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Chris Martin Punishes Himself with Vodka

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gossip, Alternative, Rock

Chris MartinChris Martin forces himself to drink vodka to remind himself “not to be an idiot.”

The frontman abides by the bizarre ritual which stems from an incident in the group’s early days when his bandmates punished him for sacking their drummer Will Champion by making him get drunk.

“It started when I had to ask forgiveness for sacking our drummer Will about 10 years ago,” Chris explained. “Three days later the rest of us were feeling really miserable and we asked Will to meet me and out bassist Guy Berryman in Monkey Chews, a bar in Camden, London, where we asked him to come back. They made me have lots of vodka and cranberry juice in remembrance of what a nasty piece of work I was being. Now if I find myself making a big mistake, I have to force myself to drink that stuff to remind me not to be such an idiot!”

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Video: Coldplay Pays Tribute to Michael Jackson with Billie Jean Performance


A few days ago at their concert in the Shoreline Amphitheater, Coldplay did a live performance of “Billie Jean,” paying tribute to , getting the crowd into it as well. The video is shot from the crowd, and starts just a bit into the performance.


Download Coldplay’s New Album for Free

Description

Who says Christmas only comes once a year?

Starting today, fans can download ‘s new live CD for free. The nine-track album, LeftRightLeftRightLeft, was recorded during various stops on the Viva La Vida tour.

Those who attend one of the group’s remaining dates (outside of festivals) will get a complimentary hard copy. Others can simply enjoy the tracks via the band’s website (until the current tour ends).

You can preview the track list after the jump.

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Read More | Entertainment Weekly

Tour Notes: Lily Allen, Coldplay, Kings of Leon and More

Lily Allen

A number of acts will be hitting the road this year. Here’s hoping one of them comes your way:

  • Lily Allen: The “Smile” singer will be hitting up this side of the pond starting in April.
  • The B-52’s: The group began a series of stops last week. The party continues through May.
  • Coldplay: The band will be spending part of their summer vacation in the US. Portland will be their first stop in July.
  • Flight of the Conchords: The New Zealand duo will kick off a North American tour this April.
  • Jennifer Hudson: The Dreamgirl and Robin Thicke will be touring together starting this spring.
  • Kings of Leon: The Grammy award winners will begin a set of North American stops on April 19.

2009 Grammy Award Winners

Alison Krauss and Robert Plant

Lil’ Wayne may have had the most nominations going in, but he wasn’t the biggest winner coming out.

Next to Rihanna and Chris Brown, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the biggest newsmakers of the 51st Annual Grammy Awards. The collaboration between the Led Zeppelin lead singer and the bluegrass artist earned the duo five awards last night including Album of the Year for Raising Sand and Record of the Year. Prior to yesterday, Plant, 60, had only racked up one Grammy in his career. (Krauss, on the other hand, is now up to 26.)

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Read More | Grammys

Idols Underwood and Hudson Among Grammy Performers

Carrie UnderwoodOnce again, former contestants will be represented in the annual Grammy broadcast.

Carrie Underwood and Jennifer Hudson are the latest nominees scheduled to perform at next month’s ceremony. Underwood, who already has three statues under her belt, is currently up for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Meanwhile, Hudson, who will also be singing at the upcoming Super Bowl, is hoping to place a Grammy right next to her Oscar.

Other acts confirmed for the telecast include Kenny Chesney, and the Jonas Brothers. Coldplay - up for seven awards - will also perform as will Lil Wayne. The rapper leads this year’s field with a total of eight nominations.

The 51st Annual Grammy Awards will air February 8th on CBS.

Read More | Futon Critic

Mashing Up 2008’s Top 25 Hits

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Music Videos, The Charts


Looking for a way to remember 2008? Well, thanks to DJ Earworm, you can now relive this crazy year in just under 5 minutes.

The clip above incorporates visual and audio snippets from Billboard’s Top 25 songs of the year. (You can see a track listing just after the jump.)

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Read More | DJ Earworm

The Best Music of 2008

Posted by Kellsee Chu Categories: Site Features

Bon Iver

Which albums, songs or shows had you raving in 2008? Find out what our Kellsee Chu chose as this year’s best:
Best Albums
1. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago:  Bon Iver is Justin Vernon who recorded this album out in the remote Wisconsin cabin where he lived for 3 months.  The result is this gorgeous album filled with songs about lost and love.  If being isolated in a cabin in Wisconsin can produce music like this, I’m all for him going back there permanently.  Bonus points to Vernon for his beautiful cover of Okkervil River’s “Blue Tulip.”

2. Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line:  Their drummer John Pike died last year in a drowning accident, but this band decided to go on and it was the right decision. It’s an album full of catchy tunes. “Can You Tell” and “Dying is Fine” are excellent.

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Coldplay, Leona Lewis Top iTunes’ 2008 Sales

ColdplayLeona Lewis

Earlier this year at the 2008 Oscars, American actors walked away empty-handed. Now American musicians are being pushed aside by the British Invasion.

According to the Associated Press, this year’s best sellers were performers from across the pond. Topping the album charts was Coldplay’s Viva la Vida. Although the company does not reveal actual sales numbers, a majority of the band’s digital sales (500,000 since June) were apparently purchased through iTunes. (More than 2 million copies of Viva have been sold overall.) The other artists in the Top 5 include Jack Johnson (Sleep Through the Static), the Juno soundtrack, Lil Wayne (Tha Carter III) and Sara Bareilles (Little Voice).

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Read More | Associated Press

Jay-Z and Coldplay get spun - Viva La Hova!

vivalahova

Yesterday, an email pops into my BlackBerry from the one and only Mick Boogie, talking about the latest mix he completed with Terry Urban, Viva La Hova. In it, they blend Jay-Z and Coldplay in a way that has to be heard to fully appreciate.

As Mick Boogie explains it:

“In addition to self-producing a few tracks ourselves, we reached out to some of our favorite producers in the game… from Jay-Z’s collaborator 9th Wonder, The Kickdrums (50 Cent, TI) and Cookin’ Soul (The Game, Dipset) to up and comers like 6th Sense, nVMe and Garbs Infinite.

After assigning all the producers samples and snippets that we felt fit their musical talents, we began the process of assembling as many Jay-Z vocal tracks as we could find.  As the submissions came back, one by one, we decided which Jay-Z verse would fit this particular interpretation of Coldplay’s sounds.

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

Grab Viva La Hova and tell us what you think in the comments.

Read More | Mick Boogie

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