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From Coldplay and Pulp to The Who and Pink Floyd, much of modern music flourished in the capital's seats of higher learning.   A new straw poll, conducted by the Times Higher Education Supplement, reveals where the musicians chose to study.   Heading the pack are London's King's College and University College, which between them spawned members of Bloc Party, Queen, The Communards, Art Of Noise, Coldplay, Keane, Suede, Elastica and Basement Jaxx. London Metropolitan University was home to Alis

Orlando Bloom brands his Pirates Of The Caribbean co-star Johnny Depp a "freak" in the new series of Extras.   In the first episode of Ricky Gervais's [pictured] award-winning comedy, he plays a vain actor who can't believe an extra doesn't fancy him. Orlando tells the extra, played by Scots actress Ashley Jensen, that the ladies were all over him on the set of Pirates Of The Caribbean and they completely ignored Johnny. The British actor, 27, says: "It's my looks that all the girls fawn over.

Details are beginning to surface about Jay-Z's long-rumored comeback album, which will be his first since announcing his retirement three years ago and becoming president of Def Jam. The new disc is reportedly titled "Kingdom Come" and due in November via Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam. It is expected to feature production from Dr. Dre, Timbaland, Kanye West and Coldplay's Chris Martin.   In July, Pharrell Williams told Billboard.com the Neptunes are also producing tracks for the album. As previously repor

The Pet Shop Boys, Lily Allen and the Scissor Sisters are the latest celebrities to pledge their support for a campaign set up in memory of tragic Brit Lucie Blackman, who was murdered in Japan.   The stars have recorded messages for the Lucie Blackman Trust website, started by Blackman's father Tim after the 21-year-old vanished while working as a hostess in a Tokyo nightclub in July 2000. Her dismembered body was found in a cave in the remote fishing village Miura in February 2001, after a sev

I do not know who Erlend Oye thinks he is, but I am by far the whitest boy alive.   This does not mean that I do not pretend otherwise. I wear bright red shoes to fit in with the urban subculture and listen to Dr. Dre and Eminem - though I don't know if the latter helps my cause. But I listen to rap in my car with the windows up and doors locked, often turning down the bass so I can understand the lyrics. My black friends would be ashamed.   Every now and then, I switch out my gangster rap for R

There were more signs that Rockstar: Supernova is becoming as cheesy as American Idol. First, fans voted and brought back kicked off rocker Ryan Star to sing his original -- and very romantic -- song "Back of Your Car." For his trouble, Ryan won a new, fully loaded Honda CRV. Hostess Brooke Burke then had to channel her inner Bob Barker to explain all the car's features since it was just sitting there in the midde of the crowd.   Secondly, Paula Abdul was seen in the studio audience sucking up s

Open to the public September 22nd, 2006 to October 28th, 2006 at The Blink Gallery, 11 Poland Street, London, W1.   Eponymous photographer Kevin Westenberg is famed for his creation of provocative, electrifying images of world-class musicians and actors. Obsessed by his wish to create the ‘definitive portrait’ of each of his subjects, each image is an intense feast of light, colour and composition.   This September will see the launch of his first exhibition, IDYLL WORSHIP, celebrating an illust

There was never any doubt that Lukas Rossi would strut his way to the final four on Rockstar: Supernova.   From the very beginning last June, the Toronto singer has had the look, voice and especially the ‘tude. Except for stumbling into the bottom three last week — when showy Storm Large was eliminated — he’s always looked like the frontrunner.   Now he has a great shot at succeeding another Canuck — INXS’s J.D. Fortune — as Rock Star champion. In Wednesday night's finale, he’ll have to beat

iTunes rival, ranked second among digital music services in latest market share data, offers downloads in DRM-free MP3 format   eMusic hopes Europe is ready to go indie.   The digital download service, second only to iTunes in the latest market share data from NPD Group, launched its service across Europe today, hoping to lure customers with an indie-only music catalog and the promise that once they buy a song through the service, they can do whatever they want with it.   The subscription-based

The Crazy Frog has a new home.   News Corporation, the owners of The Sun, has bought a stake in Jamba, the company which produces the character, for over £100million. News Corp now owns a 51 per cent stake of the ringtone company to boost the use of mobile TV-clips known as ‘mobisodes’.   The character that wears a white motorcycle helmet, leather jacket and goggles became a national icon when Swede Daniel Malmedhal recorded his impression of a moped engine in 1997. By 2004 Jamba launched what

Francisco Martin had a craving for new tunes. During postdoctorate study at Oregon State University in 2003, the Spanish native was looking to broaden his musical horizons, so he invented a way for the Internet community to help. The Web site and company he started, originally called MusicStrands, taps into the power of social networking to help users discover new songs, artists, or even whole genres.   The concept is deceptively simple. MusicStrands -- now renamed MyStrands -- installs softwar

In Zach Braff's 2004 film Garden State, spirited heroine Sam (Natalie Portman) jams her headphones over the ears of morose hero Andrew (Braff). They make a connection through one of her favorite songs.   The tune, "New Slang," is by The Shins. It's a scene that is "out-of-nowhere moving," writes critic Ed Park in The Village Voice. It cements the movie's chemistry and transports the audience, and Andrew, inside Sam's head.   And if you'd have took to me like   A gull takes to the wind. Braff sel

Record company EMI Music has joined up with mobile operator T-Mobile to trial ad-supported mobile videos covering news, entertainment and sports content.   The new offering has started trials on T-Mobile's network and will give customers access to free video content with television-style advertising.   As part of the deal, T-Mobile customers will be presented with an electronic programme guide on their handset, which will offer a range of content choices from news, entertainment and sports. Musi

Let's pretend we're at Hollywood High, circa 2023 -- and pity the poor teacher who's taking attendance.   Apple? Banjo? Coco? Shiloh Nouvel? Suri? Pilot Inspektor? Kal-el? Moxie CrimeFighter?   Wait a minute. Is this a classroom or a superhero convention? As you've no doubt noticed, for the rich and famous these days, naming babies has become an exercise in creativity. Or is it a competitive sport -- a great, big "Can you top this" contest? Once upon a time, most stars gave their kids nice, down

The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, is not the first place you might go in search of the cool and cutting edge. That will not stop an expectant crowd gathering at the conference centre in London's Blackfriars this week for a live satellite broadcast from San Francisco that could make or break one of the consumer icons of the Western world.   The iPod, the digital music player beloved of everyone from Coldplay's Chris Martin to President George Bush, is in danger of losing its sheen. Sales are declining at

I wasn't sure where Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant would take their hilarious TV follow-up to The Office, Extras, after the first season ended on an unusually upward note.   The six-episode, star-heavy season about hapless extras (sorry, "background artists") Andy Millman and his doughey, inappropriate mate, Maggie, is nearing its end on Wednesday nights on the ABC but in Britain, they're gearing up for the second round.   "It's not like we are just trying to get points for celebrity chums,"

2005 - U2, Alicia Keys, Garth Brooks, Paul Simon, Rod Stewart and the Dixie Chicks are among the artists that perform during a live telethon, 'Shelter From the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast.'   2003 - Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel announce their first tour since 1994.   2003 - Dizzee Rascal is awarded the U.K.`s 2003 Mercury Music Prize at a ceremony in London. The 18-year-old MC/producer`s debut, 'Boy In Da Corner,' was released in July by XL Recordings in the U.K.   2003 - Coldplay fro

The nominees for the fifth Digital Music Awards are announced today.   Up for the best pop artist gong are Lily Allen, Sandi Thom, The Kooks, Girls Aloud and Will Young. And moshing it out for best rock artist are Editors, Hard-Fi, Kasabian, Muse and the Mystery Jets. Those in the best electronic artist category are Pete Tong, Coldcut, Rob da Bank, Lorraine and John B.   Meanwhile, Lemar, Nate James, Plan B, Sway and The Streets are fighting for the best urban artist award. In the Best Music S

For the time being, Ron Sexsmith is satisfied with his career.   The Toronto-based, St. Catharines-born-and-raised songwriter, whose high profile champions include Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon and Coldplay's Chris Martin, has been thankful for a run that has lasted 10 albums, including his latest, Time Being.   The Juno Award winner is especially cognizant of the fact that, despite modest record sales, he's been able to survive in an industry notorious for its bean-counter mentalit

Blythe Danner, who stars in The Last Kiss, says she catches Coldplay in concert whenever she can. Really.   After all, her daughter Gwyneth Paltrow is married to Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin. “I go to every (Coldplay concert) that comes along, if we’re in the same place, wherever, New York, L.A., I’ve been all of those. When I’m in town I go.   “I adore him,” Danner said of Martin. “And I think it’s great, great stuff. It’s deep. He’s extraordinarly talented and funny and he writes great p

The Orchard, the world's leading digital distributor and marketer of independent music, and QTRAX, the world's first ad-supported peer-to-peer (P2P) music network and a division of Brilliant Technologies Inc. (OTCBB: BLLN), today announced a licensing agreement that will make The Orchard's full catalogue available through QTRAX. The deal extends the presence of The Orchard into the P2P space and significantly expands the scope of QTRAX by adding the world's largest catalogue of independent music

Ever since Coldplay burst their way onto the scene just over six years ago, steadily transforming into global superstars, whenever the latest sound-alike has come along they’ve been thrown into the same ‘spin-off’ league as the likes of Keane, Athlete and Embrace.   This is bound to happen with Touriste.   But when, in a rather crowded Purple Turtle in Camden, set opener ‘Your Move’ is filled with keys and a stomping rhythm very much reminiscent to that of ‘The Scientist’, it’s hard not to see w

It's yet another measure of their success. Franz Ferdinand's huge hit Take Me Out has been covered by American satirist Weird Al Yankovic on his new album.   Best known for his Eighties parodies of hits such as Michael Jackson's Beat It, Weird Al has covered the Franz track on Straight Outta Lynwood.   The track, Polkarama, sits alongside parodies of songs by the Black Eyed Peas, Coldplay, Gorillaz, Snoop Dogg and The Pussycat Dolls, among others.   Source: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk

Vivendi SA, the owner of Universal Music Group, agreed Wednesday to pay $2.09 billion to acquire BMG Music Publishing Group from media company Bertelsmann in a deal that will give the French company the world's largest music publishing catalog and songs by artists such as Coldplay and Robbie Williams.   Vivendi beat out a group of other bidders that reportedly included Warner Music Group Corp., Viacom Inc. and EMI Group PLC. Its Universal division was thought to have the nod from the beginning,

Gwyneth Paltrow is the latest celebrity to offer her advice on how to get in shape after having a baby.   The wife of Coldplay main man Chris Martin and mother to Moses and Apple has given full backing to going to the gym as the way for new mums to shed any unwanted weight.   Gwyneth said that she found it hard to lose weight after first baby Apple was born in 2004 and only started making headway when she returned to working out regularly."It's all lovely when you are pregnant; but when you are