Jenjie

A SWINDON band are hoping to take the music scene by storm. Belarus have already been compared to Coldplay and the five members of the band, who are all in their mid to late 20s, are seeking national recognition after landing a deal with independent record label Precious Iota. Their debut single Standing In The Right Place was released last month, reaching number 32 in the Indie charts. But drummer Richard Millin is confident they can go from strength to strength after their first experience of the big time. "It's all about getting yourself noticed and allowing the public to sample your music," he said. "We have been working solidly together for eight years, touring up and down the country, and have been rewarded for our hard work with this contract." Richard admits they would love to replicate Coldplay's success but said they would never be as miserable as Chris Martin's band. "It's great to be likened to them they've sold millions of albums and have global notoriety but they seem a bit miserable to be honest, I couldn't see us ever being like that," he added. The band members, who all live in Swindon, are originally from Faringdon. They started out with vocalist Lee Alder and guitarist Matt Kilford and formed a group after meeting with Richard Voyce, bass, Martin Townsend, keyboards and Richard Millin on drums at Kempsters musical shop in Commercial Road, in Swindon. Although they write together as a group, the majority of their lyrics are compiled by lead singer Lee. Lee said: "We're similar to the Indie rock type, kind of Coldplay-like, but certainly not as depressing as the emotive tunes of Radiohead. "I like to write abstract thoughts that are thought-provoking, but the main thing is that the lyrics are left open for interpretation to our listeners." The band have played at many Swindon venues, including an appearance at The Furnace, in Commercial Road and on the opening night launch at the Victoria, in Victoria Road. The band have also played venues in London and have received rave reviews in this month's edition of Q Magazine. Fan Adam Taylor, 21, who is studying graphic design at Swindon College said he thought the band could be the next big thing. "If they can create more awareness of their music I think they have a great chance of doing well for themselves as I rate them highly,'' he said. "I've heard their single on iTunes and I'd highly recommend them to lovers of Indie music." The next single, Dream, and debut album Communicate are due out in the next few months. Belarus' official website is http://www.belarus.mu Source: Thisiswiltshire.co.uk

The Church’s Steve Kilby must really, really hate Coldplay’s Chris Martin, and not like the usual “God, I can’t stand that putz in Coldplay” sort of thing, either. Yeah, he gets to you and me, with his goofy haircut, his holier-than-thou super-hot wife and his constant string of boasting about writing the greatest albums of his generation. But he must really stick in Kilby’s craw: He’s one-upped The Church’s only claim to fame. For nearly 20 years, Kilby led The Church’s revolving-door lineup to aim to be the most easily accessible epic-rock outfit ever. With one part jangle, one part off-the-shelf arena rock, The Church rode out the ’80s and ’90s as the rock act that was edgy enough to slip into alternative radio every now and then, but still nice enough to be played, at a reasonable volume, of course, at the office. It’s nice, it’s expansive and it’s totally devoid of any distracting emotional content. Things were going just great until a little band called Coldplay had to come along and mess everything up. Admittedly, The Church hadn’t been riding high since 1988, when “Under the Milky Way” propelled the Aussies into the charts, but once Martin and his warmed-over U2 thing got going, there really wasn’t much hope. The Church, the onetime masters of grandiose schlock, had been out-cheesed by a gang of Brits with a Bono fetish. With Uninvited Like the Clouds, The Church is still licking its wounds. Making another effort to score with pseudo-epic guitar pop, The Church returns with its trademark shimmer as the outfit throws the notion of succinct songwriting to the winds. What’s left is little more than overreaching layers of guitar and pompous melodies held together with just enough “Milky Way” nostalgia to play on the glory days. The Church strikes out to be grand and epic on Uninvited Like the Clouds but end up leaving listeners to wander through bloated arrangements. “Block” opens the album with a six-and-a-half minute arrangement that features no less than 957 guitar parts tossed on top of each other for the bigger-is-better approach. “Pure Chance” also surpasses the six-minute mark, dropping a slowly unfolding ballad that could be a lullaby in the Coldplay household. Other tracks like “Overview” and “Day Five” tap studio extras like piano to stretch out the long-winded arrangements. The Church seems to confuse length with epic qualities, however. For all its longer songs, Uninvited Like the Clouds is never epic, mostly because the band lets its song structures go to hell as its songs tip past the four-minute mark. There’s a lot in each track – but a lot that should have been vetted out and streamlined during pre-prodcution. It’s tough for The Church. As hard as it tries to be the world’s leading inoffensive alt-rock band, Coldplay has it licked. While that’s great news if you’re looking to soundtrack a gum commercial and can’t afford Coldplay’s scale, it’s a heck of a bummer for anyone who wants music with a pulse. Matt Schild for aversion.com

Nettie's account is still active, complete with all her links & pictures in her signature. no-one's been banned from the messageboard, if they had you would be able to see the word banned in their profile. Ian has been taking action against fake ip adresses, as per his announcement here: http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29500

Still reading Theo's odyssey but just got a proof copy Of Princess Diaries: Seventh Heaven so started reading that as well

he probably is, but not in the way I think you're thinking!! :confused: which is why I asked

I can't see where you could do it yourself, but then I'm probably missing the big neon sign!! Can't see Ian agreeing to change loads of usernames either, he's got so much other stuff to be doing to the board :\

Alien Autopsy 6/10

http://www.imdb.com is listing Hostel 2 as being In Production. They couldn't really do another one, could they?

Just re-read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Have just picked up Theo's Odyssey by Catherine Clement to re-read.

Hostel doesn't deserve a rating I wouldn't even give it 0/10

Went and saw it last night. Hadn't realised it was Tarantino until the titles started. Spent a vast proportion of the film with my hand in front of my face. Far too gory, no particular plot, and I'm very glad I didn't actually have to pay money to see it.

yup indeedie. what has wed night been without an hour or two of Lost? I need to know whats in the hatch!!!! and I still haven't forgiven C4 for their handy season 2 sneak peek right at the end of the last episode. far too many things to look forward to

we didn't get season 1 til late. seasons 1 finished here in Oct ish. they promised us season 2 starting in the spring so it can't be too far away

albie? :o back? :shocked2: oh man, I went and did it didn't i? :stunned: he really is like Beetlejuice!!! :embarassed:

I went to an alehouse, i used to frequent..............................

according to amazon.co.uk, a cd called The World's Greatest Tribute to Coldplay will be released on May 8th http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000FAOAMY/qid=1144787391/sr=1-130/ref=sr_1_2_130/202-7862714-9707014

It is indeed

"No, they didn't name him Grape" says Chicago Daily Southtown

http://www.coldplaying.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29222

And here are some of the more interesting headlines this morning!! "Holy Moses!" courtesy of the Chicago Sun-Times "Moses is in the house" from 24 Hours Vancouver The Daily Mirror Uk's offering was "COLD PLAY MATE" "Out Of The Bulrushes: Moses Martin" from Hartford Courant, United States The Sun, creators of some of the most amazing headlines ever, have let me down and went for "Gwyneth chose Moses"

in the course of research over the last few months, I've been browsing round sites like celebritybaby.com, and somewhere on one of the them I read an interesting snippet. apparently, celebs have a tendency to add a few weeks onto their due date so that the paparazzi aren't sniffing around on their actual due date. don't blame them really!

Hmmmmm! Its been 6 hours and no major news sources have picked up on it yet. I'm waiting with interest.

Since I last posted, I've read The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult and Cold Moon by Jeffery Deaver.