. "He was born on the holiest Sabbath of the year and he was born at Mount Sinai hospital in New York - and it was my father's Hebrew name. "We just always had the name. Moses is just to me such an amazing name."

Source: contactmusic.com

Music to Your Ears May Leave Ringing for Years - Clarity and The Ear Foundation Work to Prevent Noise-Induced Hearing Loss

Whether we’re blasting car stereos, rocking out at concerts or lying around the pool listening to our MP3 players, music, particularly loud music, is a staple of the American way of life. However, most people are unaware that by indulging in these high volume pastimes they may be irreversibly damaging their ability to hear.

In recent years, musicians like Sting, Pete Townshend and Neil Young have admitted experiencing varying degrees of hearing loss due to high music volumes. Although their public acknowledgments highlight the threat posed by concerts and loud music, many Americans continue to subject themselves to deafness-inducing volumes. Fortunately, many musicians - like ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons - are now more conscientious about protecting their own hearing health and that of their fans. "From the beginning, we played just about as loud as we could; that’s just part of the essence of rock ‘n roll, isn’t it? But there did come a day when the realization dawned that maintaining one’s hearing is important and how exposure to high decibel sound levels puts things at risk," explained Gibbons. "Taking precautions to minimize exposure to extremely loud sounds is critical for both artists and audiences, alike."

According to a 2004 Hearing Loss Study conducted by Clarity, a division of Plantronics, Inc. (NYSE: PLT) and the nation’s leading supplier of amplified telephones (www.clarityproducts.com), and The Ear Foundation, 51 percent of respondents who reported difficulty hearing blamed their hearing loss on exposure to loud noises either on the job or from recreational activities and hobbies.

"It’s unfortunate that so many musicians and vocalists have lost their hearing because of their livelihood," said Suzanne Wyatt, executive director of The Ear Foundation. "We can only hope their experiences will encourage the average American to take extra precautions when they find themselves around loud music."

Individuals can easily monitor and control exposure to loud noises recreationally, especially at concerts, in the car and through MP3 players. The cheapest, easiest way to protect ears during concerts is to use ear plugs. Thanks to bands like Coldplay and Dave Matthews Band who now wear ear protection during shows, ear plugs are increasing in popularity. Reducing stereo and MP3 player volumes is also necessary for hearing loss prevention. Clarity and The EAR Foundation have also joined together to raise awareness of hearing loss causes and solutions among professional musicians by conducting outreach work backstage at music industry awards shows.

For people who have a hearing loss, due to noise or just the normal affects of aging, there are solutions available that can significantly improve hearing. For instance, Clarity has developed a number of products to help combat hearing loss. Products like the Clarity C200™, Clarity’s first corded trim line telephone, and the C4105™ offer consumers telephone options that can be personally customized for ideal comfort.

Clarity and The EAR Foundation, a national non-profit organization devoted to education, prevention and treatment of hearing loss, hope that efforts to raise awareness of noise-induced hearing loss have convinced at least some people to lower the volume.

"At Clarity, not only are we concerned about creating products for individuals currently experiencing hearing loss, but we also want to educate people on how to protect themselves while their hearing is still strong," said Carsten Trads, president of Clarity. "Our partnership with The Ear Foundation helps us raise awareness of the dangers of loud noises and also warn people to protect their hearing when enjoying loud music this summer."

For more information about Clarity and its hearing loss communication products, call 1-800-426-3738 or visit www.clarityproducts.com.

People generally associate the term "rock star" with a half-drunk, long-haired man or woman in shredded jeans and dark sunglasses, not with someone who is associated with phrases like "AIDS research," "third-world poverty," or "equal trade opportunity."

But that is exactly what two of today's most popular musicians are spending their time on.

Most people have heard of U2 frontman, Bono, and may be familiar with the endless campaigning (some may say posturing) for third-world debt, poverty, and AIDS relief that he's involved in.

Involvement that had Time magazine posing the question in March 2002, "Can Bono save the world?"

He's not making an impression on everyone, though.

George Harrison of Beatles fame implied that it is all an act for popularity when he said in Dubliner magazine, "Bono (is) so egocentric. The more you jump around?the more people listen to your music."

But love him or hate him, it is indisputable that he is making a difference.

He managed to persuade President George W. Bush to dedicate $5 billion to an aid package for the world's poorest countries in March 2002, according to the White House's Web site.

A USA Today article in 2005 talks about how he and his wife, Ali, formed the clothing company EDUN, which manufactures its products in factories in Africa, South America, and India and pays its workers fair wages in the hope of encouraging other businesses to do the same. Also, during U2's "Vertigo" tour in 2005 Bono repeatedly encouraged audience members to "make poverty history."

Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay, is following that lead by investing much of his time with the organization Make Trade Fair. The group is dedicated to improving the trade opportunities of poorer countries in the world so they may more fairly compete with the world powers.

Martin regularly has the words "Make Trade Fair" written on his hand during concerts, along with a bold equal sign, the symbol for the campaign. Coldplay also distributes the organization's pamphlets at its performances.

But are they making a difference?

After all, there is still poverty in the world, people are still dying from AIDS, and the World Trade Organization has not resumed talks on improving trade relations in five years, according to the Make Trade Fair Web site.

So maybe they can't really "save the world." But maybe that isn't the point.

As Bono sings in "Rejoice" from U2's October album, "I can't change the world, but I can change the world in me."

Source: http://www.suujournal.com

Jive Recording artist Justin Timberlake debuts at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 album chart with hissophomore release FutureSex/LoveSounds. Selling more than 684,400 copies inits first week, Justin Timberlake becomes the #1 Pop Artist, secures the #1 R&B album and reigns as the best selling solo male artist debut of the year.

FutureSex/LoveSounds becomes the biggest pre-order album in iTunes history and breaks the all time record for one week sales of a digital album with sales of 66,698, according to SoundScan. The previous record was held by Coldplay.

Internationally, multi-platinum artist Justin Timberlake arrives at #1 in the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Australia and Singapore and is top 5 in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Holland, France, Denmark, and Hong Kong. The first single "SexyBack featuring Timbaland" is still topping the charts, as the #1 single four weeks in a row on the Hot 100 Billboard chart, the #1 Radio Airplay single four weeks in a row, and the # 3 single in R&R for 3 weeks in a row.

Read the full article here

Australia's Youth Group have set a January 23rd, 2007 release date for the follow up to their Epitaph debut, Skeleton Jar.

The record, titled Twilight Dogs is their second for the label and was produced by Wayne Connolly (The Vines, You Am I). It was recorded live-to-tape and made its debut in July in Australia.

The band had a busy year since the release of Skeleton Jar which saw the band supporting a variety of acts including Coldplay and, Death Cab for Cutie.

Source: http://www.punknews.org

Known for their memorable tunes and rich harmonies, the Dixie Chicks are singing a new song that conservationists hope will catch on.

A third of the way through their 50-city, 2006 Accidents and Accusations concert tour, the group has announced that it will partner with Conservation International (CI) to offset the carbon footprint associated with the tour.

The Chicks join Pearl Jam, Coldplay, and other bands in demonstrating that they are accepting responsibility for their contributions to climate change, and taking specific steps to do something about it.

Read the full article here

Stefanie's entry into the Capitol Music stable looks like a heavily-watched move.

Stefanie, who said she is now working on her new album, is perhaps also hoping her new partnership with Capitol Music will open up new opportunities.

For a start, she seems to have her sights set on the Western music scene. She said she hopes to have the chance to work with Brit band Coldplay, which is also under the Capitol label.

Read the full article here

Video-sharing site YouTube has signed a deal with media giant Warner Music to allow its material to be used legally.

It means interviews and videos by Warner's artists can be used in return for a slice of advertising revenue. The agreement also covers the use of material in homemade videos, which form a large part of YouTube's content. Both companies hailed it as a landmark agreement, coming days after Universal Music said it was considering legal action over sites such as YouTube.

A royalty-tracking system has been developed by YouTube to detect when videos on the site are using copyrighted material and work out how much Warner is owed in advertising revenue.

The technology would also enable Warner to review homemade videos and decide whether to approve or reject them. Chad Hurley, who helped set up YouTube in a Californian garage just 19 months ago, said: "We are very excited. This is a real landmark for our company."

Warner Music Group, the world's fourth largest record company, includes artists such as Madonna, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Green Day, as well as vintage names like Led Zeppelin, The Doors and Ray Charles. Warner Music chairman Edgar Bronfman said: "Consumer-empowering destinations like YouTube have created a two-way dialogue that will transform entertainment and media forever."

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk

A flock of big-name Democratic senators descended on Michigan University yesterday to rally Democratic troops for the Nov. 7 election.

U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Mary Landrieu (D?-La.), Patty Murray (D?-Wash.) and Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) came to Ann Arbor in support of Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, who is seeking re-election this year. The six of them make up two-thirds of the women in the Senate. The senators' day began with a "Women on the Road to Victory" brunch, a private fundraiser in Ann Arbor. Attendees paid $150 for tickets, and some paid $1,000 to attend a pre-brunch event and to take photos with the senators.

Following the fundraiser, the senators spoke at a rally organized by the College Democrats. In an attempt to appeal to the students, rally organizers played "Clocks" by Coldplay and "American Baby" by the Dave Matthews Band.Stabenow led her Republican challenger, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, by 19 points in a recent poll, but speakers at the rally warned their faithful constituents not to become complacent.

Ann Arbor City Councilwoman Wendy Woods (D-Ward 5) encouraged Democratic supporters to work for Stabenow's campaign. Six Democratic senators speaking in Ann Arbor might be an example of preaching to the choir, she said, but "a choir has to sing."

Landrieu stressed Woods's point by recounting her close 2002 re-election in Louisiana, where she said she won her seat by one and a half votes per precinct.

Throughout the rally, there were several mentions of the Michigan football team's victory over Notre Dame, earning cheers from the crowd.

"We're going to see a completely different kind of blue victory," College Democrats chair Jamie Ruth said.

The success of female Democrats was a dominant theme throughout the event. Amos Williams, the Democratic candidate for state attorney general, summed up his experience with women like Stabenow and Gov. Jennifer Granholm: "They don't have hot flashes. They have power surges."

Stabenow was the last to speak. She rose to the podium amid the loudest cheers of the day. Supporters waved their blue and green signs with the word "Debbie!" emblazoned on them.

"I'm just proud to be a part of that team," Stabenow said, motioning to the senators sitting behind her. She went on to echo previous speakers' themes - criticizing President Bush, stopping the war in Iraq, keeping jobs in Michigan and funding education.

Support for Granholm, who is in the middle of a tense re-election campaign, was a popular topic for the speakers. Boxer, the California senator, called a series of negative ads against Granholm some of the "nastiest" she'd ever seen.

After the speeches finished, the senators spent a few minutes shaking hands and talking to students - Sen. Lincoln even received a blue University of Michigan hat - before rally organizers ushered them away.

An event with such big names is bound to attract some detractors.

Speckled throughout the crowd were signs varying in political agenda. Some, such as the anti-Israel protesters, were issue-specific.

Other signs were more general.

Ann Arbor residents Megan Andrews and Libby Hunter protested Stabenow and the other Democrats, saying they did not accurately represent their party's liberal constituency.

There was also a small contingency of Republican protesters, including Morgan Wilkins, an intern for the College Republican National Committee who recently made news for radical campaign event ideas such as "Catch An Illegal Immigrant Day."

The Republican protesters brandished signs attacking Stabenow's physical appearance and her stance on abortion. Wilkins held a sign that read, "Debbie kills babies."

As the rally went on, several of the protesters began to get closer to the front of the stage to get their signs noticed. The supporters tried to block out the unfriendly signs with their own signs, which organizers had handed out earlier.

At one point, a student supporter and an elderly woman began elbowing each other for a space in the crowd. A party organizer settled the scuffle and the student yielded.

Source: http://www.michigandaily.com

A quarter-life crisis isn't as rare as people would think anymore. It's likely to see someone verging on 30 beginning to panic in regards to their future. In "The Last Kiss," a remake of Gabriele Muccino's Italian "L'Ultimo Bacio," four friends approaching their 30s find their lives being thrown into chaos.

Michael (Zach Braff) and his girlfriend Jenna (Jacinda Barrett) have just found out they will be having a baby. Out of all their friends, they seem to have the most stable relationship. Izzy (Michael Weston) can't get over his ex Arianna (Marley Shelton). Kenny (Eric Christian Olsen) is busy having fun and sleeping around. Then there's Chris (Casey Affleck), unhappy in a marriage with Lisa (Lauren Lee Smith).

The soundtrack has played a large part in Braff's movies. "Garden State" had one of the best selling accompanying soundtracks ever, it even won a Grammy. Braff has done it again with "The Last Kiss" soundtrack. Music is integral to the movie. With songs from Imogen Heap, Rachael Yamagata and Coldplay, of course it's a good album. It may sound like a mix CD anyone can make, but add it to the movie, and there's magic.

Read the full article here

Ok, now I know we do our ‘new Jay-Z album speculation story’ every week, but this time it’s official bitches!

Young Hova has been speaking with Entertainment Weekly and revealed various morsels of information in regards to the new album Kingdom Come due 20th November . He was supposedly retired after 2003’s The Black Album but after numerous guest spot and remix appearances the inevitable has happened. “It was the worst retirement, maybe, in history,” Jay admits, acknowledging that most people didn’t believe it any way, “''I believed it, '' he insists. ''I believed it for two years.” But thank god he changed his mind! “Something, when you love it, is always tugging at you and itching, and I was putting it off and putting it off. I started fumbling around to see if it felt good,”

So what’s Beyonce’s other half got to say about the new album? “It's more in the vein of The Black Album than The Blueprint, I've been experimenting with things, different types of music.” Producers confirmed include Kanye West, Dr. Dre, The Neptunes, Timbaland, Cool & Dre, The Runners, Chris Martin from Coldplay…HOLD UP! RWD And Come Again! Chris Martin from Coldplay?!? “We met at a charity dinner and just really kept in touch. He sent me these beautiful chords for this song called Beach Chair. I had Dre put some drums on it. It's really, really incredible.”So what more can we expect to hear on the disc? Most Kings is inspired by a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting (which he owns). Whilst Lost Ones is about losing his nephew in a car crash, “One of the most crushing things that ever happened to me was losing my nephew,'' Jigga explains. “As you mature you realize that being vulnerable isn't weak. You realise that a man is himself.” And the title track is inspired by a 1996 comic in which Superman comes out of retirement to save the world.

Hov is still hoping to get Rick Rubin, Eminem, DJ Premier (the OTHER Chris Martin) and obviously Beyonce on board.

As we previously reported the first single is called Show Me What You Got and will be out next week. Jay’s currently on a world tour which kicked off in a chilly night in Krakow, Poland on 9th September and will be in the UK later this week.

Source: http://www.rwdmag.com

The threat of rain and an overwhelming sense of exhaustion made for a slightly smaller crowd and a more laid-back vibe on the last day of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, which was expected to end Sunday night with a closing set by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Here are some of Sunday's highlights, followed by the best of the fest.

THE GREENCARDS: U.K. and Australian imports who settled in Austin a few years ago to play bluegrass, the members of this group are now trying to make it in Nashville. So Sunday's set on the Austin Ventures stage was a sort of homecoming for them. And they sure were glad to be here. Between intricate, gorgeous tunes, they chatted about such things as Austin's excellent radio offerings (KGSR-FM, specifically). Fiddler Eamon McLoughlin bragged that their CD had outsold Coldplay's last year at the Waterloo Records booth: "You guys have great taste!" he said. At times it was a little hard to hear the softer songs, thanks to close-by sets from headlining acts, but Mr. McLoughlin remained confident: "We can take you on, Ben Harper. We're not scared." RANDY ROGERS BAND: This New Braunfels group gave a rock-dominated festival a nice dose of Texas country, complete with insane fiddling and drinking puns. (A sample lyric: "I'm not gonna let you wear your Crown this time around.") "This is our big country and western hit," the lead singer said before playing "Tonight's Not the Night." "It went all the way to 43 on the Billboard chart ... sure beats 44."

KT TUNSTALL: The U.K. folk-rocker had the time of her life on stage, especially at the end of her set, during the single "Suddenly I See." Near the end of the song, she grabbed a pair of drumsticks and joined her other percussionists to create beats that had the hot, sweaty crowd moving for a change.

SON VOLT: The popularity of alt-country owes a lot to two guys: Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar. Together they were Uncle Tupelo, and apart they front Wilco and Son Volt. Mr. Tweedy and Wilco were a highlight of last year's fest, and the same can be said for Mr. Farrar and Son Volt this year. There's just something about that twangy, buzzing rock that fits the vibe at the ACL fest to a "T."

Best of the fest

Chan Marshall (a.k.a. Cat Power) showed a new confidence and even had a little fun while performing her slow ballads. She was one of "The Greatest."

Ray Lamontagne cemented his status as one of the most inspired and pure soul singers around, at the same time making thousands of girls swoon. Pretty good for a scrawny guy with an out-of-control beard.

John Mayer wins the award for loudest set of the fest. We were told he could be heard a mile away on the Barton Springs Greenbelt. Good thing his playing was top-notch, especially new blues tune "Gravity" which has been in our head for two days now.

Van Morrison's set was a little disappointing, due to the lack of songs from classic album Moondance, but he redeemed himself by getting the entire park to sing along with "Brown Eyed Girl." And surprisingly, they were on key!

Ben Kweller has the newfound respect of thousands after playing for 20 minutes with an extreme nosebleed. We'll never forget the big-screen cameraman zooming in on that bloody guitar.

Source: http://www.wfaa.com

Ricky Gervais, says he has no plans to make a third series of Extras because he detests programmes that drag on past their prime.

Gervais is currently editing the final episodes of the second series of the show. David Bowie, Coldplay's Chris Martin, and actors Daniel Radcliffe and Orlando Bloom are among the guest cast in the latest series.

Gervais hopes to move into drama. Ricky Gervais is planning to take on Hollywood by writing a mainstream romantic comedy. The Extras says he is currently planning his debut movie, but wants to make sure it isn’t formulaic.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, Gervais said: ‘We don’t want to get in George Clooney and Sandra Bullock who at the beginning hate each other and you know they will end up together.

‘The best ones are the unlikely ones, like When Harry Met Sally’. But he insists he doesn’t want the film to be so art-house ‘six people in the world e-mail to say it was wonderful. We want to take on Hollywood.’

It’s one of three projects Gervais is planning following Extras, which he says wants to end after two series. Another is The Men From The Pru, a sitcom set in a Seventies seaside town ‘the sexual revolution forgot’ about a man who dreams of leaving but feels compelled to stay. The other is a conspiracy-theory drama set in suburbia described as ‘when a Neighbourhood watch scheme grows out of hand’.

They're Not Rocking 'Cuz They're Still Rockin': Older Acts Still Sell Tickets Because They're Still

The impression you get from MTV and Top 40 radio is around 30. That's about the age when many bands start to ease out of rotation (the likes of U2, Madonna and Pearl Jam aside) and fans, apparently, quit buying CDs.

But concert attendance figures paint a drastically different picture. Ask yourself, for example, what the highest-grossing tour of 2005 was. Mariah Carey? 50 Cent? Kelly Clarkson?

Not bad guesses, since they were behind last year's best-selling albums. But nuh uh. Try the Rolling Stones.

While that answer shouldn't be too shocking -- given the Stones' massive ticket prices and their place in rock history -- what may surprise is that out of the top 10 tours, only three acts -- Celine Dion, Kenny Chesney and the Dave Matthews Band -- released their first album after 1980.

"If you look at who is populating the top 20 tours every year, you'll see it's largely the James Taylors and Elton Johns, Bon Jovis and Stones, and all these people who have been around for a while," Pollstar editor Gary Bongiovanni said.

"These are the artists that have a legitimate body of recorded music," added Steve Slaton, the popular drive-time disc jockey on Seattle's KZOK-FM (102.5). "It's stood the test of time. So they're appealing to people of all demographics."

Green Day is actually the first band to appear on 2005's top tours list (at No. 12) with a top album. ("American Idiot" was No. 4 in sales for '05.)

While the Pollstar rankings for the first half of 2006 look a bit (but not a lot) less geriatric -- with Gen-X types like Madonna, Tim McGraw and Coldplay drawing big numbers -- the baby boomers still kick whippersnapper butt when it comes to concerts. And they'll make their presence felt like never before with a whole slew of AARP-eligible rockers on tour this fall.

The Beach Boys will wax nostalgic (albeit with only Mike Love and Brian Johnston

remaining from the original lineup) on Friday at the Puyallup Fair & Events Center. Elton John, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, The Who and Pink Floyd's Roger Waters are all on their way to KeyArena in the next few weeks. And the Stones -- not ones for doing anything small -- have launched a stadium tour that's sure to fill Qwest Field on Oct. 17 and top Pollstar's 2006 tour report.

DIVERGENT PATHS

Bongiovanni summed up a trend he said has become more pronounced in the past 10 to 15 years.

"The recorded music business and the live music business have been on increasingly divergent paths," he said. "The acts that sell concert tickets, many of them are well past their record-selling prime even on a minimal basis, except for catalog product. And you look at the record charts and you see acts debut with ... 150,000 units sold in their first week, and nobody's ever heard of 'em before in terms of live performance. They come out of nowhere.

"A lot of that is rap and hip-hop. Those acts become popular in a different way from the traditional model of touring and recording. It's really more of a recording project. It used to be ... a pretty good indicator (that) if someone was at the top of the charts selling records you could assume they would also be very popular as a concert draw. That's definitely not the case any more."

Meanwhile, it's no longer strange to see a 15-year-old sporting a Led Zeppelin or Aerosmith shirt without irony. And Slaton pointed to growing numbers of young classic rock fans who helped increase the rift between new-school and old-school ticket sales.

"I suffered through the MTV (Video Music Awards) and it was torture," he said of a recent TV viewing experience. "There wasn't really anything there. There were moments of brilliance. I thought Christina Aguilera did a good number. Jack White was there for a moment with Billy Gibbons."

But even those flashes of brilliance don't hold a candle to the likes of Bob Dylan.

"Bob is rock's greatest songwriter. And young people know this," he said. "There's never going to be another Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones are the greatest rock band of all time. And their contribution is so profound it really can't be measured. And I think young people realize this; and this is their last chance -- or it could be -- to see the Rolling Stones in person."

WHO'S NEXT?

But the oldies have to retire sometime. Especially if Keith Richards keeps falling out of trees while on holiday. So who's going to pick up the slack over the next decade or so?

"U2 I'd say, of the '80s bands, (has) showed the greatest promise," Slaton said.

"The problem is there aren't enough Pearl Jams and Dave Matthewses that have come along and proven to have long-term careers," Bongiovanni said. "That's the real question. Will the hot acts of today still be selling tickets 20, 30 years from now? I don't know. It seems like there's a fairly high turnover among the new music acts. I'm not even going into rap and hip-hop, which is even more volatile in that area, or teen pop."

"Country's a little different," he said. "They've managed to really create a whole new generation of headliners. If you look at the big acts in country music -- Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Kenny Chesney, Rascall Flatts. Those are all relatively new acts in comparison to the rock 'n' roll business, where we're still dealing with acts that have been major forces for 20 or 30 years."

Source: http://feed.insnews.org

We here at coldplaying.com hope that you have had a very pleasant Christmas and New Year. This is the first post for the year and since the last Scribble it was the site's 2nd birthday. Thankyou and congratulations to all the visitors out there that have made the site such a success.

We have worked tirelessly on updating the site and it has evolved greatly in the past 24 months. The site is now running consistently well after a few slow months of rebuilding and reorganising, and additions such as the new messageboard and photoalbum, amongst other projects. Even though the site doesn't look much different in its appearance, there has been a lot of changes behind the scenes, namely a change of webhost, which was required in order for the site to continue growing at the rate it has been doing. If you were unaware, the site receives in excess of 1500 visitor hits a day, and will continue to rise in line with popularity of Coldplay themselves.

If you have any suggestions on additions to the site please post them in the forums using the messageboard link above, or send it to me at ian@coldplaying.com. Also feel free to post any relative news in the forums so other fans may benefit.

This year looks to be a big one for Coldplay, promoting further their new album, 'A Rush Of Blood To The Head', which no doubt means there will be plenty to talk about in coming months from people who have been to gigs such as the 2nd leg of the American tour and also the sprinkling of UK gigs. More awards, more television appearances, new singles and b-sides and most importantly, more COLDPLAY await.

I'll leave it there, thankyou once again for your continued support. Happy Coldplaying!

Jay-Z has officially ended his rap retirement by revealing he's planning to release a new album later this year. After weeks of speculation about a rumored return to the charts, the Def Jam Records boss admits his has been "the worst retirement in history".

Jay-Z, real name Shawn Carter, declared his 2003 epic The Black Album would be his last album, but he now tells Entertainment Weekly he's planning a major 2006 comeback with "Kingdom Come." But the rapper insists his retirement wasn't a publicity stunt: "I believed it for two years... (but) something, when you love it, is always tugging at you and itching, and I was putting it off and putting it off. I started fumbling around to see if it felt good."

Jay-Z revealed he was thinking about coming out of retirement in an interview this summer, while he was secretly recording new tracks with producers Kanye West, Timbaland and Pharrell Williams. "Kingdom Come" will also feature guest spots from Coldplay frontman Chris Martin and Dr. Dre. The album is slated for release in November.

The Last Kiss, starring Zach Braff and Rachel Bilson, will be released to American audiences on September 15th.

The highly anticipated remake of the Italian film, L'ultimo Bacio, boasts not only an all-star cast, but also an outstanding soundtrack. For those who are fans of the Garden State soundtrack, this album will feel a bit like a sequel.

Though Braff put together both albums, this album is significantly more mature than the Garden State soundtrack. As Braff progressively develops the characters that he plays, from a 20-something trying to figure out his path in life to a 30-something questioning his chosen course, the music accompanying the films shows more maturity, both musically and lyrically.

A beautifully tranquil album, The Last Kiss is a treasure trove of some of the most talented contemporary American and British alternative singer-songwriters. However, this treasure trove does hold a couple of pieces of fool's gold. I was expecting another smash from Cary Brothers, whose "Blue Eyes" was the standout track on the Garden State soundtrack.

Yet "Ride" is an electronic jumble of synthetic vocals and nondescript techno beats that detract from the overall song, particularly from the sitar-like guitar in the background. Another track that does not deliver is "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap. The backing organ fuses so fundamentally with the vocals that instead of creating what could have been a beautiful, ethereal song, one is left with a dissonant mess.

Although Rufus Wainwright is a veteran in comparison to most of his counterparts on this album, "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" is a weak point of the album. With repetitive and boring piano chords adding to the monotony of Wainwright's vocals, "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk" is saved from musical suicide only by its bridge composed of soaring strings.

Those tracks not withstanding, the album is beautifully orchestrated and is a truly enjoyable listening experience. The album starts out with "Chocolate" by the buzz band of the moment, Snow Patrol. Braff's choice to start the soundtrack off with this song is brilliant. "Chocolate" is captivating, and the incorporation of a subtle guitar hook draws the listener in from the get-go. Coldplay's "Warning Sign" and Rachel Yamagata's "Reason Why" both incorporate pure and organic piano with refreshingly simple lyrics. Schuyler Fisk and Joshua Radin harmonize beautifully on "Paperweight", and the finger-picking style of guitar playing in the background lends depth to Fisk's breathy vocals. Radin's other contribution to the soundtrack, "Star Mile" is a truly religious experience, with a folksy guitar playing in the background of this bittersweet song. The standout song by far is "Paper Bag" by Fiona Apple. With her blues mama grit, Apple conveys a sense of fervor and hubris, all the while retaining her usual sensuality and femininity.

Overall, this album is incredibly mellow, and glides from one song to the next with ease. Listening to this album feels like re-igniting a relationship with a former lover, completely comfortable, yet simultaneously exciting and fresh. The soundtrack for The Last Kiss is able to bring together songs that one would not normally bring together, and in doing so, warms the heart and leaves one with a sense of calm.

Source: http://trw.umbc.edu