The number of songs downloaded from the internet in the UK during 2005 have topped the 10 million mark.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) said the figure was almost twice the level for the whole of 2004. Meanwhile, sales of seven-inch vinyl singles have also enjoyed a revival - up 87.3% on last year.

BPI chairman Peter Jamieson said: "Despite the incredible growth in download sales it would be wrong to write-off physical formats just yet." He added that the music industry was beginning to see benefits from the internet after recording download sales of 5.7 million for the whole of 2004.

"The record industry has enthusiastically embraced the new legal download services since their emergence in the mainstream little more than a year ago, and now we're beginning to reap the rewards," Mr Jamieson said. "The battle against illegal filesharing will continue, but we are delighted to have hit this milestone so soon," he added.

Overall there has been a 52.4% improvement in single sales, with 1.4 million seven-inch singles sold. Fans of UK indie and rock music have been given the format its best 12 months since 1998, according to the data compiled by BPI.

The best-selling seven inch single in the year to March 2005 was a limited edition reissue of Iron Maiden's Number of the Beast. Elsewhere the format is dominated by a new generation of UK rock acts including the Libertines, Babyshambles, Kaiser Chiefs and Franz Ferdinand.

Mr Jamieson said: "There is still a huge demand for the collectible physical formats. Record companies are committed to meeting consumer demand in whatever format people want their music."

The figures also show that UK music is enjoying increasing success in the US, with 75 UK albums topping the 100,000 sales mark in 2004, compared with 66 in 2003.

Coldplay's third studio album X&Y was also the first British album to simultaneously top both the US and UK charts since the Beatles 1 collection in 2000.

"We have not seen anything like it for a decade," said Mr Jamieson. "From Coldplay to Oasis, Dido to Gorillaz, Lostprophets to Franz Ferdinand, British music is on the march," he added.

Source: bbc.co.uk

Coldplay is gracing the cover of the July/August issue of Chart Magazine. This issue, which is an "Artist written issue", features four written pages by Coldplay themselves. Each member of the band gets one page to share his utmost intimate secrets on himself, the other members, and the band.

This "Artist Written" issue is complete with Billy Talent vs Killradio, Bif Naked's polaroid pics, The Waking Eyes favourite bar adventures, Buck 65's touch of evil, OLP vs The Band, and more. Visit http://www.chartattack.com/monthly/200507.cfm for more info and to purchase this issue.

Also, there are a couple of contests to enter. Visit http://www.chartattack.com/contests/ for your chance to win Warped Tour and MXPX prize packs.

Full sized image here

Oasis star Liam Gallagher has attacked his brother Noel and Coldplay's Chris Martin for persistently whining about their struggles as famous song-writers.

Liam is furious Noel delayed their world tour by perfecting their latest album, Don't Believe The Truth.

And he advises his sibling and Coldplay - whose album X&Y was also delayed by writing difficulties - to spend less time complaining and more time writing if they want to meet their deadlines.

When asked what Noel and Martin talk about, Liam sneered, "The struggles of being a writer in a big band. The struggles they had. It's bullshit. It's fucking easy. Get into the studio and fucking work, and if it don't work, try harder. I should be halfway round the world on tour now, rocking, but we've taken ages to make this fucking record."

500 million songs on the iTunes Music Store marks a dramatic acceleration of the purchase of legally downloadable music on the Internet.

And the music fan who purchases that song will receive a prize that's just as dramatic - a trip for you and three guests to see Coldplay on its current tour, with front-row seats, and "back-stage" passes for a meet 'n' greet with the band;

ten iPods for yourself and family or friends; a gold 10,000-song gift card for the music store; and ten 50-song gift cards.

For more details click here

Filter magazine's issue No. 16 lets Chris Martin babble about his band and life. Some of the pithier snippets:

On the success of Coldplay: "Let me be clear: We're an incredibly arrogant band and we believe in ourselves above all others. But we also acknowledge that there's no way we can take credit for where we are. I didn't design my larynx, if you want to go right back to Square 1. ... So we work very hard to capitalize and validate what we've been given. Because we have been given it. It's not graciousness, it's just honesty."

Reflecting on his daughter, his actress wife Gwyneth Paltrow, his fans, and his career: "Everything in my life is a fragile decision that somebody else made."

On what he has in common with Coldplay fans: "Well, I'm terrifically handsome and incredibly intelligent."

On the general perception of his band: "Everyone wants to talk with the singer but you really shouldn't even bother asking the singer about lyrics or how the band is perceived, because he or she has no idea."

On the broad, pop appeal of his record: "Well, it's not as if we've just written 12 radio-friendly ballads ... we've written six."

On Detroit star Eminem: " 'Mockingbird' really moves me."

On the Strokes: "They are incredibly potent. The reason they get such acclaim is that they clearly know the past but they're writing songs that no one's written yet. They're retro-futurists. They're going to be a force to be reckoned with for a long time."

On U2: "Our album doesn't have a single song on it as good as 'With or Without You' or 'Where the Streets Have no Name.' "

On Missy Elliot: "When she works with (music producer) Timbaland, she's unstoppable."

On Jay-Z: "I think he's a genius."

On Radiohead: "I think if you imagine Radiohead going through a jungle clearing a path, then we're the ones who are probably just criminally paving it. I always see Radiohead as the braver people."

Some live Coldplay pictures from Bolton (4th July) have been uploaded here - taken by my own fair hands up in the clouds.

There are more threads on the Bolton gigs as well as other pictures here (better than mine of course.) I will post more of my pictures from the 5th tomorrow.

Enjoy!

The veteran Scottish stand-up Billy Connolly once joked ‘there is no such thing as bad weather – just the wrong clothes’.

Last night, Doves’ frontman Jimi Goodwin seemed to have heeded the advice as he arrived on stage in a giant floppy hat designed for all eventualities from heavy rain to baking sunshine.

His band is the current stadium support act of choice, having joined the bill on both Oasis and U2’s 2005 summer tours, and their brand of atmospheric, visceral rock certainly galvanises an audience for the main act.

With songs of the calibre of the incessant Pounding, the northern soul-tinged Here It Comes and the archetypal anthem There Goes The Fear, they gleaned a whole new chapter of fans - and they should add even more from this weekend’s T in the Park appearance.

AFTER reading column inch after column inch about Coldplay’s ‘expansive music being perfect for huge, outdoor shows’ following their recent Glasto and Live 8 slots, I was eager to see if it was true. Ninety or so minutes later and the answer was an emphatic ‘yes’.

Much has been made about the group’s geek chic appearance, but this does them a disservice. Frontman Chris Martin may not have the magnetic charisma of a Bono or a Liam, but he does exude a subtle charm and undeniably unique stage presence of his own.

Meanwhile the rest of the group have developed into even more accomplished and stylish musicians during their spell in the studio, meaning they can now make a stadium's collective heart soar.

The opening burst of new album opener Square One, a glorious Yellow and the Will Champion-powered rock-out God Put A Smile Upon Your Face was an entrée to be devoured.

It was thrilling to see Martin with his arms jutting into the air as if attempting to climb to the stars, but the quartet also showed they know the power of keeping it simple, reconvening to the front of stage for a couple of tracks for perhaps their most intimate performance in the region since their Roadhouse show in the spring of 2000.

Coldplay can mix things up too, though, and a dynamic rip through the electro-infused Talk showed further signs of musical progress.

Martin may have cheekily pondered how a bunch of southern softies would go down in the north, but as Ian Brown once quipped - it’s not where you’re from that matters, but where you’re at.

After dining on Coldplay for the last month, Canada wanted a little taste of the Black Eyed Peas.

The Los Angeles-based group's latest album "Monkey Business" hit the No. 1 spot in the country, racking up sales of 18,000, according to data compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.

Coldplay's "X&Y," which held the top position for four consecutive weeks, dropped to No. 2 on sales of just under 17,000, while the Backstreet Boys' "Never Gone" (11,000) remained at No. 3 for a second straight week. The Foo Fighters' "In Your Honor," Il Divo's self-titled album, and The Offspring's "Greatest Hits" remained at No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6, respectively.

Michael Buble's "It's Time" moved up three slots to No. 7, Green Day's "American Idiot" claimed No. 8, Gwen Stefani's "Love.Angel.Music.Baby" dropped one to No. 9, and System of a Down's "Mezmerize" sank from No. 7 to No. 10.

Notable debuts this week included Bif Naked's "Superbeautifulmonster" at No. 19, Bizarre's "Hannicap Circus" at No. 21, Ying Yang Twins' "United States of Atlanta" at No. 24, George Strait's "Somewhere Down in Texas" at No. 25, and Esthero's "Wikked Lil' Grrrls" at No. 43.

In the U.S., George Strait checked in at No. 1, followed by Ying Yang Twins in secdond, Coldplay in third, Mariah Carey's "The Emancipation of Mimi" in fourth, and Cassidy's "I'm a Hustla" in fifth.

In a way, history repeats itself on the next Billboard album sales chart. After three weeks of ruling record sales, Coldplay have been overthrown, and it took a honky-tonkin' American — country legend George Strait — to end the British band's reign over the albums chart.

Somewhere Down in Texas, Strait's newest offering, claims the chart's #1 spot, moving close to 245,000 copies its first week out. Strait's latest shelves Coldplay's run at the top, jostling the rockers' X&Y two spots to a fourth-week #3 finish; X&Y netted sales of more than 140,000 this time around, according to the latest SoundScan data.

United State of Atlanta, the fifth album from Hotlanta party rap duo the Ying Yang Twins, also bested X&Y in this week's record-sales showdown, opening as Billboard's new #2, thanks to debut-week scans of more than 201,000. The Ying Yangs were predicted to chart high, having crafted one of the nation's biggest radio singles in "Wait (The Whisper Song)."Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi has emerged as one of chart's most consistent entries. Twelve weeks after its initial release, Mimi has shifted close to 2.3 million units, and continues its solid sales performance with more than 130,000 copies snapped up this week — enough to secure Mariah Billboard's #4 spot. That's quite a comeback.

After George and the Twins, this week's third-highest debut belongs to Philadelphia rapper Cassidy's I'm A Hustla. The MC, currently being held without bail on murder and weapons charges, opens at #5, having sold close to 93,000 copies of his new LP during its first week of release.

The Black Eyed Peas' latest, Monkey Business, checks in at #6, with week-four sales of close to 90,000, finishing just in front of In Your Honor, the newest album from Foo Fighters. The double disc from Dave Grohl and company takes the chart's #7 position, selling just under 88,000 copies at the end of its third week in stores.

America's first "Idol," Kelly Clarkson, takes the chart's #8 spot thanks to her disc Breakaway's 62,000-plus showing. Clarkson's album managed to clear the mark of 2.5 million sold after 31 weeks in stores. Kelly wasn't the only artist on the chart to hit 2.5 million this week: Gwen Stefani's Love, Angel, Music, Baby scored more than 60,000 scans during its 32nd week on the chart, and crossed the 2.5 million line while taking Billboard's #9 spot.

Country star Toby Keith's Honkytonk University caps off the top 10, edging out #11 finisher System of a Down's Mezmerize by less than 1,000 copies sold; Keith netted sales of just under 61,000, while System moved close to 60,000. Both albums first hit store shelves seven weeks ago.

Charlotte, North Carolina, soul singer Anthony Hamilton's Soulife— an album recorded several years ago but unreleased until now — debuts at #12 this week, with sales of 53,000 and change. Country trio Rascal Flatts finish as the chart's #13, falling just shy of 52,000 — only 55 scans more than 50 Cent's The Massacre, which takes this week's #14 and simultaneously hits 4 million in sales. Backstreet Boys claim the #15 spot with Never Gone, with over 51,000 scans.

Coldplay are delaying the release of their next single, because they want to avoid a head-to-head race with rockers Oasis for the UK number one spot.

The two groups have build bridges in recent months and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin is keen not to jeopardise his friendship with Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher.

An record industry insider tells British newspaper the Daily Star, "Coldplay have moved Fix You back to a September release because their current single Speed Of Sound is still getting such great airplay on the radio. "I'm sure they are aware that Oasis were due to release on the same day, but that probably didn't affect their decision."

Coldplay shot the video for their forthcoming single ‘Fix You’ last night (July 4) at the end of their gig in Bolton.

As the band closed their 95 minute set at the Reebok Stadium singer Chris Martin surprised the crowd by announcing that TV cameras were in the venue to film their next video and he urged the audience to act as extras for the shoot before the four-piece performed the track twice.

Despite poor weather conditions and a 15 minute delay at the start of the show owing to severe traffic problems, it turned out to be an eventful night for Coldplay who also sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to an audience member.

The band kicked off proceedings with ‘Square One’ from ‘X&Y’ before Martin praised his fans by changing the lyrics in ‘Politik’ to “thanks for waiting for us in the rain…I think we’ve got the best fans in the universe.”

They went on to play a similar set to their recent Glastonbury performance with the exception of the Kratftwerk sampling ‘Talk’ and album track ‘What If’.

Martin was in good spirits throughout the show, particularly when he spotted a blow up dummy in the crowd early on and joked: “That’s incredibly distracting but quite arousing. When you’re away from your family you’ve gotta take anything you can get,” before he backtracked and added: “Get rid of it, it’s fucking terrible.”

During ‘Till Kingdom Come’ he also forget the words at one point and said: “Sorry I fucked that up. Thank God that wasn’t Live8.”

Coldplay complete their UK tour tonight with a second show in Bolton.

Support came from Elbow, and label mates Morning Runner.

The band played the following set:

‘Square One’

‘Politik’

‘Yellow’

‘God Put A Smile Upon Your Face’

‘Speed Of Sound’

‘Low’

‘Warning Sign’

‘Everything’s Not Lost’

‘White Shadows’

‘The Scientist’

‘Till Kingdom Come’

‘Don’t Panic’

‘Clocks’

‘Talk’

‘What If’

‘In My Place’

‘Fix You’

‘Fix You’ (repeat)

’Fix You’ is expected to be released as a single later this summer.

Fresh from Live8, Coldplay arrived on a rainy night in Bolton to prove they have made it as one of the world's biggest rock bands.

With his make poverty history campaigning, front man Chris Martin has already proved his credentials as one of the most politically motivated performers in modern pop.

Last night he came to the Reebok Stadium to prove he could cut it in the rock stakes too.Just six years ago this mild-mannered foursome stumbled on to the British music scene as one of the most unlikely super groups in history. With their shy style, ordinary clothes and awkward manner, they could easily have been dismissed as a group of geeky wannabees.

Now, after performing as one of the headline acts at history's biggest concert, Live8, and having taken America by storm they have finally got the last laugh.

Of course, Chris Martin's marriage to A List Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow helped to boost their fame somewhat.

Last night, despite a long wait in the pouring rain and the mother of all traffic jams, thousands of eager fans couldn't wait to see their heroes sing live. Although even Martin himself doesn't quite seem to believe his new rock star status gasping "I can't believe you waited for us," to the crowd as he leapt on to the stage.

It is only fitting they should chose the song Politik as one of their opening numbers. However, they soon showed they know how to have a good time as well, launching into crowd pleasers with Yellow and recent hit single Speed of Sound.

It's fair to say not everyone is totally enamoured of Coldplay and their right-on political message. But you really have to see them live to appreciate their rousing blend of rock.

Truly a great British band in the making.

Source: manchesteronline

Coldplay flew to Glasgow directly after their appearance on the Live 8 stage in London yesterday afternoon.

The band played the second of two sold-out nights at the city's Bellahouston Park, a gig which had been announced prior to Live 8.

Despite travelling to and from London that day and playing three gigs in twenty-four hours the band seemed in fantastic spirits, with Chris Martin even declaring at the end that he considered this show the best they’d ever played.

Making reference to Live 8 just before playing ‘Yellow’ he said "Today’s one of the most important days in musical history and we’re glad to be here with you on it. We’re in a very good mood and we hope you are too".

During ’Everything’s Not Lost’ he asked the crowd "sing it to George Bush, he’s flying in" while pointing skywards, and added a chorus of Status Quo’s ’Rocking All Over The World’ to the end of ’In My Place’ - as he also did earlier at Live 8, the song being the one which opened Live Aid twenty years ago.

The setlist ran:

‘Square One’

‘Politik’

‘Yellow’

‘God Put A Smile Upon Your Face’

‘Speed Of Sound’

‘Low’

‘Warning Sign’

‘Everything’s Not Lost’

‘White Shadows’

‘The Scientist’

‘’Till Kingdom Come’

‘Don’t Panic’

‘Clocks’

‘Talk’

‘What If’

‘In My Place’

‘Fix You’

Source: NME

Not quite the fastest track of Live 8 to hit the internet (that was U2 & Paul McCartney) but this is one you might treasure for a long long time.

Download Coldplay's collaboration with Richard Ashcroft - Bitter Sweet Symphony here

[Thanks Mackey]

Wherever you might be around the world watching the Live 8 concerts, please join the discussions and show your support in our Live 8 Forums.

How did Coldplay perform? What was their collaboration with Richard Ashcroft like? Find out there!

Please take the time out on your way to the messageboard to click the flash banners and add your name to the petition at the live8live site.

Coldplay have announced three new tour dates in Spain this year. The band will play at the following venues:

20th November 2005: Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona

22nd November 2005: Palacio de Deportes, Madrid

25th November 2005: Velodromo Anoeta, San Sebastian

Pre-sale information will be sent soon to those members who are registered in the members area of Coldplay.com. They will be offering pre-sale tickets to members-only on the following dates:

6th July - Barcelona, 10 am

11th July - Madrid, 10 am

15th July - San Sebastian, 10 am

Noel Gallagher claimed there was no way the band could have played Live 8 and dismissed suggestions they would let down fans by postponing gigs that clashed with the high-profile charity event, before throwing in a catty aside.

He said: "U2, Paul McCartney and Coldplay have all got gigs on the same night, but of course us not being as important as U2 or Coldplay. I just don't think it would have been possible to do it."

He then described Coldplay's lead singer Chris Martin as a good friend, but "very, very, very weird."Last night's City of Manchester stadium gig was a novel experience for Oasis star Noel Gallagher.

In an interview with Key 103 DJ Mike Toolan, minutes before the band played to thousands of hometown fans, the die-hard Manchester City fan revealed he had never seen the team play at the ground that has been their home since 2003.

Then Burnage-raised rock star went on to say, "I always go and see them get hammered in London."

Later on he tried to reaffirm his blue credentials by slamming the Manchester United fans who held Malcolm Glazer's family under siege at the ground on Wednesday night.

He said to Mike Toolan, "You're a Red, I can tell by that stupid look on your face. 500 million fans worldwide and many turned up to protest? 200. You're s*** you are, you're rubbish."

Gallagher described Manchester as the most stressful gig because of family and friends, before adding that the Eastlands show was more "international" than Mancunian.

The millionaire artist then admitted the Gallagher brothers snubbed Manchester in the run-up to the massive homecoming show and stayed in Liverpool instead.

He explained: "The bar always gets mobbed. Then you wake up the next day and you're checking out with someone saying, `you owe me £1700 on the bar bill', and you realise all the scallies put drinks on it - and we have got a lot of mates over in Liverpool."

The intended set list for tomorrows Live 8 concert from Hyde Park has been posted here

Coldplay are due to perform In My Place, followed by Fix You, finishing with a duet with Richard Ashcroft of Bitter Sweet Symphony. How reliable the source is, only time will tell.

[thanks GazeboflossUK]

Coldplay have been hailed as the best band appearing at England's three-day Glastonbury Festival by organiser Michael Eavis.

Glastonbury 2005 saw electrifying performances from music royalty including The White Stripes, Brian Wilson and The Killers - but no one came close to Coldplay in Eavis' opinion.

He enthuses, "(My highlight was) Coldplay's last song Fix You. I'm a real Coldplay fan. I think Chris Martin has come up with something really new in pop music. The whole concept and songwriting - it's original music and it's not churning out the same rock and roll music like so many other bands do year after year."

On July 2, 2005, 100 artists, a million spectators and 2 billion viewers will gather at Live 8 to spread one message - put an end to poverty. Get more information, add your name to the global petition and watch the shows live on the web at:

http://music.channel.aol.com/live_8_concert/home

AOL will be the only place to find the webcast for this event. All of the concerts will be archived on that site for a period of time after Saturday, as well. Coldplay will headline the Live8 concert organised by Geldof in London Saturday, the flagship event of an eight-city musical extravaganza designed to pressure world leaders meeting in Scotland next week to eradicate poverty in Africa.

Each Thursday this summer on BBC 6 Music, Steve Lamacq will be catching up with Coldplay's Rhythm Section as they travel around the world.

Will Champion and Guy Berryman will take turns to call into the show and fill Lamacq in with where they are and what they've been up to that week. From big events like Glastonbury and Live 8, to record shopping in Albuquerque, New Mexico or eating out in Japan, The Rhythm Section Diaries will give us a unique glimpse into the touring life of Coldplay.

Live every Thursday just after 6pm, you'll have 7 days to listen again online through the radio player on the 6 music website here

It kicks off tonight with Will talking about their Glastonbury & Crystal Palace performances, and looking ahead to Live 8 this weekend.

Source: coldplay.com

Coldplay are planning a duet with Richard Ashcroft at Live 8, it has been reported.

The ex-The Verve singer has recently supported Coldplay on a handful of dates on their European tour, and the two have come up with the idea of performing The Verve’s 1997 classic 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' together, according to The Sun newspaper.

Coldplay are set to perform at the London Hyde Park date of Live 8 this Saturday (July 2).

More details in our Live 8 Forums

Twenty years after rocker-turned-aid impresario Bob Geldof ushered in an age of pop star social activism, no band embodies the renewed spirit of playing music for a cause better than rock sensation Coldplay.

The top-of-the-charts British band will headline the Live8 concert organised by Geldof in London Saturday, the flagship event of an eight-city musical extravaganza designed to pressure world leaders meeting in Scotland next week to eradicate poverty in Africa.

The concert is being billed as the biggest musical event in history, and is expected to draw a worldwide live audience of up to a million, with hundreds of millions more watching and listening via television, radio and Internet.

Coldplay will be joined on stage by the reigning doyens of music with a conscience, U2, also known for its outspoken political and social activism.And like U2, most of Coldplays growing clout as spokesmen for the disenfranchised flows from a phenomenal success at the cash register: their first two albums, Parachutes (2000) and A rush of blood to the head (2002), have sold 17 million copies and counting, while their new release X and Y is at the top of the charts in 28 major national markets.

Coldplay's first foray into social advocacy was in support of fair trade, an increasingly popular practice whereby farmers in extremely poor countries are guaranteed reasonable, albeit above market, prices for commodities such as coffee, chocolate, sugar, honey and tea.

The band's singer Chris Martin, who is married to American actress Gwyneth Paltrow, adopted the cause after coming face to face during a 2002 trip to Haiti with the devastation caused to commodity farmers by agribusiness subsidies in rich nations.

"We all live on the same planet and everyone should be concerned" by these social and environmental problems, the 28 year old singer said during a press conference in Paris earlier this month.

"The planet keeps firing down and it will affect all of us, whether you are Coldplay or Jacques Chirac," he continued, taking a poke at Frances president.

Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland compared himself to a lobbyist, arguing that the band's high profile not only justifies but compels it to be socially active.

"The most important thing, before the G8, is making you journalists write about it. The more people talk about it, the better it is," he said.

These words and positions echo those of Geldof, organiser of the precedent-setting 1985 "Live Aid" concert to raise money to combat starvation in Ethiopia, and of U2 singer Bono, who has used his highly visible position for similar causes since the early 1990s.

But unlike the politically committed musicians of the 1960s such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, Coldplay does not take positions in their songs. "It's hard to find something that rhymes with North American Free Trade Agreement," Martin quipped.

In France, where a Live 8 concert will be held at the Versailles palace, artists such as Zebda and Manu Chao rail against social inequality and intolerance on stage as well as off.

Likewise Ivory Coast reggae singer Tiken Jah Fakoly, many of whose songs are frontal attacks on the industrialised world's policies toward Africa, especially the United States.

In America itself, erstwhile apolitical artists have also taken up various causes. Bruce Springsteen (whose song "Born in the USA" was co-opted into an anthem of patriotism), REM (participating in Live 8), Pearl Jam and radical vegetarian and environmentalist Moby, for example, all campaigned last year against the re-election of George Bush.

Indeed, the US president has become a favoured target among international pop stars, including the British bank Radiohead, whose last album is entitled "Hail to the thief" (2003), a biting variant on the presidential anthem "Hail to the chief."

Even Icelander Bjork, who has always studiously avoided taking political positions, sings in her last album: "I need a shelter to build an altar away from all Osamas and Bushes." Bjork will participate in the Tokyo Live 8 concert.

Source: news.com.au

Award-winning Los Angeles visual effects and design company A52 today announced details of their visual effects work for Anonymous Content director Mark Romanek for Coldplay’s new music video for “Speed of Sound.” The Times of London reports that the song – the first release from the band’s new EMI album 'X&Y' – is currently the world’s fastest-selling download. The new music video debuted on MTV on May 23.

“The idea was to try and mirror the ecstatic nature of the band's music using light and color,” Romanek explained. “The A52 team was extremely helpful in creating a consistency to the look of the piece, and in exploring some other aesthetic options.”

“Mark knows exactly what he wants, and he knows what the Inferno can do better than a lot of effects artists in this town,” commented A52’s project visual effects supervisor and lead Inferno artist Pat Murphy.Murphy then described beginning an exploratory phase on the project with Romanek which – as the edit got better and better at the hands of Rock Paper Scissors’ editor Adam Pertofsky – came to focus on specific lighting and color effects.

Each section of the video has different moods to it,” Murphy said. “The first section was a lot more easy-going and relaxed in its tone and quality. We essentially left that the same as it came to us from Encore Hollywood ’s colorist Mike Cosola. As we got further into the song, Mark wanted to make the look stronger and more powerful. There's an LED light- wall behind the band, and as the video progresses, the wall emanates different lights for different sections of the video. We tweaked each section differently, sometimes hand-placing luminence but generally pumping-up the lighting and making the colors pop visually to match the edit and the look Mark wanted.”

Mark Romanek’s music videos have received numerous awards, including over twenty MTV awards, three Grammys, a Country Music Association award, and three Billboard Music Awards. Two of his music videos have become part of the permanent collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art.

To view A52's work in Speed of Sound, click here

Faith Holmes is the project’s video producer for Parlophone EMI Records. Aris McGarry produced the project for Anonymous Content.

A52’s project team also included executive producer Mark Tobin, producers Scott Boyajan and Ron Cosentino, Flame artists Tim Bird and Justin Blaustein, and Inferno artist Ben Looram.

Long-time Romanek collaborator Harris Savides served as this project’s director of photography .

Additional editorial credits for the team at Rock Paper Scissors include executive producer Linda Carlson, producer Kelly Garcia and assistant editor Charlie Lee.

About A52

Established in 1997 as a home for the very latest high-end photo-real visual effects technologies and the industry’s most innovative and talented graphic design artists, West Hollywood visual effects and design company A52 creates award-winning imagery for the world’s most visually ambitious commercial and television projects. The company’s work has earned AICP Show recognition for five consecutive years along with recent Outstanding Commercial and Outstanding Main Title Design Emmys, Andy, BDA, Clio, British Design and Art Direction, International Monitor, International Automotive Advertising, London International Advertising, One Show and PROMAX awards. For more information, please call Mark Tobin at 310.385.0851 or visit www.A52.com.

Source: macvideopro

pop singer Kylie Minogue has thanked Coldplay for covering her hit track 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head' in tribute to her breast cancer battle, at the Glastonbury Festival over the weekend.

The Australian star is recovering at home in Melbourne after a cancerous lump was removed from her breast last month following her cancer diagnosis. After learning of her illness, Minogue was forced to cancel her appearance at the annual Somerset music event.

On Saturday, headline act Coldplay played an acoustic version of the catchy 2001 tune, saying, "Everyone's paid to see Kylie as well, so shouldn't we salute absent friends," while dance act Basement Jaxx also covered her song during Sunday's closing gigs.

On her official website, Minogue writes, "I was deeply moved to hear about the tributes at Glastonbury. Though I'm desperately sad at not have been able to perform, I was so happy to feel that I was, in a small way, still a part of it. My humble thanks to the artists and the crowd. I'm far away but I hope you felt the smile on my face and the joy it brought me."

Source: ContactMusic

[thanks cris_santos]