Coldplay is planning to put stadium rock to one side and work on a country album with a hip-hop flavour.

Chris Martin is so keen to expand his musical boundaries, he is planning a collaboration with retired country singer Garth Brookes, Kanye West and legendary hip-hop producer Timbaland.

The 28-year-old says, "Country is a very sleeping beast within us. We have two things we're not allowed to do - country and rap - just because of where we're from. So I think they'll rear their heads at some point in the future. In fact, I think the only future for music is if you bring together the most disparate worlds. That would be an album between Garth Brooks, Coldplay and Kanye West and produced by Timbaland."

More on this story here

Coldplay and Oasis have both postponed shows in Texas because of a hurricane Rita.

Both bands were due to appear at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion [pictured left] in the coming days (Coldplay on September 24, Oasis on September 25). However, as Hurricane Rita approaches, the shows will be unable to go ahead as planned.

A statement reads: "Due to Hurricane Rita and circumstances beyond our control, PACE Concerts is postponing all performances scheduled for this weekend at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. This action is taken in the best interest and safety of the fans, artists and staff in the face of Hurricane Rita."

The 16,000 capacity Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion opened in 1990 and is an outdoor amphitheater in the Greater Houston region. Both bands were due to play there on separate north American tours.

Meanwhile, organisers of the outdoor Austin City Limits festival [pictured left], which both bands are due to play before a crowd of 65,000, say the event will go ahead.

A festival spokeswoman said organisers were being advised by experts and were keeping "a very close watch on the weather".

"If weather conditions appear to present any kind of danger to fans, musicians or crew, we are prepared to make the necessary adjustments to maintain safety," she said. Until then, the festival is on, rain or shine."

One concert-goer, who has a three day pass to the festival, said: "The organisers have said they won't cancel, rain or shine. Sixty-five thousand people at a concert in a hurricane is going to be awesome."

The very latest on this here

Chris Martin recently spent four hours in a Miami studio with hip-hop production legend Timbaland.

“It was the best fun I’ve ever had” Martin told the Houston Chronicle of his experience with the hip-hop producer behind the likes of Aaliyah and Missy Elliot.

Chris wouldn’t let on as to exactly what the rather surprising duo worked on, only to repeatedly say, according to the Chronicle’s reporter, that it was “amazing”.

Oasis have returned to the musical spotlight with five nominations for the 2005 Q awards, the organizers said on Tuesday.

Coldplay, were nominated for four awards (Best track, Best album, Best live act and Best act in the world today), while singer James Blunt, American group Green Day and Irish rockers U2 received three nominations each.

Coldplay will be looking to take the Best Album category having won the title for "Parachutes" and "A Rush of Blood to the Head" in 2000 and 2002 respectively.

The awards will be presented by Jonathan Ross and will take place on Monday October 10 at The Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s Park Lane. The winners of each award will be voted for by Q readers and visitors to the magazine's website.

Best New Act:

Hard-Fi

Kaiser Chiefs

Jem

Magic Numbers

MIA

James Blunt

Best Track:

James Blunt - You're Beautiful

U2 - Vertigo

Oasis - The Importance Of Being Idle

KT Tunstall - Black Horse And The Cherry Tree

Coldplay - Fix You

Best Live Act:

Green Day

U2

Oasis

Muse

Coldplay

Best Album:

Oasis - Don't Believe The Truth

Coldplay - X&Y

James Blunt - Back To Bedlam

Kaiser Chiefs - Employment

Goldfrapp - Supernature

Best Video:

Oasis - The Importance Of Being Idle

The White Stripes - Blue Orchid

Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc

Gwen Stefani - What You Waiting For

Green Day - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

Best Act In The World Today:

Coldplay

Green Day

U2

Oasis

Muse

More on the awards here

Goldfrapp have announced news of an extensive European tour with many of the dates being in support of Coldplay.

The duo will 22 dates across the continent in October and November will eighteen of the gigs supporting Coldplay.

The full European dates are: (Supporting Coldplay - *)

Hamburg – October 22

Berlin – 23

Antwerp, Sports Palace – 26*

Oberhausen Arena – 28*

Copenhagen, Forum – 30*

Oslo, Spectrum – 31*

Madrid, Aqualung – November 4

Barcelona, Razzmatazz – 5

Stockholm, Globe – 7*

Leipzig Arena – 9*

Mannheim, Maimarkhalle – 10*

Zurich, Hallenstadion – 12*

Milan, Filaforum – 14*

Bologna, Palamalaguti -15*

Marseille, Dome – 17*

Toulouse, Zenith – 18*

Barcelona, Paulau Sant Jordi – 20*

Madrid, Palacio De Deportes – 22*

Lisbon, Atlantico Pavillion – 23*

San Sebastian, Velodromo Anoeta – 25*

Lyon, Tony Granier Hall – 28*

Paris, Bercy – 29*

Chris Martin has recovered from the illness that forced Coldplay to pull several shows on their US tour.

The band had cancelled gids in Tampa on 14 September and in Birmingham, Alabama on 16 September, but Martin was cleared to play on Saturday (17 September) at Bank Pavilion in St Louis.

Martin had been suffering from a throat illness, but drummer Will Champion had assured those left disappointed by the pulled shows that they will make up for the dates.

"Chris is suffering from some issues with his throat and it was felt by his doctor that if he didn't give his voice a rest he might not be able to sing for the rest of the US dates," Champion wrote on the band's official website.

"Please be assured that we are planning on returning to the US in the spring of 2006 and when we do we will definitely reschedule both these shows."

Earlier this weekend Coldplay revealed that they plan to donate profits from US downloads of current single 'Fix You' to charities supporting victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Source: gigwise.com

Gwyneth Paltrow has said she has no intention of leaving London and heading back to the United States.

The Oscar-winning actress, who is married to the Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, said she considered herself more European these days.

"I've always been drawn to Europe. America is such a young country, with an adolescent swagger about it," she told the Toronto Globe and Mail. "But I feel that I have a more European sensibility, a greater respect for the multicultural nature of the globe. And it's a strange time to be an American now. I feel like we're really in trouble. I just had a baby and thought, 'I don't want to live there'. [President George] Bush's anti-environment, pro-war policies are a disgrace."

Paltrow, 32, put her luxurious New York mansion up for sale earlier this year and spends most of her time in London, where she and Chris Martin have bought a home in Belsize Park. The actress took a break from Hollywood to look after her daughter, Apple, who was born in May 2004. She is busy promoting her latest film, Proof, based on David Auburn's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, which co-stars Anthony Hopkins.

To all our fans in the Birmingham, AL and Tampa, FL areas. It is with great regret that we have had to cancel our shows in your towns this week.

Chris is suffering from some issues with his throat and it was felt by his doctor that if he didn’t give his voice a rest he might not be able to sing for the rest of the US dates.

Please be assured that we planning on returning to the US in the spring of 2006 and when we do we will definitely reschedule both of these shows. Lastly, I and the band apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused due to the cancellation of these shows.

Love,

Coldplay

[source coldplay.com]

Coldplay have been forced to cancel another show on their American tour tonight due to Chris Martin’s severe respiratory infection.

The band have postponed their show in Birmingham tonight but hope to play the concert in St Louis on Saturday.

An official statement on Coldplay’s website reads: “Singer Chris Martin of Coldplay was cleared today to perform again beginning on Saturday, September 17th. Martin was felled by a virus yesterday that forced the cancellation of shows in Tampa Bay, Florida and Birmingham, Alabama.”

They are hoping to reschedule the postponed shows with fans being encouraged to hold onto their tickets as they will be valid for the rearranged concerts.

More info on this cancellation here

Coldplay are to donate all proceeds from the digital release of "Fix You" in the USA to help the thousands of people affected by Hurricane Katrina.

The band, who were forced to cancel a show in Tampa last night after Chris Martin lost his voice, will donate BMG, Capitol and Apple's profits to the fund.

The proceeds of the release will go to the American Red Cross Hurricane 2005 Relief and the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences' MusiCares Hurricane Relief Fund.

"Fix You"'s US digital version of the EP features two songs previously unreleased in America, "Pour Me" and "The World Turned Upside Down", which is also on the new War Child record, "Help: A Day In The Life".

Tonight's show at the Ford Amphitheatre has been postponed because Chris Martin has a respiratory infection.

Coldplay has canceled tonight's show at Ford Amphitheatre.

"The band is attempting to reschedule the performance on a date to be announced," read a statement from Clear Channel, owners of Ford Amphitheatre. "Fans are urged to hold onto their tickets as the existing tickets will be honored for the rescheduled performance."

At a Tuesday night concert in Miami, frontman Chris Martin complained of cold symptoms and even credited a West Palm Beach physician for nursing him into singing shape, according to the Miami Herald.

Coldplay has a history of canceling shows due to illness. In 2001, the band scrapped the tail end of a U.S. tour when Martin and bassist Guy Berryman complained of the flu. A Coldplay spokesperson at Capitol Records confirmed the cancellation and said "Chris lost his voice." No other information was available.

For more information, ticketholders are urged to go to www.cellardoor.com or www.fordamp.com

Coldplay have recently been hailed as the next U2 on an alarmingly regular basis. What do you think about comparisions to the mighty Bono & co? Vote in our new poll here

You can still vote in our favourite X&Y track poll here - over 7000 votes cast so far.

‘Help: A Day In The Life’ album has set a new world record as the fastest selling download album of all time. The release, recorded and mastered in 24-hours and featuring Radiohead, Razorlight and Gorillaz, went on sale on Friday (September 9).

Last Friday, War Child made history with the online release of ‘Help: A Day in the Life’ through www.warchildmusic.com. Featuring contributions from everyone from Mercury winner Antony & The Johnsons to Coldplay, the album is made up of tracks recorded around the globe.

The last tracks to arrive, Coldplay’s ‘How You See The World’ and Boy George and Antony’s ‘Happy Xmas (War Is Over)’, found their way to the secret mastering location at around 3pm meaning that the album hit digital shelves at 6.10pm.According to www.warchildmusic.com's retail provider 7 Digital, ‘Help: A Day in the Life’ is now the fastest album download ever, Number One in the download chart and on course to become the biggest selling download album ever.

On warchildmusic.com alone, a staggering 90,000 tracks have now been downloaded made up of around 4,000 whole albums and the rest as single track downloads with Radiohead proving the most popular selection.

The album will also be available on all other major download sites from today (September 13).

The monies raised by ‘Help: A Day in the Life’ will enable War Child to provide both material and psychological support and rehabilitation to children on the edge of conflict and post-conflict societies through innovative projects across the world.

And for those not so technologically minded, the album will be available as a physical CD in shops from the September 26 through Independiente.

For more information visit the War Child site by simply by clicking here.

The full tracklisting for the album is as follows:

Radiohead ‘I Want None Of This’

The Coral ‘It Was Nothing’

The Zutons ‘Hello Conscience’

Elbow ‘Snowball’

The Magic Numbers ‘Gone Are the Days’

Maximo Park ‘Wasteland’

The Go! Team ‘Phantom Broadcast’

Emmanuel Jal ‘Gua’

Keane and Faultline ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’

Kaiser Chiefs ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’

Bloc Party ‘The Present’

Hard-Fi ‘Help Me Please’

Belle & Sebastian ‘The Eighth Station of the Cross Kebab House’

Tinariwen 'Cler Achel'

George And Antony ‘Happy Xmas (War is Over)’

Gorillaz ‘Hong Kong’ Babyshambles 'Bollywood To Battersea'

Manic Street Preachers ‘Leviathan’

Razorlight ‘Kirby's House’

Damien Rice ‘Crosseyed Bear’

Mylo 'Mars Needs Women'

Coldplay 'How You See The World No. 2'

Chris Martin has banned Coldplay's music from his home - so wife Gwyneth Paltrow and daughter Apple sneakily listen to it in the car.

The Hollywood actress has confessed her husband doesn't like to hear his own records, but admits she and baby Apple listen to them when Chris isn't around. She revealed: "It's sort of banned from our home. But when he's not around, we play it in the car."

Gwyneth has also confessed she is not as glamorous as people think since having Apple. She told America's Access Hollywood TV show: "I definitely pretend to be glamorous in my real everyday life. I wouldn't characterise it as very glamorous. I'm mostly in sweat pants with my daughter, wiping hummus off my shirt."

Meanwhile, the stunning actress has revealed she is finding it tough

balancing motherhood with her successful film career. She said: "Having had a child, the idea of doing a film and working those 14-hour days and being away from home is something that's very difficult as a concept."

Source: tonight.co.za

Robbie Williams has been playing football with Coldplay and Starsailor at his LA home in-between working on his new album.

The 31-year-old Port Vale fan invited Chris Martin and co. and insipid indie kids Starsailor along to his pad for a kick about while putting the finishing touches to ‘Intensive Care’. Starsailor were in the city to work on their forthcoming album ‘On The Outside’ when they got an invite from Robbie.

Frontman James Walsh told The Star: “Our A & R man, Chris, was working on Robbie’s album at the same time, so he asked if we wanted to play (football) at Robbie’s house. “You can’t say no to an offer like that, can you?”

Speaking about Coldplay, he continued: “Coldplay were playing at Robbie’s the week before us. “I don’t know if they are rubbish footballers, but Robbie’s team must have thought we were another weedy indie band and we thrashed them.”

Source: gigwise.com

More of music's biggest acts, including U2, Coldplay, Beck, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam, have been added to MTV, VH1 and CMT's disaster-relief special, "ReAct Now: Music & Relief."

Norah Jones, Bon Jovi, Fiona Apple, Elton John, Jewel, Jon Stewart, George Lopez, Dennis Quaid, Big & Rich, Hank Williams Jr., Emmylou Harris, Buckwheat Zydeco, Sugarland, Allen Toussaint and Chris Thomas King have also been added to the show, which will air Saturday at 8 p.m. ET/PT. (Due to the new additions, the show has now been extended past midnight.)

They join a lineup that already included Kanye West, Kelly Clarkson, Green Day, Usher, Alicia Keys and dozens more.

Along with live and taped performances from studios in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville and from live concerts throughout the country, the show will feature testimonials from celebrities reflecting on Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Viewers will be encouraged to volunteer in relief efforts and/or donate to the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and America's Second Harvest.

"ReAct Now: Music & Relief" will air commercial-free on all of MTV Networks' channels, including MTV, VH1, CMT, MTV2, VH1 Classic, mtvU, MTV Español, MTV Hits, MTV Jams and MTV Puerto Rico. Online, MTV's Overdrive and VH1's VSpot broadband channels will carry the show live, as will CMT.com. MTV channels around the world — including the U.K., Africa, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, France and Canada — will also air the event.

MTV Networks is also making the show available to other networks interested in airing the special in its entirety.

Source: MTV

Chris Martin has claimed that porn is a good place to look when stuck for inspiration, suggesting that two tracks on 'X&Y' may have double meanings.

Speaking to The Sun, he joked: "I'd been drained of ideas but then I started getting inspiration and it was mainly from porn. Maybe now you'll understand 'Hardest Part' or even ''Till Kingdom Come' quite differently."

'Fix You', the second single taken from the band's Mercury-nominated album, was released this week.

Source: digitalspy.co.uk

[Thanks Daryl]

Coldplay have joined the recording of the "Help: A Day In The Life" charity album at the eleventh hour.

The band are donating the song 'How You See The World' in an effort to record and release an album in the fastest possible time for the War Child organisation. War Child executive Mark Waddington said: "It went really close to the wire but it's great to have them on board."

'How You See The World' had been previously available only in Japan, but the band remixed it today to create a new version with different lyrics for the LP. A spokesperson for the charity added: "Chris Martin re-wrote the lyrics for the project and recorded the vocals at a studio in New York on Thursday 8th September. The vocals were then sent digitally to 'Help' producer Mark Stent who remixed the track last night."

Babyshambles were also a last-minute addition to the line-up of 'Help: A Day In The Life'. The band went into a London studio and worked on the new song 'Bollywood To Battersea'. The track has been delivered to the War Child offices and is set for inclusion on the compilation, which is released via warchildmusic.com today.

Yesterday groups including Radiohead, Gorillaz, Razorlight, The Zutons, Manic Street Preachers, Bloc Party, and Elbow went into studios to record new songs.

The event marks the ten-year anniversary of the first 'Help' album, which featured Blur, Oasis, Radiohead and Suede and raised more than £1.25m for children caught up in the Bosnian war. 'Help: A Day In The Life' will be released on CD through Independiente on September 26. All of the money raised by the new record will be used by War Child to provide both material and psychological support and rehabilitation to children on the edge of conflict and post-conflict societies.

The ’Help: A Day In The Life’ tracklisting will run:

Antony and the Johnsons – ‘Happy Xmas (War is Over)’

Babyshambles – ‘Bollywood To Battersea’

Belle & Sebastian – ‘The Eighth Station of the Cross Kebab House’

Bloc Party – ‘The Present’

Coldplay – ‘How You See The World’

The Coral – ‘It Was Nothing’

Damien Rice – ‘Crosseyed Bear’

Elbow – ‘Snowball’

Emmanuel Jal – ‘Gua’

The Go! Team – ‘Phantom Broadcast’

Gorillaz – ‘Hong Kong’

Hard-Fi – ‘Help Me Please’

Kaiser Chiefs – ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’

Keane and Faultline – ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’

The Magic Numbers – ‘Gone Are the Days’

Manic Street Preachers – ‘Leviathan’

Maximo Park – ‘Waste Land’

Mylo – ‘Mars Needs Women’

Radiohead – ‘I Want None of It’

Razorlight – ‘Kirby's House’

Tinariwen – ‘Cler Achel’

The Zutons – ‘Hello Conscience’

[Thanks Alessa]

According to the following article from Rolling Stone magazine, the Live8 dvd will feature the whole Coldplay performance in Hyde Park.

Live 8 Gets Four-Part DVD

Set features "Sgt. Pepper" duet, Pink Floyd reunion and more

A four-disc DVD set of the nine international concerts held on July 2nd as part of Live 8, an initiative organized by Bob Geldof to pressure the G8 to address extreme poverty in Africa, will be released on November 8th. A "generous" royalty from sales of the package -- which features performances from artists ranging from Paul McCartney's duet with U2's Bono on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" to Pink Floyd's reunion -- will go to the Band Aid Trust for African relief.

The first three discs focus on the shows at London's Hyde Park and at Philadelphia's Museum of Art, with highlights from the events in Paris, Rome, Berlin, Tokyo, Moscow, Toronto and Johannesburg. In addition to the McCartney/Bono concert opener, duets include McCartney and George Michael, Stevie Wonder and Maroon 5's Adam Levine, and Coldplay and Richard Ashcroft.

The third disc closes with the entire Hyde Park lineup performing the Beatles' "Hey Jude." The final disc features a behind-the-scenes documentary of the London show, Pink Floyd's reunion rehearsal and other extras.

"I hope this will be the biggest-selling DVD of all time," says Geldof. "It deserves to be. More importantly, perhaps, it should be, for it will help us achieve our goal of changing the lives of the extreme poor for the better and making our generation the one that helped end the disgrace of poverty."Live 8 DVD track listing:

Disc One:

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," Paul McCartney and U2

"Beautiful Day," U2

"Vertigo," U2

"One," U2

"In My Place," Coldplay

"Bittersweet Symphony," Coldplay with Richard Ashcroft

"Fix You," Coldplay

"The Bitch Is Back," Elton John

"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting," Elton John

"Children of the Revolution," Elton John with Pete Doherty

"7 Seconds," Dido and Youssou N'Dour

"Bartender and the Thief," Stereophonics

"Everybody Hurts," R.E.M.

"Man on the Moon," R.E.M.

"Dy-Na-Mi-Tee," Ms Dynamite

"Somewhere Only We Know," Keane

"Where Is the Love," Black Eyed Peas

"Let's Get It Started," Black Eyed Peas

"Get Up Stand Up," Black Eyed Peas with Stephen Marley

"Wild Boys," Duran Duran (Rome)

"I Don't Like Mondays," Bob Geldof

"Time Is Running Out," Muse (Paris)

"Sing," Travis

"I Predict a Riot," Kaiser Chiefs

"Everyday I Love You Less and Less," Kaiser Chiefs

"Reasons," UB40 with Hunterz and the Dohl Blasters

"Red Red Wine," UB40

"American Idiot," Green Day (Berlin)

"Signs," Snoop Dogg

"Who Am I (What's My Name)?," Snoop Dogg

"Livin' on a Prayer," Bon Jovi

"Why," Annie Lennox

"Sweet Dreams," Annie Lennox

Disc Two:

"Survivor," Destiny's Child

"Girl," Destiny's Child

"Somewhere Else," Razorlight

"Golden Touch," Razorlight

"All for Love," Bryan Adams (Toronto)

"Diamonds From Sierra Leone," Kanye West

"Like a Prayer," Madonna

"Ray of Light," Madonna

"Music," Madonna

"Getting' Jiggy Wit It," Will Smith

"Switch," Will Smith

"The Fresh Prince of Bel Air," Will Smith

"Good Vibrations," Brian Wilson (Berlin)

"Run," Snow Patrol

"Stays in Mexico," Toby Keith

"All These Things That I've Done," The Killers

"American Baby," Dave Matthews Band

"Bad Day," Daniel Powter (Berlin)

"In the End," Linkin Park

"Numb," Linkin Park with Jay-Z

"Super Duper Love," Joss Stone

"Some Kind of Wonderful," Joss Stone

"Show You Love," Jars of Clay

"Laura," Scissor Sisters

"Take Your Mama," Scissor Sisters

"For All We Know," Alicia Keys

"Fall to Pieces," Velvet Revolver

"Pour Some Sugar on Me," Def Leppard

"Are You Gonna Be My Girl?," Jet (Toronto)

"Angel," Sarah McLachlan and Josh Groban

"Message in a Bottle," Sting

"Driven to Tears," Sting

"Every Breath You Take," Sting

Disc Three:

"Make It Happen," Mariah Carey

"Hero," Mariah Carey

"When You Come Back," Vusi Mahlasela (Johannesburg)

"Do the Strand," Roxy Music (Berlin)

"This Love," Maroon 5

"She Will Be Loved," Maroon 5

"Four Strong Winds," Neil Young (Toronto)

"Go West," Pet Shop Boys (Moscow)

"We Will Rock You," Robbie Williams

"Let Me Entertain You," Robbie Williams

"Feel," Robbie Williams

"Angels," Robbie Williams

"Somebody Like You," Keith Urban

"Twenty Years," Placebo (Paris)

"Lonely No More," Rob Thomas

"We Come 1," Faithless (Berlin)

"Master Blaster (Jammin')," Stevie Wonder

"Higher Ground," Stevie Wonder and Rob Thomas

"Signed Sealed Delivered," Stevie Wonder and Adam Levine

"So What the Fuss," Stevie Wonder

"Superstition," Stevie Wonder

"Who Are You?," The Who

"Won't Get Fooled Again," The Who

"Speak to Me," Pink Floyd

"Breathe," Pink Floyd

"Money," Pink Floyd

"Wish You Were Here," Pink Floyd

"Comfortably Numb," Pink Floyd

"Get Back," Paul McCartney

"Drive My Car," Paul McCartney and George Michael

"Helter Skelter," Paul McCartney

"The Long and Winding Road," Paul McCartney

"Hey Jude," Finale

Disc Four: Extras

Highlights from the July 6th Murrayfield concert in Edinburgh

"All About You," McFly (Tokyo)

"Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," Good Charlotte (Tokyo)

"Love Love Love," Dreams Come True (Tokyo)

"All Is Full of Love," Bjork (Tokyo)

"Who Are You?"(film), The Who

"Why Does It Always Rain on Me?"(film), Travis

"Enjoy the Day," Ricky Gervais

Behind the Scenes at Hyde Park

Pink Floyd rehearsal

[Thanks Lifelight]

According to SirenDisc website, the new Coldplay single is Talk. To be released on January 23, 2006.

[Thanks LifeLight]

The Rolling Stones are fighting it out with James Blunt to score their first UK number one album since 1994’s Voodoo Lounge.

Retail reports suggest the band’s newly-issued Virgin album A Bigger Bang is slightly ahead of James Blunt’s Atlantic-issued Back To Bedlam as the band look to achieve their 11th UK chart-topper, the highest for any group bar The Beatles.

The Stones are likely to be joined in this Sunday’s Top 20 by fellow Sixties survivor Bob Dylan whose No Direction Home soundtrack to the documentary Martin Scorsese has made about him is due to become the week’s second highest debut. In an unusually quiet first week of September, the only other brand new albums challenging to enter the Top 40 are Interscope-signed rapper Tony Yayo with Thoughts Of A Predicate Felon an Kate Rusby’s Pure-issued Girl Couldn’t Fly.

Meanwhile, the summer’s stability at the top of the singles chart seems to be well and truly over with Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes’ Don’t Cha (A&M) comfortably on course to become the fifth different chart-topper in as many weeks. It expected to be joined in the top five by Parlophone act Coldplay’s new single Fix You and the Breastfed-issued Doctor Pressure by Mylo Vs Miami Sound Machine.

Lower down Atlantic’s Goldie Lookin Chain with Your Missus Is A Nutter and Fiction’s Ian Brown with All Ablaze are both challenging for Top 20 places, while Top 40 entries are likely to include new singles by Rough Trade’s Arcade Fire, BMG acts Faithless and Foo Fighters, Atlantic-signed Transplants and Eye Industries/UMTV’s Supafly Vs Fishbowl.

Source: Music Week

[Thanks LifeLight]

Australian TV Alert. Coldplay will be on Rove LIVE tonight (Sept 6). Rove is starting at 9pm tonight (super big show) and is on channel 10 for those who don't know.

Coldplay's X&Y moves into its 13th week at the top of European Top 100 Albums, but there`s finally a new No. 1 on Eurochart Hot 100 Singles, where James Blunt`s 'You`re Beautiful' (Atlantic) ends the 11-week reign of Crazy Frog`s 'Axel F' (Mach1).

X&Y climbs from 9 to 8 in Austria, but its current highest ranking is at No. 4 in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Sweden. The single 'Speed of Sound' improves 8 to 7 in Spain; its successor 'Fix You' was released in the United Kingdom on Monday (Sept. 5). The band`s 'Twisted Logic' tour continues through North America this month, as Parlophone reports that the album has been No. 1 in a total of 32 countries worldwide.

Blunt`s 'Back To Bedlam' holds at No. 2 on Top 100 Albums, moving from 2 to 1 in Switzerland, from 5 to 3 in Holland and holding at No. 1 in Denmark, Norway and Ireland. But its eight-week run at the top of the British chart is ended by boy band McFly`s sophomore release 'Wonderland' (Universal Island), which sells 71,000 units in its first week. The set, which includes their recent U.K. No. 1 single 'I`ll Be OK,' opens on Top 100 Albums at No. 9.

The top new entry on the composite album chart, at No. 3, is Eric Clapton`s 'Back Home' (Reprise). Although it makes a modest start at No. 19 in the United Kingdom, on sales of 14,000 copies, it`s new at No. 2 in Germany, No. 4 in Italy, Switzerland and Denmark and No. 10 in Spain. Clapton`s 'Me and Mr.Johnson' album started at No. 5 on Top 100 Albums in late March 2004.

Kanye West`s 'Late Registration' (Roc-A-Fella) is next to arrive on the aggregate chart at No. 6, after a No. 2 debut in the United Kingdom with sales of 67,000, some 4,000 behind McFly. The album also arrives at No. 2 in Ireland and No. 4 in Norway.

Iron Maiden`s new live set 'Death on the Road' (EMI) debuts at No. 12 overall, buoyed by the success of the single 'The Trooper,' which moves to the top of the Spanish chart, from 2 to 1, and opens at No. 8 in Italy. The album`s British debut is at a restrained No. 22, with sales of 13,000 units.

Blunt`s single is in descent in his native Britain, but is now certified silver for shipments of 200,000 there. Only one other single on the current U.K. singles top 75 chart has a sales certification: Tony Christie`s '(Is This The Way To) Amarillo' (UMTV), which is platinum for 600,000 shipments and this week spends a 25th week on the chart, falling from 54 to 63. 'You`re Beautiful' enters the Swedish chart at No. 2 and in France and Germany at No. 5, holds at No. 2 in Switzerland and No. 3 in Denmark and Holland.

'Animated' British act Gorillaz get their first local No. 1 with 'Dare' (Parlophone), leading to a Eurochart entry at No. 4. The second single from its 'Demon Days' album sells 26,000 copies to debut at the top, while the album slips back from 7 to 9 there and from 8 to 11 on Top 100 Albums. 'Days' climbs from 8 to 5 in Denmark.

Chris Martin has been advised to stop sulking and start drinking by good friend Ian McCulloch - because it will lighten him up.

Coldplay was left devastated by the acid response of US critics to his third album X&Y, who labelled Coldplay "the most insufferable band of the decade".

And Echo And The Bunnymen star McCulloch [pictured left] urges his sensitive friend to join him on a drinking spree to toughen him up - a quality McCulloch believes is essential if Martin is to survive as a rock 'n' roll hero.

He says, "It might do Chris good if he did sort himself out with a few drinks to take the edge off. It would do him good to relax. Chris says he's baffled by me because he doesn't understand how I can be an out-and-out rockstar - drinking and smoking and still playing music.

"I think he knows you can't suddenly go off the rails. He's not a working-class lad so he'd have to become an actor to play the bevy (drinking) game."

Source: contactmusic.com