According to Hip Hop DX today, The Viva La Hova tape from 2008 comes back to life with two new songs, and professional overhaul on the mastering. The new edition can be downloaded here and read more about it at Mick Boogie's blog page.

Cleveland, Ohio native Mick Boogie and partner Terry Urban released Viva La Hova in October of 2008. The mixtape arrived at a time when Jay-Z and Coldplay's Chris Martin maintained a very public friendship and were collaborating on stage and in the studio. More than just a mash-up, Viva La Hova found original production as an outlet to compare catalogs from two of the leading acts of the '00s. DXnext alum 6th Sense, The Kickdrums and Cookin' Soul all contributed to the collection.

It was announced this afternoon by Mick Boogie that Viva La Hova has been remastered with two original songs, shortly before its two-year anniversary. "Terry and I were planning on re-releasing it in December anyways, just because everywhere we go, people ask us about it," said Mick Boogie in a statement.

"After Jay-Z and Coldplay announced their big New Years Eve plans, including performing together integrating their songs… and about a million people emailed us… we decided to just drop the re-release now. Why wait?" Mick went on to affirm Viva as "a project that can only be described as ambient cold weather music."

Tracklisting:

1) Intro (produced by Mick Boogie & Terry Urban)

2) One Ruler (produced by Max Tannone)

3) Public Speeding (produced by Cookin’ Soul)***

4) Know My Place (produced by The Amps)

5) Never Changing (produced by nVMe)

6) Miss Trouble (produced by Judah)

7) Back At My Place (produced by Remot)

8) Lucifer And Friends (produced by CJ Luzi)

9) A Spy’s Prayer (produced by nVMe)

10) Science Is Ignorant (produced by Gooch)

11) The Reverse Fix (produced by Mick Boogie & nVMe)

12) Hola Blanco (produced by Garbs Infinite)

13) Take The Hill (produced by nVMe)

14) Lost Part 2 (remixed by Mick Boogie)

15) Cold Success (produced by 9th Wonder)

16) What If We Cry? (produced by Remot)

17) No Love Coming Home (produced by The Kickdrums)

18) Falling In Shadows (produced by 6th Sense)

19) Life of Clocks (produced by Terry Urban)

20) X-Y-Z (produced by Hasan Insane)

Latest photos of Chris Martin on stage at Yankees Stadium, NYC (13th September 2010):

'4 Can Keep A Secret If 3 Of Them Are Dead' is available to download now

Apparatjik, the band featuring Coldplay's Guy Berryman, have announced details of a free EP. Called '4 Can Keep A Secret If 3 Of Them Are Dead', the three-track digital release is the combined work of Berryman, A-Ha's Magne Furuholmen, Mew's Jonas Bjerre and Martin Terefe.

'4 Can Keep a Secret if 3 of Them Are Dead' features three numbers -- 'Antlers,' 'Look Kids (Premix AA) Diskjokke A' and the title track. Available from their website eyeoncommittee.com, their mesh of melancholy vocals, icy guitars and otherworldly synth sounds will be familiar to clued-up fans. Meanwhile, the band's debut album 'We Are Here' will be re-released in both standard and deluxe formats on June 15.

Apparatjik first emerged in 2009, when the track 'Ferreting' appeared on the charity album 'Songs for Survival' and was used as the title music for BBC series 'Amazon.' Earlier this year, the group put out an album 'We Are Here,' which it now plans to re-release via iTunes in a standard and deluxe format on June 15. Meanwhile, Coldplay are working on new material with producer Brian Eno. The band are holed up in the studio, with a follow up to 'Viva La Vida' due to be released at some point this year.

The very latest discussion on Apparatjik is now available at the World of Music forum. If you consider yourself a diehard Apparatjik fan already why not take a look at the first ever fansite entitled Apparatchick now.

Three Coldplay demos from circa December 2005 have surfaced online this weekend - Bloodless Revolution, Lovers In Japan and a day later came St. Stephen. They came from the early Viva La Vida era, prior to the band travelling to North America, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong in 2006 and Latin America for the tour in Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico in February and March of 2007. This means that Lovers In Japan is now nearly fours years old!

You can hear the demo for Bloodless Revolution via YouTube at the Coldplay forum here along with lyrics to the newfound track. Discussion on the Lovers In Japan demo, which is an early version of the one that appears on the album Viva la Vida or Death and all his Friends & Prospekt's March EP, appears here. There are in total nine demo songs but most of them are as yet unleaked. If we hear more on this exclusive story we will of course keep you informed.

LATEST: Another demo has been leaked on Sunday... it's called St. Stephen.

Please note there are no live links to the tracks as the release of these tracks were unauthorised. However, for those who have them, you can discuss the demos in this thread at the forums [thanks robmatt, Juanma8, coldplay12, william_3000 & coldplaykb]

Lyrics to Bloodless Revolution

People wanna fight for fun

But what is a battle when the war's already been won

People wanna break what's built

There's no use crying when the milk's already been spilt

Here's a needle, here's a thread

Sew yourself up, clear your head (or hand)

Here's a needle, here's a thread

Oh no, I meant exactly what I said

You might find that you're useless

No better than a hole in the ground

You might find that you're useless

No better than a hole in the ground

Look at all the cavemen goin

Turning over to the shore

Ohhh

I'm only looking for a bloodless revolution

I'm only looking for a bloodless revolution

I'm only looking for a bloodless revolution

[Reminder] New design Coldplaying t-shirts on sale - order yours for Wembley now!

The Coldplaying.com E-Shop continues with the Coldplaying tour t-shirts in stock - in two new superbs designs. The first features a Coldplaying site logo beneath a large butterfly along with the title of London 2009 - in reference to the forthcoming concerts at Wembley stadium - all on yellow fabric. See the full image of the butterfly t-shirt after the jump.

This design is on sale now, but hurry - it is only available until 1st August at which point the second new design will replace it in the store. The t-shirts are on sale for $15.99 (approx. £11.00, €12.00). Shipping is worldwide. Sizes currently in stock are: Small, Medium, Large, X-Large and XX-Large. If you're not sure what size fits you there is a size chart available. Also included on sale are maternity t-shirts and yellow messenger bags.

Click here to browse the full shop now. We have had a lot of interest and purchases so far from the shop - so order now to guarantee delivery before the beginning of the Coldplay stadium tour dates this summer. The more t-shirts that are sold the 'Yellower' the stadium crowds will be, especially at the front!

To keep prices and overheads down to a minimum during the worldwide recession, Coldplaying will make no profit from the sales of the t-shirts and will sell them via Cafepress at the lowest possible price. For more instructions on the Coldplaying.com shop and easy-to-follow steps to make purchases, and also latest discussion on the merchandise, visit the Coldplay Live forum here [Thanks SueDeNimes, ApproximatelyInfinite, Zemy101, Jenjie & Debs Wild]

You can now download LeftRightLeftRightLeft now. Coldplay's free live album is now available online at the official site. Here's Anchorman with more details:

The free download of Coldplay's new live album, LeftRightLeftRightLeft, is now available here on Coldplay.com. Click here to download your free copy. Today is also the day of the band's first North American tour date, in West Palm Beach, where the first copies of the LRLRL CD will be given away. The CD will then be handed out to all fans at every remaining Coldplay live show in 2009 (apart from Festival shows). The free download will also be available from Coldplay.com until the band play their final 2009 show. We hope you like it. Anchorman

What do you think of the live album? Let us know your early thoughts on all the tracks at the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks tauiwi, Macbook86, marie/pims & ravrat]

The album was recorded over the past year in various cities around the world on the Viva La Vida tour. Its tracklisting is as follows:

1. Glass of Water - 4:44

2. 42 - 4:52

3. Clocks - 4:40

4. Strawberry Swing - 4:16

5. The Hardest Part / Postcards From Far Away - 4:15

6. Viva La Vida - 5:24

7. Death Will Never Conquer - 1:39

8. Fix You - 5:39

9. Death And All His Friends - 4:24

Total Running Time: 35:52

Courtesy of Domino Records, you can now download the track which bookends Coldplay's album. Here's Anchorman with more details:

At either end of Coldplay's current album, you can hear a snippet of a track called Light Through The Veins by Jon Hopkins, the band's friend, collaborator and frequent support act. That track will be released in full on Hopkins' terrific new album, Insides, on May 4th. But its nine minutes of electro loveliness are currently available to download for free by clicking here. Enjoy!

Have you heard the track? Let us know what you think in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks SueDeNimes]

You can now download the digital bundle of Coldplay's new single 'Life in Technicolor ii', along with the two B-sides - 'Life in Technicolor ii' (Live from the 02 Arena, London) and 'The Goldrush'. They are available online to purchase now at the 7Digital website.

Coldplay recently announce that Life In Technicolor ii would be Coldplay's next UK single. The B-side of the 7-inch - The Goldrush, is a song previously unheard and unperformed. Will Champion takes lead vocals on The Goldrush, similar to Death Will Never Conquer. For a time, the two songs were mistakenly thought to be the same as each other, probably due to Will's vocal contribution. As well as that track, the new digital bundle contains Life In Technicolor ii (Live @ The O2, London).

Have you got hold of the tracks and if so what do you think of the new material? Let us know in the Coldplay forum here [thanks Fer_Hiperfine, Dvid & Mc.]

IQ magazine’s December issue is now available in a free PDF format and contains a world exclusive behind the scene report on Coldplay’s Viva la Vida World Tour, entitled Life, Death And Butterflies. To save the online magazine, right click then save as here. You can also get the previous versions of the magazine (issues 1-20 also online here). Here's the synopsis of the Coldplay article:

Life, Death & Butterflies is a 16-page feature chronicling the Viva la Vida tour, sanctioned by Coldplay’s management and published by international live music business magazine IQ. Including exclusive interviews with management, key production personnel, booking agents, promoters and suppliers, it tells the inside story of how the tour was put together, what makes it tick and just what makes it such an original and ground-breaking production. This issue of IQ also includes an exclusive interview with Glastonbury festival founder Michael Eavis, as well as a roundup of the live music business in 2008.

You can discuss this exclusive World Tour Coverage article at the Coldplay forum here [thanks Terry]

IQ magazine’s December issue is now available in a free PDF format and contains a world exclusive behind the scene report on Coldplay’s Viva la Vida World Tour, entitled Life, Death And Butterflies. To save the online magazine, right click then save as here. You can also get the previous versions of the magazine (issues 1-20 also online here). Here's the synopsis of the Coldplay article:

Life, Death & Butterflies is a 16-page feature chronicling the Viva la Vida tour, sanctioned by Coldplay’s management and published by international live music business magazine IQ. Including exclusive interviews with management, key production personnel, booking agents, promoters and suppliers, it tells the inside story of how the tour was put together, what makes it tick and just what makes it such an original and ground-breaking production. This issue of IQ also includes an exclusive interview with Glastonbury festival founder Michael Eavis, as well as a roundup of the live music business in 2008.

You can discuss this exclusive World Tour Coverage article at the Coldplay forum here [thanks Terry]

You can also win the Coldplay Tour Special edition of the magazine by entering our Christmas Coldplay quiz. Ten questions, fifty points up for grabs. The winner will receive a hard copy of the magazine right to their doorstep. To enter, follow the instructions here [thanks Jenjie]

Coldplay's Lost! EP has been released digitally today, as a four-track, download-only product. Here is the exclusive news from Coldplay.com:

Good morning. The Lost! EP is released digitally today around the world. You can buy it from all good digital retailers. Click below for some iTunes links:

iTunes UK | iTunes France | iTunes Germany | iTunes Spain | iTunes Italy | iTunes Australia

Folks in the UK can also download the whole EP on MP3 from 7 Digital for just £1.50 here. We'll add the North American links soon. It contains the following tracks:

1. Lost!

2. Lost? (acoustic version)

3. Lost@ (live at United Center, Chicago)

4. Lost+ (feat Jay-Z)

Anchorman

Download Viva La Hova via vivalahova.com or directly here

DJs love Jay-Z, and Jay-Z loves them back. The earnest affection all started four years ago when Danger Mouse geniusly blended Hova's The Black Album with The Beatles' The White Album to create the forever infamous The Grey Album.

The mash-up project instantly went down as an Internet classic, especially after The Beatles' record company EMI attempted to terminate its distribution. Jay-Z kept the wheels rolling with his own collaboration EP with Linkin Park that same year titled Collision Course and pretty soon all corners of the music spectrum were digging the art of the mash.

DJs pissed in their pants three years later when they found out that Hov was releasing the acapella version of American Gangster. As a result, the net was overwhelmingly hit with striking mash-up projects, most notably DJ Skee's The American Godfather.

Mick Boogie and Terry Urban sought to take Jay-Z's vocals to even greater heights with a mash-up album fans could only dream about. Inspired by the recently released "Lost" remix by Coldplay featuring Jay-Z, the two DJs cooked up a 20-track album between arguably two of music's biggest international icons.

Boogie and Urban recruited some of hip-hop's proven producers for the project and had them craft alluring instrumentals using Coldplay samples and sounds. Jay-Z's acapellas were then selected, matched, put into place, and Viva La Hova was born. Visit vivalahova.com for more information on the album and peep the jump for it's track list and producers. Here's a snippet of what Mick had to say about the mash-up's inspiration:

"As we began piecing together the correct verses to match the correct beats, it became clear how truly amazing this project really is. This is what real music is supposed to sound like. The lyrical elegance of Shawn Carter, the vocal magic of Chris Martin, the finely tuned instruments of Coldplay, the creative visions by our team of producers, and lastly, our analysis of which Jay verse best fit each track.

If you love Jay-Z and you're not into Coldplay, this is for you. If you love Coldplay, but don't mess with hip-hop, this is for you. If you love all good music, this is definitely for you."

From midnight last Monday (EST), Mick Boogie and Terry Urban presented Viva La Hova, the Jay-Z/Coldplay mash-up project and Coldplaying.com grabbed a moment with Mick for an exclusive interview to explain what it's all about.

Coldplaying: We read on your website that Jay-Z himself likes the project.

Mick: Yeah… we have a lot of mutual friends and they played it for him, and I guess he really liked it. So… I hope now via Coldplaying, Chris Martin will hear it as well.

Coldplaying: How did this unique idea come about?

Mick: Well... it's just a really cool concept... Jay and Chris represent all that is right with modern music and art... and have collaborated a few times in recent years to great results. So why not extend that concept over an entire album? I thought when Danger Mouse did the Grey Album, it was just remarkable. And while I didn't like every song on there, when it was on, it was absolutely some of the most amazing stuff I had heard. Same with the Jay-Z/Linkin Park project. When it was in sync, it was amazing... like their "Encore" mashup. So we tried to take a collaboration that was already organic and make it real... and also extend that quality level throughout the entire project.

Terry: A lot of artists reached out to us about being part of it as well... contributing guest verses and stuff but we didn't feel it fit the schedule and concept of this project. But if we could have made it happen, that would have been cool.

Coldplaying: Did this take you guys a long time?

Mick: Couple weeks... give or take. It was pretty much done a week ago, but we definitely wanted to take some time to tease it... and get people excited about it. It's been a lot of work.

Coldplaying: This looks like it was a lot of fun. Any difficult parts in getting it together?

Mick: Just coordinating everything in a short amount of time. But a lot of producers that we work with were more than happy to listen to our ideas and create things that we requested for the cd. Actually a lot of producers we have never worked with reached out to us in hopes of being on this project... which was really cool.

Coldplaying: What’s your favorite song on the project?

Mick: I have two. One is "The Reverse Fix" which is my first ever production. Usually, I have so many things I'm involved with that I outsource all the production on my projects and just Executive Produce/A&R the overall musical score. But I figured this would make a great introduction into something I want to get into more... and that is production. Also... I love the Lost Part 2 mix that I did. It's one of the very few songs on the project that's not a recreated/reproduced song. It's the import version of Lost... acoustic and piano only... and Chris singing. But there was a breakdown in there which left room for me to add some Jay-Z verses. I mixed in Jay’s "Momma Loves Me" which was my least favorite song on "The Blueprint" but the mood and emotion it creates essentially takes both songs to a whole new level.

Terry: I love The Kickdrums remake of "Homecoming" and "Heart Of The City." They are respected producers who are now moving into the artist realm... and their recreation of the Chris Martin hook on "Homecoming" is amazing.

Coldplaying: Are there artists in hiphop that are continuing to progress the culture in the same way Jay-Z is?

Mick: Kanye has been that dude who has followed Jay's trends of unique artistry, worldliness, fashion, and overall (i hate this word) swagger.

Terry: And as far as newer artists, we really like people like Mickey Factz, Naledge and Kid Cudi. They have a fresh new sound and vision, and capture the new spirit of youthful hiphop.

Coldplaying: You have a website for this... vivalahova.com...

Mick: Yeah.. well, it's really an offshoot from our blog...which is becoming more and more popular by the day... PressPlayFashionForward.com. But we wanted to give people a central place to read the updates, the press, get the download, etc. So we created an offshoot blog...and there it is. Good marketing is key. As Coldplaying undoubtedly knows!

Coldplaying: So over the years you guys have made quite a name for itself, seamlessly adding more and more onto your catalogues, with this project being helmed by the two of you and your team of producers, what is next?

Mick: Lots! More A&R and consulting. More cool conceptual mixtapes. A few digital deals with progressive record labels are being discussed. Mostly though, I'm focusing on my deejaying and traveling. I love traveling the country and world rocking parties from city to city, state to state, country to country. It's the thing I'm most enjoying right now about my career.

Terry: We are also working on expanding our 90s party... "I Got 5 On It" to other cities and states... and making it a traveling event. We already do it monthly in Cleveland and Brooklyn, and soon will be starting monthlies or one-offs in Manhattan, Boston, Chicago, and Montreal. So that's kinda fun. Also, I'm working with some of my favorite clothing brands on projects bridging hip-hop and skateboard culture.

Read more discussion on Viva La Hova at the Coldplaying messageboard here [thanks sDOTmelfi]

Tracklisting:

1) Intro (produced by Mick Boogie & Terry Urban)

2) Public Speeding (produced by Cookin’ Soul)

3) Know My Place (produced by The Amps)

4) Never Changing (produced by nVMe)

5) Miss Trouble (produced by Judah)

6) Back At My Place (produced by Remot)

7) No Love Coming Home (produced by The Kickdrums)

8) Lost Part 1 (produced by Coldplay)

9) A Spy’s Prayer (produced by nVMe)

10) Science Is Ignorant (produced by Gooch)

11) The Reverse Fix (produced by Mick Boogie & nVMe)

12) Hola Blanco (produced by Garbs Infinite)

13) Take The Hill (produced by nVMe)

14) Lost Part 2 (remixed by Mick Boogie)

15) Cold Success (produced by 9th Wonder)

16) What If We Cry? (produced by Remot)

17) Beach Chair (produced by Coldplay)

18) Falling In Shadows (produced by 6th Sense)

19) Life of Clocks (produced by Terry Urban)

20) X-Y-Z (produced by Hasan Insane)

Coldplay’s official video for new single Lost! is now available to download from iTunes here. If you're after screenshots from the video we've uploaded them to the Coldplaying gallery, which you can access here.

After some expensive looking high concept videos for their last few efforts Coldplay went back to basics and where it all started from with their new video “Lost!” from the top selling album Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends. The video is a performance piece with the band rocking an arena sized audience.

Coldplay's concert last week in Munich was aired tonight on UK's Absolute Radio, minus Speed Of Sound and Yellow. If you missed it, or want to hear it again, you can, via the Absolute Radio website below:

Links:

Part One: http://www.absoluteradio.co.uk/player/6047/live_in_munich__part_1_.html

Part Two: http://www.absoluteradio.co.uk/player/6048/live_in_munich__part_2_.html

LONDON - We7 has added EMI Music to its ad-funded music service with tracks to be available on-demand, via ad-funded streaming and paid-for downloads.

EMI artists include the likes of current number one Katy Perry, Coldplay, Mark Ronson, the Kooks as well as We7 founder and investor Peter Gabriel.

The partnership means We7 users will be able to listen to full tracks and albums on an unlimited basis at no cost, create personal playlists, and share their favourites with their friends.

Read the full story here

The new edition of the Coldplay Messenger has sparked a rush for a download of Coldplay's free track, Death Will Never Conquer, over a month after it was first made available, Coldplaying can reveal.

Here's what Coldplay said in their messenger:

If you haven't dropped in on Coldplay.com lately, you won't know that we've been giving away a free MP3 of an exclusive Coldplay track called Death Will Never Conquer, which is unavailable anywhere else. The band have played the song throughout the first leg of the Viva La Vida tour, so if you're going along to a show in Europe, went to one in North America, or just fancy hearing a new Coldplay song for free, then click here to download it.

And here's just some of the responses seen on the internet this past week, from top sources such as Q Music, NME, Filter and In Game Network:

Coldplay Offer Up New Single

Coldplay free song giveaway!

Coldplay For Free? You Betcha.

Coldplay give away free song

Coldplay Release New Download Song

Coldplay Release New Song As Free Download

Coldplay’s new tour is in full strawberry swing and all the little worries and glitches have been ironed out a little and hopefully the UK gigs in December will be the icing on the cake. To take a slice of the action so far, here is a gig in Philly from only last week.

Enjoy the show!

Download here or here [thanks IndieLimerick, open6l & redwax]

Get a free MP3 to celebrate the first night of the tour

From Coldplay.com: Our tour begins tonight in LA. To say thank you to everyone who's bought tickets and supported us, we're giving away an MP3 of a new track called Death Will Never Conquer. Click here to get it.

What do you think of the track, and would you like to hear it live during the tour? Let us know your views here [thanks Jpw48]

Lyrics:

If sweet death should ever conquer me

Let me know boys let me know

If you hear him coming won’t you let me know?

Let me go boys let me go

One day death is going to conquer me

I’ll be down where the waters flow

I hope sweet heaven has a place for me

Let me know boys let me know

If sweet death should ever conquer me

Take me down to some place below

If you hear him coming won’t you set me free?

Let me go boys let me go

If you hear him coming won’t you say for me?

That I just don’t want to go

In an exclusive interview on John Kennedy's XFM X-posure show, Coldplay's Chris Martin revealed why their new album, 'Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends' has two titles. You can download the full two hour album playback interview in four parts:

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4]

The Coldplay Virgin Radio countdown was:

1. Yellow | 2. Fix You | 3. The Scientist | 4. Clocks | 5. Speed Of Sound | 6. Violet Hill | 7. In My Place | 8. Shiver | 9. Talk | 10. Trouble

Just outside Top 10: God Put A Smile Upon Your Face, Viva La Vida, The Hardest Part, Everything’s Not Lost, Don’t Panic, Spies and Politik.

Virgin Radio Most Wanted DJ Ben Jones caught up with Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland and Guy Berryman in an exlusive interview. Download the full show here or a shortened non-musical version from Virgin here or read the full transcript here.

Thanks Cris_Santos, Fixed & Zemy101 for the uploads, and Ben Jones for the Virgin DJing!

Coldplay have posted a remix of Violet Hill on the official website.

They have described it as, "Completely unrecognisable, but cool."

You can find the remix here

Online retailer Play.com has today launched a store selling digital music tracks without DRM (digital rights management) copy protection, in a move it is describing as "taking on iTunes in the UK".

The website — which sells music, DVDs, toys and gifts — is offering individual tracks and albums without DRM. It claims to be to the first major UK retailer to offer digital music in a format that means buyers can move tracks between devices and play them on various music players, including Apple's market-leading iPod.

Play.com's new online music store, PlayDigital, will offer tracks from EMI — home to Kylie Minogue, Lily Allen and Coldplay — as well as from a number of independent labels. The retailer said it was hoping to broker deals with other labels to sell their music in DRM-free format.

The top 100 tracks will cost from 65p per track and albums from £4.99. Play.com said albums in the top 100 would be available £1 cheaper than on Apple's download service, iTunes.

Read the full article here

A new music download website threatens to undercut services offered by HMV and Apple's iTunes.

7digital.com is selling single tracks from 50p and claims the quality and price of its DRM-free MP3 downloads easily match or even exceed content from other websites. The site has a 3.5 million plus catalogue of music with approximately 70 per cent available in high-quality MP3 format which the company claims makes them indistinguishable from CD quality. New additions to the MP3 catalogue include Kylie, Coldplay, Moby, Radiohead and Pink Floyd.

Tracks can be downloaded to any player and albums start at £5. A dedicated section of the site has been created to help consumers easily search the MP3 catalogue.

“In the run up to Christmas, when many will get new MP3 players from Apple, Samsung, Sony and others, it’s important consumers realise that they have choice when it comes to buying downloads," said Ben Drury, 7digital's chief executive officer.

"MP3 is the only truly universal digital format for music and we are striving hard to make our entire catalogue available as MP3; earlier in the year MP3s were outselling WMA and AAC by almost four to one.”

Source: http://www.7digital.com/

Listing down all my favorite songs is something I’ll never be able to do. That would mean listening to all the free MP3 song files from all the music genres I have accumulated over the first quarter of my life using websites that offer "free unlimited MP3 downloads" (heh), without hitting the stop button.

Talking about the plenary song list’s subset, however, is relatively easier. The recent inclination towards writing about it can be attributed to my shiny new MP3 player which pulls out the songs I heard ages ago and had forgotten about. Kind of reminds me of their coolness.

So basically, this article is only a list of the best Coldplay songs ever. This is something that I had always wanted to do but could never bring myself to actually doing it. To be honest, I have written this article several times over in my head but the reasons for not publishing it are many:

1. Coldplay doesn’t have one bad song.

2. Total number of Coldplay songs is more than ten.

3. I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to list them in order of preference or chronology.

4. I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to list them in any order at all.

5. I’m lackadaisical (not quite enough to type out the whole word when English has a two syllable alternative).

So anyway, even though I am going to have to sit down and extract ten best from their discography, go through the list several times over and make sure that I don’t end up hurting anyone by not including their favorite (which is kind of inevitable), I am going to initiate the process of putting my thoughts to paper, half praying I am able to stick through till the end. By the way, the songs are listed in no particular order.

1. God Put a Smile upon Your Face (A Rush of Blood to the Head)

2. Rush of Blood to the Head (A Rush of Blood to the Head)

3. Warning Sign (A Rush of Blood to the Head)

4. Amsterdam (A Rush of Blood to the Head)

5. Yellow (Parachutes)

6. Shiver (Parachutes)

7. Spies (Parachutes)

8. Everything’s Not Lost (Parachutes)

9. The Hardest Part (X& Y)

10. One I love (Unreleased but available on Live 2003)

You’d ask, "But hey what about their more popular songs like Scientist, Clocks, Speed of Sound, etc?" Yeah they are all good songs but they are more "mainstream". I have listed only the songs I feel are closer to their style. For all those who would like to be able to listen to all these songs for free, peer to peer music sharing (I like using Limewire) is something that can be tried. You can download most popular music (including Coldplay) using these peer to peer file sharing programs. Mp3 music downloads has been made so much simpler by these free music downloading applications. Time for a new hard drive, mine is maxed out.

Source: http://skynewswire.com

Steve Lamacq [pictured] has caught up with recent Coldplay events from the weekend and wrote about them in his online blog. Here goes:

So what we suspected - but weren't at liberty to confirm - turns out to be true. There will be another Coldplay album next year, currently set for release in December '09. Chris Martin broke the news during a convivial chat with REM's Michael Stipe and yours truly on BBC 6 Music on Saturday afternoon. What's more surprising is that there will be a new EP, Prospekt's March, released around Christmas... ("hopefully December 26th, something like that").

All of which seems to confirm earlier suspicions that the sessions with Brian Eno for the current album Viva La Vida were so productive that they had songs to spare - although the band still claim the next album is far from finished. In the meantime, we got to hear a laid-back Coldplay democratically choosing the title for the EP, live on air, with the added bonus of Stipe having the casting vote.

Released from the uncomfortable routine of promoting a record Martin - and the rest of the band for that matter - chatted away as if we'd just met at a bus stop. There's even a point where I thought bassist Guy was about to get his holiday snaps out

To follow the interview, they went on to play a tiny gig in the BBC Radio Theatre in front of about 300 fans which was equally warm and relaxed. Martin, sporadically chatty and self-deprecating, was also back to his old cheeky self, introducing Trouble with the line "We wrote this song so long ago that some of you weren't even in your 40s."

Which is a subtle role reversal isn't it? Band heckle audience! I've heard groups berate their followers over sundry, silly matters before; or seen failing support bands try and shout and swear their way off a stage, but I don't think I've come across a band taking the micky out of us. But here lies some of Coldplay's charm.

And anyway, maybe it's about time that some bands sharpened up their act. We've given them enough stick down the years.

The grief bands get at gigs comes in many forms. There's the ironic cheer when a support band announce "This is our last song", or the more minimal, basic "get off you're rubbish (or colloquial words to that effect)". But I quite admire a clever heckle. Does anyone remember the new wave band 'These Animal Men' falling apart on stage at Reading Festival and in a gap in the shambles someone at the back of the tent, helpfully hollered "Taxi for These Animal Men!" Being chaps who could duly take a joke they used the line as the title of their next album!

I once saw a friend of mine - the guitarist in a band - stumble and nearly keel over during a particularly effusive guitar solo in the middle of one of their songs. He managed to regain his composure before toppling off the stage, looked round to see if anyone had noticed and casually raced to the end of the song. Sadly someone had noticed. After the applause had dribbled away a lone voice shouted: "Oi you! Fall over again!"

It didn't sound malicious, but as all good heckles do, it burst that bubble of cool. And that's enough for most people....until audiences go bad.

The most destroying heckle I've ever heard was saved for The Tears - the band formed by ex-Suede members Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler. Making their big London debut at the Astoria - which was all pomp and bluster for the opening five minutes - they finished their second song, only for a voice of doom to cut through the hall.

"Awful. (pause). Really awful."

Never have three words sounded so loud (they reverberated round the theatre for what seemed like hours) and so viciously damning. I wonder if they ever truly recovered from them. For a group of well respected, not to mention tactically aloof musicians to be cut down to size so easily must have been incredibly traumatic. It's like those nightmares you have about giving a speech at school, except you're naked on stage at the lectern and you've forgotten the words. And then the headmaster from the back of the class yells "Awful Lamacq! Really awful."

This is why I've revised my opinion about introducing football chants at gigs. Although don't let me stop you if you're faced with some talentless over-priced twerps getting too big for their boots. I'd suggest "Down with the Britpop, you're going down with the Britpop." Or maybe: "Hit band no fans, hit band no fans." Or even: "One song....you've only got one song." Although don't try that one out on Coldplay. They've apparently got bloody hundreds of songs.

Discuss this blog entry from Steve Lamacq here

Coldplay sews for fun, and 'are worse than they were yesterday', reports CinemaBlend, in an article posted earlier today.

If it’s possible, Coldplay got even dreamier, more artsy and more pseudo-bohemian than ever, when AOL News reported Wednesday that the band enjoys spending their free time sewing and modifying their clothes. My man-crush on them is now complete.

“Making clothes together in our studio makes us feel complete,” Chris Martin said, philosophically stroking his stubbled chin and batting his long eyelashes. “We probably sound like a group of grannies in a knitting circle, but it's the truth, and it gives us some control over our visual identity.” He continued, “When you are a big band and everyone is taking shots at you [pause for emphasis], the more things you can do together the better. And if you're wearing uniforms made by your own hands it helps achieve that.” Bring on the high-school girls.

It seems they've noticed one of the more "romanticizable" aspects of band life, and made it a hobby. It is true that bands on tour rarely get the time to relax and do anything other than drive, promote and be the target of snide media whippersnappers, and it may be true that some bands, rather than waste time and money on hunting down new clothes, may sit and repair/modify their old ones, but I’m taking the standpoint that Coldplay is not allowed to do this, because they’re already too post-modern pretty, and they’re going to turn into gurgling, honey-soaked Care Bears if this continues.

Coldplay is currently touring in support of Viva La Vida, and would like it very, very much if you came out to see them.

Source: cinemablend.com

Earlier this week we asked you which of Coldplay's new songs you thought was your favourite. After approximately 2100 votes on the main site and another 250 on the forums you have voted Charlie Brown as the clear favourite so far, will almost 40% of the votes. The new single, Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall has received an average of just 10% of the total cast, despite notching up 4,000,000+ viewings on YouTube via ColdplayTV in its first week.

Major Minus and Hurts Like Heaven are currently in 2nd and 3rd positions respectively. Us Against The World has actually received less total votes than ETIAW despite being positively received amongst Coldplay fans. Princess Of China has understandably received the least number of votes because a decent video recording of the song has not yet been found; it was not played at the streamed Rock am Ring festival last week.

See the poll results so far, and your comments on whether Major Minus will eventually be the title of the new album...

Main site poll:

Forum members' poll:

Well, it's simple: I wouldn't mind that "Major Minus" was the album title, I like it, but I still think that "MX" is the chosen one. Why? Don't you see it in the Coldplay website? The news section... "MX" is written in the front of the newspaper, it's almost obvious! So I still bet for "MX" for now, and that's why I voted NO, but I was tempted for I DON'T KNOW too... [thanks The envoy]

It's a better title and less of a mouthful than "Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends". So I would approve of "Major Minus", especially if they're going the continued path of naming the album after one its songs. Because let's be honest - the other song names so far are awful. [thanks Corkus]

I still think that, despite nice, Major Minus is a little too depreciative name for an album title (let's not forget they are really trying to sell it also to not-fans), and I (stupidly, maybe) insist that it has something to do with MX. Major Minus is too explicit. Why would they name a song/keyboard introduction "MX", without anything else? Maybe they can use the "Major Minus" as part of the album, idk, "mythology". Anyway, this album they're stretching the mystery with riddles, and random lyrics for songs' releases and everything. Something, because of this attitude, leads me to believe that we still don't know the song that will name the album. But it will be epic, that's for sure. [thanks erik_avilez]

Well, considering what Chris said about the title being two words starting with "M" and the fact that there's always been a track with the name of the album I think it's quite likely! Sounds better than Monday Morning in any case! [thanks laga]

I wouldn't mind Major Minus I guess. But I still voted no. I've always liked Alien Radio... I also noticed that on Guy's jacket during the Rock am Ring festival, it looked like there was some kind of radio tower or something. I hope Alien Radio is used some how. [thanks rainplay]

I think it will be... And I'm kinda expecting the walking man guy from the live shows and that weird video to be the front cover. Just an image of that against black, with the band name and album title above it in red or something. Simple but slick and cool, points them in a new, striking direction. I at least expect the walking man to be linked to the artwork/theme of the album in some way. But yeah, Major Minus for the album title. [thanks TwistedPolitik]

I think it's very likely. Considering Chris said the title would probably be two words and have the letter 'M', I think a new track by the name of Major Minus is too big a coincidence to be accidental. The more I think about it, the more it sounds like it could be a really good title. [thanks ReecyBoy42]

I wasn't sure what i thought about the song live but that's always hard to tell at first. i'd prefer if this wasn't the album title. it doesn't seem like a great one. obviously, album titles aren't that important though. none of their others beside vlvadaahf are incredible to me. i like arobtth. BUT if this is the album title and the songs we've been presented with are supposed to be their aces, i'm kind of disappointed at all this UFO type stuff because it really seems like it has absolutely nothing to do with the album. i realized when we first started seeing things that coldplay don't really incorporate themes that thoroughly, but so far i've not gotten any indication from any of the songs that ufo's or any of that is at all factored in. which i have to say is kind of disappointing. it doesn't have to take away from anything, but i'd hoped it'd all make more sense together. [thanks footyfan10]

I'm not sure about how I feel if "Major Minus" is the album title, spending 3 years on an album and that's the best they can come up with..? I don't feel like it's that catchy, but it's definitely better than anything else rumored so far. [thanks toddbluezoo]

Latest pictures of Coldplay at Pinkpop Landgraaf festival, Netherlands (11th June 2011) :

Pictures by 3FM

Coldplay's last record Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends hit stores in 2008. They dressed as French revolutionaries to promote the album, wearing military-style jackets and many buttons. Their as-yet-untitled fifth record is due to be available this autumn and the group have decided to jazz up their look again.

Having previously explained their new sound is inspired by New York graffiti, Coldplay have taken to wearing relaxed-coloured jackets, contrasting t-shirts and carrying around cans of spray paint. Chris Martin has undergone a particular style overhaul. Gone are his curly locks, and in place is a smart, slicked-back style.

Their new look was unveiled as they announced the first single from the new album era, which will be available from this Friday, called Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall. We asked you on the messageboard what you thought of the new look, and you also voted in favour of the fashion statement. The results and comments so far are as follows...

The Sun said: "They've gone back into the sewing kit for some new outfits. Last time around on Viva La Vida in 2008 Coldplay took on the style of French revolutionaries. But this time, they have come bang up to speed - decked out in contemporary clothing, wielding spray cans and using some bright neon artwork. Best of all, frontman Chris is sporting a new slicked back barnet - paying homage to Clash rocker Joe Strummer. The band revealed artwork for their upcoming single Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall yesterday - plus shots of their brave new look. It's definitely going to get the Coldplay fans talking - and probably the Zoolander fashion crowd too."

Mr. Berryman ~ I look forward to one day owning this jacket too. I'm loving the jacket's cut & color. New, yet still pays homage to previous tour pieces. As for the rest.. Overall I like it all, however I really wish Will were in something with a bit more POP of color. I fear he'll get lost in the depths of the stage/drum kit with the black & dark brown. [thanks Afeather]

I don't really care this time around if I'm being honest. It's quite clear that they'll never go back to wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and if anything the Viva era was more over the top than this. And it's interesting how I don't see people bitching about Muse's outfits on here, and AFAIK most Muse fans actually think it's rather fun. Nothing to complain about, seriously. [thanks Zemy101]

I don't really think it's the actual clothes I have a problem with (with the exception of Will's green pants...WTF ), so much as the accessories on the jackets. The patches on the jackets are oversized and look silly. Jonny's in particular bothers me due to placement. Why would you want a patch on the bottom of the sleeve? Also, Will's jacket in general is just weird. Wearing that type of brown puffy jacket with that shade of green pants isn't quite right, and the zipper...why does anyone need a zipper on the top part of the sleeve? What makes people think this is cool? Having said that, however, I do like what they've done with their hair. [thanks violetsparks]

Nothing mean here, but I don't really get people saying they don't care about clothes and that it's just about the music. Of course music is way more important but clothes are a way to make the music's world, the album's world 'come true'. They're part of the music's universe and that's why I really care. I like it, and I'm sure I'll find it even better when I'll know the album and how they look like live. What I love the most here is how it is still related to the Viva outfits (and I loved Viva outfits, I'm really gonna miss them!), it's like a huge update, you know. I don't really like the pictures though. The first one -with Guy holding the spray can- is OK, but the second one? I don't like the 'staging' (can you say that for a picture?), the light, the colours, their faces... Maybe I'll understand it when the album comes out. Now I can't wait for Liam Gallagher's reaction. [thanks Lu'kaa]

Hmm, let's look at this objectively: we might like or not like the colors and exact things they wear (personally, I'm not a big fan of bright closes and for me black color has always been stylish, though I discovered that many ppl consider it boring, so... ), but we should admit that they look by no means ridiculous or silly... [thanks lafinion]

Apart from Guy's trousers I could walk past anyone dressed like that and not notice a thing. Dressed in Viva style costumes of course I'd notice that! But this time they are discreet yet trendy. And yet people are offended by it. Some of you people must be utter nightmares on the high street. Not normal?! What are you? The fashion Gestapo?! The whole co ordinated clothes looks pretty effortless to me. Trying to hard? Sorry that is complete and utter rubbish. Their job is to create sounds and present them in an appropriate manner. With the themes they're working on, it'd be pretty cheap for them to make no distinction between the themes of the album and transmit them on stage. You may not like it but they're doing the right thing. It's not superficial if the themes are present in the music. What Lady Gaga and the rest do is perform on stage in costume that has no relevance what so ever to the "music" she is singing to. That is superficial. She would perform dressed up as a birthday cake while singing a song about chasing after men. What that has to do with dressing up as a birthday cake I don't know but that's the sort of thing she would do. And judging by the stupid costumes that complete fad has worn I wouldn't be surprised if she has done that. [thanks howyousawtheworld]

Unless it's just a bad angle x2, I'm NOT a fan of Chris's hair. And I like that the jackets are kind of more dressed-down, and that Will's looks like a normal leather jacket especially, but I was personally hoping they wouldn't do coordinated clothes/costumes this time around. I kind of hope they don't beat these into the ground and wear the same thing at every gig and public appearance for two years straight. As much as they're pushing this graffiti motif, I highly doubt they're going to be singing ABOUT graffiti and spray paint. It's the same thing with VLV: they told us to expect a Latin flavor sort of thing (or the media did), and really it was present only in the undertones. Like I say, I'm all for everyone doing what they want and what they think is best. It just doesn't gel well with my ideas about what I'd like the band to be focusing on. I think they'd benefit from everything being a bit more stripped down. The Crisis gigs were like that, and I thought that might have been the best I've ever seen them perform, and the most refreshing show from them I've ever seen. [thanks ApproximatelyInfinite]

I think the shoes will be of the boot kind with the laces undone, kinda military looking, Chris might have said laces tied in case he is flying around the stage, wouldn't want him tripping. I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS WHOLE THEME!!!! I can't wait for it to all unfold!!!! Well done so far Guys!!!!! [thanks MartinFan]

I personally don't have much of a problem with these outfits. They're actually fairly normal (minus the wierd patches) compared to the Viva uniforms. That being said, I have to agree that I don't hope they wear the exact same to every gig like they did in the Viva era. Thankfully, I think this look lends itself to being more flexible so that they can and will dress slightly different for each performance. I'm not a huge fan of Chris's hair, but I think I'll get used to it in time. Who knows, he may not even keep it that way for long. Same goes for the clothes. We don't know if that's exactly what they'll wear during the festivals. This is just the first promotional shoot. [thanks lotrobsessed101]

I'm getting tired of 'Ugh I just wish Coldplay would go back to what they were' people. Honestly Coldplay is a band that's always changing- and as they learn more and develop their music, themes and the way they look will change too. The awesome thing about being a Coldplay fan is that I know that Friday's song won't be another 'The Scientist' or 'Fix You'. It's gonna be fresh. I think Coldplay finally look as cool as their music does. [thanks DieProspekt]

I think this poll shows peoples real thoughts. There seems to be a lot of negative people around at the moment but the poll clearly shows that the majority like the change (myself included) so lets not let the haters get us down! [thanks Dan 6N]

Photos via Coldplay.com