Coldplay Accused of Copyright Infringment

Recently, an indie band from Brooklyn, NY has accused Coldplay of copyright infringement. Guitarist Joe Satriani from Creaky boards has announced on a YoutTube video that the British band copied melodies from him for their new single "Viva La Vida", from one of their If I Could Fly. He is now suing Coldplay for the accusation. They suggested that frontman Chris Martin, was at their show last year at the CMJ Music Festival in New York City, but Coldplay claims that the song was recorded seven months before the show. It was even discovered in Martin's diary that he was in London during the festival in New York. I've listened to and watched the YouTube video myself, and personally, I hear a slight resemblance, but nothing I believe should be considered infringement. Listen for yourselves...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvB9Pj9Znsw&feature=related

FREE SIGOR ROS!?

So as I was browsing Music Industry articles, I came across one on billboard.biz which sparked my attention immensely. The title read UK Newspaper To Offer Free Sigor Ros CD. Apparently, the Icelandic band gave away a CD in the January 31st Issue of the newspaper the Independent. The CD does not contain any new music but has track's from Sigor Ros' previous three albums and it is titled, "We Pay Endlessly". 

This seems to be becoming a patter with artists. Much like how Price gave away "Planet Earth" and Radiohead allowed fans to choose their price for "In Rainbows", Sigor Ros is now going with the free music trend. Hey, if it's going to be downloaded illegally anyway, why not give it away for free for promotion? Nothing is better to sell than something free.

Check It Out:

http://www.mediafire.com/?mnl5ruwmwyn

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i35bdd2d07c21945258331f625a29370d

Best Album of 2008

I'm not going to lie; having to choose one release from 2008 to be my favorite was extremely difficult. With epic releases from artists such as Anthony Green, Fleet Foxes, Death Cab For Cutie, and Lydia to name a few, choosing only one album and marking it as the best was a difficult assignment. But alas, one album kept popping up in my head, proving to me to be the best. This was Portugal. The Man's Censored Colors. Hailing from Alaska, this band one of the most unique post-hardcore bands I have in my collection. Seeing them live is unlike any other concert someone will ever go to. 

Censored Colors, released in September of 2008, is the Band's third album. The music is able to successfully combine ranges of music from upbeat piano, to ambient rock, to orchestrated folk. Censored Colors explores back to the 70's psychedelic phase yet gives us tons of new-wave sounds. Anyone who can combine elements of acoustic, electronic, melodic piano, cello, and metal sounds together successfully is a winner in my book. 

Censored Colors is split in two, like ying and yang; the first half includes songs that have been compared to classic rock. They combine pretty vocals, heavy guitars, and pop melodies to create a musical journey into the album. The third track "And I", is just pure magic and creativity. The song begins with vocal harmonies and acoustic guitars, and eventually turn into a classic rock binge, spitting out poetic lyrics such as " We'll be rebord, yeah we'll simply be free/ And we'll be the colors that pour through the streets". This album can clearly be considered "colorful" because of the lyrics. The band repetitively brings up the theme of colors, relating them to death, like the song "Colors" where the lyrics include, "I'm not afraid to die,'cause all these colors will change". The second half of the album breaks off into an experimental interlude; making the album like ying and yang. The ending half includes songs that seem to blend into each other to make one huge song, with spacey psychedelic rock and a cello. No other band has ever sparked my attention like Portugal. The Man. This album is indubitably worthy of being my top choice for Best Album of 2008.