LAFAYETTE - A sermon at Flatirons Community Church might dissect a song from Coldplay or Foo Fighters. Or it might trace Anakin's journey to the dark side in Star Wars.

The nondenominational Lafayette church and others like it are turning to pop culture, hip-hop and Hollywood to draw in teens and one of the most difficult-to-reach population segments - college students.

In a national study by the University of California at Los Angeles last year, large numbers of college freshmen - four in five - reported an interest in spirituality. But experts say formal participation in religion, such as attending services, drops off significantly in the college years and remains low until around the time young adults build their own families. Religious organizations intent on attracting teens and twentysomethings say they're trying to tap into that spirituality with modern, multimedia messages that are "relevant" to today's young adults.

"We do a ton of secular music - Avril Lavigne, even Eminem - and we get flak for that stuff sometimes," said Curt Cavnar, Flatirons spokesman. "But the idea is we're trying to bring church into the world where people live, not ask them to come into something stark and cold and foreign to them.

"We're competing against concerts, events, studies, partying, hanging out with friends, and jobs. So to get them for an hour on Sunday, wow, you'd better be appealing and relevant."

About 20 percent of the church's 4,000-member congregation is made up of college students, Cavnar said.

Despite being part of the young crowd there, 19-year-old Betsy Burnett - a junior at the University of Colorado who grew up in Lafayette - said she's a rarity on the Boulder campus because she goes to church regularly.

"It's the first time in your life you have a choice of what to do, and people are trying to prove their independence," she said.

First Presbyterian Church in Boulder draws more than 700 college students to Tuesday night ministries geared toward young adults.

Joseph Penta, who was president of a Christian fraternity at CU before graduating last spring, spent his Tuesday nights there.

"At an age when you question everything, I wanted to be a part of that but at the same time grounded in my beliefs," said Penta. "My faith was my own, not forced on me, so it wasn't a matter of breaking free from authority."

Source: http://rockymountainnews.com

Long before the sizzle and scent of fried bacon entered the act, Bacon Shoe was a one-man enterprise: a rapper with a keyboard, a crock of beats and an errant sense of locale.

“The first live show I ever did was at a (restaurant) in Lee’s Summit,” says Lethal D, the sole founder of the rap/farce troupe he calls Bacon Shoe. “I got kicked out because of the lyrics. There were kids eating with their moms and dads, and about five songs in, the owner got all (ticked) off and kicked me out.

“I was getting no respect. … Kids ruin everything.”

And things tended to go awry. One night, Toine says, he got too “explosive” and knocked his loaded George Foreman grill off the table, breaking it. Despite the occasional slapstick moment, Toine became better known for busting moves than for frying bacon. “Girls go crazy over Toine,” Lethal says. “Most of the audience doesn’t even look at me when I’m up there.”

Enduring aromas aside, word is supposedly out about Ruggles’ grill skills. He is threatening to move on to bigger bands with better small appliances. “I might be cooking bacon for Coldplay next year,” he says.

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8. Coldplay - X&Y 4/5: Probably the most hyped and talked about album of 2005. While the band strives for that big anthem U2 like sound, Chris Martin's lyrics just seem really pale in comparison to their previous work. It's still a good album but not quite as good as 2002's A Rush Of Blood To The Head.

So with 2005 complete sights are now set on for 2006 with many new albums to look forward to. This includes rumoured releases from The Flaming Lips, Yellowcard, Richard Ashcroft (former lead singer of The Verve), Arctic Monkeys (who are the most hyped band from Britain, since the last most hyped band from Britain), The Ataris, Belle And Sebastian, Hawthorne Heights, Morrissey, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Incubus, My Chemical Romance, Tool, The Killers, Matthew Good, Kanye West, Snow Patrol, Taking Back Sunday, Evanescence, AFI, Linkin Park, The Mars Volta and The Used.

However the album that many are looking for to the most is the upcoming Radiohead album, rumoured to be coming out this summer.

Read the full list here

COZUMEL, Mexico -- The mum of Croydon-born singer Kirsty MacColl has vowed she will "never give up" the fight for justice for her daughter.

Following the fifth anniversary of Kirsty's death Jean MacColl believes the goal is in sight as she battles for the authorities to re-open the investigation into her daughter's final hours. The 41-year-old was killed by a speedboat off the coast of Mexico as she was scuba diving in December 2000.

Kirsty was born at Mayday Hospital and attended Monks Hill comprehensive school, in Selsdon, in the 1970s before launching her pop career which included the classic Christmas track Fairytale of New York.

The song, which originally made number two, was re-issued over the festive period and peaked at number three in the chart, beating the likes of Westlife, Coldplay and Girls Aloud in the Christmas charts.

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Michael Stipe checks in from the Powerbook about Coldplay, Austin, New York, Mr. Denton's website and his hair

Last month bert and I went on a whirlwind visit of austin texas to work with coldplay, appearing on austin city limits. I sang 2 songs with the band including the joseph arthur track ‘in the sun’. You may have caught it on your local PBS station; if not, its already in repeat.

Ive seen coldplay many times over the past few years, including the atlanta show of a few months ago. They have taken it up several notches in the live show, which is superb, engaging, brilliantly paced; the austin city limits taping completing for me what became an end of year of unparalleled charisma; u2 at msg in nyc, dolly parton in atlanta, then patti smith in brooklyn; then coldplay in austin.

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When it comes to promotional material, the good old BBC beats everyone hands down. Some PR people attempt to bribe journalists with T shirts (too big, invariably) or miserly quantities of alcohol.

But back in February 2006, bright sparks in the Doctor Who marketing team sent out time machines! It's caused chaos, frankly, with critics using the technology to zip forward in time, returning to file reviews of Coldplay's fourth album before the band have started making it, or reveal what Lost is all about before the writing team even know (it was all Charlie's dream, it turns out, the clue to this being the utter implausibility of a band called Driveshaft selling any records). I'm fairly sure I'm the first person to travel back to January 2006 to file a review of the year before it's happened, but I think I spotted a writer for Mojo zipping past in his TARDIS in the direction of 1980, possibly to shout "Duck!" at John Lennon.

If he makes it, things could get very complicated, and that BBC PR person could be in serious trouble for inadvertently creating an alternate universe where Doctor Who didn't even get remade, let alone pull in millions of viewers, which would kind of defeat the point of the whole promotional campaign.

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Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow says moving to the UK has made her swap faddy diets for a double helping of our favourites

She's a Hollywood star who commands £10million a movie, has won an Oscar and is best friends with Madonna.

But something strange has happened to Gwyneth Paltrow since she set up home in Britain with her husband Chris Martin and their daughter Apple - and she can't quite believe it herself.

The actress, who is famous for red carpet glamour and her faddy diets, has developed a passion for beer, takeaways and um... The Two Ronnies.

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A '60s spirit is afloat as diverse music makers pop up in every corner of Britain. Will America catch the drift?

Down the five decades of rock 'n' roll, musical Brits have had the cheeky habit of periodically bestriding the world as if we owned it.

In 2005, it was Live 8 that commanded global attention (admittedly fronted by Irishmen Bob Geldof and Bono); a huge gig in Hyde Park, London, it formed the centerpiece of a multinational, all-day show seen on TV and online by a potential audience of untold millions. Down at ground level, the cause — a demand to "make poverty history" — was acclaimed. But in the context of current U.K. music, the grand scale of the event actually didn't suit the spirit of the times. The signs are that, at the moment, our rock and pop passions are growing, but in a more personal, small-is-beautiful direction.

Coldplay is the band that proves we can do it in America. Its industrial importance in the U.K. was demonstrated last February when EMI announced that the release of the band's third album, "X&Y," would be postponed, and company shares plummeted 16%. But then Coldplay delivered, and everything clicked, U.K. and America.

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LAS VEGAS -- 2006 International CES Show -- The Orchard, the world's leading distributor and marketer of independent music, yesterday announced a landmark relationship with Verizon Wireless, the leading U.S. wireless provider. Verizon Wireless' new V CAST Music service, launching January 16, will draw from The Orchard's industry-leading catalogue of independent music and leverage The Orchard's music programming expertise in independent music. The Orchard and the four major labels constitute the primary music partners for V CAST Music at launch, further solidifying The Orchard's position as the leading distributor of independent music.

The Orchard will serve as the preferred provider of independent music for V CAST Music. The Orchard's catalogue includes a diverse roster of music: landmark indie rock and punk from SST (Black Flag, Husker Du, Minutemen) and Lookout! Records (The Donnas, Ted Leo), classic hip-hop from Delicious Vinyl (Tone Loc, Young MC) and Nature Sounds (MF Doom, Immortal Technique), world- renowned classical music from Analekta and Qualiton, Bollywood hits from Saregama (Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar) and other top Indian labels, and much more. The Orchard catalogue also includes music from multi-platinum acts such as Green Day, Coldplay, and Ray Charles from their early years, before they were signed to major labels, and breaking bands like The Hold Steady and Matisyahu. Overall, The Orchard's catalogue encompasses music from thousands of record labels spanning 73 countries and every music genre.

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One music fan’s anger over digital rights management on the British band’s CD sparks a tempest in the blogosphere.

A music fan’s online posting of the usage restrictions enclosed with a Coldplay CD he bought in India has sparked criticism of the band in the tech blogosphere, signaling a growing need for better information about copyright limitations. The pamphlet appears to be specific to record label EMI’s releases in India. It says the CD cannot be burned onto hard disk or another CD, converted to MP3 files, or used on an Apple computer.

A long list of usage guidelines ends with the statement “Except for manufacturing problems, we do not accept product exchange, return, or refund.” Such information is not included with copy-protected CDs sold in the United States.

"Bad, bad Coldplay,” wrote 22-year-old Arif Rahimi, a medical student in Hyderabad who bought the album at a local record store.

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More on the issue of Coldplay's latest album "X&Y" has DRM that prohibits among other things, burning the CD to CD-R or hard disk, or converting to MP3.

An interesting article from Murmurs.com who have not only published their own view, they have included a link to Coldplay's latest Skype competition link in order for visitors to tell Coldplay exactly how musicgoers feel about copy protection. Coldplay had earlier promised to listen to every single voicemail message that is left for them!

Some of the comments are interesting also. You can have a read, and if you feel inclined, give Coldplay a call! Click here

"Another Ode, Ode to Deodorant. It's my favourite hygiene, it keeps me through the day".

These are the lyrics of "Ode To Deodorant", the first song performed by Coldplay as an ensemble, in 1998. It was released as a double A-side demo cassette tape for local concert promoters by Phil Harvey, the band's original manager. The second A-side, "Brothers & Sisters" went on to become one of Coldplay's early staples.

Ode was recorded in the same sessions as the Safety EP. In total they had 8 songs recorded in that session, some of the others are High Speed, Don't Panic, and possibly Spies / Brothers & Sisters.

Read the full article here [Thanks Yevgeni]

More on the CD insert instruction that was reported earlier today on Coldplaying.com.

Coldplay's latest CD provides what may be one of the best tools to use against the onslaught of anti-consumer digital rights management technology. Their most recent album, X&Y, now comes in some regions with an insert that warns users not to expect the CD they just purchased to work with just any old CD player (the following exemplar is from India).

Stating that "This CD cannot be burnt onto a CD-R or hard disk, nor can it be converted into MP3 for file sharing," the insert goes on to list 12 bullet-pointed exceptions to what devices can actually play the disc. But before they deliver the bad news, they start off with the good stuff...

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After about a year and a half of waiting around for Team Love to finally get this record out, on January 24th, all of the Jenny Lewis followers will finally get their wish. I don't think that you really need an introduction to Jenny, you should know her from the wonderful band Rilo Kiley who have grown immensely (deservedly so) in the past year with numerous headlining tours, and even an opening spot on part of the US leg of the Coldplay tour.

With the growing popularity, more opportunities have been made possible to the band. With guitarist Blake Sennett recording another album for his band The Elected, a solo record from Jenny only seemed like a logical step. So when Team Love's Conor Oberst gave Jenny a chance to record an album and release it on his own label, she jumped at the chance.

Read the full review here

Being hailed as saviors of a pop style has been a heavy load for the Strokes [pictured]. Singer Julian Casablancas says they'd rather focus on their music instead of their 'mission.'

Julian Casablancas is getting tired of people asking him where he's going. And he doesn't mean Madrid, his destination this day as he navigates the Milan airport, in the middle of a hectic European jaunt of press sessions and club shows to advance Tuesday's release of the Strokes' third album, "First Impressions of Earth."

All went according to plan with a debut album, 2001's "Is This It," selling a solid million in the U.S. and collecting international accolades. But a second album, 2003's "Room on Fire," stalled at half the sales, and even supporters started to question the band's will to lead while watching Coldplay do the hard work to achieve the status some wanted for the Strokes. To make matters worse, such other upstarts as Franz Ferdinand and the Killers walked through the commercial door the Strokes opened.

So now with the third album — historically a make-or-break career mark — it's hard not to ask: Are the Strokes going to step up and be a world-class band or not?

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Thirteen liveDaily critics were asked to list their 10 favorite albums of 2005, and six placed “Z” on their list, as close to a consensus as we got this year. Coldplay's “X&Y” appears on five lists, making it a clean sweep for the last three letters of the alphabet.

Overall rankings were determined by first grouping albums by the number of ballots on which they appeared. Ties were then broken by weighting votes based on where albums ranked on individual lists.

Critics Picks: liveDaily’s top albums of 2005

1. My Morning Jacket, “Z” (ATO)

2. Coldplay, “X&Y” (Capitol)

3. Kanye West, “Late Registration” (Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam)

4. The White Stripes, “Get Behind Me Satan” (V2)

5. Beck, “Guero” (Geffen)

6. Bright Eyes, “I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning” (Saddle Creek)

7. Queens of the Stone Age, “Lullabies to Paralyze” (Interscope)

8. Shelby Lynne, “Suit Yourself” (Capitol)

9. Spoon, “Gimme Fiction” (Merge)

10. M.I.A., “Arular” (XL/Interscope)

Read the full article here

3. The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival

The two-day event that spawned a multitude of regional music fests was never more powerful. Coldplay also elevated the festival to new levels of commercial esteem by using the festival to preview its “X&Y” CD, ranked the best album of 2005 by Amazon.com customers. The closing night set by angst-ridden Trent Reznor’s Nine Inch Nails also ensured that this Coachella was one of the most musically powerful.

Read the other entries here

"Chris martin from coldplay. Got a few questions for you."

"Can i wear your sunglasses?"

"Ok, now you like to buy clothes made in third world sweat-shops because they’re cheaper. Do you prefer Chinese or Indian made stuff?"

"Indian. Chinese don’t know what they’re doing."

Read the full article here

[Thanks Gonzo21]

Green Day, U2, Franz Ferdinand, Coldplay, The White Stripes and Foo Fighters enjoyed a strong 2005, riding a wave of popularity for their latest releases. Collectively, these groups scooped up an impressive 16 nominations in various rock and pop categories for the upcoming Grammy Awards.

But they also hardly represent the broad spectrum of rock music to land on record store shelves and iPod menus in the past year.

Below is a selection of rock bands that, while they may not show up as nominees for a major music award, nonetheless produced impressive efforts in 2005.

Read the full article here

Powerhouse tours by the Rolling Stones, U2 and Paul McCartney helped drive concert ticket revenues in North America to a record $3.1 billion in 2005, even as the number of tickets sold declined for the third year in row.

Fans purchased 36.1 million tickets to the top 100 concert tours, compared with 37.6 million in 2004 and 38.7 million in 2003, according to Pollstar, the industry trade magazine.

Green Day, Rascal Flatts, Dave Matthews Band, Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney, Coldplay [pictured], Gwen Stefani and the Anger Management Tour were among the contemporary acts to break into the top 20 biggest earners.

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Live music events are the life blood of Austin's entertainment scene. This year's Austin City Limits music festival was the hottest ticket in more ways than one.

Superstar rockers Coldplay capped a marathon weekend of live music overload.

ACL organizers limited the crowd to 65,000 people per day, which was 10,000 fewer than the previous year. The goal was to give people more breathing room to enjoy the event, and that part of the plan worked.

"I think we're right where we need to be,” festival organizer Mark Higgins said. “I think this year it was quite comfortable, minus the heat.”

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It would be an understatement to say that 2005 was a hot year for live music in the Bay Area.

Thanks to a plethora of huge shows delivered by the likes of Green Day, the Rolling Stones, the Dave Matthews Band, Gwen Stefani, Kanye West, Paul McCartney, U2 and Eminem, the local concert scene has simply been on fire over the past 12 months. That was especially true in November, when the Stones, McCartney and U2 performed six concerts in one scorching eight-day stretch in Oakland, San Jose and San Francisco.

The forecast for 2006, by comparison, looks to be cold — as in Coldplay.

It's still early and few major shows have been announced for the new year, so everyone's pointing toward Coldplay's upcoming concerts as the first huge music events of 2006.

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After becoming Internet moguls, Google Inc. co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page are dipping their toes into Hollywood.

The pair are executive producers of a low-budget, independent film to be released next year, "Broken Arrows," written and directed by a friend of theirs, Reid Gershbein.

Though Google's founders routinely hobnob with Hollywood stars such as Gwyneth Paltrow (she visited Google's headquarters with husband Chris Martin, Coldplay) and Robin Williams (he visited too), none appears in the film. Instead, the cast is made up of lesser-known actors Peter Quartaroli and Lori Petty in the lead roles.

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The year 2005 will go down musically as yet another year in which album sales continued to decrease and Internet downloading skyrocketed, Canadian band the Arcade Fire boomed internationally, Mariah Carey made an unbelievable comeback, controversial rapper 50 Cent dominated sales charts while diversifying into movies, books, and video games, and U2 had the biggest tour of the year.

Robert Plant, Oasis, the Rolling Stones, Paul Weller and Depeche Mode all produced some of their best-reviewed albums in years, while Coldplay didn't disappoint with third disc X&Y [pictured] and one of the hottest tours of 2005. The Stones set up shop in Toronto this summer to rehearse and performed a club show at the Phoenix before wowing fans at Rogers Centre later in the year.

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As the bass player for Coldplay, one of the world's current most famous bands, Berryman makes his debut as one of rocksnobing.com's first entries for many reason.

Commonly referred to as the "dark horse" of the band, Berryman admits that he has used much of his time on tour iwth the band scouring record shops from coast to coast to fill his assumingly large collection of vintage vinyls.

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