The only people who separate music into categories are fans.

Witness Chris Martin of Coldplay. He and his missus, the lovely and talented Gwyneth Paltrow, took in the New York Philharmonic last week in their first outing since baby Moses was found floating in the rushes along the Hudson River. Martin told the New York Post he may turn to classical music. But only "when I'm 40, and too old to be a rock star."

So, what does he think Mick Jagger is doing, hollering, "Hey, you. Get off of my lawn!?"

Read more from the Plain Dealer here

Bluetooth specialist CSR saw profits jump 137 per cent in the first-quarter, ahead of market expectations, boosted by strong demand for the wireless technology.

CSR, which said it expects a ‘strong’ performance in 2006, said pretax profits for the three months to the end of March had more than doubled to $25.8 million (£14.1 million), compared with $10.9 million in the same period a year ago.

Revenues for the quarter jumped to $134.9 million (£73.6 million) from $66.4 million in 2005. The technology is becoming a popular marketing tool, with outdoor advertising group Maiden having launched an advertising campaign for the Coldplay album X&Y incorporating Bluetooth into its posters.

CSR says it currently boasts a 60 per cent share of design wins in the Bluetooth market – the technology which allows mobile phones to connect to other handsets and electrical devices over a short range.

”This buoyant marketplace and our increasing visibility of our customers development programmes make us confident of delivering a strong financial performance for 2006,” said CSR chief executive John Scarisbrick.

A quarter of handsets currently incorporate Bluetooth technology – a figure which is expected to rise to 40 per cent this year.

One problem marketers currently face is that Bluetooth promotions are effectively forbidden by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (2003), which say that marketers can only use electronic communications, including Bluetooth, for marketing if they have received prior consent from the consumer.

However, standard mobile phones avoid this snag as consenting consumers can be identified by phone numbers.

I consider myself an authority on what is funny and what is stupid. It would behoove the reader to follow my advice.

“Brokeback Mountain” was released about four months ago and people are still making jokes about its sheep-herding, homosexual male leads. These jokes are not funny. In fact, they are stupid, immature, lame and unoriginal. Essentially, the people who make these jokes simply substitute the word “gay” with “Brokeback” or “Brokeback Mountain,” which doesn’t make grammatical sense. Yet even late-night talk show hosts resort to this same childish brand of humor.

Two men or two women who are in love with each other aren’t “Brokeback Mountain,” as I’ve heard people say frequently for the past few months. Two guys who hug each other aren’t “Brokeback.” Elton John isn’t a “Brokeback” musician. Gay people don’t approach straight couples and say, “Hey, look at that ‘When Harry Met Sally’ couple! They’re so ‘When Harry’!” This is because they understand how dumb it would sound. But for some odd reason, most Americans don’t know and understand that “Brokeback Mountain” jokes suck.

I make fun of people for the music they listen to, but I’m a little craftier. I wouldn’t call someone who listens to Coldplay a “Parachute,” which brings me to the second item on my list of what is not funny.Emo kids listen to music that they enjoy and most of them keep to themselves. But for reasons I don’t understand, everyone who doesn’t listen to emo has to make fun of the people who do.

I don’t tell people which bands I listen to because I get tired of seeing them roll their eyes and shake their heads. When this happens, I feel that somehow, I’ve done something stupid when I’ve done nothing wrong at all.

It gives a lot of music fans some kind of pseudo-sexual drive to point, laugh and mock people who listen to Dashboard Confessional, Thursday and Death Cab for Cutie. Sometimes, it goes beyond simple jokes and turns into arguments.

On radio shows, a DJ will spend five or six minutes talking about the things emo kids do that bothers him so much. “The way they comb their hair and feel sorry for themselves and listen to whiny music, it’s so sickening,” I heard someone say as I drove home from school.

I don’t comb my hair, I don’t feel sorry for anyone (especially people who actually take time out of their day to complain about the music that emo kids listen to), and the music I listen to is usually about depression, so of course it’s going to sound whiny.

I try not to make fun of people who listen to metal because I understand they need something banal and uncomplicated to absorb, and I don’t judge anyone for listening to rap even though I think it is terrible.

So I do not understand why anyone has the right to insult people who listen to emo (which is a term used only by people who don’t listen to it). I think it rocks, I like playing it in my car after a bad day, it makes me feel better and it is so much cooler than anything else being sold in CD stores.

It vexes me that in a country with senators who take bribes in the form of antiques, houses and rugs, a country with a president who has a Southern accent, people think that a movie with gay cowboys is hilarious.

There are so many other things going on in America that are much funnier, yet we choose to focus subjects that are largely irrelevant.

Lastly, what I say in New University reaches an audience estimated at 10.68 billion people, so I should also mention to the 10.67 billion of those readers who make jokes about “Brokeback Mountain” that jokes about Samuel L. Jackson’s next movie “Snakes on a Plane” are also not funny.

The movie is going to be a spectacular feat of mediocrity, and I anticipate its release with every red blood cell pumping through my veins, but I don’t need to hear expressionless college students who think “Brokeback” jokes are funny saying, “Ha ha. Have you heard about Samuel L. Jackson’s new movie?”

Yes, I have. Get over it.

Source: http://horus.vcsa.uci.edu

Liam Gallagher says that the Arctic Monkeys make him feel "awkward."

Although the 38-year-old things they’re a decent band, he’s put off by how young the teenagers are. Speaking about Alex Turner, he told Q Magazine: "I like him, I do, and he is definitely a bit of a genius lyricist, but he is still a kid. He was eight when 'Definitely Maybe' came out. What the fuck am I, a 38-year-old supposed to say to that? They make me feel awkward."

In the candid interview, Liam also lamented about how Oasis aren’t quite the force they used to be, adding, "What bothers me right now is that we are not the biggest band in the world any more. U2, The Stones even Coldplay are bigger than us."

More on this here

The Glastonbury Festival is hoping to expand its capacity by 20,000 for the 2007 festival.

The event is taking a break this year, as it does every five years, but organisers are now trying to work out how to get more punters through the gates.

All 112,500 weekend tickets sold out in less than three hours last year, reflecting the festival's growing popularity. The total capacity is 153,000, including passes for staff, media, artists, locals and guests.

Melvin Benn, who runs the operational side of the festival, told the BBC: "We are going to grow the festival. I'm anticipating growing it by up to 20,000 people next year."

A spokesman for Mendip District Council told the BBC organisers had not informed them of any proposed expansion yet.

The 2007 event is scheduled to take place next June - organiser Michael Eavis has already said he hopes to get Kylie Minogue to play. She was due to headline in 2005, but was then forced to pull out after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

A film of the festival, directed by Julien Temple, is currently being shown at cinemas nationwide.

nme.com

Singer Will Young has beaten a host of British acts to be voted the most popular UK artist of all time in a poll of radio listeners.

The annual chart celebrates the best of UK music counting down the 40 most popular artists of all time, as voted for by listeners of commercial radio.

Former Beatle Sir Paul claimed third position followed by the Spice Girls at number four and Coldplay at five.The 27-year-old, who was catapulted to fame in 2002 after winning the inaugural Pop Idol contest, fought off competition from the likes of Robbie Williams and Sir Paul McCartney to top the Music Week May Day chart.

Young, whose first single Evergreen shot straight to number one, becoming the fastest-selling debut in UK chart history, was closely followed by Robbie Williams.

Young said he was "honoured" to have topped the poll adding: "What makes it so special is that it`s voted for by the public.

"I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who took part and made the effort to vote. I`m over the moon."

The UK Music Week May Day Chart in full is:

1. Will Young

2. Robbie Williams

3. Paul McCartney

4. Spice Girls

5. Coldplay

6. Sugababes

7. Take That

8. Gorillaz

9. Oasis

10. Beverley Knight

11. Pink Floyd

12. Arctic Monkeys

13. Simply Red

14. Jamiroquai

15. George Michael

16. Kaiser Chiefs

17. James Blunt

18. Girls Aloud

19. Keane

20. Sir Elton John

21. Queen

22. Lemar

23. McFly

24. Eurythmics

25. Basement Jaxx

26. David Gray

27. KT Tunstall

28. David Bowie

29. Franz Ferdinand

30. Craig David

31. Stereophonics

32. Duran Duran

33. Texas

34. Beatles

35. Snow Patrol

36. Richard Ashcroft

37. Charlotte Church

38. Sting

39. Blue

40. All Saints

Source - utv

With an unforgettable debut album and a soaring sound that conjures comparisons to U2 and Coldplay, it’s easy to understand why the Editors have had such a quick rise to fame.

In the span of approximately a year and a half, the British group has gone from relative anonymity to being one of the top-selling bands in the UK. Their platinum disc, “The Back Room,” reached the second spot on the UK charts in early 2006, and now the band’s trying to win over US audiences as well.

“I don’t think there is much of a difference between UK and US audiences,” vocalist Tom Smith says, “but people tend to be more vocal in the US. They want to talk to you after the show and get to know you. In the UK, they’ll come to a gig and then just leave.”After playing packed venues in England, the Editors are now readjusting to performing in more intimate settings in the US. “I would be lying if I said the feeling you get when you walk on stage isn’t better when you have 2,000 people in the room than it is when you have 200 people in the room,” Smith admits. “I think our music lends itself to big spaces. There are big portions on the record with a lot of melody, and we’re not afraid to write big music. Our music does work in the bigger venues, but at the same time, now we’re back to grassroots here in the States. We’re doing those small, sweaty, in-your-face shows, and they’re a lot of fun also.”

Despite the temptations that life on the road offers, Smith tells me he and the other band members try to stay true to their music. “We’re not really into talking about anything other than our music,” he remarks. “[You hear people tell stories about] partying with different people and getting drunk at certain places. That doesn’t really interest us. That’s not what we’re about. It’s not that we don’t like to have a good time. It’s just about the way we conduct ourselves.”

While most new bands covet attention from the media, Smith says he doesn’t want The Editors to be a superficial band that lives in the press without having any substance behind its music. “There are a lot of bands in the UK that all they are is a story,” he says. “People forget that they don’t really have any songs. They exist in the press as a story and then at some point later they’ll go away. That’s very sad.”

As far as the comparisons to U2 and Coldplay are concerned, Smith says, “I think if a band’s good enough, after a certain period of time, those comparisons will go away. Having said that, those bands we’re being compared to have made a career out of their music and have proved themselves album after album. The list of acts we’re being compared to could definitely be worse.”

Building a career based on their music rather than an artificially created public image is exactly what the members of the Editors seem poised to do, because as Smith says, “We’re very passionate about our music.”

Source: the-trades.com

Phoenix Foundation's Luke Buda will happily admit to Vangelis and Queen as inspirations, but just don't say a word about Coldplay, writes Grant Smithies.

Luke Buda is gutted. The Wellington musician has just found out that Chris Martin from Coldplay and his missus Gwyneth Paltrow have named their new son Moses.

Buda and his partner called their own son Moses six months ago. "It's awful!" he splutters. "It's so embarrassing! What if people think we chose the name because they did? I feel I need to point out to the world that our son is six months older than Moses Martin." Yes, he is. But would it really be so bad if people thought that Buda, co-frontman of Wellington band Phoenix Foundation, was a huge Coldplay fan? Actually, it would. A man must think of his reputation. Coldplay represents the more conservative and sentimental end of the pop spectrum, whereas Phoenix Foundation peddles an adventurous mix of folk, country, indie rock and oddball synthesiser instrumentals.

Emotionally engaging, intimate and cerebral, it's a sound New Zealand has embraced. Both Phoenix Foundation albums - 2003's Horsepower and 2005's Pegasus - have been well received, and tours of the main centres have sold out. This week they hope to finish recording the soundtrack for Oscar-nominated (Two Cars, One Night) local director Taika Waititi's first feature film, then there's a tour to London, LA and New York in June. After that, work begins on the next Phoenix album. A rash of solo albums are on the horizon too, of which Buda's superb Special Surprise is the first.

"What will people think of it? I have no idea. I hope they enjoy it, obviously, but some of the reviews suggest that people think it's a novelty record."

I can see why. The first thing you notice about Special Surprise is the distressing cover photo. Is it Bjorn or is it Benny? No, that bearded gentleman in the white cable-knit jersey isn't a surgically rejuvenated ABBA veteran. It is Buda himself. Then there's the song titles, ones like "Sauerkraut Bossa" and "Slav To The Rhythm", that mock Buda's Polish heritage. Oh, and did I mention all those fruity Vangelis-on-a-budget synth tracks?

"The cover is preposterous, that's true, and so are tracks like `Cosmic Dance' and `Atomic Pash', but these things are intended to be a bit ambiguous," Buda says. "You're not sure if I'm sincere or not, but the truth is, I often am. People often overplay how much I'm going for novelty with my songs. The cheesy prog rock stuff I do is actually very close to my heart. I understand why people find it funny, but I'm not really doing it ironically."

I imagine people misjudge Buda all the time, immediately filing him into a mental box marked "clown". With his round bearded face, intense eyes and slightly chubby frame, he looks a bit like comic Jack Black. He's also very witty in person, swimming in irony like a fish in water, endlessly riffing on ideas and conversational snippets, turning them around to expose their ridiculousness. On stage, between songs, the 26-year-old reels off snappy one-liners like a seasoned pro who's been entertaining crowds for decades. But for all Buda's fooling around, he is serious about music. It's just that he finds inspiration in the kind of glossy and dramatic pomp-rock epics most local pop musicians abhor.

Smart, whimsical and gently psychedelic, Special Surprise shares many qualities with Buda's 2002 mini-album The C-Sides. Both are crammed with whistle-able melodies, quotable lines, pensionable synths and certifiable arrangements; both recall a pharmaceutically assisted jam session between Beck, Vangelis, 10CC, Wilco and Queen. The main difference, perhaps, is that the current album was written just before Moses was born, so the songs are full of new dad ponderings on safety, domesticity, growing up, and love.

How has being a new father changed Buda's life?

"Some things are exactly the same. I'm still broke, on the artists' dole scheme, because any money we've made with Phoenix is going into our overseas tour. But in other ways, things are completely different. Moses is a pretty full-on little guy, so I have hardly any time to make my solo music at home now. These days I'm either working on Phoenix music, looking after Moses, watching science fiction DVDs or cooking. That's it! Unless we're touring, of course. I know it doesn't sound very rock`n'roll, but these days I look at touring with the band as a chance to get a good night's sleep, rather than a chance to get drunk or shoot up and die in a spa pool."

Buda, his partner, artist Sarah Jane Parton, and baby Moses live in little 1930s cottage clinging to the hills overlooking Wellington's Aro Valley. It was here that most of Special Surprise was recorded, in a spare room now full of baby paraphernalia. Today Buda is minding a softly snoozing Moses while Parton works on the design for a new Phoenix Foundation T-shirt. "It's a robot in a leotard, with antlers, leading a horse-drawn cart full of computers and TVs with arms and legs attached," he says proudly. "I'll be sure to send you one."

I look forward to it. And with Special Surprise such a loopy delight, I'll look forward to future Buda solo offerings as well. "To me Special Surprise sounds like pop music the way it used to be, years ago, before songs started just going to the chorus 20 times to make sure you couldn't get them out of your head. And I don't think it sounds much like the Phoenix Foundation, apart from a shared love of old synths and 70s soft rock bands. I wanted a more direct record, without all those alternative indie rock mumbling vocals, but I also wanted to keep it really trippy for the stoners. After all, I used to be one myself, and I'm still a sucker for surprising arrangements and cool noises. In fact, you know what I love so much about music? The way it sounds."

Unless, of course, it sounds like Coldplay? "Hey, f–k you, buddy. And f–k Coldplay too. We did not, I repeat - did not - name our son after the Coldplay baby. And if we ever have a daughter, there's no way we'd call her Apple."

If they haven't already, Snow Patrol are about to find out that the pressures of success can be every bit as oppressive, draining and potentially hazardous as those of failure.

Their fortunes were transformed by the two million selling Final Straw, a last throw of the dice for a band who, before it was made, had no money, no label and seemingly no future.

Now their future is alive with all sorts of possibilities - they have done the ground work for an assault on America, and the next, tantalisingly reachable goal back home is an ascension to the stratosphere occupied by U2 and Coldplay.And it is in that context that their new album Eyes Open (Fiction, out tomorrow) has to be judged - they have expectations to fulfil, a vast new fan base to satisfy, a career trajectory to maintain.

Its gestation was difficult. Founder member and bass player Mark McClelland left before recording began with all sorts of rumours of a major falling out with Gary Lightbody, and it has taken more than a year from the first recording sessions to eventual release.

The band - with McClelland's replacement Paul Wilson, and keyboard player Tom Simpson now a full-time rather than just touring member, both on board - holed up in Dingle, and wrote and recorded everything virtually from scratch with producer Garrett 'Jacknife' Lee.

The results are undoubtedly impressive, and all those new fans they picked up with Final Straw won't be disappointed. Gut instinct says it is probably just not quite as good as Final Straw, but essentially it is more of the same, well-honed stadium rock built on the twin strengths of the simplicity and directness of the music and Lightbody's appealingly open and vulnerable lyrics.

The songs generally divide into two types, both of which they execute expertly - nagging upbeat, mid-tempo rockers, and slower, more deliberate efforts that usually build inexorably into some tumultuous crescendo.

Yet further down the line, maybe even the next album, you suspect they'll have to give us something new, and pull some new rabbits from their hat. Encouragingly, there are a few hints here (particularly the Martha Wainwright duet Set The Fire To The Third Bar) that they have it in them to do just that.

For now, though, they have undoubtedly given it their best effort and (generally) left well alone. The really big league beckons - only time will tell if Eyes Open is the key to unlock the door to the promised land.

Source: sundaylife.co.uk

When the Happy Mondays crowded the Edinburgh Venue's hallowed stage, the ever on-the-ball Shaun Ryder began with a bellowing "Good Evening... Glasgow!" before tripping over a monitor and falling flat on his grizzly face.

Fifteen minutes later the gig descended into a scrum with Ryder and Bez brawling on the floor. Still, that's another story, and one of many of the Venue's torrid tales. Coldplay were signed a week after playing a support slot there in the late Nineties and when the Strokes first came to Scotland, dishevelled suits and beat-up guitars in tow, they played their first gig at the Venue.

Come June 10 though, after a two-year stay of execution, the capital's longest-running live music venue will close its doors for good.Ever since Edinburgh-based BL Developments bought the three-storey Venue in February 2004, it has been a question of when, not if, the music would end. Back then, Raw Promotions, which has operated the Venue for five years, tried to raise funds to buy the building back but a small independent promotions company is small fry compared to big business.

So now the fight is over with the Venue's hopes of relocating in the city centre also coming to nought.

As for the building itself, rumour has it that it is to be transformed into an upmarket deli to service the surrounding penthouse apartments and offices that are being built around Calton Road. And the Venue's many long-running regular nights will, says company manager Lloyd McDermott, simply "disappear".

"We're the last of the iconic independents and that's why it's really sad," says McDermott. "We've known about this for a long time but now that it's on our doorstep we're starting to come to terms with it. There's nothing we can do, the money is just not there."

An Edinburgh City Council spokesperson says: "In 2004, planning permission was applied for to change the use of the Venue nightclub building to offices. This was granted. The Venue is a private commercial venture and has never applied for, nor received, grant funding from the council.

"Edinburgh has an extremely lively and vibrant music scene and in recent years has attracted bigger bands to venues such as the Usher Hall and the Corn Exchange."

That said, the Venue's passing after 26 years will, McDermott says, leave a "big hole" in Edinburgh's live music landscape. "I'm hoping that someone will come along and create another wee venue but if you're a small, independent, underground music venue you'll always struggle."

"We've had Radiohead, Travis, Texas, Sonic Youth, Cocteau Twins, Black Eyed Peas, Mylo, Athlete, so many," says Jacqui Findlayson, bookings manager at the Venue. "We're so sad because, unlike Glasgow, Edinburgh hasn't got a raft of venues and you need mid-sized venues for local acts to be able to showcase and grow."

That is the crucial point. There is a big difference between being one of a few hundred bodies crammed in close enough to touch Alex Kapranos' drainpipe trousers and standing on your tiptoes to see Franz Ferdinand play a gig in Princes Street Gardens or the SECC.

It's not just the live music scene that will suffer though. Pure, Scotland's longest-running club night, which brought Detroit techno to Edinburgh some 16 years ago, will return to the Venue to hold its last night on June 9 and Joy, Scotland's longest-running gay-friendly club night, will also be spinning its tunes for the last time.

For DF promoter Dave Corbet, it's going to make his job a whole lot harder. "It's going to be a problem finding other venues in Edinburgh. We've used the Venue many times over the years so it won't be good having one less in Edinburgh.

"The city's going to be the poorer for it - there's going to be times when I'm not able to find a date for the gig I want to do, so it just won't play in Edinburgh. It will lose out on some gigs because of it."

Source: http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com

The teenage son of a Paisley chip shop owner has landed a five-album contract with one of the world's most famous record labels in a deal that industry insiders claim could be worth up to £1m.

Singer-songwriter Paolo Nutini has signed with Atlantic Records, which currently has stars James Blunt and Björk on its books and introduced the world to rock band Led Zeppelin.

The 19-year-old has already entered the studio - with Coldplay producer Ken Nelson - to record his debut album, which is due out in July, and industry sources believe he is destined for a high-profile career.In another sign of the label's faith in Nutini, he will perform at the world-famous Carnegie Hall in New York next month at a gala tribute to Ahmet Ertegun, the 82-year-old founder of Atlantic.

Speaking exclusively to Scotland on Sunday, Nutini said: "Atlantic were following my progress for some time and offered me a record deal on the back of publishing interest from Warner Music Group, who they are attached to.

"It is still a lot to take in. I think it's a five-album deal but my management have told me not to release any information regarding how much it is actually worth."

Nutini began his musical apprenticeship in his early teens as a roadie for Glasgow band Speedway, and worked as a studio hand in Glasgow's Park Lane Studio.

He was spotted playing gigs in Glasgow music venues and in 2004 he played on the same bill as KT Tunstall and Iain Archer.

Nutini, who joins Mary J Blige and The Streets on the Atlantic label, added: "I went to play a showcase at the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, in March and on the way back we stopped in New York and I played my first gig there.

"Ahmet Ertegun came along and must have liked what he heard because the next thing I knew he'd asked me to come back to play the Carnegie Hall.

"The reason I signed with Atlantic was because of the gold discs on the walls by people like Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin. To think that he [Ertegun] worked with all of them is amazing."

While comparisons with the meteoric rise of James Blunt are obvious, Nutini's debut album is expected to be heavily influenced by stars such as James Taylor, Van Morrison and the Scottish singer-songwriter, John Martyn.

Nutini said he was determined not to sacrifice his musical roots as part of the music deal.

He said: "I thought the record company might want to turn me into a male Joss Stone and that just didn't feel right. To me soul is not a genre but a feeling."

Nutini will be writing his own music, which he reveals is largely inspired by his private life. He referred to his debut album as "a diary".

He said: "Everything that's happened to me over the last two or three years is on the album.

"Feeling good, feeling down, buying a new pair of shoes, telling a few white lies, songs about leaving home, about missing friends and family, about being in love - it's all there. It's a very personal record - like a diary, really. But hopefully, other people can relate to it.

"I can only sing about what happens to me. I wouldn't really know what else to write about."

He added: "I hated the idea of going to London and I come back to Scotland whenever I can. If it all goes wrong I can always go back to the chip shop."

Paolo Nutini's father, Alfredo - who runs the family chip shop with his wife - said of his son's success: "We are very happy. He is just a young lad with a great future ahead of him. We just let him get on with it."

Insiders believe Atlantic has made Nutini its priority act and plans to build his credentials to match the success of the label's other artists.

One insider confided: "There is little question that this guy is going to be huge.

"Atlantic has obviously realised there is a real market for young, talented male singer-songwriters, and he is all of those things. It seems that he is very much being treated as their star act.

The source added: "£1m a year is not unimaginable for this sort of deal, but it is totally dependent on the air-play time and the album sales.

"Things look hopeful though. If, as alleged, he is writing his own music and gets a good publishing deal, with management that are keen to look after him and nurture him like someone such as James Blunt, he could be huge."

At 28, Fiona Apple is no longer the fragile teenage flower who languidly strummed her pain on her debut album Tidal. She is no longer the angry, angsty ranter that Chris Rock dubbed Fiona X. She is no longer the combustible performer who might storm off stage minutes into a show.

Question: The SunFest show is the beginning of a few solo dates for you before the start of a longer tour. You were out with Coldplay — what was that like after not touring for so long?

Apple: {.......} the crowds were really great. Coldplay has some very cool people who are fans.Not that she's necessarily any happier.

Her critically beloved third album, 2005's Extraordinary Machine, a suite of songs inspired by her breakup with film director P.T. Anderson (Magnolia, Boogie Nights), still finds her introspective and

romantically torn. But she's audibly more comfortable in her skin.

And when she headlines Saturday at SunFest, she'll likely be more assured than the 19-year-old who, a decade ago, seemed to want to crawl into the stage and disappear.

"It's not to say that I'm still not terribly uncomfortable," she admits. "I say all this stuff about how I've grown, and there are days that I revert right back."

That honesty is part of what made Fiona Apple so endearing — and sometimes frustrating — to critics and fans. She put out a second disc with a 90-word title, which left her open to accusations of pretentiousness. Then, there was the long, gossip-fueled speculation about the release of Extraordinary Machine. Fans thought Sony would not release it, and even staged a rally outside Sony headquarters, calling on The Man to "free Fiona."

At the time, as Apple said in subsequent interviews, she was quite touched by the support, but the truth was that she was mostly sitting around watching Columbo reruns in her bathrobe, not being held hostage by the corporate suits. It was Apple who wasn't happy with the disc and delayed its release, switching from longtime producer Jon Brion and his carnivalesque sound to Mike Elizondo, who toned down some of the showiness and substituted a more grown-up, jazzy feel. Brion's original version was leaked to the Internet, anyway, critics debated the relative merits of each, and once again Apple was uneasily in the spotlight.

But Extraordinary Machine deserves the focus. It's gorgeous, ambitious and right out there on the edge. Apple's desperation and "look at me, now look away, look away!" airs of youth have been replaced with something just as honest, but comfortably imperfect. Only someone who knows herself can seem OK with being this naked. Or can admit, as she does in O'Sailor, that the responsibility in a failed relationship is "double-sided, cause I ruined it all/but also saved myself by never believing you."

And she's not looking for a lover to save her or define her. As she sings on the title track: "Be kind to me, or treat me mean, I'll make the most of it, I'm an extraordinary machine."

That she is.

We talked to Apple by phone about touring, songwriting, de-stressing — and Columbo.

Question: The SunFest show is the beginning of a few solo dates for you before the start of a longer tour. You were out with Coldplay — what was that like after not touring for so long?

Apple: It was really a lot of fun. It was surprisingly easy, I was thinking about 10 years ago, when I opened for big bands like that. I used to hate it — it was always in these huge places, the sound was really weird, and the people don't know who you are, and the ones who do know don't like you, they're talking through the performance. But everything I hated about it was exactly the reason I wanted to go out this time. It makes it so much easier when you're not headlining. I was using it as a ruler to see how I handled things, because I used to not handle it so well 10 years ago. But the crowds were really great. Coldplay has some very cool people who are fans.

Q: I guess the big difference is that this time, everyone probably knows who you are.

A: I have no idea who knew me out there, but they were pretty responsive. So, I guess it seems that obviously a lot more people did know who I was.

Q: I saw you 10 years ago, actually, opening for Chris Isaak in D.C. And it was pretty obvious that you were very, very talented and very, very uncomfortable.

A: (That situation) was tailor-made — it was torture for me, pretty much. But at the same time, it was exactly what I needed to do to get past some of my insecurities. It was like facing your worst fears in so many different ways — living with people on a bus. It was great for me. I didn't feel that at the time, but it was good for me.

Q: So what's different now?

A: The main thing that is different about it all is that I'm so much more about satisfying myself. I'm having fun, enjoying what I do, rather than worrying about, hoping that everybody is (approving) of me. I wanted everybody to like me and accept me and know me. I learned the hard way that you can't go out there and make people feel about you the way you want them to. You're better off making your own fun. That's the biggest difference.

Q: The new album was your best debut (on the charts), and it wound up on a lot of critics' Top 10 lists, including my own. Does that define success to you? How do you define success?

A: Really, just that it's out and that I did it the way I wanted to do it, and got my way. I feel successful the times in my life when I can look around at the people I have working with me, and know that there's not one person I don't absolutely adore individually, that I don't absolutely trust and respect and admire. That makes me feel really smart and savvy even to have surrounded myself with such wonderful people. I don't know if that answers your question...

Q: No, it does! Knowing the circuitous route that the album took to get out — the "Free Fiona" campaign, the issues with your record company, the sitting around your apartment in your bathrobe watching Columbo — is the acclaim weird?

A: It is; there are certain things that happened, with the people from Sony having problems with things, looking at all the stuff that had to go on. I kind of think it was something that was tailor-made. Everything worked to my benefit. All the times it was all going to Hell, that it wasn't gonna work out, were steps to the best platform for this to happen.

Q: Just wondering — why Columbo?

A: I really, really love Peter Falk. I had never been into that show. I had heard of it, but they started rerunning it on Bravo. I watched one, and I was hooked. It became like my teddy bear, my comfort.

Q: I always wondered about the double-edged sword of wanting to get your private personal thoughts to inform your art and then having to deal with talking about it to reporters like me, or having to know people are talking about it. Is there any way around that without cheapening or diluting your words?

A: I really shelter myself from the outside world when it comes to that stuff. I have a numbness to me. I don't think about the rest of the world seeing my pain. ... I don't read anything about me. If I see anything about me, or if I go and do a TV show, I make sure not to be in the house when the thing is coming on. I've made the mistake of opening my eyes to what's going on, and it icks me out! I have an ongoing battle with my father, who just loves to go on his computer — he has some hook-up where every time my name is mentioned he can see what happened. He was logged on to the chat rooms on Christmas Day. I was screaming at him — I can't imagine what kind of (stuff) he must be reading about me.

Q: Knowing all that you went through in the last 10 years, would you have changed anything about it? And what advice would you have given yourself if you could go back and talk to yourself then?

A: It's funny, now that I'm where I am and how I'm feeling, if I were to change something, I would be in a different place. So, in that sense, I wouldn't (change anything). But when I look back on how miserable I was when I started out... I still beat myself up, but I really beat myself up then. I think I listened, at the beginning, to these people who had their opinions, who told me to change things, or took advantage of my naivete. I think "What were you listening to these idiots for? They need you more than you need them."

I think I would go back and make myself not so stressed about everything... I'm still stressed about everything.

US pop diva Mariah Carey has been drawn into a spat involving a Kiwi musician who claims he has not been paid royalties for her use of music he helped write.

Auckland musician Dominique Leauga arranged, co-produced and played many of the instruments on eight of the 13 songs on top Kiwi vocal duo's Adeaze's chart-topping debut album, including the platinum single "A Life With You", for which he is registered as a co-composer.

The song, which reached No 5 on the local charts in 2003, was used by Mariah Carey as a sample on the song "Your Girl" from her last album The Emancipation of Mimi. The album sold 7.7 million copies - the world's second biggest-selling record last year, behind Coldplay's X&Y.

Read the full article here

When Coldplay released its second hit album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, the band said that part of the environmental damage caused by its production would be offset by the planting of 10,000 mango trees in southern India.

More than four years after the album's release, however, many of Coldplay's good intentions have withered in the arid soil of Gudibanda, Karnataka state, where the saplings it sponsored were planted.

The idea of saving the world while making music was proposed by Future Forests, a British company since renamed CarbonNeutral. It declared that the scheme would soak up carbon dioxide emissions and help to improve the livelihoods of local farmers.

"You can dedicate more saplings in Coldplay's forest, a specially-selected section in Karnataka, India," its website said. For £17.50, fans could invest in the scheme and receive a certificate packaged in a tube bearing the words "The Coldplay Forest".

Read the full article here; discuss this article here

Football and music are a volatile combination, in my opinion. Separately they bring out the best and worst of their loyal supporters; from the collective pride of a community seeing their team run rings around the opposing side, to the violent riots accompanying all-to-many international matches. From the excitement of a live gig, to controversial bands given demi-god status, usually with a so-called 'disenfranchised' youth following. Not that I'm mentioning any names, Mr Doherty.

So, where do we end up when both come together? A utopian nightclub where the beer freely flows and everyone is in a permanent state of adrenaline-fuelled elation? Or a war zone disguised as a dingy basement bar, where hand grenades are substituted for cans of Carling and wide-eyed inhabitants storm about in a state of drug-induced paranoia?

The FA's reason for picking Embrace for this prestigious role, after much speculation around the Kaiser Chiefs, was that they were deemed to be currently one of the best guitar bands in Britain. No I'm not doubting the musicianship of McNamara and Co, especially as they gave Coldplay the support slot on their tour a few years back, thus giving them a foot in the industry door, it's just that they seem to lack Performing Energy. Despite their latest track 'Nature's Law' entering the chart at number 2 with uplifting piano tinkling and powerful lyrics, McNamara just doesn't sound like he believes what he's singing; rather like a gospel choir that's lost their faith in their Heavenly Father. Maybe someone should slip some anti-depressants into his mineral water before he steps into the recording studio next time.

Read the full article here

The farmer behind the Glastonbury Festival has been awarded the highest possible honour by an organisation representing record industry managers.

Michael Eavis has been inducted into the Roll of Honour of the Music Managers' Forum.

He said it was "quite thrilling to know that after 34 years of organised chaos, I am deemed worthy of this award". He added the festival - which began in 1970 - was so successful because its mix of arts and culture was unique. "We do a whole lot of expression in music, theatre, circus, dance and poetry and green things," he said. "It is very, very different to anything else and people can try to copy it, but it's not the same."The first festival was held on the day after the death of guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Eavis had been inspired by a blues festival at the Bath and West Showground and decided to organise an event of his own, on a smaller scale. The acts on the bill that year included Marc Bolan and Al Stewart. A total of 1,500 people paid the £1 entrance fee, which also entitled them to free milk from Eavis' farm.

There is to be no festival this summer, although a documentary film is being released which captures the spirit of Glastonbury with archive performances and interviews from bands and fans.

More on this here

Festival impresario Michael Eavis said he hoped nearly 175,000 people will attend in 2007.

He revealed plans to expand the site beyond his own Worthy Farm, taking in an extra 100 acres from neighbouring farms. Mr Eavis said he hoped the extra space would make life more comfortable for festival-goers if the 2007 event is hit by bad weather similar to the rains that turned the site into a quagmire in 2005.

He said: "We are looking at having 10,000 extra people involved like performers, backstage crew and staff because we need those to run the site. We will then sell 10,000 extra tickets to meet the cost of taking on extra land because we do need to spread out. When it gets wet the tents are too close together and it's a bit uncomfortable."Last year, some 115,000 people bought tickets to see performances by Coldplay, New Order and Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson. The total attendance, including performers and festival staff, was 153,000, a far cry from the first Glastonbury Festival in 1970 when 1,500 fans watched Marc Bolan and Al Stewart. Mr Eavis said the festival had grown beyond his "wildest dreams". He said: "It's extraordinary. You couldn`t make it up. If you told me then that there would be almost 175,000 people here I`d say you were mad."

There will be no festival this year, but Mr Eavis said he hoped next year's event would be "the best ever."

The line-up for the festival has not been decided, but Mr Eavis has said he hopes Kylie Minogue, who had to pull out of the 2005 event after being diagnosed with breast cancer, will perform. A spokesman for Mendip District Council said festival organisers had not approached them about increasing the capacity. He said discussions about the licence were not due to take place until later this year.

More on this http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29854

Crazy Frog where are you now? Well, here he (it) is...

The criminal masterminds behind the Crazy Frog have appropriated the Queen anthem ‘We Are The Champions’ for the upcoming football World Cup.

The track, officially titled ‘We Are The Champions (Ding A Ding Dong)’, will go head-to-head with British band Embrace’s official England team song, ‘World At Your Feet’. Crazy Frog will be looking for another chart scalp, after topping the charts ahead of Coldplay in 2005.‘We Are The Champions’ was originally released by Queen in 1977, as a double a-side with fellow sporting anthem ‘We Will Rock You’. The band famously closed their concerts with the number. It was also performed to stirring effect to close the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness in 1992. Always a favourite with victorious sporting teams, Mercury was once quoted as saying he was surprised no one had written an anthem to replace it.

It is rumoured that the official Queen Fan Club is currently seeking the services of the Brazilian Government, who are known to be highly proficient in exterminating a variety of frog species in the Amazon basin.

Source: undercover.com.au

The Ruse has a distinctive, mature sound that will speak to your heart and cry to your deepest emotions.

These four guys should already be rich and famous. John Dauer, Jim Bilus, Mark Stolze and Jason Young make up this imaginative, new band.

Their current album, "Light in Motion," radiates with brilliance and endless possibility. Get this album and you will hear an intriguing combination of U2, Coldplay and Sting all very cleverly meshed together.

Read the full review here

Here's another reason to envy Gwyneth Paltrow: She just had another baby, and she's slimmer than ever.

"Last time you saw me, I was out to here," the 33-year-old mother of Moses told friends at the Food Bank for New York City's Can-Do Awards dinner Tuesday honoring REM front man Michael Stipe. She put her hands out a foot in front of her - then patted her perfectly flat tummy.

The lithe Gwyneth, in black slacks and jacket, sported open-toed heels with a matching dark maroon manicure-pedicure and a freshly highlighted ponytail."He's so cute, he's so great," Moses' mom gushed while her husband, Coldplay's Chris Martin, posed with Stipe and kissed him on his forehead. "We have to get home soon," Martin told the honoree.

When the It Couple had arrived at Chelsea's Pier 60, Martin asked Lowdown, "Could we sneak past?" on their way to an inconspicuous table, just as Stipe was accepting the award for his work on behalf of hunger relief. "Ooh, Michael is giving his speech," Paltrow cooed.

Stipe seemed a tad sheepish about all the attention. "I come from a Christian background, and a lot of what I do I don't advertise or boast about," he told Lowdown.

Before the program - which featured a musical tribute to Stipe by Patti Smith - he'd paced nervously in a hallway and did some calming deep knee-bends. The crowd included Jimmy Fallon, Helena Christensen, Thom Filicia, a mellowed-out Jann Wenner (just back from Bhutan with Bette Midler) and self-promoting moviemaker Michael Moore, who refused all photo and interview requests, apparently to enhance his air of mystery.

Fallon was much more cooperative, getting temporarily blinded by television lights while a charity auction was underway. "I got lost, and while I was back there I bid $40,000 on a big bin of toilet paper," he quipped.

Source: nydailynews.com

Eisley sounds like a fairy tale. The band — composed of home-schooled family members from small-town Texas — formed about a decade ago when keyboardist/singer Stacy DuPree was only 7.

The quintet — sisters Stacy, Sherri and Chauntelle, their brother Weston and a friend, Jon Wilson — released a pair of stunning, dreamy rock EPs in 2003, which set the stage for tours with Coldplay and Snow Patrol. The full-length debut, 2005's "Room Noises," led to tours with New Found Glory, Hot Hot Heat and Switchfoot, as well as headlining tours of their own.

Not bad for a family band whose oldest member is 24."We never deal with sibling-rivalry issues or anything like that," singer/guitarist Sherri DuPree, 22, said in a phone interview. "We grew up really close. Each of us were each other's best friends."

As if to prove the point, she and the rest of the band are talking and laughing as they walk through downtown Portland, Ore., looking for a place to grab a quick lunch. There's none of the tension that might be expected from a gaggle of youths trying to pick a fast-food joint.

"It's helpful that we're all related because we're not as afraid to step on each other's toes, not in a bad way, but we're close, so we're able to talk through things and work out issues," she added. "We all have the same ideas about musically what we want to do with the songs and everything like that. We're on the same wavelength, so it makes working as a band a lot easier."

Eisley believes the saying that the family that plays together stays together. When Wilson left last summer to pursue other interests, Eisley added cousin Garron DuPree, now 16, to the mix as bassist.

"He fits right in," Sherri said. "Obviously, he's part of the family, so it was a really smooth transition from our last bass player."

The band has been busy touring and writing new music, and plans to head back into the studio this summer to work on an album. Fans will get an earful of new tunes at the Club Congress show Sunday.

"It's a more mature, grown-up Eisley, opposed to the first album when we were so young," Sherri said.

Sherri admits that reading fairy tales and fictional literature inspired a lot of the band's early lyrics, but the new music doesn't have quite the same youthful whimsy.

"On the first album it had a lot to do with us being really young and not having a lot of life experience to draw from, so we tended to fall back on making up completely fictional songs," she said. "We've been a band now for 10 years and we've written so many songs and toured endlessly, so I think there's more content to these next songs."

Just because the members are growing up doesn't mean the fantasy is ending. In fact, Sherri's personal fairy tale with New Found Glory guitarist Chad Gilbert is just beginning.

"We totally became best friends on tour. It was amazing, and we got engaged in December," she said. "It was a fairy-tale crazy thing."

Gilbert popped the question at the Hollywood premiere of the movie version of Sherri's favorite book, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe."

"This year is going to be totally crazy because my fiance and I are building a house, we have to plan the wedding and we have all these tours and we have to make the album," she said. "It's going to be lots of touring and not seeing each other, but we know what we signed up for."

Sherri will be the first DuPree to leave the nest after the February wedding, but she and the rest of the family plan to stick together and continue making their enchanting rock.

"We're in it for the long haul," she said. "We're so passionate about it and we love it so much. I hope I can do this for the rest of my life."

Source: azstarnet.com

Cities is a good record from a good young band with loads of potential. It's not brilliant, as some Triangle scene advocates hoped, but it's not bad, as jealous detractors of the Chapel Hill band and its record deal hoped. It's solid.

But what Cities lacks in apogean excellence it makes up for, by default, with local relevance: I doubt this will be the best record released in the Triangle this year, but it just may be the most important.

Of course, the natural response is "Why?" Why would a four-piece rock record coming through like an amalgam of Interpol atmosphere, Radiohead theme and Coldplay likeability be important?And, in the national sphere, the answer is that it probably won't be. At best, Cities will become an indie media buzz band, and they'll be a top-billed act at 2006's CMJ Music Marathon, the annual band-blowout that College Music Journal hosts in New York each fall. Then comes the onus of performing well in every American city for three months and turning around and making a record that matches critical expectations.

At worst, Cities will be a strong debut from a band of four Chapel Hill guys, all under 25. It will get some good press (it already has), some lackluster reviews (hasn't happened yet), and they'll do some short tours (still looking for the right booking agent). They'll probably make another record, and maybe more will happen for them in round two.

But, in either event, Cities is important, first and foremost, because it--a record by four unknowns from a town that's been largely dormant on the national music scene for years--was released, and, secondly, because it was released by Yep Roc Records.

At this point in local record label history, the outlook for the best of the local talent crop is grim, indeed: After years of releasing music by local bands, Merge Records has risen to a position of such national prominence that they now only sport one touring local band; Mammoth Records is gone; local upstarts that showed promise--Bifocal Media, Pidgeon English, Fractured Discs--have either backed off or are taking their time.

But Yep Roc is trying to step up to the plate, recognizing that there is an incredible wealth of talented people making worthy music in the Triangle, and that someone should be putting it out. They've enjoyed success with bluegrass ingénues Chatham County Line and have provided local supergroup Tres Chicas a platform from which to receive mass critical acclaim and a rising public star. Yep Roc put The Comas in a place to sign with the more demographically suited Vagrant Records, and Yep Roc has experience with the indie rock of the late Mayflies USA.

But Cities is a true debut from true unknowns. If Cities is the right band, Yep Roc, locally, is the right label. They're relatively new, growing and extremely energetic. Owners Glenn Dicker and Tor Hansen also own Redeye Distribution, the end of their enterprise that now has the ability to get products from dozens of different labels inside stores ranging from big-box chains like Borders and Best Buy down to independent, mom-and-pop strongholds like Schoolkids and Plan 9. Putting Cities inside stores isn't a problem, and Yep Roc now sports enough name recognition that the music press will be compelled to at least hear the band.

In a conversation I had with Dicker and Hansen last November, Dicker outlined the labels approach for Cities: "The idea was, let's take a really patient approach with this band, and let them develop on their own. We'll provide the support and let them get their feet wet."

Once again, the worst- and best-case scenarios for Cities the band both translate into wins, but this time it's for the local music scene. If, as Yep Roc's grand local indie rock experiment, it fails and Cities doesn't create an adequate splash, Hansen and Dicker will have learned enough to try again with more bands. If Cities explodes, Yep Roc--as well as outside labels and even other local indie labels, like Merge--may take notice of the Triangle's ample stock of other fine bands. Who knows?

It's been well memorialized that Chapel Hill was seen as the next Seattle in the early '90s. A number of fine bands emerged from the area, but the burdens of that expectation were too much. Now, there are no expectations, but there are--as in that previous period--a number of strong bands making profound music independently. We'll see.

Source: indyweek.com

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Boost Mobile RockCorps (BMRC), the national youth volunteerism movement that motivated more than 6,000 young people to get involved and help their community last year...is back! RockCorps, an organization harnessing the power of music to inspire volunteerism, and Boost Mobile, a wireless telecommunications brand dedicated to boosting the lives of today’s youth, announced today that they will once again partner this year to continue the youth movement for social change.

The movement began in June 2005 and included 10 volunteer events and concerts in Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Washington D.C. throughout the summer. BMRC volunteers received tickets to popular music concerts in their area in exchange for contributing four hours of community service. The shows included some of the biggest acts in music, including Kanye West, Green Day, Coldplay and Mike Jones.“The fundamental goal of Boost Mobile RockCorps is to make volunteering cool and to get people involved in their community at an early age,” said Stephen Greene, chief executive officer, RockCorps. “Our partnership with Boost Mobile is helping to build the bridge between the desire to help out in one's community and the actual street level need. BMRC connects people with non-profit organizations in their neighborhood.”

Combining the power of music, community and volunteerism, Boost Mobile RockCorps will offer entrance to this summer’s most popular concerts for which the only way in is to earn tickets by contributing four hours of volunteer service. The 2006 Boost Mobile RockCorps movement will kick-off this month with a series of volunteer programs in Atlanta leading up to the first televised concert event on June 16 at the Fox Theatre.

This year’s volunteers will work on a range of service projects including school and playground renovations, environmental initiatives, food distribution and much more. The BMRC program will build throughout the summer with stops in Houston, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. By the end of the 2006 tour, which concludes with a signature televised concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on September 23, BMRC volunteers will have transformed close to 125 project sites in eight cities across the country.

An additional 78 projects were implemented in New York City from August through September last year. 5,000 BMRC volunteers participated in the New York City projects and received tickets to an exclusive concert at legendary Radio City Music Hall that featured top-selling recording artists Fat Joe, Young Jeezy, TI, Paul Wall, Fabolous, Slim Thug, Travis Barker and others. The signature concert, which celebrated the efforts and accomplishments of this unprecedented nationwide initiative, was nationally televised on MTV2.

BMRC is now recruiting members through youth-oriented radio, websites, urban guerilla marketing and more. People interested in becoming part of the movement can log onto www.boostmobilerockcorps.com or call 888-ROCK-889 for more information and to register for membership. Boost Mobile RockCorps members will be notified of opportunities in their area to volunteer and asked to commit four hours to a specific event or ongoing cause.

“Boost Mobile RockCorps’ infectious blend of selfless contribution, immense reward and exceptional entertainment is creating a lasting impression with young adults,” said Darryl Cobbin, vice president of marketing, Boost Mobile. “Utilizing the power of music as the ultimate reward for community service allows us to reach a more diverse group of potential volunteers. We applaud RockCorps’ unique approach to exposing young people to simple ways they can impact their community and are pleased to help make their vision a reality.”

About RockCorps

RockCorps is an organization that harnesses the power of music to inspire volunteerism. Based on the early work of The Greenbucks Foundation, RockCorps was founded in 2003 to affect social change and act as the bridge between communities in need and the young adults who want to make them better. RockCorps’ goals are to introduce volunteerism to teens and young adults, motivate people to volunteer in their community and launch a national movement. The company has formulated a unique blend of music, community and volunteerism to expose young people to simple ways they can proactively contribute to the greater good. The program employs music as an incentive to entice and then funnel volunteers through established non-profit organizations. By completing four hours of community service, each participant receives a ticket to a signature RockCorps event which features performances by some of the hottest names in music. Experience shows that after volunteering once with RockCorps, young people are twice as likely to do it again.

About Boost Mobile

Based in Irvine, California, Boost Mobile, LLC, a subsidiary of Sprint Nextel Corporation, (NYSE: S), is a lifestyle-based telecommunications brand focused on offering premium Pay-As-You-Go wireless phones and services to the youth market. Boost Mobile is dedicated to boosting the lives of today’s young people by contributing to youth development programs. Boost’s community relations efforts, which include Boost Mobile RockCorps, Boost Mobile Ahead of the Game youth basketball camps, support to Big Brothers Big Sisters and Historically Black Colleges and Universities and more, are helping young people enhance their lifestyle and status, and build stronger connections and greater independence. Experience Boost on the Web at www.boostmobile.com

Source: rapnews.net

The social contract between musicians, audience and venues is a strange one. All parties agree to endure discomfort for a few hours in exchange for catharsis or enrichment (monetary or otherwise). If everything goes well, the bonding over shared deprivations (oxygen, hearing, shoes shed in moshpits) is part of the reward of deliverance.

Tuesday night's sold-out Bloc Party concert at Fort Lauderdale's Revolution nightclub was one of those nights. You could see the satisfaction in the giant smile singer Kele Okereke wore most of the night, in the bodies of fans lifted up from the packed floor to be carried over the crowd like offerings, and in the muscled determination of the bouncers who brought the bodysurfers safely to the ground and poured water in overheated fans' mouths.

Bloc Party has carefully studied the Coldplay playbook, also following in the path of such British acts as U2, the Cure, and Oasis by delivering stirring anthems with ringing guitar overtones.Bloc Party members mentioned several times that it was the English alt-rock quartet's first show in the states in seven months, during which time they've been recording the follow-up to their acclaimed '05 debut, Silent Alarm. The Revolution show, the band's first in Florida, was the initial in a small number of gigs it's doing on its way to playing this weekend's Coachella festival in California.

Okereke often sings about alienation and angst -- ''It's so cold in this house'' -- but in a comforting way: ''I figured it out,'' he assures. The handsome singer in casual clothes is the onstage focal point, but guitarist Russell Lissack (who wore a T-shirt saying ''Anyone can play guitar'' Tuesday) is the band's not-so-secret ingredient. Judging by the fervor of the 2,000 fans at Revolution, Bloc Party has struck a chord with young adults just beginning to navigate an often heartless world.

They unveiled at least one new track Tuesday. It left open the question whether Bloc Party can turn its signature sound into something extraordinary. From the Lollapalooza-style moshpit to the echoey, atmospheric sound, there was a decidedly retro feel to the Revolution show. It reminded not so much of the postpunk bands to which Bloc Party is often compared -- Gang of Four, Joy Division -- but of the more radio-friendly sound of '80s new wave. Unlike grumpy snobby indie bands, Bloc Party is embracing fame. Evelyn McDonnell is The Miami Herald's pop music critic.

Source: miami.com

Playing to screaming fans at a free gig in the middle of the day in one of the capital's most impressive venues might not be the most risky way of introducing your new album. Better be good then...

Fortunately for Snow Patrol they haven't got the attention of the world, God, and his dog detailing every note and jaded falsetto every time they release an album, a la Coldplay.

Having been round the block several times with their shoe-laces undone as great record after greater record has passed largely unnoticed by the mainstream, the Dundee five-piece finally struck silver with 2004's massive seller 'Final Straw'. Now, determined that their lengthy career is not going to end up on that note, Gary Lightbody has pledged everything on latest release 'Eyes Open', claiming it to be Snow Patrol's finest moment and their potential legacy, promising a bigger sound of brass and strings and drafting in a choir.Fitting then that one of their first UK gigs showcasing their brand new material is in Covent Garden's Royal Opera House, its arched, modern interior, panelled by glass prompting a bewildered response from Lightbody as he takes to the stage. "It's like playing in a train station isn't it?" Kicking off with the seasoned 'Wow' it's clear that the frontman is revelling in being back on the live stage, grinning almost non-stop as the band tear through crowd favourite 'Chocolate'. Perhaps it's because he knows he's going to be on TV (the show being part of a 'secret gigs for fans' series being put on by Vodaphone), perhaps it's the sight of middle aged fans losing it to his tunes in the middle of the day, or it could be the fact that for the first time ever he can watch his own band playing back their hits thanks to a huge mirror on the back wall of the room.

The 'Final Straw' classics ('Run', 'How To Be Dead', 'Spitting Games') of course draw the biggest cheers to the delight of the TV men, but it's the songs from the new album that everyone's waiting on. Even the fans who cheer the affirmative when Lightbody asks who's downloaded new tracks illegally, before sheepishly looking over their shoulder when he jokes that security have been instructed to nab them, are eager to hear how the songs sound live - and ultimately it's a mixed bag. 'It's Beginning To Get To Me' is a chuggy brooding pop song with minimal verses but an explosive chorus, a slightly backward cousin of current single and set closer 'You're All I Have', which still gets better with every listen.

It's the tracks featuring the choir (only half of them here in number today) that really resonate the strongest and suggest that Snow Patrol have in fact moved on. The first, 'Hands On', is average at best with Lightbody getting as tangled up as his matted barnet towards the end, attempted harmonies and ambitious vocal assaults becoming lost in a maelstrom of confused warbling - perhaps distracted by his lyrical nod to Sufjan Stevens. Fortunately, the delicate 'Shut Your Eyes' utilises the cooing of the choir to better affect, its warm and soothing chorus perfectly suited to the classical setting of the opera house, before 'Make This Go On Forever' builds a stirring lament and brings forth the goose bumps. However, the best new song of the set comes in the shape of 'Chasing Cars', a stripped down yet atmospheric U2-like anthem in the making that has the potential to be the next 'Run'.

Snow Patrol haven't veered too far from the tried and tested formula, however the promise of 'strings, brass, and choir' has added a new dimension that should see them hit even bigger times, not least in front of thousands under the stars at festival throughout the summer. And, perhaps most strikingly, the band are clearly loving it - or is that just themselves in that mirror?

SET LIST

Wow

Chocolate

It's Beginning To Get To Me

Spitting Games

Hands Open

Shut Your Eyes

Chasing Cars

How To Be Dead

Make This Go On Forever

Run

You're All I Have

Source: http://www.virtualfestivals.com