Ahead of the Chris Martin sessions and radio appearances, starting at Radio 1 today, and ending on Saturday at Radio 2 with Jonathan Ross, the Coldplaying Toolbar has been updated to include all the stations Chris will appear on. Not all stations will work for everyone (often due to restrictions) but its a neat way of switching from station to station as Chris Martin switches from studio to studio.

Download and install the toolbar from: coldplaying.ourtoolbar.com - and here are all the radio sessions link you need for the next few days:

[Airing:1st] 29-Jan-09: Chris Martin at Radio 1 - Edith Bowman show - 1pm (GMT)

[Airing:2nd] 29-Jan-09: Chris Martin at XFM - Ian Camfield show - 3.30pm (GMT)

[Airing:3rd] 29-Jan-09: Chris Martin at Capital Radio - Lucio show - 7pm (GMT)

[Airing:4th] 30-Jan-09: Chris Martin at Absolute Radio - WEBCAST - 1pm (GMT)

[Airing:5th] 30-Jan-09: Chris Martin at 6Music - Steve Lamacq show - 5-6pm (GMT)

[Airing:6th] 31-Jan-09: Chris Martin at Radio 2 - Jonathan Ross show - 1130am (GMT)More details on the toolbar:

It's free, dynamic, with no spyware or viruses, blocks pop-ups, provides RSS feeds and news, a range of search engines, and no personal information is required. Get the latest Coldplay content delivered directly to your browser, no matter where you are on the web. Search the Web, our site, and other useful engines and tap into our RSS feed and stay on top of the latest Coldplay headlines.

Tixdaq has closed the books on 2008 and compiled the first ever in-depth analysis of the UK live music scene based on a detailed study of over 1m concert and festival tickets that were resold in 2008. Tixdaq EVP Steve Machin says “we’ve created the first definitive census of the UK live music sector, as seen through the lens of the resale market”.

Highlights from the report show that Take That sold the most tickets in 2008 but Coldplay was the highest value artist leading a field dominated by rock and pop superstars ranging from Kylie to Kings of Leon. Perhaps more surprising was the strong showing from classic acts such as Stevie Wonder, and Tina Turner who also appeared in the Top 10. Madonna was responsible for the highest grossing individual show and George Michael’s 2 dates at Earl’s Court gave rise to the highest average resale price.

London was confirmed as the leading live music city with 50% of the secondary market trailed in second place by Manchester and Birmingham. “The numbers are skewed towards the arenas and larger venues, so the fact that London accounted for 50% of the entire market may be surprising, but perhaps not when you look at the number of immensely popular shows that took place at The O2 Arena,” says Tixdaq COO Will Waddington.

More on this news release at the Coldplay forum here

Following today's announcement that Coldplay and The Killers are to play a one-off gig at London's O2 Shepherds Bush Empire together in aid of the War Child charity on 18th February, Coldplay.com have just announced that the War Child ticket sale moves to 5pm (GMT) tomorrow instead of noon. Here's Anchorman with more details:

Good evening. We've just been alerted that our batch of 200 tickets for the War Child show will now be available from 5pm tomorrow (Thursday), rather than 12noon as previously announced. Apologies for the change (just think of it as five extra hours of anticipation).

More discussion on the War Child gig here [thanks iriden & miumiu]

Coldplay's Chris Martin will be playing an intimate zoo session for Absolute Radio on Friday 30th January from 1pm (GMT), and it will be available to watch online for those who missed out on the competition. This just in exclusively to Coldplaying from Absolute Radio:

From 1pm (GMT) on Friday 30 January, you can watch Coldplay's Chris Martin live in a solo webcast session at Absolute Radio. Visit absoluteradio.co.uk/coldplay to get the page bookmarked, don't forget to stick the date in your diary.

More on this webcast at the Coldplay forum here [thanks Llia]

Coldplay are set to headline this summer's Roskilde Festival in Denmark on 5th July, it's been announced.

The performance will mark the first time the band have played at the festival since 2003. Additional acts at this year's Roskilde, which will take place from July 2nd-5th, are to be announced shortly.

Meanwhile, Belgium's EEN-website (national broadcasting service) have confirmed that Coldplay will headline Rock Werchter on 3rd July this year. Performing alongside Coldplay at the 35th edition of the festival will be Metallica and The Killers.

More on the Roskilde festival date at the Coldplay Live forum here and the Werchter date here [thanks Raven12 & walewein]

Coldplay and The Killers are to play a joint gig together to mark the fifteenth anniversary of the charity, War Child.

The concert will take place at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire on February 18th following both band's attendance at the BRIT Awards. Tickets for the event cost £50 and will be available via a lottery system. Hopefuls will have five days from 9am on Friday (January 30th) in order to register for a chance to buy tickets. Registration will close on Tuesday February 3rd at 5pm. All successful applicants will be notified by Friday February 6th. See warchildheroes.com for details. All proceeds from the concert will go to War Child.

Coldplay frontman Chris Martin said: "In our eyes, War Child is one of the world's most important charities, and The Killers are one of our favourite bands, so playing this concert is an absolute pleasure for us."

More on this exclusive news at the Coldplay forum here [thanks iriden]

Coldplay's Chris Martin will be playing an intimate zoo session for Absolute Radio on Friday 30th January... and you could be there. Visit their website to enter to win a pair of tickets by answering a simple multiple choice question. This competition closes on Wednesday 28 January 2009 23:59 (GMT). Here are the competition details from them:

Chris Martin, frontman of Coldplay, will be visiting One Golden Square and playing an intimate Zoo Session for the station. We can't wait! Now, we're not gloating, we're telling you because we want you to be there. Of course, this isn't a competition for someone who only likes Coldplay a little bit, so we've made the question quite hard to find a true fan. We have just 2 pairs of tickets to give away online, so it'll be a majorly exclusive prize.

Before you enter, make sure you'll be free on the afternoon of Friday 30 January from around 1pm. Then just answer the question here - Good luck!

More questions answered by The Oracle... (submit yours now!)

January 27, 2009 - submitted by Jonathan, United States of America

Q. If Coldplay are British, why when they named their song "Life in Technicolor" they spelt it the American way and not the English way?

The Oracle replies:

You can opt for a British spelling with a u but Technicolor is usually spelt the American/trademark way.

January 27, 2009 - submitted by Andrew, United States of America

Q. If I were to write a book, do I have permission to have references to Coldplay's songs? Is this copyright infringement?

The Oracle replies:

Yes you do, you'd need permission from their publisher (Universal), as they don't retain their own copyright. Even if Chris were writing a book he'd have to credit the publisher for their kind permission to reproduce their lyrics!

January 27, 2009 - submitted by Ben, United States of America

Q. kk, 2 questions. #1: My dad won't believe me that the "dancing politicians" version of Violet Hill on youtube is official. Would you mind giving me proof of this so i can win this arguement once and for all? #2 Why is there a delay in posting the LiT ii music video to iTunes? I want to buy it so i can show all my buddies...

The Oracle replies:

#1 Yes it is. The same chap who filmed the Bigger Stronger video made it. Seems both band and director have done pretty well. Mat Whitecross also directed the Lost!/Lost? videos amongst others. #2 Although the single isn't officially released it's on there.

Coldplay.com have caught up with Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland in an online interview direct from the studio where Coldplay are currently working on some new ideas with Brian Eno. You can discuss this interview at the Coldplay forum here. Here's what Jonny had to say this afternoon:

Hello Jonny, what are you up to?

I'm in the studio.

The Bakery?

Yes. We pop in all the time, but this is the first time we've been back doing a little bit of stuff with Brian.

Mr Eno?

Yeah. It was enjoyable last time, so we asked if he fancied doing a little bit more. We're just sort of trying ideas at the moment.

With a view to what?

Just to having some ideas! We thought it would be an enjoyable and interesting thing to do.

Is hypnotism involved?

No hypnotism this time. We're using a few less oblique strategies, but they're strategies all the same.

Can you reveal any of those strategies?

No, not really. We're trying a load of different things and seeing where they take us.

Is it nice to be doing that again after all the gigs last year?

Yeah it's refreshing. After you've been playing for a while it stops feeling creative, so it's good doing some new things. We're trying to do things that haven't been done before, by us or anyone else.

Do you think of your job as being 50 percent in the studio and 50 percent on the road?

I would say my job is going on the road and my hobby is being in the studio. I enjoy the playing part of touring. Being on the road is great in small doses. but if it's more than ten weeks away in one go, that can be hard.

So, 2008 went pretty well for Coldplay.

I haven't really thought about it, to be honest.

Well, you had the biggest selling album in the world last year.

Did we? That is incredible.

And you played gigs all around the world to sold-out audiences.

Yeah, it was a great year actually. Very enjoyable. The only bit that wasn't so enjoyable was the bit right before the album came out. But the rest of the year went remarkably well.

What was the best gig of last year?

Brixton Academy. It was exciting because we were playing the new stuff. The free one at Madison Square Garden was great as well.

What was the worst mistake you made on stage in 2008?

Oh there were so many! Splitting my trousers on the run back from the C-stage bit was pretty hair-raising. It was in America, around Dallas time.

Did you have a good Christmas break?

Yeah, I went to Jamaica. It was very nice.

The big excitement since Christmas has been the video for Life In Technicolor ii.

Absolutely. I think it's our best video. I always have a fondness for videos I don't have to be in. I didn't have to do anything. It was a dream video. I think we should do all our videos this way.

Guy's puppet perhaps isn't the best likeness to him.

Oh, I think it bears a sort of distant resemblance.

But Guy's a good looking man and his puppet isn't terribly good looking.

Well, how many puppets are good looking?

How did the video come together?

To be honest I didn't have that much to do with it. Phil, who features quite heavily in the video, worked with the director who came up with a couple of ideas. This was the one that fit with the song.

What did you think of Phil's acting debut?

I thought it was superb. I particularly loved his sweater.

What are you looking forward to most about this year?

The stadium gigs, definitely. And going to Australia will be good - it's a long time since we've been there.

Are you re-thinking the whole show for the stadium gigs?

Yes, probably. I think we'll spend a good chunk of April pondering that. We'll have to do some things differently, I think.

Will you be going to the Carling Cup Final at Wembley for research purposes?

Sadly not, as we'll be in Australia. I'm a bit gutted to be missing it. I can't believe we [Tottenham] made it in. I turned on the radio when we were 3-0 down to Burnley with five minutes to go in extra time. It's been a strange season. But I'm really pleased to have Jermain Defoe back.

Presumably it's nice have received so many Grammy and Brit nominations.

It's wonderful. I don't think we're going to win any, though. I like to go into these things thinking that way.

Is it still strange rubbing shoulders with lots of famous people at award shows?

It is a bit. You still get that thing where you think you know people but actually you've only seen them on the telly. I had an awfully embarrassing moment with somebody, who I'm not going to name, when I waved to them and then I thought to myself, "Oh no you idiot, you don't know her, you've just seen her on TV!'

So, is there any sort of time scale on when we might hear this new material you're working on?

Not at the moment. We're not even recording anything, we're just playing. We do have some songs, but we''re really just trying things out at the moment.

How's the trying out been going?

Really, really well. It feels like we're expanding our palates. And we're having fun.

The official Coldplay site has a pair of tickets to win to see Chris Martin at the intimate acoustic session at Absolute Radio this coming Friday. Here's Anchorman with more details:

Good morning. As you know, Chris is playing a very intimate acoustic session for Absolute Radio this coming Friday (30th January). Well, the kind folks at Absolute have been in touch to offer Coldplay.com one pair of tickets to give away. Our winner will need to be available to go along to the session in London on Friday, at around 1pm. The prize is just the tickets, not travel or anything else.

Email your entry to competitions@coldplay.com with the subject "limerick" before 9am tomorrow morning (Wednesday). The best one (in our humble opinion) wins the tickets...How can you win the tickets? Simply write a limerick (strict AABBA rhyming pattern) beginning with one of the following lines:

- There once was a singer named Chris

- There once was a bassist named Guy

- There once was a drummer named Will

- There once was an axeman named Jonny

More on this and Chris Martin at the Absolute Radio studios here [thanks sirhc]

Coldplay have opened up another competition following the release of the new Messenger edition, No.10 Vol.1. Here are the details:

Following our ridiculously popular Christmas competition (congrats to Lorenzo in Alessandria, Italy, who bagged the rare signed promo album), we've got another giveaway for you. We're going to get the band to sign a copy of the Life In Technicolor ii 7-inch. If you'd like to win it, then simply email your details to competitions@coldplay.com before January 27th. Just one entry per person, please.

They go on to say that in other LITii news, the video for the single will premiere on the 4Music channel in the UK at 7pm on Tuesday 20th January. Later that night, at 12.10am, the video will be shown on Channel 4. For those of you in the rest of the world, the video will pop up on Coldplay.com very shortly after its TV premiere. If you'd like a sneak preview of what looks like being one of Coldplay's best videos yet, then click here to see some stills at Coldplay.com. (Yes, puppets!)

If you missed the Messenger email and you would like to read the full edition online, head to the messageboard here [thanks mimixxx]

Coldplay Messenger has published Number 4 Volume 1 earlier today. Here are some of the best bits:

Yesterday evening Coldplay.com launched a contest for you folks to create a video for Lost? (the acoustic version of the upcoming single). As Prospekt explained in his brief, you can "use any medium you like: animation, Claymation, stop motion, video camera, super 8, comic strip, photography" to conjure your video. We'd just like them to be creative, original and imaginative. The maker of the best video - as chosen by the band - will win an all-expenses trip to London to see one of Coldplay's homecoming shows at the O2 in December. Click here for full details of how to enter and to hear Lost?

Since we were last in touch, it's been announced that Coldplay will release the Prospekt's March EP at the end of November. Click here to read a letter written by Chris explaining the EP, here to watch a video of the band debuting one of its songs in Antwerp (with Albert Hammond Jr), here to check out when the EP and a special edition of the album will be released where you are and here to admire the artwork. If all that leaves you feeling suitably inspired, then click here to pre-order your copy from the Coldplay US/Rest Of The World shop (it'll arrive in the UK/Europe store next week).

If you missed it or haven't subscribed to Coldplay's Messenger email service, you can read today's volume here [thanks Jenjie]

There are Nine days until Grammy nominees are announced.

Grammy voters may be challenged when it comes to naming a best rock album at the 2009 ceremony, which is set for Feb. 8. The reason: Three-time winners of the best rock album Grammy, the Foo Fighters, will not have a release in contention this year.

How much does Grammy love the Dave Grohl-led band? The Foos will be performing at the Dec. 3 nomination announcement, so you can bet the act will get nominated for a single or two. But the 2009 best rock album winner? That will be Metallica.

The act’s “Death Magnetic” has been one of most successful rock albums of the year, and critics were on the positive side of the spectrum when it came to reviewing the album. Although it probably won’t top many year-end lists, it was widely viewed as a significant leap forward from Metallica’s 2003 “St. Anger,” and the music biz loves comeback stories. Metallica already has seven Grammys to its name, but none for best rock album. Bold prediction that Pop & Hill will likely regret: That will change come 2009.

So who will join Metallica as the other four nominees in the category? Here are the best bets for best rock album:

Metallica’s Death Magnetic”

Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends”

Kid Rock’s “Rock N Roll Jesus”

Kings of Leon’s “Only By the Night”

R.E.M.’s “Accelerate”

Reasoning: Kings of Leon’s “Only By the Night” will be considered a breakout album for the group — best reviewed, highest charting — and it’s the strongest record of the above crop. Plus, voters would be wise to bring in some new blood. R.E.M. will get rewarded for releasing its best album since 1996’s “New Adventures in Hi-Fi,” and Kid Rock will be rewarded for having one of the most surprisingly consistent sellers of 2008, as well as one of the biggest singles of the year. Coldplay, however, may get slotted for best alternative album, but that’s a mistake. In the alternative field, Coldplay would lose to Radiohead’s “In Rainbows,” so it should get a push for best rock album. If not, see below.

Potential nominees:

The Eagles’ “Long Road of Eden”

John Mayer’s “Where the Light Is”

Neil Young’s “Chrome Dreams II”

The Raconteurs’ “Consolers of the Lonely”

My Morning Jacket’s “Evil Urges”

Reasoning: The Eagles will rack up noms, but “Long Road Out of Eden” will likely get the country push. As for John Mayer, he shouldn’t be nominated for a live album, but Grammy loves the man, and everything he touches gets a nom. “Chrome Dreams” is a fine record, but Young has been overlooked when it comes to the Grammys, and this probably won’t be the record that gets him rewarded for past omissions. The Raconteurs and My Morning Jacket are long shots, and could get slotted in other categories as well. But this isn’t the Raconteurs’ best work, and “Evil Urges” dreadfully over-experiments.

Better alternative:

Local’s H’s “12 Angry Months.” Pity Local H. The duo of guitarist-vocalist Scott Lucas and drummer Brian St. Clair is essentially forgotten, lazily categorized as “post-grunge.” But “12 Angry Months” is an angry swirl of rock ‘n’ roll venom, full of scorching classic-rock solos, and thundering, unremitting rhythms. As relentless as “Death Magnetic” but more focused. So a concept record about being dumped is anything but new, but it’s all in the details. For much of the album, you’re on Lucas’ side, especially when he’s asking an ex who gets to keep which bars.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/

Radiohead are known for helping invent a sub-genre of indie rock (the falsetto-laden, space-age ballad), while Coldplay have described themselves as “incredibly good plagiarists.”

Both make excellent yet similar music, and both stand a chance at bringing home the Grammy for Best Album next week at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. Radiohead are nominated for In Rainbows, the album they released after emancipating themselves from their old record company, EMI. Coldplay are nominated for Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, the album EMI hoped would sell enough copies to keep them in business for another year.

Radiohead have won two Grammys in the past, while Coldplay have scored four since debuting in 2000. Both bands are scheduled to perform at the Awards show on February 8th.

Read the full Grammy article at the Coldplay forum here

Coldplay's Chris Martin will be appearing on Steve Lamacq's evening show this coming Friday (30th January), and has also been confirmed to appear on Jonathan Ross's Saturday show the day after, following Wossy's tweet on his Twitter account. Here's Anchorman with more details:

Good evening. Following our previous announcements of Chris's upcoming appearances on Absolute, XFM and Edith Bowman's Radio 1 show, we can now confirm that he will also be going into BBC 6Music on Friday (Jan 30th) from 5-6pm to appear on Steve Lamacq's show. The following day (Jan 31st), Chris will be on Jonathan Ross's show on BBC Radio 2, from 11.30am-12.30pm.

Full discussion on these two newly announced shows at the Coldplay forum: for Steve Lamacq click here and for Jonathan Ross click here

Coldplay's new single 'Life In Technicolor ii' has climbed up to 5th position in UK Airplay Charts ahead of its official release next week, Nielsen Music Control has confirmed. Nielsen Music Control monitors music broadcast on over 700 radio and television stations across 18 countries worldwide and over 1000 record companies worldwide use the Nielsen Music Control services.

The track will be released on 7-inch vinyl and digital bundle. The B-side of the 7-inch will be The Goldrush, a song which is previously unheard, unreleased and unperformed. As well as that track, the digital bundle will contain Life In Technicolor ii (Live @ The O2, London). The expected release date for this is 2nd February 2009. Don't forget, 7digital have now made available short previews of the B-sides to Coldplay's forthcoming single 'Life In Technicolor ii'. 30 second previews of the tracks 'The Goldrush' and 'Life In Technicolor ii' (live at the 02 in London) are online and you can hear them both here now.

More on Coldplay in the airplay charts at the Coldplay forum here [thanks Coldpatrix/Coldplayzone]Nielsen Music Control

Coldplay's Chris Martin will performing ANOTHER acoustic session in London on Thursday 29th January, this time at Capital Towers (Capital Radio). Here's the information that has just been released:

We've held some pretty amazing sessions inside Capital Towers over the last few years, but ladies and gents, they don't come much bigger than this one. Coldplay's frontman Chris Martin will be performing at Capital on Thursday 29th and we're giving you the chance to be there!

We've got seven pairs of tickets in total up for grabs and here's how you can win them: Lucio will be giving away two pairs on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evening from 7pm! Make sure you're listening to find out how you can be in with a chance of winning! You'll be able to hear the session and an exclusive interview with Lucio from 7pm on Thursday.

You can enter the competition at their website here. More on this competition at the Coldplay forum here [thanks worldtrav]

Coldplay's Chris Martin will be playing an intimate zoo session for Absolute Radio on Friday 30th January... and you could be there. Visit their website to enter to win a pair of tickets by answering a simple multiple choice question. This competition closes on Wednesday 28 January 2009 23:59 (GMT). Here are the competition details from them:

Chris Martin, frontman of Coldplay, will be visiting One Golden Square and playing an intimate Zoo Session for the station. We can't wait! Now, we're not gloating, we're telling you because we want you to be there. Of course, this isn't a competition for someone who only likes Coldplay a little bit, so we've made the question quite hard to find a true fan. We have just 2 pairs of tickets to give away online, so it'll be a majorly exclusive prize.

Before you enter, make sure you'll be free on the afternoon of Friday 30 January from around 1pm. Then just answer the question here - Good luck!

MAX and Channel [V] are thrilled to present Coldplay's Viva La Vida Australian tour in 2009. On their last concert tour of Australia in June 2006, Coldplay sold out a total of ten arena shows, playing to more than 100,000 people, garnering rave reviews and leaving rapturous fans in their wake.

To celebrate Coldplay's return to Australia they're giving you the chance to catch them at one of their Aussie shows. All you've got to do is simply register to enter and tell them: In 25 words or less, Why you are Coldplay’s biggest Australian fan?

Full details on prizes, deadline date and how to enter at the Coldplay forum here [thanks anniea89]

Concerts where this prize will be facilitated are:

Fri 27 Feb Burswood Dome, Perth

Tue 3 Mar Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

Sun 8 Mar Entertainment Centre, Brisbane

Wed 11 Mar Acer Arena, Sydney

Coldplay recently brought the number of Australian shows to their itinery for 2009 to eleven, with the addition of a fourth Sydney show. The full list is:

Friday 27th February - Perth, Burswood Dome [discussion]

Saturday 28th February - Perth, Burswood Dome [discussion]

Tuesday 3rd March - Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena [discussion]

Wednesday 4th March - Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena [discussion]

Thursday 5th March – Melbourne, Rod Laver Arena [discussion]

Sunday 8th March - Brisbane, Entertainment Centre [discussion]

Monday 9th March - Brisbane, Entertainment Centre [discussion]

Wednesday 11th March - Sydney, Acer Arena [discussion]

Thursday 12th March - Sydney, Acer Arena [discussion]

Saturday 14th March - Sydney, Acer Arena [discussion]

Sunday 15th March – Sydney, Acer Arena [discussion]

New Zealand:

Wednesday 18th March - Auckland, Vector Arena [discussion]

Thursday 19th March - Auckland, Vector Arena [discussion]

Following the release of Coldplay's new video in midweek, attention now turns to the digital bundle single release at the end of the month. Here is DigitalSpy's review of 'Life in Technicolor ii'. I don't think they like it. (3/5 stars):

The original 'Life In Technicolor' appeared as a hushed instrumental intro to last summer's Viva La Vida LP. Imbued with a distinct world music vibe, it was an intriguing opener that captured Coldplay at their most serene. The track was revisited at the album's conclusion with further Brian Eno atmospherics, a few lyrics and Chris Martin humming, hinting that the band weren't quite finished with the tune.

It wasn't such a surprise, therefore, when 'Life In Technicolor ii' popped up on Coldplay's 'Prospekt's March' EP. Extended to three minutes plus and with new lyrics about a "cold war coming" and "headlights glowing", it's morphed into a bog-standard piece of cheery Coldplay fare. Martin's "woah-a-woahs" and "love don't let me go" call-to-arms smack of laziness, while the anthemic crescendo now sounds formulaic and undercooked. Viva's inventiveness may have been undersold by many critics, but this single suggests Coldplay are only too happy to retread former bad habits.

A reminder that 7digital have now made available short previews of the B-sides to Coldplay's forthcoming single 'Life In Technicolor ii'. 30 second previews of the tracks 'The Goldrush' and 'Life In Technicolor ii' (live at the 02 in London) are online and you can hear them both here now.

Coldplay were earlier pleased to announce that Life In Technicolor ii would be Coldplay's next UK single. The track will be released on 7-inch vinyl and digital bundle from January 30th. The B-side of the 7-inch will be The Goldrush, a song which is previously unheard, unreleased and unperformed. As well as that track, the digital bundle will contain Life In Technicolor ii (Live @ The O2, London). The expected release date for this is 2nd February 2009. Will Champion will apparently take 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.

What do you think of the previews? Let us know in the Coldplay forum here onwards. You can also now join the Facebook LiTii group started by Patrizio/Coldplayzone here which will also include news updates for the group!

Coldplay will be appearing on German TV show Wetten Dass..? this coming Saturday night (24th Jan) on TV channels ZDF, ORF2 and SF1. The show begins at 8.15pm (local time) and the band will be performing Viva La Vida at about 8.45pm. For more info, click here.

Wetten, dass..? (German for "Wanna Bet..?") is a German language game and entertainment TV show. It is the most successful television show in Europe. The shows are broadcast live six to seven times a year from different cities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and can easily attract 50% and more of all German speaking viewers on that evening.

More details and full discussion on Coldplay @ Wetten, dass? at the Coldplay forum here and also at the German Fans thread in the International forum here [thanks Larry]

Coldplay's Twitter jumped into life today when Prospekt added the following entry: The band are back in the studio for a couple of weeks with Brian Eno...

Pitchfork weren't far behind with this article published a short while ago:

When it was first announced that Brian Eno was working with Coldplay back in 2007, some people overreacted, pissed their egghead idol was lowering himself to Chris Martin & Co.'s level. But now, a couple years later and with Viva la Vida and The Prospekt's March EP proving to be solid additions to the sweeping arena rock canon, both entities have prospered from the collaboration. Coldplay are not as terribly uncool as before; Eno can afford that new bathroom (and still make albums with David Byrne). So news that the two are heading back to the studio for a couple weeks (via-- where else?-- Twitter) before Coldplay head out to Tokyo next month is decidedly less controversial than it once was...

The band are playing immense stadiums around the world much of this year, so the possibility of a new release seems slim. Then again, they seem to be in some sort of pleasantly-rocking zone right now, so we'll see. The band is likely to win at least a couple awards at this year's Grammys (airing Febuary 8)-- they did one of those song-collage Grammy ads, too. While we hope Eno worked some magic on U2's new album, the uber-producer is keeping busy by denouncing Israel and stuff.

Read the full exclusive in-studio story at the Coldplay forum here

7digital have now made available short previews of the B-sides to Coldplay's forthcoming single 'Life In Technicolor ii'. 30 second previews of the tracks 'The Goldrush' and 'Life In Technicolor ii' (live at the 02 in London) are online and you can hear them both here now.

Coldplay were earlier pleased to announce that Life In Technicolor ii would be Coldplay's next UK single. The track will be released on 7-inch vinyl and digital bundle from January 30th. The B-side of the 7-inch will be The Goldrush, a song which is previously unheard, unreleased and unperformed. As well as that track, the digital bundle will contain Life In Technicolor ii (Live @ The O2, London). The expected release date for this is 2nd February 2009. Will Champion will apparently take 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.

What do you think of the previews? Let us know in the Coldplay forum here onwards [thanks Dvid & Mc.]

Coldplaying reported yesterday that Radio 1 would be making a Coldplay announcement today - and we were right about a third London acoustic Chris Martin session! Edith Bowman has announced that Chris and his guitar will be in the studio with her for an hour next Thursday (29th January) between 1pm and 2pm (GMT), for a chat and 'a singalong'.

Later on today you should be able to listen again to today's announcement, which Edith made at about 2pm - about an hour into her show - she also played a Coldplay hits montage.

More on this exclusive Radio 1 / Chris Martin announcement at the Coldplay forum here [thanks squareone13, Christa1 & Jenjie]

For the third week in a row, US album sales have fallen to a new low, with SoundScan – which has logged the market since 1991 – detecting just 5.9m last week, a decline of 5.7% week-on-week, and 15.4% below same week 2008 sales of 7m.

The deepening recession hits hardest at the top of the chart, where country singer Taylor Swift’s Fearless holds sway for a seventh straight week, albeit with sales of just 63,000 – the fourth lowest number one tally of the SoundScan era. Coldplay are still the top British act on the chart, with Viva La Vida Or Death & All His Friends slipping 31-34 but maintaining its lead over Seal’s Soul (down 39-43) and Adele’s 19 (34-44). Leona Lewis’ former number one album Spirit joins them in the Top 50, climbing 57-49.

Read the full sales review article at Musicweek here