Even More Coldplay

I kind of figured that after an album release, compulsory television appearances, and tour kick off, we wouldn't be hearing much about Coldplay until, say...2010. Silly me. It's still 2008, a mere two months after Viva la Vida's release and Coldplay is already eyeing 2009 for the release of their fifth album. Busy boys. Some talk has been that they want to link it to the greatest hits collection which their label requires of them. Here's the best part-- apparently Coldplay has plenty of material left over from all those Brian Eno sessions and just a little fine tuning would be in order. Fantastic, Vida refuse.

Anybody feeling a little over saturated? Ok, me neither, but I just can't imagine this new album being as cool or inspiring as much anticipation when the last gap between albums was three years. Also, does this mean stunted growth? Even Coldplay's biggest critics gave them some props for the effort and heavy Radiohead influence. I think most of what I heard people say was that if they kept working and heading in that direction, they might actually be considered "decent" among snobs. Obviously, I think they're already good but there's always room for improvement and I do believe they have the potential to keep refining, crafting, and pushing themselves to be truly first class. I don't know what Viva la Vida part 2 does to this progression. I guess we'll have to see. On the upside, this probably means a new tour and I very much hope that they don't skip over my city again.

Guitar Moron: I'm Really Not Surprised

Just about a year ago, I posted a healthy-sized rant on the absurdity of Guitar Hero and its potential negative repercussions. I talked about what a waste of time and effort it is, how it's a false sense of accomplishment, how people could be learning a real instrument instead, how it's the perfect manifestation of our instant gratification-based society. You know, the usual stuff.

Well, it looks like someone forgot to chain up the idiots again this morning. I saw this on Rolling Stone. Yes, that's right. There's a teenager who is dropping out of high school to become a professional Guitar Hero. So much for ambition. If he were an actual guitarist trying to drop out of school, I still wouldn't approve, but the fact that this amounts to playing video games for a living is about the most pointless and uncertain quest anyone could set out on. When will people realize that they're pushing plastic buttons?

Thirteen Minutes with MGMT

Well, hello there. Long time no see, but with all this Olympic business, who has time to do anything but speculate about Bob Costas's hair and marvel at how a hundredth of a second can actually matter?

Actually, it's just been a slow week with just two minor pieces of news. The Killers named their album Day and Age. Sounds terribly exciting. The other scrap is about MGMT. Apparently they've released a thirteen-minute song called "Metanoia." Rolling Stone sounds like they're ready to pee themselves with excitement. We'll see. So far it's only available on iTunes and a mere three minutes can be seen in a live version on a YouTube video. The quality of the video is not great so at this point it's hard to say if the song is anything more than discord. About a minute in my patience left me. The song is described as having a lot of different sections instead of the traditional verse-chorus. Oh, MGMT...

Golden Animals on Twisted Ear

Here is yet another review for your dining and dancing pleasure. The Golden Animals are all about the west (aren't we all?) and their disc will leave no doubt in your mind about it. Best of all, they win the prize for album title of the year: Free Your Mind and Win a Pony. Sign me up.

Coldplay: No Wonder He's Not King Anymore

It's funny how things work, just yesterday I was wondering when Coldplay was going to release a video for "Viva la Vida" and wouldn't you know it, they went and released two.

The first is reminiscent of the iTunes commercial, just replace the electric colors and coolness with dark, sludgy colors from "Liberty Leading the People," (the painting on the album cover) and goofy movements/expressions from Chris Martin. It was kind of a let down, but nonetheless, I thought surely the second video would be better.

Not so much. In this video, Martin walks around landmarks aimlessly, toting the framed "Liberty Leading the People" and dressed up like the creepy Burger King mascot, cheap ass crown and cape included. Martin strolls around trying to find a place for his painting and the rest of the band doesn't even show up until the end of the song. Strike two. I don't know if it was supposed to look that ridiculous...I don't know if that would help the situation. Oh well. Judge for yourself.