When I'm Cold, Cooooold

u2 & Coldplay: Spiritual Cousins

Karoake with Chris Martin

Imagine No Religion

My Two Bands Become One

The Coldplay Critique

June 5, 2005 Sunday 
Correction Appended 
Late Edition - Final

HEADLINE: The Case Against Coldplay

BYLINE: By JON PARELES


THERE'S nothing wrong with self-pity. As a spur to songwriting, it's right up there with lust, anger and greed, and probably better than the remaining deadly sins. There's nothing wrong, either, with striving for musical grandeur, using every bit of skill and studio illusion to create a sound large enough to get lost in. Male sensitivity, a quality that's under siege in a pop culture full of unrepentant bullying and machismo, shouldn't be dismissed out of hand, no matter how risible it can be in practice. And building a sound on the lessons of past bands is virtually unavoidable. 

The Wheel Breaks the Butterfly

BBC Critisized for Promoting U2 and Coldplay

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January 14, 2010

A BBC editorial watchdog body criticised the British broadcaster Thursday for breaching its own guidelines by appearing to promote the bands U2 and Coldplay in its coverage of them.

The BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit slammed an on-screen slogan "U2=BBC" used during its coverage of U2's last album as "inappropriate," while a "Radio 1 presents Coldplay" website broke guidelines about links to external sites.

The findings came after RadioCentre, the trade body for commercial radio firms in Britain, complained about the BBC's coverage of a Coldplay tour and U2's launch of its "No Line On The Horizon."

The U2 coverage last February included a performance by the band on the rooftop of the BBC's Broadcasting House head office in central London which briefly brought traffic to a standstill.

Three criticisms of the BBC were upheld. They were that:

- a "Radio 1 presents Coldplay" website included links to the websites of ticket agents. "This was not in keeping with the BBC's guidelines on links to external websites.

- the use of the mathematical symbol for identity in the graphic "U2=BBC" "gave an inappropriate impression of endorsement."

- a pre-recorded interview with U2 frontman Bono was mostly alright, but a reference to Radio 1 being "part of launching this new album" was not.

Complaints about a radio show and a BBC news report about the rooftop concert were not upheld, said the watchdog.

I Got Your "Junk" Miles

If you are a recreational runner, there is a decent chance you've never even heard the phrase "junk miles." Despite clocking 30 miles per week, I certainly qualify as a "recreational runner," never having run long-distance in competition. However, I do read a lot of books and magazine articles about running, and it is here we find references to the junk-mile concept in abundance, usually by highly competitive types. 

Don't get me wrong, I respect the highly competitive types who find ways to motivate themselves by finding new training challenges for most of their runs (let's say 80%), with the balance of their miles (20% or less) constituting "junk," which might be defined as running for no other reason than to log the miles, and often in a slow and unpurposed fashion.

Well, since I don't compete, I suppose that makes most of my miles something close to "pure" junk.

Or does it?

Let me beg to differ.

More from the Rachmaninoff Sessions

The keyboard pounding is a bit of a Coldplay trademark.

Questions of Science, Science and Progress

Coldplay enters the realm of near brilliance with this tune.

Chris Martin as Rachmaninoff

They're Just Spies

The blog is called Running with u2.
But I never said the only songs featured would be u2 songs.
: )