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If its predecessor, Absolution, was steeped in portents gloomy enough to gladden the heart of the most heavily mascara-ed Goth, Black Holes and Revelations takes Muse's trademark paranoid political outlook to a new pitch of melodramatic intensity.   Though often compared to Queen, the trio are closer to the Seventies prog-rockers Rush: like them, Muse fuse grandiose pomp-rock and fanciful political beliefs with outlandish sci-fi overtones - but without quite reaching the solipsistic absurdity of

GENEVA/PARIS, June 22: French broadband ISP Free is working with i-concerts to offer its subscribers a high-definition channel and an IPTV VOD platform, both featuring performances from some of today’s top artists.   The ADSL channel i-concerts HD launched yesterday. It will offer up performances by artists such as Robbie Williams, U2, James Blunt, Radiohead and James Brown.   The two companies have also combined forces to create i-concerts Jukebox, which provides Free’s Freebox subscribers with

Bertelsmann AG, the German media group, said Thursday it sent 15 investors financial information and details about its BMG Music Publishing unit, which it is planning to sell.   BMG Music Publishing has rights to more than 1 million songs and contracts with artists including Christina Aguilera , R. Kelly, Justin Timberlake , Robbie Williams and Coldplay. Last year, it generated some 370 million euros ($465.5 million) in revenue for the company.   A decision on to whom to sell the unit could com

It must be the contrarian in me. With Coldplay about to begin their Australian tour tomorrow night, why do I find myself searching through my old boxes of vinyl seeking out long-neglected albums by Public Image Limited, Robert Wyatt and Can?   And for the first time in about 30 years having conversations with people which feature the words Amon Duul and Van Der Graaf Generator? Not to mention sitting here with the headphones on chuckling at the new album by new millennium sonic riddlers Matmos.

It's a girl! In a new interview with the Guardian, Jo reveals that she and Guy [pictured] are expecting a daughter, and discusses her pregnancy style, including high heels, and the tough decision of altering her wedding dress so that she can wear it again, or saving it for her daughter!   This will be the third Coldplay baby this year, as well as the third Coldplay girl.   Ava Champion is now almost 2 months old, Moses Martin 2 1/2 months, and Apple just turned two in May.Thanks to the girls at

MTV Asia will roll out the red carpet and welcome the biggest stars of Asian and international movies when it stages its first movie awards show on 7 October 2006 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.   As part of the creative vision of the event, the iconic Southeast Asian performance venue will be fitted-out in true Hollywood glitz and glamour to accommodate the star-studded night and will set the tone for a night of awards, superstar presenters, musical tributes and celebrity antics.   As is the

Fifteen suitors have been sent financial information about BMG Music Publishing, including four music majors and a number of private equity firms, with first bids due in about a month, the parent company's chief executive said.   Gunter Thielen, the CEO of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG, also told Reuters that despite reports to the contrary, there are no plans to restructure its joint venture music company Sony BMG with partner Sony Corp. He added that Belgian financier Albert Frere w

As recently rumoured, the Arctic Monkeys bass player Andy Nicholson has left the rock band for good after pulling out of their North American tour last month.   "We are sad to tell everyone that Andy is no longer with the band," his former bandmates said on their website. "We have been mates for a long time and have been through some amazing things together that no-one can take away."   Nick O'Malley, who replaced Nicholson in May, will continue playing with the group for the rest of the summer

Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher has turned to actress Gwyneth Paltrow for advice on how to combat the ghouls tormenting him and fiancee Nicole Appleton at their plush London home, according to reports.   Unexplained noises and chilling footsteps have unnerved the singer, and now the disappearance of several household objects has convinced him that his home is haunted. Paltrow employed the services of a Kabbalah priest to exorcise "bad energy" from the home she shares with Coldplay frontman husban

Scotland's hospitality industry last night hit out at plans to target tourists by imposing a "green tax".   Tourism chiefs, the business community and environmental groups are considering introducing a £5 charge per person. Amid increasing concern about pollution from transport, the voluntary levy would allow "eco-friendly" tourists to offset carbon emissions generated in travelling here and support green projects, such as growing trees.   The approach has been popular with environmentally-con

The scene at London's Astoria was one of jubilation. But as Kylie Minogue walked backstage to the sound of rapturous applause, her broad smile swiftly crumpled, and within seconds she had dissolved into tears. Instantly a throng of concerned friends rushed to her side, aghast at this sudden change in her demeanour.   What was wrong? After 12 months of painstakingly slow recovery from breast cancer, had she stepped back into the limelight too soon? Was she, God forbid, feeling ill again?   Sou

Gwyneth Paltrow avoids going to Italy whenever possible because she claims something always bad happens to her when she does.   On her last trip, she flew to Venice for awards ceremony and her plane had to make an emergency landing: “The captain said there was a problem with the plane. All the on-board computers failed and we had to land. There were ambulances and fire trucks on the runway and I realised what a close call it had been.”   Before that though, it’s been a place for bad news: “I was

Watching the World Cup on television in Germany is, despite the pictures being the same, subtly different from watching back home. No Gabriel Clarke for a start.   The tournament, albeit in its infancy, is already bearing comparison to that held in 1950, but it is too early to discern whether this will have lasting significance. Not too early, however, to thank the thousands upon thousands of you who have, a colleague informs me, 'downloaded' my World Cup ditty 'England England Uber Alles'. It i

And the knock-on effect from the event, also hailed a success by organisers Solo, artists, police and the IW Council, should add further millions in coming years.   More than 50,000 people attended the Seaclose Park festival, the fifth revived event, with police praising the behaviour of festival-goers. Artists were among those to declare the event a success.   Promoter John Giddings said: "Backstage, Chris Martin from Coldplay said the audience was phenomenal. He thought it was one of the band'

Musicians and politicians have called on Liverpool council to save one of the city's most important cultural centres by ploughing £250,000 into a takeover bid.   Small businesses based in the Parr Street complex have been served with eviction notices, including the celebrated 3345 private members club, and told they must leave by July 31 by rock star Phil Collins's company, which owns it.   The recording studios are the largest outside London and have attracted names such as Pulp, New Order and

We hate to be the ones to tell you, but there's been a murder in the music industry.   OK, no one actually died. But it does appear TV killed the video star.   We started noticing this a few months back, when shows like Style Star and E! True Hollywood Story ran more than VideoFlow, but it wasn't until we set out to predict the winners of the 17th annual MuchMusic Video Awards (tomorrow at 8 p.m. on Much and City) that we realized we hadn't seen half the nominees.A quick RealPlayer sesh on the

The Poughkeepsie Journal reports that WPDH-FM Poughkeepsie Program Director Gary Cee was linked yesterday for a second time to New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s payola investigation into the radio and music industries. Cee's connection to the investigation is related to his former job at WLIR Long Island.   "I have never and would not ever make a deal for payola," said Cee, who worked at WLIR from 1991-2003, the last five years as the station's program director. "We just don't do

SHE loves England so much that Gwyneth Paltrow has decided to stay in the country for her summer holiday.   The American actress and renowned Anglophile has asked concierge company Quintessential to book a stately home for her, hubby Chris Martin and their children Apple and Moses to get away from it all.   Still, Gwyn hasn't turned her back on Hollywood excess completely - a helicopter will fly the family in and out of the grounds of the country retreat.   Source - Daily Mirror

As previously reported, The 17th Annual MuchMusic Video Awards airs globally for the 12th year on Sunday June 18th, with the number of televised international broadcasts growing to a record-breaking 65 countries across five continents. It's Canada's hottest awards show and red-carpet scene, star-packed and energized by thousands of screaming fans - airing live and direct from MuchMusic's famed street-front world headquarters in Toronto, Canada.   Once again the MMVAs delivers the best artists an

EMI Group Plc, the world's third-largest music company, said on Thursday it has agreed to pay $3.75 million to settle charges by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer that it made secret payments to radio stations in exchange for airplay.   The music company behind such artists as the Rolling Stones and Coldplay is the last of the big four music groups to settle with the Attorney General's office over allegations of pay-for- play practices, also known as payola, in the music industry.  

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.--Record label EMI Music Publishing is talking to YouTube, Revver and other video upload sites about alliances that would help it monitor and curtail misuse of its copyrights--and loss of advertising or download sales--from unauthorized music videos that are posted to their sites.   "We're actively trying to strike relationships (with user-generated video sites) for the showing of our music videos," Thomas Ryan, EMI Music's senior vice president of digital and mobile strateg

Pearl Jam's debut video was the first non-lipsynched MTV video ever, because they didn't go in for that phoney bullshit thank you very much.   To insist on this sort of thing BEFORE you're famous shows some conviction. This commitment to doing what they want without care for what's good for their career has largely been behind their mixed commercial fortunes since the mega-sales of their first two LPs in the early '90s. Recent albums have sounded indifferent.   Now it's 2006, they're all in thei

June 15 (Bloomberg) -- "Who is the man I see where I'm supposed to be?'' Keane singer Tom Chaplin asks on the track "Crystal Ball.''   Well, sometimes he's Bono, sometimes he's Thom Yorke of Radiohead, and sometimes he's the late, great Freddie Mercury. Most of the time, though, he's Coldplay's Chris Martin.   Keane's guitar-free debut album, "Hopes and Fears,'' blended Chaplin's soaring voice with metronomic piano riffs and pounding drums. In its second outing, "Under the Iron Sea,'' the band

Clear Channel has launched KPTL (Capital 106.3) in Des Moines, which will focus on triple-A as well as local Iowa acts. The station will target a 25-54 audience.   KDBR (the Bus), which previously occupied the 106.3 frequency, will move to a stronger signal at 100.3. The top 40 station known as "My 100" was dropped at the locale last month and until the flip to Capital, the Bus was being simulcast at 106.9 and 100.3.   "People who liked KFMG, and before that KDMG, would like this station," said

Gwyneth Paltrow is already planning an acting career for her daughter Apple, even though the tot is only two!   The Oscar-winner insists she will support her children, Apple, and Moses, three months, in whatever life they choose, but admits she already sees a career on the stage or silver screen for her eldest child.   The Proof beauty says, "My daughter can be quite dramatic. So I think there is a chance that she'll do something like that (acting) - but I'll support her whatever she wants to d